Dutch painter, active mainly in his native Amsterdam. He joined the Dutch East India Company in 1661 and made two voyages to the Indies, on the second of which he died at sea. His few surviving paintings include some exquisite interior scenes that invite comparison with Vermeer because of their tranquil beauty and subtle colour harmonies.
The painting shows a grubby room with a seamstress. Working by a mantelpiece whose racks hold faience plates, she is too busy and too old to care for the lonely, neglected little girl, who stares vacantly at the spectator.
This is one of the exquisite interior scenes by Boursse that invite comparison with Vermeer because of their tranquil beauty and subtle colour harmonies. The woman at the spinning wheel almost dissolves into the dimly lit interior to become a symbol of virtues of the housewife.
Boursse’s genre scenes such as this typically depict women quietly performing household tasks, often as here set alongside beautifully observed still life elements. His paintings no doubt reflect the influence of Pieter de Hooch, who had moved to Amsterdam from Delft in 1661, and whose work Boursse would have encountered after his return from his first trip to the East Indies in 1663.
