Woman's Rights and what came of it 1881

Handkerchief , overprinted in black, with illustrations depicting men caring for children, doing the laundry, mending clothes etc and women working as sailors, running for parliament etc. From the mid-nineteenth century the notion of 'separate spheres' governed relations between men and women: Women's sphere was the home and family whilst men occupied the public world of work and politics. This handkerchief humorously responds to Victorian women's campaigns for increased rights. Produced in 1881, it projects the changed status of men and women in 1981.

Printed inscription: "Woman's Rights and what came of it 1881". Condition: good, a little spotted.

Design 364805 was included in the list of printed fabric designs registered between 5 February 1880 and 6 June 1882 held at the National Archives. It was registered on 7 May 1881 by Carslaw & Henderson of 68 Gordon Street Glasgow. The registration does not include a description of the design and no further details were recorded. Carslaw and Henderson were muslin manufacturers.

The subordinate position of women (lawyers had always classed infants, lunatics, felons and married women as persons of limited contractual liability) was partially rectified with the passing of the Married Women's Property Act of 1882, which gave women the right to their property whether secured before or after married. Like Punch at the time, this handkerchief envisages risible situations such as women joining the armed forces, although it was to be more than fifty years before they did so.