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The sign attached to her brick bench would lead you to believe that there once was a woman called 'Lammetje Groen'. Whether this is really true is difficult to prove. It is more logical to link this name to the history of the part of the city where the statue is located. Here in the Rivierenbuurt/Spuikwartier, there have been bleachers since the sixteenth century. That is where the laundry was done. Such companies sought out the outskirts of the city for water to wash and lawns and sun to dry. One of these bleachers was called 'Lammetje Groen'. The name probably originated from the fact that the men passing by on the barges thought the white sheets in the green grass looked like little lambs.

When the large-scale new construction on the corner of the Schenkkade and the Schenkkade was completed, a proposal came from the residents. They wanted a work of art that would take them back in time, when there was still plenty of activity in the neighbourhood. A washerwoman, they thought, would be a fine symbol. Teun van Beijnum, owner of the bedding shop Van Beijnum on the Spui at the time, was asked to make the sculpture. He knew the neighbourhood.

Although Van Beijnum had been working in his grandfather's business since he was eighteen, he discovered during a holiday in Drenthe in 1968 that he had a talent for sculpture. Just like his grandfather. Since then, he has been active in this field as a self-taught sculptor. Sculptures made by him were regularly found between the beds.

Van Beijnum has turned 'Lammetje Groen' into a sturdy woman who, after having done her work, rests quietly on a bench.