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An Old Woman scouring a Pot

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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This painting evokes a sense of the calm and simplicity of everyday routine and of the virtue of labour as the old woman absorbs herself in polishing the glowing brass of a large pan. But other objects on the sill give her scouring a different, darker significance and clearly identify the picture as a vanitas (‘vanity’, symbolising the transience of life).

The broken pot is a typical motif suggesting vulnerability to the ravages of time. The candlestick too: candles, which burn for a limited time, were a common analogy for mortality. The butterfly – well-known to enjoy the briefest of lives – is another subtle signifier.

So while the woman’s work might still be considered virtuous it is also, ultimately, futile. Scour all you like, is the implication, but the pot will eventually lose its shine.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

An Old Woman scouring a Pot

Date

1660s

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 28.5 x W 22.8 cm

Accession number

NG997

Acquisition method

Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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