WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Souvenir napkin for the Deputation to the House of Commons, 29 June 1909. A memento produced to commemorate the protest against the artist Marion Wallace-Dunlop's arrest. The deputation devolved into a chaotic struggle in which 108 suffragists were arrested, reportedly triggered by Emmeline Pankhurst striking a policeman. Dunlop was arrested the previous week, on 22 June, for stamping an extract from the Bill of Rights onto the walls of the House of Commons; the napkin proudly prints that it "took two men over two hours to erase the violet inkstains". It also asserts the suffragist's constitutional right to petition the prime minister and states that if he "calls out the police to prevent women from using their right to present a petition, he will be guilty of illegal and unconstitutional action". Known as "Auntie" in the trade, Sarah Burgess operated from premises in Bishopsgate and, later, off the Strand, advertising herself as a "'manufacturer of paper switches, cut tissues, lace paper and shelf trimmings & confetti, and stationer, wholesale and export'... The WSPU had mixed feelings about [Burgess's] efforts. Disturbed by her producing an 'unauthorized official programme' for the June 29 event, they nevertheless pointed it out as an example of 'how the movement interests the public'. Mrs Burgess's products demonstrated quite clearly how important the concept of a suffrage 'souvenir' or collectible had become to suffrage sympathizers, who wanted to retain a tangible memory

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