What is it about?
Due to their unique legal status in the colonies, many women of New Netherland and their New York descendants had the right to buy, sell, and trade any kind of goods of their own accord, a liberty that remained in place well into the 18th century. Women who took advantage of this freedom were even referred to in documents as “she-merchants.” Inventories of wealthy women from the New Netherland/New York region from 1650-1750 indicate that they often owned quite a number of works of art. As part of the growing interest in the role of women in the history of collecting, this essay addresses the collecting habits of Dutch seventeenth century “she-merchants” in New Netherland and their New York descendants.
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Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This article highlights the little known agency of women of Dutch descent in Colonial New York. It also brings to light their desire and ability to bring together incredible collections of luxury items, including paintings, prints, sculpture, silver and other valuable objects and to display them in their homes.
Perspectives
I loved researching and writing this article as it caused me to uncover little known material that will hopefully make a unique contribution to the fields of both women's studies and the history of collecting.
Louisa Ruby
Frick Collection and Art Reference Library
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Colonial Dutch She-Merchants as Collectors, January 2026, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004726680_003.
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