Object Type
This panel was probably for a casket. Decorated caskets were used by girls in the 17th century for storing small personal possessions. They were fitted inside with compartments, suitable for keeping jewellery, cosmetics, writing equipment and letters, needlework tools, tiny toys or keepsakes. They often had mirrors set into the lids, for dressing, and sometimes had secret drawers for particularly precious possessions.

Materials & Making
This panel may have been worked by a young girl, aged about 11 or 12. A girl's needlework education began with embroidered samplers and the decoration of smaller objects like pin cushions. It finally culminated in making the panels for a casket. The girl would embroider a series of small panels, drawn with pictorial scenes taken from engravings. They would then be sent to a cabinet-maker to be made up into the casket.

Subjects Depicted
The panel shows a female figure representing Taste. The most popular subjects for embroidered pictures and panels were scenes from the Old Testament and classical mythology, or the representation in human form of the Virtues and the Senses, the Elements and the Seasons. Figures might be copied directly from their original pictorial sources, but were often updated with fashionable clothes and hairstyles.