It depicts a scene that takes place in a Dutch cottage garden in Zweeloo, in the province of Drenthe, in North Holland, where several washerwomen are laying out large white linen towels to dry and bleach.

[1] From the early 1880s until the beginning of the First World War, Liebermann traveled regularly to the Netherlands, for study and recreation, appreciating the country's beauty, their people, social institutions and also their "great picturesque past".

[4] In 1882, he stayed in the Netherlands for several weeks, where he created the current painting at the inn of Jan and Lammechien Mensel in the village of Zweeloo, in the province of Drenthe.

In the following year, he reworked the painting, introducing another piece of laundry, another lawn and an additional tree, and shortened the lower edge of the canvas by around 20 centimetres.

[8] The paintings landscape depicts a cottage garden with several apple trees, where some washerwomen are laying out sheets on the lawn to bleach in the sun.

The upper half of the painting and thus the background is characterized by the dark green foliage and the trunks of other trees that reach to the horizon.