Interior, with an old woman peeling apples This bustling scene gives rare insights into food-making activities at the ‘backside’ of a house. Neither strictly kitchen nor farmyard, such liminal spaces were used for the dirtier and messier work of food and remedy preparation. This was where smaller farmyard creatures, such as hens, geese, rabbits, and pigs, were kept, reminding us that humans and animals often lived in very close proximity to each other. Fed on food scraps and food preparation by-products, these animals provided food and additional sources of income from their feathers and fur.

David Teniers the Younger (1610 – 90) Antwerp or Brussels, Belgium, c.1640 – 60

Oil on panel

Founder’s Bequest, 1816 (72)

Conserved by Ellen Nigro at the Hamilton Kerr Institute