Women's Work: The First 20, 000 Years - Women, Cloth and Society in Early Times
| Format: | Paperback 336 pages |
|---|
Usually despatched in 7-10 days
20 Marketplace copies from £6.20
Synopsis
2500 years ago, the women of Athens slaved at home, virtual prisoners of their husbands, expected to provide the cloth and clothing for their family. 4000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, there was a very different picture: respectable women were in business, weaving textiles at home to be sold abroad for gold and silver. Going back even further, 20,000 years ago women began making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibres. Indeed, for over 20,000 years, until the Industrial Revolution, the arts of weaving belonged primarily to women and were the principal vehicle for demonstrating their various roles as mother, provider, worker, entrepreneur and artist.
Book details
Published
17/01/1996
Publisher
WW Norton & Co
ISBN
9780393313482
Publisher and industry reviews
UK Kirkus review
Don't be put off by the dullish title: this is as lively to read as a personal diary and as exciting as a treasure hunt. Using mythological, literary and archaeological evidence, it traces the lost history of women's contribution to the textile industry and illuminates the way they lived. Barber learnt her love of textiles from watching her mother spin and weave. In the course of her quest she toured museums all over the world, danced about in Macedonian girdles to feel how their fringes moved ('I felt exhilarated, powerful; I wanted to make them swish and jump'), and re-created a 3000 year old Celtic plaid on her own loom. (Kirkus UK)
Other books by this author See all titles
Customers who bought this title, also bought...
The Speed of Dark
£8.99
This book can be found in...
The prices displayed are for website purchases only, and may differ to the prices in Waterstone's stores.
