Embroidery

Sampler: Sarah Shaw 1827 (Privately owned) The sampler was wet cleaned, and mounted onto an acid-free board covered with a sympathetic linen fabric, in preparation for framing.

Seat cover cut from a piece of 17th crewel work (The Ware Museum Trust)

The seat cover, of linen with wool embroidery, was both soiled and damaged, with areas of loss. Treatment consisted of wet cleaning, together with a full stitched support onto linen, dyed to match. It was mounted onto an acid-free board, ready for framing. It is currently on display in the museum.

Late 17th century chair Hardwick Hall (Cavendish Collection), The National Trust

The drop-in back of the chair (one of a pair), was much worn, with significant loss of the velvet top cover, revealing the linen stuffing cover beneath. The metal threads were lifting from the applied embroidery motifs in many places, and were badly tarnished. In order to treat the cover, it was removed from the frame and the panels separated. After wet-cleaning the velvet side panels and solvent cleaning the embroidery, each component was given a full, stitched support of dyed silk fabric. Loose metal threads were secured, and the side panels were covered with an overlay of semi-transparent, conservation net. The cover was reconstructed and re-applied to the frame The drop-in seat of the chair was similarly treated. Both chairs are on display beneath the Lapierre Canopy in the Long Gallery, Hardwick Hall.

Oriental textiles

Chinese Canopy (National Maritime Museum)

This was a complex project requiring the support of very fragile embroidered silk, working in the round. A stitched support technique was used with overlays of dyed conservation net where necessary, to protect from further wear and loss.

A Chinese Throne Cushion ( Darwin College Cambridge)

The piece had been mounted in a glazed frame, onto an unsuitable backboard. The cushion was removed from the frame and board, and given a full support allowing the many loose embroidery threads to be secured, and splitting at the perimeter to be supported. It was mounted onto an acid-free board with a margin at the edge to accommodate a spacer, to hold the new glazing away from the surface of the textile.

Japanese Armour ( The Royal Collection Copyright 2006 HM Queen Elizabeth II)

A collaborative project working with metals, and lacquer-work conservators at the Royal Armouries, together with technicians, to create a display mount that was both traditional in appearance and supportive for the object. The Japanese armour had many textile components; silk brocades, braids, cords and linings, all of which required separate supports, using reversible stitching techniques. It was an unusual project, in that Japanese armour has traditionally been returned to Japan for replacement of failing textile elements. Our aim, ,together with that of conservators at The Royal Armouries, was to apply conservation techniques to the armour to allow all original elements to be retained. The display mount was considered an integral part of the conservation.

Painted Textiles

The Boat Race Banner (Queen's College Oxford)

The banner commemorates the first Oxford versus Cambridge Boat Race at Henley in 1837. This was a challenging project due to the severe fragmentation of the painted silk. It was necessary to give the painted banner a full adhesive support using a technique where the adhesive is cast as a film onto the support fabric, which is then applied to the object using a solvent reactivation. The placing of detached fragments was like a large jigsaw puzzle! The banner was too fragile to hang and was mounted onto Tycore acid-free board covered with dyed silk. Missing areas were in-filled by painting onto the underlying fabric revealed through the voids giving an indication of the missing areas of the design.

Tapestry

One of Ten Tapestry Fragments c. 1700, from Myddylton Place, now owned by Saffron Walden Museum.

All the fragments were conserved by wet-cleaning and supporting onto a suitable linen backing. Couching stitching was worked to hold weak areas and exposed warps. Linen borders were applied around some of the larger fragments to re-align and in-fill areas of loss. All fragments were subsequently rolled on acid-free rollers, interleaved with acid-free paper and wrapped in Down-proof Cambric for their safekeeping in store, pending display.

Costume

Maternity Dress c. 1870. Bishop's Stortford Museum.

Some remedial conservation was undertaken to prepare the dress for display. It was then mounted onto a display figure supplied by Proportion Uk ltd, which was padded with Polyester wadding to create the correct silhouette. The wadding was given a smooth covering of cotton jersey fabric and petticoats were made to support the skirts.

Stays

Museum of Costume and Assembly Rooms Bath

The stays were fully conserved and mounted onto a form built up from Plastazote covered with Polyester wadding and cotton jersey.

Mounting for Display - 16th Century Cutlery Purse and Knife Sheath

The Bill Brown Collection, Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust.

Both were carefully surface-cleaned. Unsightly old repairs to the embroidery were removed and the loose threads secured . The purse and knife sheath were housed in display mounts of covered boards with Perpex 'wells', within a custom-made Solander box. The mounts can be lifted out and placed in a display case without the need for further preparation.

Glove Mount - Mounts for gloves are constructed from acid-free card, padded with Polyester wadding and covered with silk fabrics. The thumb is made seperately so that it can slide easily into the hand. The perspex stand holds the glove so that there is no pressure on the underside.