Quiringh van Brekelenkam (Dutch, 1620–1668)
Shoemaker’s Shop, c. 1660
Oil on panel
Norton Simon Art Foundation, M.1977.28.P

By the 17th century, beer was already a longtime staple of the Dutch diet. In 1475, for instance, 250 liters were consumed per capita each year in Haarlem, and production in the Netherlands only increased as the population doubled from 400,000 to 800,000 in the 1600s. The beer-making boom led to an explosion of regional breweries, many of which still exist today, and they competed for a stake in domestic and international markets.

While there was moral skepticism about other kinds of alcohol, such as liquor, beer remained relatively unsanctioned, in part due to its important contribution to the Dutch economy. In fact, drinking beer was considered acceptable, even beneficial, in the context of commercial activity. In this painting of a shoemaker’s shop by Quiringh van Brekelenkam, who worked primarily in Leiden, a woman, probably the shoemaker’s wife, draws beer from a keg painted with a unicorn, the brewer’s mark. The mug may be intended for the customer at the window, her husband or her own consumption. An earthenware pitcher with an inserted funnel, yet to be filled at the keg, is centered in the composition, suggesting the importance of beer to the business, either as a good for sale or as fuel for labor.

Brekelenkam specialized in depictions of tradespeople, and he often included vignettes of eating and cooking, which indicated the permeability between commercial and domestic spaces. In the Shoemaker’s Shop, the kneeling woman is surrounded by various implements, including an awkwardly stacked pot lid, plate and red ceramic strainer, suggesting her role in managing the household’s kitchen. Brekelenkam’s Interior of a Tailor Shop similarly depicts a male artisan at work while a woman tends to food preparation near a pot heating over an open fire (Figure 10). These images of various trades were formulaic, and it was common knowledge that tailors made more money than shoemakers. The artist demonstrates this difference in income through décor. The shoemaker displays a simple paper map over his workstation, whereas the tailor’s shop boasts an oil still-life painting of fruit, as well as two delftware plates on the mantel.