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Category Archives: Features

Jeanne Toussaint: Cartier’s Petite Panthére

Diamond, Emerald, Onyx Panthére ring by Cartier

by Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher “A woman who revolutionized contemporary jewelry” is how Cartier describes jewelry designer Jeanne Toussaint in the 2019 film series, entitled L’Odysée de Cartier. Born in 1887, […]

The View From Where You Sit: Personal Magnification Devices

Microscope: 3 convex lenses in the inner cylinder, fitting into shagreen (snakeskin)- covered tube, with gilt-bronze finial cap and tripod stand, optics by Passemant, ingénieur du roi, France, c. 1750 photo: metmuseum.org

by Melody Amsel-Arieli   Simple magnification devices, like water-filled spheres and rock crystal (quartz) “burning glasses” were known around the Mediterranean and across the Middle East in ancient times. These […]

The Genius of the Reticent Inventor – Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell made the first long-distance telephone call in 1892, reaching Chicago from New York photo: Stefano Bianchetti

by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher   “The Boston Advertiser prints an interesting account of an experiment in carrying out a conversation by word of mouth over a telegraph wire, made by […]

Samplers: An Evolution of Purpose & Design

British darning sampler, signed: Frances Boyce/1780, silk on linen, 20 ¹⁄₈ x 20 ¹⁄₈” framed, courtesy www.metmuseum.org

by Melody Amsel-Arieli   Samplers are pieces of fabric worked to demonstrate mastery of ornamental embroidery stitches and motifs. This fine art arose in the late Middle Ages when English […]

Memorial Quilts: Expressions of Remembrance

Civil War Memorial Quilt from the Quilt Index and the Massachusetts project. Each of the white strips and the stars are inscribed with the name of a Massachusetts soldier, his company and the date he enlisted.

Graveyard Quilts for Mourning By Judy Anne Breneman, womenfolk.com Before modern medicine the loss of beloved friends and family members was all too familiar. Childbirth was dangerous and it was […]

Friendship Quilts: A Gift of Remembrance

Oak Reel block dated 1846, Enoch and Mary Worrall quilt, dated 1850. (Starley Quilt Collection)

by Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher In the summer of 1854, inside an enormous four-story brick house at the corner of Main and Andover in Ludlow, Vermont, Ella-Elizabeth Spaulding joyously prepared for […]

Erica Wilson: Sharing Joy through Embroidery

Crewelwork sampler, one of the early projects worked by Erica at the Royal School of Needlework. Their first few projects were designed for them. Students had to pay for their own materials and most proudly kept their projects for the whole of their lives. 2015.0047.004 A, B, Gift of The Family of Erica Wilson, Courtesy of Winterthur Museum

By Linda EatonJohn L. & Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections and the Senior Curator of Textiles at Winterthur Museum     Until relatively recently, scholarship on women’s needlework has focused […]