Getting a Handle on It: Thomas Lamb, Mass Production, and Touch in Design History

Abstract

This chapter proceeds from the premise that the hands which operated the machinery of capitalism were not merely a unit by which the power needed to perform the labor required was calculated but, rather, they were sentient and individuated, and are themselves worthy of the focal attention of the historian. I reflect on the construction of knowledge about the senses from the perspective of a design historian using tactile research methods to understand the design process. I examine a case study of design production with reference to the work of Thomas Lamb, the ‘Handle Man’, as it is evidenced in the Thomas Lamb collection at Hagley Museum and Library.