In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was socially acceptable for women to have romantic, physically close friendships with one another. Some of these relationships were passionate without being sexual, while others may have involved sexual intimacy. These two women, holding hands and entwined in the boughs of a severely pruned tree, are representative of this type of relationship.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library, H. R. Eastcott Collection
Reference:
1/2-094740-G
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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