The Lives and Works of the Women Artists at the Della Robbia Pottery Birkenhead in Late Victorian and Edwardian England
The Lives and Works of the Women Artists at the Della Robbia Pottery Birkenhead in Late Victorian and Edwardian England. Kathleen Camilla Hawley A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Oxford Brookes University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. December 2001 IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, lS23 7BQ www.bl.uk The following has been excluded at the request of the university lIustrations on pages 15,55,56,57,58,59,60,92,9 3,94,121,122,123,159,160, 161,162,163,191,192,193, 194,195,225,226,227,228, 229,230,231,232,233 Abstract The lives of three female and one male artist working at the Della Robbia Pottery in Birkenhead are the subjects of a case study located in Liverpool. The case study examines the larger issues concerning the employment of women, particularly working and middle-class women, in the decorative arts in late Victorian and Edwardian England. The findings are analysed in the light of interpretative models employed by feminist historians, particularly the view that women's professional involvement and access to training was shaped and constrained by ideologies of gender. The study examines the extent to which the academic institutions, which provided the training, institutionalised ideologies of appropriate feminine activity in their admission procedures, availability of classes, and financial barriers to participation. Blackburne House School, the Liverpool School of Art, The University Art Sheds and the Sandon School of Art are the main institutions studied. The structure of the work place, as defined by the Della Robbia Pottery, is analysed for gendered patterns in the division of labour.
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