What Mothers Want. by Stone, Tamar - 2014-2019.

New York:: Tamar Stone,, 2014-2019.. One-of-a-Kind. Housed in 12.75 x 11.5 x 2.75" cloth-covered clamshell box with embroidered title label on cover. Box interior covered with Bertini paper. Antique wood hand mirror mounted on inside cover. Outside corset cover of antique white scallop-trimmed bag with original hand embroidered "S" and flowers. Closure of four vintage plastic buttons. Purple trim sewn into interior of outside corset cover ending in double bow ties to hold corset books in place.  Book 1 "Features of Loveliness": Antique off-white waist-cincher corset with four front hooks, back corset lace, and new lavender ribbon trim; machine embroidered title text; inkjet printed images on both linings; cotton twill corset lining, with sheer cotton voile overlining. Interior of Book 1: "The Mother Interest" 6 pages with 2 covers; machine embroidery vintage linen covers with lace edge; attached with 3 vintage plastic buttons; interior pages inkjet printed images on vintage cotton bed sheets.  Book 2 "The Mother Intent": Antique off-white waist-cincher corset with lace edge, 4 front hooks and back corset lace. Interior corset linings inkjet printed images on both linings. Cotton sateen corset lining with sheer off-white silk georgette over-lining, attached with antique bone buttons. Interior book "Punctualities of Dress": 6 pages with 2 covers; machine embroidery on vintage linen covers with lace edge, attached with 3 vintage size 22 off-white "Boye Unbreakable Flexible" Buttons. Interior pages inkjet printed images on vintage cotton bed sheets.  Book 3 "Form the Figure": Antique doll corset with 5 holes, laced with vintage shoelace. Machine embroidered title text. Machine embroidered covers on vintage linen with inkjet printed images and hand embroidery. Attached with 3 antique mother of pearl metal buttons. Interior pages inkjet printed on vintage cotton bed sheets. Tamar Stone: "This piece was inspired by found objects that happen to mirror each other-a postcard title 'An Inborn Habit' and an antique wood hand mirror. These images coincidentally reflect so much of women's history, and how girls are brought up with preconceived ideas of womanhood. "The corset book is comprised of three individual corsets, each with its own book inside. The titles of each corset, 'Features of Loveliness,' 'The Mother Intent,' and 'Form the Figure' were taken from advertisements for corsets found in early magazines 20th century magazines.  "The titles of the smaller interior books, "The Mother Interest,' 'Punctualities of Dress,' and 'An Inborn Habit' take the reader on a journey of a girl's growth - from maternity corsets for the mother, supports for an infant, and corsets for young girlhood and beyond - promising to 'Train your daughters to a healthy and symmetrical body and mind' until … existence becomes a delight….' "Information regarding a girls growing body, from babyhood to motherhood was passed down through publications such as 'Womanhood; Hints and Helps for Young Women' (1895 ), and 'Health - beauty - sexuality - from girlhood to womanhood...' (1904), in addition to the various advertisements extolling the virtues of various support garments for all ages. "From the Greek mythologies to today's episodes on the 'Lifetime Channel', mother-daughter relationships have been fraught with controversies. Although the mother was expected to pass down the rules of the day of deportment to her daughter, it was more complicated than that, as women were told, '… how complex the relation is between the mother and the daughter: for the mother, the daughter is both her double and another, the mother cherishes her and at the same time is hostile to her; she imposes her own destiny on her child: it is a way to proudly claim her own femininity and also to take revenge on it.' "As girls were growing and trying to figure out their place in the world, they were being informed that '[n]eatness in person, as in dress, is natural to a woman ... like all other habits, it becomes, in time, agreeable to the person who practices it, but the first training into it, is a painful struggle.' "Female Images throughout this piece include portraits of girls with their sisters and mothers, both informal, and formal. Little girls posing with dolls, mimicking future poses of the girl grown into a mother herself, as well as images taken from corset catalogues for children."