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A Natural Legacy, Part 1

6/12/2018

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PictureOrra White Hitchcock classroom charts. Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.
On Monday, June 11th, 2018, Museum Textile Services director and chief conservator Camille Myers Breeze attended the opening of the long-awaited new exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum called Charting the Divine Plan: The Art of Orra White Hitchcock (1796-1863). Curated by the museum's acting executive director as well as deputy director for curatorial affairs and chief curator Stacy Hollander, the exhibit unites nearly all of Orra White Hitchcock's cotton classroom charts along with manuscripts, botanical and zoological samples, and fossils.
​Orra White Hitchcock was one of the earliest documented female botanical and scientific illustrators in the United States. Born in 1796 in the western Massachusetts town of South Amherst, Orra married Edward Hitchcock, a pastor, geologist, professor of chemistry and natural history, and future president of Amherst College, on May 31, 1821. Immediately upon completion of her formal education, Hitchcock began teaching at Deerfield Academy, a school for ladies located 25 miles from her home. The diverse subjects she taught included fine and decorative arts, mathematics, botany, and astronomy.
 
Orra and Edward likely met between 1816 and 1818. Edward was headmaster at Deerfield and actively conducting field studies of local botany and mineralogy. Orra is described by author Elizabeth Farnsworth as “Fearless...She did not limit herself to the most traditional role of wife and mother, but became an equal and complementary partner to the brilliant and complex Edward…Although she did not exhibit her work, it became known to contemporary scientists including Benjamin Sillman, John Torrey, and Chester Dewey.” 
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MTS director Camille Myers Breeze beside Orra White Hitchcock's "Crust of the Earth." Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.
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"Caricography" or study of sedge grasses. By Chester Dewey with illustrations by Orra White Hitchcock. American journal of Science and Arts, Vol. 9 (June 1825). Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.
​The Hitchcocks collaborated on Edward’s geological publications as early as 1822. The couple settled in Amherst Massachusetts in 1826 and Edward began teaching chemistry, natural history, and “natural theology” classes at Amherst College. In addition to her increasingly well-known works of art on paper, Hitchcock started to create painted cotton textiles depicting geological and zoological subjects. These classroom charts were used by Edward and his colleagues as teaching tools. Sixty-one of the classroom charts survive in the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All but one is currently on view at the American Folk Art Museum.
In the 2011 exhibition catalog Orra White Hitchcock: An Amherst Woman of Art and Science, authors Robert L. Herbert and Daria D’Arienzo state that, “Orra drew her charts in ink and watercolor on canvas from about 1828 to the 1840s. The mixed media throughout include ink, ink wash, pencil, watercolor, and gum Arabic.”  The cotton plain-weave ground is heavily sized, or glazed, to give the textiles varying degrees of stiffness. We found at least two different lots of fabric. 
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"Nautilus Striatus" by Orra White Hitchcock beside its namesake shell. Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.
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Fossilized footprints in the natural history museum at Amherst College. Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.
​Author Tekla Harms explains in a nut shell that the challenge Hitchcock faced in making the classroom charts was “To faithfully represent what could only be imagined.” "Megatherium Cuv.," for example, had to be adapted from published lithographs because it was not among the fossils in the Amherst College collection. She also ventures a guess as to the appearance of "Anoplotherium" known only by its fossilized remains.
Edward was not afraid to engage his students in geological controversies, such as the origin of the great sand and gravel deposits found throughout New England. While some believed they were caused by a Biblical-style flood, others argued they resulted from the movement of glacier ice. Likewise, Orra’s depictions of megafauna like mastodon and ichtheosaurus clearly acknowledge that prehistoric animals differed from those known in her time. The couple were openly supporting a belief that the earth is dynamic and changing years before the 1839 publication of Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle and On the Origin of Species (1859). 
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Nine Orra White Hitchcock classroom charts on display alongside manuscripts and fossils in "Carting the Divine Plan." Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.

Charting the Divine Plan: The Art of Orra White Hitchcock (1796–1863) will be at the American Folk Art Museum through October 14, 2018. In Part II of this blog, we will go into the conservation treatments undertaken by Museum Textile Services to prepare the classroom charts for display.

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Camille Myers Breeze founded Museum Textile services in 1999. She is a prolific author, and educator of museum personnel and emerging conservation professionals in the US and abroad.
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Identity of a Community: Hmong Textiles

6/5/2018

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​The study collection at Museum Textile Services is an amazing resource that allows us to learn new techniques, expand on our textile knowledge base, and safely train new staff and interns. The collection is diverse; it contains donated, bequeathed, and purchased textiles ranging from our backyard in colonial America to places as far away as Africa and Papua New Guinea. The oldest pieces were woven by the Chancay and Chimu cultures of ancient Peru nearly 1000 years ago! One of my first projects when I came to MTS was to rehouse new donations, including family textiles inherited from our director Camille Breeze's mother. In doing so, I was struck by the sheer beauty of four small embroidered textiles from the Hmong culture, which came to us from a long-time client. Their patterns, colors and vibrancy made me want to learn more about these textiles that were so foreign to me.
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Sample of traditional Hmong stitches. Courtesy of Diary of a Quilter
According to author Carl L. Bankston III, "Social scientists estimate that there are between six and seven million Hmong in the world. Until recently, almost all Hmong lived in the mountains of southern China, Laos, Thailand, and northern Vietnam. Chinese oppression during the nineteenth century and the rise of communism in Vietnam following World War II pushed many Hmong into Laos, where about 300,000 Hmong lived peacefully during the 1960s. After the royal Laotian government was overthrown by Communist forces in 1975, about one-third of the Laotian Hmong were killed, another third fled to Thailand, and the remaining third stayed in Laos. Many of those who took refuge in Thailand found homes in France, Australia, or the United States. Overall, about 95,000 Hmong have settled in the United States. 
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Women in traditional Hmong dress. Photo courtesy of The Art of Hmong Embroidery.
​Traditional Hmong embroidery was used as a form of decoration in clothing. Girls learned the art of embroidery from a young age from the female members of their family, also learning designs and patterns that were passed down generationally. As they got older, a girl’s embroidery skills made her more attractive as a potential marriage partner. Special embroideries were made for big events in one’s life, such as marriage and death. When a girl was married, her mother would give her a skirt, traditionally made of hemp, with a colorful pattern depicting a story or multiple symbols. The skirt was cherished throughout her life, and upon death, was then again worn by her and was believed to aid her in the spirit realm as she began her journey to meet her ancestors in the after life. 
Textiles are still an important part of ​modern Hmong culture. Techniques they employ include embroidery, applique, reverse applique and batik. Similar to embroidery, batik dye patterns and execution were passed down through generations of women.  All Hmong textile art uses symbols to tell stories, many taking a month or more to complete.  As I researched the embroidered piece that struck me most, I discovered that it was made as a collar to be attached to the back of a women’s jacket. I also identified many symbols used in this embroidery, which include; leaf frond (Nplooj Kaus Suab), maze, flower (Paj), hook (Tus Khawb), and cross (Tus cim caiv).  
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Photo of traditional collar of Blue Hmong being worn. Photo Courtesy of Herbarium Design.
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Hmong Collar from MTS Study Collection. Photo Courtesy of Museum Textile Services.
In addition to researching the fascinating history of Hmong culture, I also spot tested the textile for soiling and bleeding of colors, luckily with few results. I then made a custom fabric covered board, and archivally mounted the textile by sewing it to the board using a blind stitch.  I then framed it behind glass, using spacers to prevent the textile from touching the glass.
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Detail of Hmong embroidered textile from MTS Study Collection.
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Detail of Hmong embroidered textile from MTS Study Collection.
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Detail of Hmong embroidered textile from MTS Study Collection.
The Hmong textiles that I researched and worked on from the Museum Textile Services study collection are only the tip of the iceberg in an amazing array of things that I am learning as an MTS intern. I’m grateful for the chance to research and conserve something that spoke to me, and to be able to share this knowledge with others through the MTS Blog. 
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Sarah Uhlendorf Stebulis graduated from Keene State University in 2002 with a BA in American History. She has been an interpreter, curator, museum director, and freelance registrar. In her free time Sarah is a fiber junkie and enjoys sewing, spinning, dying wool, and weaving.
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Textiles in Trust

5/23/2018

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On May 11th, 2018, Museum Textile Services conservators attended the long-anticipated opening of the exhibit "Leisure Pursuits" at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts. Part of the 100-plus special places in Massachusetts overseen by the Trustees of Reservations, Fruitlands hosted this display of clothing and textiles from several Trustees locations. This show is one of eight MassFashion exhibits in 2018, all of which showcase the different facets of fashion and how it connects to the modern day individual and history.
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Two Worth gowns displayed on Andover Figures® in "Leisure Pursuits" at the Fruitlands Museum.
During the fall and winter leading up to this first-of-its-kind exhibit, the MTS staff conserved 20 pieces of costume ranging from a Worth gown to a rayon bathing costume to a waiter's jacket. Some items once belonged to famous Bay Staters, such as a hat worn by poet William Cullen Bryant and a Knox trench coat favored by Mabel Choat when gardening at her Berkshire estate Naumkeag.  What brings the exhibit of essential clothing and accessories together are the various forms of entertainment, sport, and holiday favored by New Englanders from the Guilded Age to the late 20th century. 
The largest group of dresses worn by a single woman belonged to Helen Stevens Coolidge, descendant of one of the founding families of Andover. The country house she lived in with her husband John, the Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover, is one of the finest Colonial Revival estates in the northeast, with many acres of farmland and gardens to explore around the mansion. John Coolidge was the great, great grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a nephew of Isabella Stewart Gardner. This status is reflected in Helen's wardrobe, which contained both day-to-day essentials like lawn dresses, and elegant evening gowns by Paris fashion house Worth. Senior Curator Christie Jackson spent over two years researching the vast collections found throughout the Trustees 16 historic houses. After researching Worth gowns, Christie dated Helen's two dresses to c 1895. She later discovered that Helen and John Coolidge met in Paris in 1895, which begs the question whether it was one of these dresses that caught John's eye.
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Conservators Courtney Jason and Gretta Hempelmann building two Andover Figures® for "Leisure Pursuits."
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The Trustees commissioned Museum Textile Services to build custom archival manikins for their two Worth gowns. This provided yet another opportunity for our Andover Figures® system to be an affordable solution to safely display even ornate, heavy costume. Starting with our basic Ethafoam core, we used additional Ethafoam, polyester batting, and nylon tulle to create individual silhouettes for the two slightly different dresses seen above. 
Take a trip out to beautiful Harvard, Massachusetts, to see "Leisure Pursuits" at the Fruitlands Museum through March 24, 2019. 

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Camille Myers Breeze founded Museum Textile services in 1999. She is a prolific author, and educator of museum personnel and emerging conservation professionals in the US and abroad.
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New Training Opportunity with Camille Myers Breeze

4/23/2018

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Museum Textile Services Director Camille Myers Breeze has been chosen as one of the five instructors participating in the inaugural season of a new collections care program at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. The Center for Collections Care uses two campus museums--the Logan Museum of Anthropology and the Wright Museum of Art--which feature a vibrant archive, and historic costume and natural history collections. According to a 2018 external review, “Beloit College is a recognized leader in the academic field of Museum Studies,” and “… one of the greatest strengths of the Museum Studies Program curriculum at Beloit is its emphasis on experiential, hands-on learning and practice.”
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Introduction to Textile Conservation
                July 25-28, 2018

This course will provide essential skills needed for all collections-care specialists to handle, assess, maintain, and safely house historic clothing and textiles. Beginning with the basic chemical building blocks of textile fibers, Camille will teach students how a fabric's microscopic characteristics impact the preservation, treatment, and interpretation of textile objects. Advancements in textile technology over the last 300 years will be highlighted and the challenges they present to museum staff will be discussed. 
Armed with a better understanding of the needs of historic clothing and textiles, participants will learn hands-on skills such as condition reporting, surface cleaning, exhibition, packing, and photography. Environmental and practical considerations for the care and display of textiles will be presented along with case studies in successful and problematic conservation solutions. Working with study collection pieces from Beloit College, as well as their own objects, students will create a treatment proposal, carry out basic treatment steps, and complete a final assessment report. Sewing skills are not required.
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The Center for Collections Care at Beloit College provides important training for all current and emerging museum collections professionals. To register for Introduction to Textile Conservation or any of this summer's programs, visit the Beloit College website: www.beloit.edu/ccc.  
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Restoring the Elegance of Trapunto Whitework Quilts

4/10/2018

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Four trapunto quilts arrived at Museum Textile Services this winter for conservation. Three belong to Hammond-Harwood House of Annapolis, MD, and a fourth is being donated to the New England Quilt Museum, in Lowell, MA. These wonderful examples beautifully showcase this historic style of quilting that was popular in America in the mid-nineteenth century. The quilts varied in condition, but were all treated in a similar way and exhibit a wide spectrum of this style of whitework.
Trapunto quilting is also known historically as stuffed quilting, whitework quilting, or corded quilting. The names accurately describe the technique used to make these labor intensive quilts; trapunto in Italian means "to embroider," and in Latin it means "to prick with a needle." In this quilting technique, 2 to 3 layers of cotton or linen fabric are sandwiched and sewn together. Once sewn together, the artist would hand quilt or embroider a design over the entire quilt. Many of these designs were available as a pattern, or could be created completely by the artist.  
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Example of trapunto quilting. Photo courtesy of Glen Haven Historical Society, New York.
Similar to other textile art such as mourning pictures, images quilted in these such as urns, cornucopias and flowers hold symbolic meaning and can tell a story. Traditionally, the threads would be moved aside with a needle from the back of the quilt and tiny amounts of stuffing or cording was pushed into the voids made by the quilting pattern. This created a raised effect that was beautiful, yet subtle. Once an area was stuffed to satisfaction, the threads at the back that had been moved aside are again worked back together to make the entry area invisible. ​One of the Hammond-Harwood House trapunto quilts has a more delicate backing fabric, which allowed it to be more easily stuffed.
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Detail of trapunto quilt made by Elizabeth North, after conservation and bleaching. Image by MTS.
This style of quilting is believed to have originated in Sicicly in the the 14th century, and continued to be popular across Italy and Europe through the 18th century.  Immigrants brought the technique to America with them and it enjoyed popularity from the early 19th century, peaking mid-century. It became less common by the 20th century, as it was so time consuming and the country was being vastly changed by the industrial revolution. The trapunto quilt belonging to a private collector is a fine example of one made in America in 1823 and prominently has the name “Elizabeth North” across the top, possibly having been made for her as a wedding gift.  It also features two urns of flowers and an overflowing cornucopia of flowers.
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Damage to this trapunto quilt clearly shows the thin backing fabric through which the cotton batting was originally stuffed. Image by MTS.
​The three quilts that we conserved at MTS underwent similar treatment, a process of wetcleaning and bleaching with the reductive bleaching agent, sodium borohydride (NaBH4). Wetcleaning cotton and linen fibers with the addition of a sodium borohydride bath is beneficial both visually and chemically, resulting in healthier and brighter artifacts. Sodium borohydride cannot be used on protein fibers—such as silk and wool—because they are naturally acidic and the sodium borohydride solution is alkaline (approximately pH 10). 
As cellulosic textiles age, hydroxyl groups (-OH) are converted to carbonyl groups (=O), which contribute to a dingy brown or yellow color. The chemical process known as reduction adds electrons to the cellulose fibers, stabilizing their molecular weight and returning carbonyl groups back to colorless hydroxyl groups. The combination of dissolved soils and cellulosic degradation often turn the wash bath the color of strong tea. The reaction of the sodium borohydride with water is also produces hydrogen gas bubbles, and the bath may give off a smell reminiscent of sulfur or chlorine. It is important to agitate the sodium borohydride wash bath regularly to allow all sides of the textile to come in contact with the surface of the water where the chemical reaction is taking place. Especially dirty whitework quilts receive additional baths with a solution of the anionic surfactant Orvus, before being rinsed and air dried under a cotton wicking cloth.  ​
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Detail of Elizabeth North quilt, after conservation and bleaching. Image by MTS.
Cleaning discolored textiles is always rewarding, and restoring the legibility of these three-dimensional trapunto quilts is no exception. Viewers will enjoy seeing the results of conservation when the quilts are exhibited in their museums.
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Sarah Uhlendorf Stebulis is a former registrar, curator, and museum director. She was also Assistant Administrator for the Lowell Historic Board and Office Manager for Preservation Worcester. Sarah continues to provide freelance collections cataloging for private collectors, and is excited to return to her textile conservation training. 
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The Laura Ingalls Wilder Crazy Quilt

3/26/2018

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​Laura Ingalls Wilder is known as the writer of the “Little House” books, and I only recently discovered that she also was a quilter. A quilt was sent to Museum Textile Services by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. It is one of two crazy quilts made by the author in the early 1900’s. Unlike other quilts she made, mention of this one does not appear in any of Laura's writings. However we know that this particular quilt was made not too long after she moved with her husband Almanzo and their daughter Rose to Mansfield, where they purchased a plot of land, and began building their homestead. 
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The 1928 Rock House, where the first four Little House books were written. Image courtesy of Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic home & Museum.
​Their home would become known as Rocky Ridge Farm, which is now the site of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum. The 1913 farmhouse was home to the family until 1928, when Laura’s daughter Rose built the Rock House. Laura and Almanzo lived in the newer home until 1936, when they returned to their farmhouse to live out the rest of their lives. It was during their time in the Rock House that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the first four of her “Little House on the Prairie” books, the series for which she is best known.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder (l) and Rose Wilder Lane (r). Images courtesy of The National Archives Pieces of History Blog.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is believed to have created this crazy quilt is toward the end of the peak of popularity of crazy quilting in America. The fascination began in 1876 at the Philadelphia Exposition where the crazed pottery of the Japanese Pavilion inspired American women to incorporate similar patterns into their quilting. ​​​​The top layer of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s crazy quilt was comprised of many differently patterned silk, cotton, and velvet pieces. Crazy quilts are typically assembled out of any spare fabric present in a household, and this quilt is no exception. In particular, many of the pieces of silk Laura used were badly worn and in need of support before the quilt could be safely displayed. 
We determined that a net overlay on the front of the quilt was the best solution for its long-term preservation. The entire front was covered in one piece of brown nylon net that matched most of the fabrics, and is only minimally visible on a few of the lightest areas. I pinned the net out, being careful to not leave too much excess or pull the net too tightly over the surface of the quilt. Intern Sarah Stebulis and I then stitched the net down along the lines between the blocks and along strategic seams within each block to ensure the net did not sag. At the edges of the quilt, the net was turned under and stitched to the backing fabric one half inch from the edge. This encapsulated the edges, protecting them from further wear and loss. A twill tape header was attached along the top of the quilt for future display with a magnetic hanging system. 
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Stabilizing worn silks with a nylon net overlay. Photo by MTS.
While ​the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic House & Museum does sell quilt patterns in their online store, you’ll have to look elsewhere for a crazy quilt pattern. Or better yet, create your very own.

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​Courtney Jason has worked with MTS since 2010. She completed her ALM in Museum Studies at Harvard Extension School in 2017.
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MassFashion all the Rage in 2018

3/12/2018

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MassFashion is an exhibition bringing together eight Massachusetts museums to showcase the different facets of fashion, and how fashion connects to the modern day individual and history. Each museum has a unique exhibit relating to clothing that ranges from mid-seventeenth century to modern day. Some exhibits focus on hats and shoes, while others focus on the important individuals and events that are connected to that piece. Museum Textile Services has been busy conserving and readying pieces to be displayed for several of the museums associated with the MassFashion exhibitions. 

Massachusetts Historical Society

Massachusetts Historical Society is exhibiting Fashion the New England Family, 17th to 19th Century: Reuse, Refashion, Preserve, and Pass On allowing visitors to learn about the importance of fashion in history. Many pieces were have been in long term storage and are being exhibited for the first time. MTS conserved five historic garments for this exhibit including Mather Byles christening cap. The exhibit opens October 2018.
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Mather Byles' Christening Cap

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has two exhibitions with an emphasis on fashion and textiles. The first exhibit is Casanova's Europe: Art, Pleasure, and Power in the 18th Century. This will show how clothing, furniture, and art are woven into Casanova's  travel, courtships, and social activities. The exhibit is open  July 8, 2018.

The second exhibit at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is showcasing is Boston Arts Crafts Jewelry and Metalwork (working title). This exhibit displays the craftsmanship and artistry of jewelry and metalworkers. MFA will showcase how the artists' stories connect and helped make life more worthwhile during an industrial revolution when many things are becoming mass manufactured and less handcrafted. This exhibit will open November 17, 2018.
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Man's waistcoat, breeches, and vest. Image from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Trustees of Reservations

Trustees of Reservations will be exhibiting Leisure Pursuits: The Fashion and Culture of Recreation displaying how people of Massachusetts participated in activities such as gardening, swimming, entertaining, fitness, and equestrian pursuits. Each of these activities required a certain dress and influenced the fashion of the time. MTS had the opportunity to conserve several pieces for Trustees of Reservations. The Driscoll's gown pictured below is a piece MTS conserved. This exhibit will be showcasing what was worn for certain activities and opens May 12, 2018. 
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Driscoll's Gown

Historic New England

Historic New England's curator Laura Johnson is focusing on the influence of shoes and hats in Head to Toe: Hat and Shoe Fashions from Historic New England. The 46 shoes and hats show the relationship between these items and New England, highlighting the connections of body image with socio-economics,  cultural appropriation, and activism. The Head to Toe exhibit opens June 1, 2018.
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Julia Child's Shoes. Image from Historic New England's Online Collections

Fuller Craft Museum

​Uneasy Beauty: Discomfort in Contemporary Adornment will exhibit at the Fuller Craft Museum. This exhibit will feature 75 pieces of contemporary jewelry and costume. Susan Ramljak's curation will show the connection of fashion to human emotions, intellect, and body through the demands of fashion itself. The exhibition will begin October 26, 2018.
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Snake Handbag. Photographed by Bob Toy

Old Sturbridge Village

A Fashion for Preservation: Caring for the Old Sturbridge Village Textile Collection is being exhibited at the ​Old Sturbridge Village. Museum Textile Services surveyed the hanging fashion collection dating from 1780 to 1850 last spring.This program is extremely exclusive, allowing only 15 visitors on June 16, 2018. A Fashion for Preservation is exemplifying how to properly care for textiles and why their new rehousing of 300 items is crucial for the preservation of history.  
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Camille and Morgan examining the storage at Old Sturbridge Village


​Peabody Essex Museum

​Peabody Essex Museum is exhibiting the influence of empresses of China during the Qing Dynasty in the exhibit Empresses of China's Forbidden City. One hundred and fifty objects from the Forbidden City will be on display and tell this little known story of the empresses. This will be on exhibit August 18, 2018.


​Concord Museum

Concord Museum is answering questions of how people from the 18th and 19th century obtained their clothing in the exhibit Fresh Goods: Shopping for Clothing in a New England Town, 1750-1900. This exhibit will display clothing that started with cloth purchased in the Concord area, clothing that was purchased by a tailor of dressmaker nearby, or purchased in a major fashion city such as Paris, London, New York, or Boston.  There will be an interactive experience for visitors to "shop" the collection. The exhibit opens March 2, 2018.
Each exhibit is unique and a fantastic opportunity to learn about fashion, history, and the local connections to Massachusetts and the New England area. Fashion connects us all, be it artistically or functionally, we are all connected through this industry. Concord Museum, Fuller Craft Museum, Historic New England, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Old Sturbridge Village, the Peabody Essex Museum, and The Trustees of Reservations are exhibiting this connection through MassFashion. Check out all the current and upcoming exhibits from each museum that is participating in the MassFashion exhibition!​

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Gretta Hempelmann is a graduate from The University of Missouri with a MA in Clothing and Textiles. She has a BA in Fashion Design and Merchandising from West Virginia University. ​ She received a certificate for Care of Special Collections for Textiles from the International Preservation Studies Center in the summer of 2016.
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Hammersmith Rugs: A William Morris Legacy

3/7/2018

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​Museum Textile Services had the pleasure of conserving two William Morris rugs from the Preservation Society of Newport County that date to the 1880s. William Morris was the champion of the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He designed and created everything from wall paper to textiles in a way that subverted the fast-paced industrialist ideals of the Victorian Era. William Morris was deeply inspired by medieval aesthetics. He and architect Philip Webb built Red House in the emerging Neo-Gothic style.
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Exterior of Red House. Photograph courtesy of Jacqueline Banerjee.
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The front hall of Red House.
Upon Red House's completion in 1860, Morris desired to furnish the home in the same aesthetic as its architecture. Industrial-made goods were of low quality and lacked medieval inspiration, marked by simplified curvilinear shapes and florals. Morris, with his wife Jane Burden and other friends in the arts circle, decorated the interior of Red House with hand-painted murals and hand-stitched embroideries. This art collective ultimately inspired Morris to create the company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, & Co. in 1861, which specialized in bespoke decorative arts in the Neo-Gothic style.
Deeply inspired by the quality and design of rugs from the Middle East, Morris and Co. began producing hand-knotted rugs in the 1870s. After producing small test squares, a larger operation was set up at his new home in Hammersmith, which dubbed the term Hammersmith rugs. Warp threads of worsted or cotton were stretched between two beams. Six women would hand knot wool yarns and were expected to complete 2 square inches a day with roughly 25 knots per square inch.
​The two Hammersmith pieces sent to MTS are an area rug and a runner. The area rug contains two floral medallions within a rectangular field, surrounded by a series of borders. The runner features a central red and pink field with a wide green foliate border edged in pink and red. 
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Area rug before conservation. Image by MTS. Courtesy of PSNC.
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Detail of runner. Image by MTS. Courtesy of PSNC.
Both rugs have cotton warp and alternating cotton and jute weft. The warps form ornate knotted fringe on the short ends. The pile of both rugs is wool, and there is a separate wool binding edge attached to the longer sides of each rug. The wool pile is has survived the best of all the materials. The colors are still vivid and there are only losses in areas where the other elements have failed, such as the binding edge. The cotton warps are sound, though there are some tears and losses to the ornate knotted fringe. The primary condition issue is the structural failure of the jute weft, which make both carpets vulnerable to splitting in the long direction.
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Another Hammersmith rug with hand-knotted fringe (c.1880s). Courtesy of William Morris Gallery.
MTS conservators stabilized the slits using three different techniques, depending on the severity of the damage. Small slits were closed with a traditional whip stitch using a cotton-polyester thread. Longer slits were mended with tabby reweaving, where the repair thread was passed over and under alternating warps to restore a network of stability while closing the tear. Where groups of splits were most severe, such as along the middle where the area rug had been folded, we employed patches of cotton duck to which we made our tabby and slit stitching. In this case we had to work with one conservator standing over the rug on tables and another conservator lying on the floor beneath a gap in the tables. Losses to the binding edge were stabilized with new cotton warp yarns and Appleton wool yarns from England. All four corners of the area rug were also supported with cotton duck patches to prevent future damage. Finally, the fringe edges of both rugs were reinforced by floating cotton/polyester thread through each knot on the reverse.
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Area of weakness before conservation. Photo by MTS. Courtesy of PSNC.
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Area of weakness after stabilization. Photo by MTS. Courtesy of PSNC.
The two William Morris Hammersmith rugs will be displayed this spring at the Breakers, one of the most famous of the Newport mansions run by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

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​Morgan Carbone has a BA in Art History from Grinnell College. She recently finished her Master of Arts degree in Fashion and Textile Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Morgan's interests include lace knitting and cats.
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A Specimen of Art, Part II

1/18/2018

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In Part I of this blog, we told you what we've learned so far about the history of the Rochester Union Greys banner. In this blog we'll tell you how we managed some challenges faced by the textile conservators at Museum Textile Services.
Overall the banner was very fragile, due to its age and the fact that it is made out of silk. Before we could begin the cleaning and repair, we had to address the green and gold cotton fringe. The fringe was not properly tensioned, and parts of it were missing due to substantial areas of loss from rodent damage. The green dye had also bled into the surrounding silk. The tightness of the fringe accentuated the bagging in the center of both the front and back panels the banner, which was acentuated by the weight of the heavy embroidery. 
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Detail of a corner of the banner, before treatment. Image by MTS.
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Soil and dye bleeding were removed from the silk flag using deionized water and a micro suction platen. Image by MTS.
Stitches holding the fringe to the banner were snipped and each section of fringe was removed and marked so they could be returned to their proper place after treatment. The fringe was then vacuumed with a high-efficiency filtered vacuum on low suction to remove accretions of dirt. Next, both sides of each silk panel composing the body of the banner were vacuumed and gently pressed with a warm iron through cotton muslin. This treatment reduced the heavy creases in the silk and realigned the many fragments. Additional accretions of soil were removed using deionized water pulled through the silk with a mini suction platen. The same method was used to reduce the green dye that had transferred from the fringe.
Once the cleaning of the banner was completed, it was moved to a solid-support panel that we had  covered with Polyfelt and cotton poplin. We began reassembling the banner by centering the bottom layer face-down on the panel. A piece of hi-loft polyester padding in the shape of the embroidered wreath was placed in the center of the banner to ensure sufficient pressure against the acrylic. In order to compensate visually for losses in the top layer of the banner, a piece of cream cotton was then placed on top of the padding. The top layer of the flag was rolled out over the cotton and pinned into place. The final layer of support was a full overlay of sheer cream-colored nylon net. 
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Technician Gretta Hemplemann reattaches the fringe after the banner has been reassembled onto the solid-support panel. Image by MTS.
​Once all the layers were in place, the flag was hand stitched to the support panel around the edges and through the embroidery. Any areas of weakness in need of additional support were also stabilized, such as loose areas of embroidery. The sections of fringe were placed around the banner and tensioned to their maximum length. The client agreed to allow us to start the fringe further from the sleeve end to provide the length necessary to minimize gaps between sections. We hand stitched the fringe along the perimeter, and any errant strands were tacked down by hand. We decided to pressure mount the banner under UV-filtering acrylic in order to minimize the amount of stitching necessary to hold the fringe and support the fragile banner. A sheet of UV filtering acrylic was screwed to the front of the panel through pre-drilled holes. An aluminum powder-coated frame was then screwed into place to complete the pressure mount.
In just under one year, this beautiful silk banner was salvaged from a trunk full of rodent-damaged memorabilia, identified as being an important historical document, and returned to stability and splendor through textile conservation. We are grateful to its owner for trusting us when we proposed this extensive treatment, and recognizing the value of preservation.
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Courtney Jason has worked with MTS since 2010. She completed her ALM in Museum Studies at Harvard Extension School in 2017.
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A Specimen of Art, Part I

1/11/2018

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An intricately embroidered banner was brought in to Museum Textile Services by a private client from upstate New York. It was made for the Rochester Union Grays, a military unit formed in Rochester, NY, on November 19, 1838. “Union Grays” was a nickname for the regiment, they also were known as the First Regiment Light Artillery and the First Independent Battalion Light Artillery Militia. The Union Grays were originally a rifle company, which then transitioned to infantry before becoming an artillery company. 
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Rochester Union Grey's banner, before conservation. Photo courtesy of private client.
​The banner is comprised of two layers of silk, each heavily embroidered, with a fringe around three edges. The verso has a ring of brightly colored flowers on a leafy vine, surrounding the text “Rochester Unions Grays” with “Presented By The Ladies” in the center. At the top of the ring of flowers, an eagle head holds a small banner reading, “Union is strength,” which was the motto of the Union Grays. A ring of embroidered acorns and oak leaves is extant on the recto, but the center medallion is empty. Stitch holes within the embroidered ring lead us to conclude that there once was something on this side as well. The banner's owner discovered a contemporary published account of the presentation of the banner to the regiment, in which it is described as having “The Goddess of Liberty in the midst of the clouds, cherishing and supporting the American Eagle, in his onward and upward flight.”  It is the owner's goal to find whether this separate piece of silk still exists so it can be reunited with the rest of the banner.
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Reverse of the Rochester Union Grey's banner, during conservation. Photo by Museum Textile Services.
​Unfortunately, the article that clearly describes this banner does not have a date on it. There are four other records of the Union Grays receiving a flag, and in each case some details overlap. Regrettably, each of these sources references the presentation of the flag as occurring on different days. One article describes a “stand of colors” to be presented by the ladies of Rochester in Court House Yard on June 27, 1839. A stand of colors refers to flags that are carried by a military unit. A “History of the Company” references the “presentation of a beautiful silk flag by the ladies of Rochester to the company on Court House Square.” There is an agreement here in the location of the presentation, in the vicinity of the Court House, as well as the flag being presented by the ladies. A third article in the Albany Argus printed on July 5, 1839 refers to the presentation of a banner on “Friday afternoon.” July 5th fell on a Friday in 1839, however the past tense used in the article implies that the banner presentation was June 28th, 1839, the Friday before. Two sources support the 28th as the date of the presentation, and a third, published before the presentation, points to the day before, and the discrepancy can be explained by a delay due to inclement weather.
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Rochester Union Grey's banner, after conservation. Photo by Museum Textile Services.
The final mystery of the banner is the identity of its creators. The detail and craftsmanship of the work is complimented, “As a specimen of art, it is exceedingly creditable to the skill, taste, and genius of the women who designed and wrought it”. The one constant within the accounts of the presentation of the banner is that it was created by “the ladies of the city of Rochester,” however they are not identified further. The speech given by Graham H. Chapin at the presentation refers to the “Ladies here assembled,” which implies that the ladies who created the banner were in attendance and were likely known to the men in the regiment. Unfortunately, their names were not preserved for the historical record, and they remain the anonymous ladies of Rochester.

In our next blog we will describe the process we went through to clean, stabilize, mount, and frame the Rochester Union Grey's banner.
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Courtney Jason has worked with MTS since 2010. She completed her ALM in Museum Studies at Harvard Extension School in 2017.
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