Around 1860 various fabric manufactures in Holland started to differentiate themselves from other foreign manufactures by creating stamps for their fabric, also known as Tjaps. These Tjaps stood as a symbol for the origin of the fabric and its quality. Together with a sample of fabric this was send to overseas purchasers as an example of their product.

When you reap what you sow I,II  is the recreation of this tradition, where the actual product that is offered is labor force. Textiles and human labor form an integrated whole, as seen in history but is still present today. So for this particular sample of fabric and Tjap, the cotton industry, Dutch West India Company and the act of labor work as a source of inspiration, representing a fictive traditional textile company.