Beauty and the Bank Note

From cool allegory to haughty beauty, images of women have appeared on paper money across the world for almost 200 years. These images are carefully chosen to convey messages appropriate to a particular time and place. Proud Britannias and crowned monarchs, glamour girls and cotton-pickers have all been summoned to proclaim the wealth of a bank, the power of a state or the glory of a nation. The ways in which female figures on mass-produced objects both reflect and reinforce our conflicting perceptions of women and their place in society, is explored in this title. Virginia Hewitt is also co-author of "As Good as Gold: 300 Years of British Bank Note Design".