Virtual Dialogue with Isabella Rosner and Melinda Watt

During our February Virtual Dialogue, Isabella Rosner, PhD Candidate in History King's College London, shared her work on 17th-century Quaker needlework. Isabella explored how 17th-century needlework made by girls and women in the Society of Friends is heavily opulent, which is surprising given the Society’s investment in and promotion of plainness from its very beginning. Embroidering highly decorative objects with high-quality materials allowed Quaker girls to learn how to use the goods produced, handled, and sold by their parents, future husbands, friends, and other members of the London Quaker community, many of whom were merchants involved in the textile trade.

After her lecture Isbella was joined in conversation with Melinda Watt, Christa C. Mayer Thurman Curator of Textiles at The Art Institute of Chicago.

The Decorative Arts Trust hosts virtual dialogues that feature scholars sharing and discussing their exciting new research with colleagues in the field. The hour-long Zoom program includes a lecture, scholar-to-scholar conversation, and Q&A with the program participants.

The mission of the Decorative Arts Trust, a non-profit organization, is to promote and foster the appreciation and study of the decorative arts.