Charlotte Louise Rendle

About

I am a student in the History of Design with a bachelor’s degree in History from King’s College London. In my previous degree, I covered censorship in museum exhibitions with a dissertation entitled: “Museal Silence: ‘Gabriel Chanel. Fashion Manifesto'”. I have also researched English and Japanese women’s fashion in a paper titled: ‘Fashion as a dictator of Sexuality’. My last paper, ‘What happens in the home: A Case Study of Martha Edlin’s Casket’ was a detailed object analysis of a casket embroidered by a young girl of eleven in the late seventeenth century. I argued that the casket can be considered a representation of how middle-class girls were educated not just in terms of skill but religious teachings in such a turbulent time for English domestic relationships.

My Master’s dissertation takes on the ‘Research into the design, production and consumption of watercolour tools used in amateur art in the long nineteenth century’. This project explores the themes of amateurism, class, and gender. A theme that runs through my work is the discussion of hidden histories. For instance, the previously mentioned question of ‘what was happening in the home’ as well as a question that sits at the heart of this dissertation: Did the lower/working classes engage with hobbies or hobby culture? I would be interested in taking my research further in this discussion, especially as my research into hobby culture in the nineteenth century grows.

Alongside my academic writing, I have also researched for a student-led project: ‘The Question is…’ a podcast aimed at unearthing untold stories in a recorded casual conversation, allowing the listener with no historical knowledge to access histories they would otherwise not come in contact with.