Candace Wheeler Bees Tea Towel

Candace Wheeler (New York, 1827-1923) was the first woman to work professionally in the decorative arts in America, and an early feminist who tirelessly promoted careers in the arts for women and
equality in the workplace.

At a time when the only occupation for a middle-class woman was charity work, Wheeler founded the Society of Domestic Arts, an organization geared to promoting and empowering women to turn
traditionally domestic arts into financial independence. From her experience running the society, she created a substantial career for herself as a textile and interior designer, as well as author and lecturer. Her success led to a partnership with Louis C. Tiffany in a textile firm producing soft arts for home décor. Four years later, she inaugurated her successful all-woman textile and interior design firm, Associated Artists, producing designs for American manufacturers and paving the way for women to follow in a previously male-dominated field.

Our tea towel was inspired by Candace Wheeler’s Bees with Honeycomb, which she designed in 1881 for Mark Twain’s Hartford, Connecticut home.

Candace Wheeler (1827-1923)
Bees with Honeycomb, 1881
Wallpaper fragment
The Metropolitan Museum of Art