Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing by Mary C. Beaudry
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Book Reviews of Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing
Book Review: Good Findings...
Summary: 4 Stars
First and foremost, this volume will be definitely helpful for those who wish to interpret the many sewing-related artifacts recovered from historic-period archaeological sites (and most historical sites yield at least some of these items). Beaudry quite rightly points out that small finds, such as sewing-related materials, have the potential to yield much information about the people who once lived and worked on these sites. They can reveal as much (if not more) as the ceramics, glass, clay pipes and animal bones which have been traditionally the major focus of archaeological analysis. The reason for the importance of small finds is simple--they are often very personal items. As such they have profound implications for the construction of both personal and social identities. In the case of small finds relating to needlework and sewing (objects often uncritically associated with femininity), Beaudry sees the opportunity to examine gender construction and social rank in addition to personal identity. In Findings she sets out to "construct a rich contextual analysis of how women and men used objects of needlework and sewing and to consider the multiplicity of meanings these everyday objects conveyed" (p.7).
Findings is, however, just as useful for a second purpose. This volume serves as a model for other archaeologists who need (desperately) to write more guides to historical material culture. In her discussions of pins, needles, thimbles, and the like Beaudry gives us important terminology (e.g., knurling refers to the machine-applied indentations on a thimble), diagnostic information (e.g., how to tell scissors from shears), and chronological information. But more importantly, Findings also explores the range of interpretive possibilities of these objects with the understanding that the meaning of material culture varies with context. This is a rare attribute among works on material culture.
Moreover, this work succeeds in providing an impressive amount of cultural information for these items--in effect creating an interpretive context in which archaeologists can place their own sewing-related finds. After a brief introduction to her subject matter and intensions, each chapter of Findings tackles a particular class of artifact often associated with needlework and/or sewing--pins (Chapter 1), needles (Chapter 2), thimbles (Chapter 3), shears and scissors (Chapter 4) and other notions and accessories (Chapter 6). In each of these chapters the material under scrutiny is densely contextualized. Beaudry explores both the documentary and archaeological records--Neothlithic sites in Anatolia, Iraq and Greece, Predynastic Egypt, and Bronze Age Europe, eighteenth-century children's poems, the economic work of Adam Smith, period paintings, probate inventories, court records, collectors literature, and museum collections--looking for sewing-related material. Historical archaeologists will be impressed at the geographic and temporal breadth of Beadury's work. Findings presents a truly global historical archaeology including material finds from sites such as the Five Points of New York, Spanish St. Augustine, the Ross Female Factory in Tasmania, Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, Patuxent Point, St. Mary's City, Quebec City, Tilbury Fort, Brimstone Hill, Bridewell Palace, Notley Hall, the Katherine Naylor privy, Oyster Street in Old Portsmith, Bolingbroke Castle, Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, the steam boat Bertrand, free black tenant farms in Delaware and many others.
Despite this impressive amount of contextual material, this work is still at heart a guide to interpreting a particular class of material culture. As this is the case, a reader might have hoped for more illustrations and photos of the material under study. Findings does provide illustrations demonstrating the landmark terminology for each type of object, but this reviewer would have preferred to see a much greater volume of material illustrated. It would have been nice to see a number of photos and illustrations to match the breadth of the textual examples, but this is probably beyond the ability (or at least the desire) of most publishers. Overall, this is a small flaw in a remarkable work.
In summary, Mary Beaudry has written a book that will be a great source of not only identifying sewing-related objects, but also interpreting them. This aspect sets Findings apart from many other volumes relating to material culture and makes it a striking model for guides to the many other types of small finds that could be similarly contextually situated.
Book Review: Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing
Summary: 5 Stars
In her latest book Professor Mary C.Beaudry of Boston University shows the extent to which such 'small things' were deeply entrenched in the construction of gender, personal identity, and social class in the early modern world.
The book will be of interest to university teachers and students of archaeology, and many other related social sciences. Findings is the product of many years of meticulous research and weaves together descriptive and interpretive/theoretical approaches to the study of small finds.
The book will be particularly useful in the classroom setting , and will undoubtledy become a seminal text as it provides a series of detailed case studies that set out not just a way of interpreting artefacts of sewing and needlework but the author's approach to historical archaeology more generally.
In a refreshing antidote to some recent scholarship the study does not separate study of the technological, chronological, and functional aspects of artefacts from cultural interpretation of same.
It is a valuable and innovative work that does not ignore the conditions of labour, and the conditions under which sewing implements and textiles were produced, but rather foregrounds working conditions to underscore the participation of women and children in industry, both in the domestic setting, and beyond.
Far from romanticizing sewing and needlepoint the book offers a realistic perspective on what sewing meant to women (and men and children) who elected to sew or who were compelled to sew.
If you have gained insight and inspiration from the work of James Deetz, and Henry Glassie, and appreciate the contextual and interpretive archaeologies of Anne Yentsch, Rebecca Yamin, and Mary and Adrian Praetzellis (to name but a few similarly gifted writers) then this book should be on your bookshelf, and a recommended text for your course reading assignments.
Book Review: A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words...
Summary: 2 Stars
Findings" was written for archaeology students and professionals for two purposes: first, as a general guide to identifying basic textile tools, and second, to correctly interpret the tools and their surroundings.
As the adage claims, "a picture is worth a thousand words", the first purpose of the book is achieved. With scientific precision, the author includes black-and-white line diagrams of generic pins, needles, thimbles, shears and scissors, labeling their anatomy, and providing measurements, so that anyone not intimate with a basic sewing box can be brought up to speed. Black and white photographs of particular objects from Dr. Beaudry's digs in Britain and from several British colonies, and from museums illustrate real examples and variations on basic tools. Finally, reproduced photographs from other books depict how tools were made and used at specific times and places.
I found particularly interesting a chart, combined from three other sources, chronicling thimble types; a description of pins used for burials; and several probate inventories from 17th-century Massachusetts describing needlework or tools with the deceased's name, residence, and estate value.
Tying together the diagrams and photographs in each chapter are paragraphs of notes about construction materials, manufacturing methods, locations and names of manufacturers, purposes for which the items were used and for whom they were made. Unfortunately, these notes criss-cross three centuries and continents, repeat themselves at times, and are poorly described at other times. I found myself having to go back several paragraphs and re-read to correct my understanding frequently; at other times, I simply felt sorry for anyone looking to this book as an authority on how needlework tools were (and still are) used.
And herein lies my disappointment in Findings:
It assumes a Victorian (that is, 19th-century British) view without recognizing that needlework and textiles, needleworkers, and women in other parts of Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East had very different experiences from those of women in Britain and the British colonies.
It belies the author and editor's ignorance (and perhaps disdain?) of basic textile tools, textile techniques, and textile construction, and their disinterest in ensuring that the information they pass to others is accurate. If their concern was not for
accurately describing needlework tools' uses and purposes, what was the
purpose for writing Findings?
That being said, a good feature of this book are the nearly 50 pages of references for further reading and study. I'm a bibliography hound, and there are lots of leads to pursue here.
If you are an avid needlewoman, you may be familiar with much of the history presented in Findings, already. But for the archaeology community, it appears to be a helpful, albeit inaccurate at times, window into the unknown world of sewing and textiles.