Sarah RichardsResearcher, 2007–2009

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Sarah Richards’ contributions to the Diary Project included providing background information on the domestic arrangements, social occasions, and material culture of the Steinway household. She found that William’s diary, although short on description, led to a wealth of detail about the social practices, rituals, and living conditions of his family and the wider community in Astoria and New York.

For most of her professional career Richards lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She has an undergraduate and a master's degree in ceramics. For over a decade she taught ceramic practice at the University of Wales, College of Cardiff. For another twelve years she taught history of ceramics, and the history of art and design at the University of Wales, the Open University, Bath Spa University, and Manchester Metropolitan University. Active in research as well as teaching she published several articles in academic journals and one book, Eighteenth-Century Ceramics: Products for a civilised society (Manchester University Press, 1999). She relocated to the United States in 2004. Since then she has undertaken freelance work for the International Print Center in New York City, and continues to do research. For the Smithsonian National Museum of American History she is a Behind-the-Scenes volunteer in the Division of Home and Community Life, specializing in ceramics. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband, Rolf Sinclair, a retired physicist.