Dutch printmaker Barbera Van Houten was a member of the Dutch Etching Club in 1880 and participated in their exhibitions in Holland. This expressive etching was published by the Dutch Etching Club in 1889 and was print number 4 in the portfolio of that year. As was common at the time the print is initialled in the lower left corner and not pencil signed.
She uses cross-hatching which is bitten deeply in order to achieve the intense black. This print is far from "pretty" and if the viewer takes the time to adjust the details and structure of the composition begin to appear out of the blackness.