The Pocket
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A Hidden History of Women’s Lives, 1660–1900
Barbara Burman and Ariane Fennetaux
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Format: HardcoverPrice: $50.00
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“What particularly interests Burman and Fennetaux is the way in which women of all classes have historically used these tie-on pockets as a supplementary body part to help them negotiate their way through a world that was not built to suit them.”—Kathryn Hughes, Guardian
"Riveting."—Roberta Smith, New York Times "Best Art Books of 2019"
Pencils, a sketchbook, cake, yards of stolen ribbon, thimbles, snuff boxes, a picture of a lover, two live ducks: these are just some of the fascinating things carried by women and girls in their tie-on pockets, an essential accessory throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
This first book-length study of the tie-on pocket combines materiality and gender to provide new insight into the social history of women’s everyday lives—from duchesses and country gentry to prostitutes and washerwomen—and explore their consumption practices, work, sociability, mobility, privacy, and identity. The authors draw on an unprecedented study of surviving pockets in museums and private collections to identify their materials, techniques, and decoration; their use is investigated through sources as diverse as criminal trials, letters, diaries, inventories, novels, and advertisements. Richly illustrated with paintings, satirical prints, and photographs of artifacts in detail, this innovative book reveals the unexpected story of these deeply evocative and personal objects.
"Riveting."—Roberta Smith, New York Times "Best Art Books of 2019"
Pencils, a sketchbook, cake, yards of stolen ribbon, thimbles, snuff boxes, a picture of a lover, two live ducks: these are just some of the fascinating things carried by women and girls in their tie-on pockets, an essential accessory throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
This first book-length study of the tie-on pocket combines materiality and gender to provide new insight into the social history of women’s everyday lives—from duchesses and country gentry to prostitutes and washerwomen—and explore their consumption practices, work, sociability, mobility, privacy, and identity. The authors draw on an unprecedented study of surviving pockets in museums and private collections to identify their materials, techniques, and decoration; their use is investigated through sources as diverse as criminal trials, letters, diaries, inventories, novels, and advertisements. Richly illustrated with paintings, satirical prints, and photographs of artifacts in detail, this innovative book reveals the unexpected story of these deeply evocative and personal objects.
Barbara Burman is an independent scholar, and Ariane Fennetaux is associate professor of eighteenth-century British history at the Université Paris Diderot.
“What particularly interests Burman and Fennetaux is the way in which women of all classes have historically used these tie-on pockets as a supplementary body part to help them negotiate their way through a world that was not built to suit them”—Kathryn Hughes, Guardian
"In this riveting book, the authors take advantage of the pockets' frequent survival in textile museums, private collections and family holdings across Britain, tracing their presence in art, literature, political satire, domestic organization and court records."—Roberta Smith, New York Times "Best Art Books of 2019"
“Beautifully designed and wonderfully illustrated…This kind of focused and revolutionary study opens a bright destiny for interdisciplinary research in the Humanities.”—Dr. Axel Moulinier, Kunst Chronik
ISBN: 9780300239072
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
264 pages, 7 1/2 x 10
200 color illus.
200 color illus.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
