Fishwives mend nets and haggle over the catch beside a forest of masts at Ostend's bustling fishing basin in this evocative late-Victorian harbor scene — steamships puff smoke on the horizon while wooden fishing smacks crowd the quay, their dark sails furled, numbered hull 042 clearly legible amid the tangle of rigging. Ostend (Ostende) was Belgium's premier seaside resort and commercial fishing port at the turn of the 20th century, drawing tourists from across Europe and serving as the main cross-Channel ferry terminus for England. The intimate street-level view captures working-class maritime life: women in dark skirts sit on the quayside with wicker baskets, a child stands nearby, and a man in a cap converses — unposed, documentary in spirit. On the reverse, a bilingual (French/Dutch) Carte Postale/Postkaart with the sender's rubber stamp of jeweler H. Dienst-Corteel, 29 Rue Peter Benoit, Ostende. The message, in French, is addressed to "Mon cher Victor" — Monsieur V. Van Isaeker, Weld Street 65, Rochester, N.Y., USA, routed "Via England." Henri writes warmly that he has barely had time to write a proper letter and asks whether a postcard will do.