# Mother Combing the Hair of Her Child [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [TERBORCH, Gerard]() - Date: 1651-1700 - Technique: Oil on panel, 34 x 29 cm ## Commentary This painting is also known as Hunting for Lice. The models for the painting are probably the stepmother and one of the half-brothers of the artist. The painting probably contains a moral, as maternal care, orderliness and cleanliness were the ideal qualities of a good housewife. In the seventeenth century, the lice comb stood for both a clean appearance and a pure character. ## Related artworks - [A Concert]() - [A Lady Reading a Letter]() - [A Woman Spinning]() - [A Young Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men]() - [An Officer Writing a Letter]() - [Boy Ridding his Dog of Fleas]() - [Burgomaster Jan van Duren]() - [Card-Players]() - [Curiosity]() - [Helena van der Schalcke as a Child]() - [Lady at her Toilette]() - [Lady Reading a Letter \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()