The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women’s Lives, 1660-1900

The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women’s Lives, 1660-1900 by Barbara Burman
“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.