Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.87.5
Object Name
Poster
Title
Slaves and Angels: Women and the industrial revolution
Date
1985
Description
The Poster Collective was a collective formed in 1971 at the Slade School of Art,  a group formed to initially produce posters in response to the miners strike and on the wars in both Vietnam and Ireland. It was formed on the basis of developing a coherent visual style, which addressed the political issues of the time. This included the armed struggles against colonialism in Africa, the struggle of women for equal rights and the continuing struggle against racism. The collective was active in the 70's and 80's, producing posters on a wide range of issues, including for educational purposes. The group was not-for-profit and used a variety of hand-printing techniques to create their posters. Between Future and Past
A set of posters looking at the ideological and economic structures underlying the unequal position of women in society at different junctures in history from feudalism to present. It also shows points at which women have fought to change existing social relations.
This is the fifth poster in the series and reads "SLAVES AND ANGELS: Women and the Industrial Revolution" this is a yellow poster with purple illustrations of women workers and black text. Text reads: "As capitalism developed people were forced off the land and into the growing towns. Industrial capital finally broke down the old forms of social relations, both at work and between men and women in the home. Middle class women found themselves cut off from production and almost completely dependent upon a man. The idea of a woman developd by the Victorians was that of the perfect wife/mother in the home: the 'Angel in the House'. For working class women, poverty along with advances in mechanised production combined to force them to work in the factories alongside the men but as lower paid workers. They had to perform the dual-role of wage labourer in the factories and domestic slave, maintaining the labour force, at home." The poster also features two quotes about the poor working
conditions of women, from Ellen Barlee and Butler.
