Enfilade

From the National Trust:

Rachel Conroy, with an introduction by Sandi Toksvig, Women Artists & Designers at the National Trust (National Trust, 2025), 272 pages, ISBN: 978-0707804699, £15.

From the magnificent gardens created by Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst to a striking self-portrait by Angelica Kauffman, the elegant, mass-produced ceramics of Susie Cooper and a model of a Palmyran temple by lady’s maid Elizabeth Ratcliffe, this beautifully illustrated book explores the lives and work of women whose creativity has shaped the National Trust’s collections and, often, the experience of visitors to its places. Spanning six centuries, this book takes a closer look at some of the many women artists and designers whose lives are connected to National Trust places or whose work is represented in its vast collections. The selection features both talented amateur artists and professionals who have shaped the art-historical canon—such as Eileen Agar, Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, Rosalba Carriera, and Barbara Hepworth—focusing on their unique contributions and achievements across a range of disciplines, including garden and interior design, photography, illustration, enamelling, fine art, studio pottery, and textiles.

Rachel Conroy is a Senior National Curator at the National Trust and loves telling stories through objects. She has worked as a curator specialising in British decorative arts since 2004, curating many exhibitions and displays. Having contributed articles to numerous specialist journals, Rachel recently co-authored a book on historic Welsh ceramics.
Sandi Toksvig OBE is a comedian, broadcaster, campaigner, and author. Her broadcasting career has included QI, The Great British Bake Off, The News Quiz, and Call My Bluff. An activist for gender equality, Sandi co-founded the Women’s Equality Party in 2015. She is a Bye-Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, where she has delivered lectures on women in art.