In a book based on research conducted in the mid-1850s, the liberal economist Louis Reybaud made several mentions of the workings of Lyons weaving workshops, explaining the determining role marriage played within them:
As soon as [a worker] manages to save enough to buy one or two looms, he looks within his own class for a partner of his choice, skilled and hardworking like himself, who can stand in for him where required. As well as running the household, his wife will prepare the silks, occasionally operate the shuttle, maintain order among the apprentices, speed up production, and share in his responsibilities. From that point on, everything in the worker’s life becomes focused on the home.,
This wife takes care of domestic tasks in line with the expected division of labor in the mid-nineteenth century, but can replace her husband “where required.” She prepares the silk, weaves, and has an acknowledged role in the management of the workshop, from overseeing apprentices to monitoring production. According to Jules Simon, philosopher and politician, this ability to conduct the business of the workshop encompassed delivering finished pieces to merchants or their assistants, and negotiating on price. Unlike other types of production, where segregation by sex was the norm in the nineteenth century, in Lyons weaving was a mixed undertaking. Among the many professions in the Fabrique, some bore gendered names, although they were not rigidly exclusive: with female dévideuse…