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Malke Vosk’s Handmade Wedding Gown and Fascinator

February 14, 2023
by Tanya Elder

It’s February and love is in the air!

The AJHS Museum Collection has several textiles of extremely fragile material, including the wedding gown of English lass, Malke Vosk, who married Scotsman David Goldberg in Leeds, England in 1936. This dress was handsewn by Malke and made of spiderweb lace with satin bows and satin underslip.

Malke Vosk’s Handsewn Wedding Gown and Heart-Shaped Fascinator. AJHS Museum Collection, Accession number 2002.001.001a-d

AJHS normally does not take textiles into the collection, and it is odd that this dress was made and used in England as we normally only collect American Jewish memorabilia. The gown and fascinator were donated by a former AJHS staff member, Rachel Chodorov, in 1993 but officially accessioned in 2002. In this small and beautiful collection, we are lucky to have not only the dress, but a digital photograph of the wedding party which shows Malke wearing her labor of love with her family in a wedding party photograph. It is a rarity in the AJHS collection.

The heart-shaped fascinator was displayed in the American Jewish Historical Society Treasures Exhibit in 2017.

Pictured l to r: Isadore Vosk (Malke’s brother), Annie Vosk, groom David Goldberg, bride Malke, her parents Fagel and Jacob, and two children, Blanche Vosk and an unnamed boy. Leeds, England, 1936