Discover more about the RSN and find out why we’ve been the international centre of excellence for the Art of Hand Embroidery for more than 150 years. We’ll also introduce you to key guest speakers in our engaging live talks.
Easily accessed via Zoom, all of our talks are embellished by captivating images and are followed by live Q&A sessions.
| Please read the important information at the end of this page before booking a Talk. Thank you. |
Dressing Children in the 18th Century
Lucy Peter, Wednesday 23 October 2024. 7pm UK
The 18th century witnessed an important philosophical shift in attitudes towards childhood and with it a number of notable developments in children’s fashion.
Join Royal Collection Trust Curator, Lucy Peter as she explores some of the ways in which these new theories surrounding the education of children and the importance of encouraging young people to play outside and learn through physical exploration, directly impacted on the styles of dress worn over the course of the century and, in some cases, even foreshadowed more informal types of dress adopted by adults.
Lucy Peter is Assistant Curator of Paintings, Royal Collection Trust and was the co-author of Royal Childhood.
Image credit: Royal Collection Trust/© His Majesty King Charles III 2024
Sunflowers, ‘Souls’ and Stitches: Early designs from the RSN
Vicky Bevan, Wednesday 13 November 2024. 7pm UK
Meet RSN Archivist, Vicky Bevan, to discover more about some of the late Victorian designs within the Royal School of Needlework’s Collection. She will discuss the impact of concepts of ‘good design’, Aestheticism, and the Arts and Crafts movement on the early development of the Royal School of Art Needlework.
External designers like Walter Crane, William Morris, George Aitchison, Edward Burne-Jones and Gurtrude Jekyll all contributed to the early development of needlework design at the RSN. The social, political and collecting culture that surrounded the school and founders Lady Marian Alford, Lady Welby Gregory and the influential Mrs Madeline Wyndham (part of the ‘Souls’ social group and designer and artist herself) formed a design philosophy that was at the forefront of the decorative arts movements of the time.
The RSN’s internal designers and the function of the School’s in-house ‘paint-room’ will also be introduced, giving an insight into some of the more anonymous designers who worked there and the processes of designing for needlework.
Vicky is a former Curator for the National Trust where she looked after properties and collections including Polesden Lacey, Sissinghurst and Ightham Mote. She has a background in design history having studied her Masters in The History of Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Royal College of Art.
Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History
Dr Tracy Borman OBE, Wednesday 27 November. 7pm UK
Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I are two of the most famous women in British history. Their stories are as familiar as they are compelling. And yet, they have never been told together.
Piecing together evidence from original documents and artefacts uncovered while researching her new book, bestselling author, historian and broadcaster Tracy Borman reveals Anne Boleyn’s relationship with, and influence over her daughter Elizabeth, the celebrated Virgin Queen. In so doing, she sheds new light on an extraordinary mother and daughter who changed the course of British history forever.
Tracy Borman is joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust and Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University in her native Lincoln. She has presented a number of history programmes for Channel 5 and the Smithsonian Channel, including The Fall of Anne Boleyn, Inside the Tower of London and Henry VIII and the King’s Men. Tracy was recently awarded an OBE for services to heritage.
Secrets and Codes: the embroidery of Mary, Queen of Scots
Eleri Lynn, Wednesday 11 December. 7pm UK
Embroidery was an important means of expression for Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587). As Queen she employed professional embroiderers and discussed the artistry and merits of needlework, but as a prisoner she began to embroider to pass the time. She occupied her time with embroidery in the company of her gaoler’s wife, Bess of Hardwick, and together they created rich hangings of cutwork featuring the queens of myth and legend.
Join historian, author and RSN Trustee, Eleri Lynn to hear about the subversive symbols that Mary stitched and how they provide coded references to her life, and to her cousin, Elizabeth I, who would eventually seal her fate.
Important Booking Information
Please note that these Talks are live online events and are not available to watch immediately afterwards. If you cannot watch the live event — or if you want to watch again in the future — we do re-release popular talks at a later date On Demand. Please note that there is a separate fee for Talks on Demand.
Bookings for live RSN Online Talks close at 3pm on the day of the event and are NON-REFUNDABLE. After booking, you will receive your unique Zoom invite by email 24-48 hours before each event (3 hours if booked on the day). The invite should arrive ‘from’ [email protected] – we strongly recommend that you add this address to your ‘Safe Senders’ list to ensure safe receipt.
If you do not receive your invite by the above deadline please first check your ‘junk/spam’ mail folder to ensure it hasn’t been routed there by mistake. If you still do not have the invite, please email [email protected] no later than one hour before the event is due to start. Please include your order reference number.
Each place booking and subsequent Zoom link is unique to ONE customer and ONE device only. If you wish to book multiple places on behalf of additional attendees please provide the name AND email address of any additional attendees in the ‘Additional information’ section of your order at checkout.
All RSN Live Online Talks are scheduled and advertised in UK local time (GMT or BST depending on the time of year). If you are outside of the UK please check your local time, particularly if your location changes to/from Daylight Savings Time on a different schedule to the UK during March/April or October/November. To check and convert times please visit TimeAndDate.com.
All RSN webinars include live Closed Captioning (subtitles). These can be disabled if not required.
If you require additional assistance, please refer to our FAQ page. Thank you.
Missed a previous Talk?