SUFFRAGE - 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' SASH Handmade tri-coloured suffragette sash, c.1908

SUFFRAGE - 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' SASH Handmade tri-coloured suffragette sash, in purple, green and white cotton with 'Votes for Women' stencilled in black paint on central stripe at front, lined in white cotton, ends sewn together, discolouration and browning, some staining, creased, one or two dots of black paint on centre panel, faint pencil guideline for sewing visible along lower edge, 155mm. wide, length 1870mm., folded to 935mm., c.1908 Footnotes: The colours purple (for dignity), white (for purity) and green (for hope) became synonymous with the Votes for Women cause after Emmeline Pethick Lawrence introduced them as the colours of the Women's Social and Political Union at the Hyde Park Rally of 21 June 1908. Sashes, ribbons, rosettes and other accoutrements were available through the WSPU network of shops and through department stores such as Selfridges. Many women who could not afford or get hold of the official woven sashes manufactured by Toye & Co. turned to their sewing machines and made their own. Aside from the elaborate beautifully executed banners made for processions and meetings, our humble handmade sash and its anonymous maker can be seen in the wider context of support for the Votes for Women movement among ordinary women. As well as the practical necessity of sewing their own pieces, it has been argued that by doing so the women turned what was a traditionally female occupation and a sign of femininity into a political statement: '...the women's suffrage movement defied traditional ideas of what it meant to be a woman: needlework and embroidery became a sign of power and strength, no longer fragile weakness...' (Nicola Minney, Suffrage and the Sewing Machine, The Museum of English Rural Life website, March 2023). For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing