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| Joachim Wtewael Kitchen Maid ca. 1620-25 oil on canvas Centraal Museum, Utrecht |
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| Eglon van der Neer Woman at Breakfast 1665 oil on panel Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna |
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| Gerard ter Borch Woman reading a Letter ca. 1665 oil on canvas Wallace Collection, London |
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| Gabriël Metsu Man writing a Letter ca. 1665 oil on canvas National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin |
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| Cornelis de Man Scholar in his Study ca. 1654 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Thomas Wyck Scholar in his Study before 1677 oil on canvas Hallwyl Museum, Stockholm |
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| Olivier van Deuren Young Astronomer ca. 1685 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| attributed to Jan Davidsz de Heem Painter at Work ca. 1630 oil on panel Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Caspar Netscher Violin Player ca. 1655-85 oil on panel Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
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| Hendrick ter Brugghen Boy Playing the Violin and Singing ca. 1625 oil on canvas Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
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| Dirck van Baburen Flute Player 1620 oil on canvas Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
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| Jan Gerritsz van Bronchorst Young Man playing the Theorbo ca. 1642-45 oil on canvas Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid |
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| Jacob van Campen Woman at her Toilette ca. 1650-55 oil on canvas Museum Bredius, The Hague |
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| Jan Steen Woman at her Toilette 1663 oil on canvas Royal Collection, Great Britain |
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| Jacob van Loo Young Woman going to Bed ca. 1650-60 oil on canvas Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon |
Rummage Sale
Forgive me, Aunt Phyllis, for rejecting the cut
glass dishes – the odd set you gathered piece
by piece from thirteen boxes of Lux laundry soap.
Pardon me, eggbeater, for preferring the whisk;
and you, small ship in a bottle, for the diminutive
size of your ocean. Please don't tell my mother,
hideous lamp, that the light you provided
was never enough. Domestic deities, do not be angry
that my counters are not white with flour;
no one is sorrier than I, iron skillet, for the heavy
longing for lightness directing my mortal hand.
And my apologies, to you, above all,
forsaken dresses, that sway from a rod between
ladders behind me, clicking your plastic tongues
at the girl you once made beautiful,
and the woman, with a hard heart and
softening body, who stands in the driveway
making change.
– Jennifer Maier (2013)