Exquisite Threads: English Embroidery 1600s-1900s at the National Gallery of Victoria

Popped into the NGV at lunchtime to see a small – but perfectly formed – display of embroidered pieces.  Absolutely beautiful, of course, but also thought-provoking. What better way to prevent aristocratic women from doing anything useful than to encourage them to spend thousands of hours embroidering? Or was the embroidery a vital means of…