Skip Navigation

Journal of Design History 1997 10(4):417-429; doi:10.1093/jdh/10.4.417
© 1997 by Design History Society
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by BUTCHER, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Eel-traps without Eels

MARY BUTCHER

Manchester Metropolitan University


  Abstract

This paper considers the ways in which artefacts of peasant society have come to be consumed as artworks in the late twentieth century. It takes as its main object for consideration an eel-trap made by then distinguished living basketmaker, David Drew, which was displayed in the exhibition entitled ‘Weaving Willow’ (1993–6). The discussion examines the production and function of the eel-trap within the agrarian economy in England, France and Poland, and the changes they have undergone, the work of David Drew and its place within the world of goods; the role of cultural intermediaries in the validation of changes in consumption; and addresses current debates concerning aesthetic definitions of art and artefact, particularly in the recent work on the anthropologist, Alfred Gell.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.