Amy Azzarito

Thesis

Women and Diamonds: The 18th Century Economics of Jewellery 

Research

“I’ve a great respect for things!” says Madame Merle in Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady (1881), … “one’s house, one’s furniture, one’s garments, the books one reads, the company one keeps -- these things are all expressive.” 

As a material culture historian, Amy uses objects to reveal the relationship between people and their things. Her thesis project examines how 18th century English women used jewellery as a means to obtain, secure and distribute wealth. It aims to combine an understanding of aesthetic and sentimental decisions with their economic impact. 

Amy’s previous work has been focused on examining the domestic sphere. Her most recent book The Elements of a Home: Curious Histories behind Everyday Objects, from Pillows to Forks (Chronicle Books, 2020) told the stories behind more than 60 everyday household objects and furnishings: from how napkins got their starts as lumps of dough in Ancient Greece, why forks were once seen as immoral tools of the devil and how Plato devised one of the earliest alarm clocks using rocks and water. 

Papers and Publications

• The Elements of a Home: Curious Histories behind Everyday Household Objects, from Pillows to Forks. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, March 2020
• Past and Present: 24 Favorite Moments in Decorative Arts History, and 24 Modern DIY Projects Inspired by Them. New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang, March 2013.
• "Libre, Colorado, and the HandBuilt Home" in West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America, 19651977, ed. Auther, Elissa and Adam Lerner. University of Minnesota Press, November 2011.
• “New York Haute Cuisine” in Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture, ed. Donald Albrech. New York: Random House, September 2008.
• “The Longest: Gangplank.” Authored with Albrecht, Donald and Liora Cobin. Interior Design (September 1, 2008).

External Activities

Amy is the in-house jewellery historian for Erica Weiner Jewelry, an antique jeweller in the US. (You can read her posts here)  She also writes about jewellery history for Inez Stodel Jewelry, a sixty-year old jewellery firm in Amsterdam.