The location for this painting is almost certainly Laren, where Neuhuys moved around 1885. Neuhuys often painted images of peasant women and their daughters. The motif of two figures at an open doorway is also typical. This allowed him to observe the effect of light and shadow on the sitters’ features and to contrast the cool interior with the warm, sunlit exterior scene. The woman on the left is cutting material, possibly mending the lining of a coat or jacket. Her young companion is threading a needle. The emphasis is on the quiet simplicity of the women absorbed in their task, a subject that would have appealed to British as well as Dutch collectors. The large scale of the painting indicates that Neuhuys intended it for exhibition.