TEXTILES AND EPHEMERA Group of textiles and other WSPU ephemera including a hatband in the WSPU colours of purple, white and green, grosgrain ribbon, discoloured, remnants of stitching where attached, 50 x 685mm.; woven 'Votes for Women' badge, grosgrain silk ribbon, discoloured and frayed, 32 x 50mm.; shield-shaped patch in the WSPU colours, woven with the initials N.W.S.P.U., 63 x 50mm.; with several lengths of silk and grosgrain ribbon in the WSPU colours, c.1380 x 45mm. and c.2190 x 25mm., 11 fragments of ribbon made into badges by the addition of a small gold safety pin; and a black and white striped bag, cotton, two ties, 130mm. long slit cut into reverse, 350 x 170mm.; two green pencils, stamped 'Votes for Women' and 'Women's Suffrage N.U.W.S.S' respectively, one stamped with makers name 'Banks & Co Keswick', unsharpened, each 180mm. long; with five pieces of lower case type used for the Britannia newspaper each c.3mm. high, [c.1915-1918] Footnotes: An eclectic collection of WSPU merchandise including lengths of ribbon in the WSPU colours made into badges and two scarce pencils, available for purchase from the WSPU shops. One curiosity is a light striped cotton bag with two long ties and a slit cut into the reverse. This may be what suffrage historian Antonia Raeburn calls a 'dorothy bag', similar to that issued to militant suffragettes prior to the deputation to the House of Commons in June 1909: '...a striped denim dorothy bag containing stones wrapped in brown paper and tied with string... attached round the waist under the skirt and at the signal for the 'smash up', the stones could be reached through a placket pocket...' (Antonia Raeburn, The Militant Suffragettes, 1973, p.104). The bag could also have been used to conceal papers or leaflets from the prying eyes of the police. Provenance: Mary Phillips Collection, Sotheby's, 'Valuable Autograph Letters, Literary Manuscripts and Historical Documents', 29 June 1982, lot 62. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing