More Myth than Reality

In the context of an industrial revolution dominated by technological change and factory-based production, nineteenth century Sheffield has been perceived as differing from the norm. Small workshops, numerous outworkers and the retention of handicraft skills have charcterised the cutlery trades until the present century and these economic structures are said to have produced a backward looking but independent and robust artisan class. In this paper we argue that the robust artisan was more a creature of myth than reality. We point to the critical role of the factor in the nineteenth century cutlery trade for an understanding of the slide of the little master into dependence

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Craft · Factory (object-oriented programming · Handicraft · Industrial Revolution · Mythology · Norm (philosophy · Political science · Sociology · Visual arts · Computer Science · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Classics · History · Law