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"Longfellow Yellow": Could it be Synthetic?

12/14/2018

We close out our series of three MTS Blogs on the subject of Fanny Appleton Longfellow's Spanish-style dress with an exploration of the synthetic dyes available in the 1850s.

If the color of the dress is not due to a natural dye, another potential material is the first of the coal-tar, or chemical, dyestuffs: picric acid. Its proper formulation was discovered in 1845, and factories existed for its production by at least 1855. Contemporary findings note that it was more colorfast than any of the vegetable dyes discussed previously, but subsequent research proved that it was not up to the standard of mineral and chemical alternatives. Despite this, it continued to be used throughout the nineteenth century on a variety of materials, and the vibrancy and purity of the color on this dress could be attributed to it.

Another option, aniline dyes, were both bright and colorfast, which made them extremely popular in a very short amount of time. Textile conservators at Museum Textile Services determined that the Longfellow yellow silk is colorfast in water, like an aniline dye. If it were dated to just a few years later, it could feasibly have been one of the first silks dyed this way; however Charles Mène’s "aniline yellow" was created in 1861, the same year that Fanny Appleton Longfellow died.

Aniline yellow swatches, 1880. Smith, David. Smith's Practical Dyer's Guide.

The last contemporary possibility is a mineral dye. At least one was in use for yellows by 1820: chrome yellow, which the modern reader will recognize as the color of American school buses. It comes from a mineral called crocoite, which was first discovered in the 1790s and is a standard paint color still used by modern artists. The French chemist Vauquelin began by synthesizing pigments from the mineral, and it took thirty years for a breakthrough on chemical dye use. By 1820, dyers were able to achieve a deep and striking yellow with lead chromate (a combination of lead acetate and either potassium chromate or dichromate). The name ‘chrome yellow’ derives from these chemical mordants rather than from appearance or a comparison to nature, and thus does not seem to have been used in fashion magazines like Godey’s and Peterson’s until much later in the century. In the 1850s, the brightest of chrome yellows were probably referred to as ‘canary’ or ‘sulphur’ yellows. The term ‘chrome yellow’ does appear occasionally, but only in reference to paint pigment for craft projects and home décor. It was a popular choice all around; within only a couple of years of its initial manufacture, George IV of England chose it to color the wallpaper of his Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

But while chrome yellow could easily have produced the color on the Longfellow gown, it is unlikely to be the cause. While early dye books suggest its use on silk (with potassium chromate), they also mention that it is not at all colorfast when washed. Research into later manuals suggests that dyers switched to potassium dichromate in order to improve fastness, but that the dichromate severely injured silk - to the point that it “[gave] it the appearance of cotton, on which account it is never used by experienced silk dyers." (Partridge, 98.) From the 1830s onward, chrome yellow was recommended only for use on calicos and some woolens.

In summation: Mrs. Longfellow’s dress was most likely dyed using either quercitron bark or picric acid. It was spot tested and found to be not entirely wash-fast; with soap, a very small amount of the yellow dye bleeds out. But it is relatively wash-fast, and a dress like that would generally not have been washed during its period of use, which is why it still appears so even and bright today.

Yellow dress, c. 1827. Silk & cotton gauze. LACMA M.2007.211.937

These articles have given a historical overview of the most likely dyestuffs; without in-depth analysis, it can be very difficult to tell what a fabric was colored with. Swatches can aid visual identification, but in a case like ours, where quercitron can create the same colors that weld can, there is an obvious difficulty. There are various techniques that are able to break this barrier, FTIR and mass spectrometry, but all require more resources than what we have at the MTS studio. Low tech, non-invasive dye identification is an area sparse in scholarship, and often historical research can be a conservator’s--and a curator's-- best bet.

Kenna Libes is a Public Humanities MA student at Brown University. She got her start at the Smithsonian, and then fell in love with New England while sewing at Plimoth Plantation. Currently, she is working on editing her first paper for publication.

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"Longfellow Yellow": Could it be Natural?

12/14/2018

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In the last MTS Blog, we introduced you to the Spanish-style dress made for "Fanny" Appleton Longfellow (1817–1861), wife of author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. While the style itself is bold, the most striking aspect of the Longfellow dress is its color combination: a deep black velvet, paired with a vivid lemony yellow silk that sometimes seems gold and sometimes acquires a greenish cast.

Detail of Fanny Appleton Longfellow's yellow dress. Image by MTS. Courtesy National Park Service, Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

In the 1850s, the color yellow could be created either with chemical dyes or with dozens of different vegetal dyes. The four natural dyes most often found in dyer’s manuals of the time were quercitron bark, weld, fustic, and turmeric. Of those, quercitron was the most common due to its combination of strength and economy. Weld, a popular yellow dyestuff for centuries, was still used a great deal. Turmeric would have been the most expensive option, but is definitely not the culprit here: its hallmark is a warmer, golden color. The last option, fustic (both ‘old’ and ‘young’), does not yield so vivid a shade as this, nor one so colorfast.

Yellow dress c. 1836. British. Silk. MMA 1971.47.3a–e

If the Longfellow dress is dyed with a natural dye, weld and quercitron are the most viable options. They can both produce a bright lemon yellow when combined with an alum mordant, and they fare better over time and use than the others. Weld, in particular, is famous for leaning to cooler, greenish yellows, while quercitron more easily tends to golden (but can achieve any of weld’s tones with ease). It is hard to say if one seems more likely than the other, though; without concrete evidence, we can only state that quercitron is more likely because it was more popular at the time. From its introduction by the chemist Edward Bancroft in 1775, it became known as a bright and colorfast dyestuff–better than anything before it. While weld was known to diminish in contact with air and light, quercitron was not as prone to fading. It was also cheaper and easier to use.

Whether or not either quercitron or weld is responsible for the "Longfellow yellow," it remains that such a color was possible to achieve before the advent of aniline dyes in the 1860s. There are extant vibrant yellow gowns in several museum collections, with colors ranging from true golden to a greenish acid yellow.

Yellow slippers c. 1830-35. British. Silk. VAM T.178&A-1962

Additional reading: Hansen, Heather Nicole. The Quest for Quercitron: Revealing the Story of a Forgotten Dye. Master’s Thesis, Winter 2011. University of Delaware.

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A French Gown in the Spanish Style

11/27/2018

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An award this year from the Friends of the Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters, a National Historic Site, meant that the staff at Museum Textile Services have gotten intimately acquainted with a dress so central to this Cambridge, Massachusetts, mansion that it was worn by several generations of occupants over the span of a century. Made of bright yellow silk in pristine condition, the dress is adorned with black velvet and fragile lace trim over deteriorating layers of cotton bobbinet. During the textile conservation treatment, we took the opportunity to learn more about this dress in the Spanish style.

Painting of Fanny Appleton by G.P.A. Healy, 1834 (LONG 4437). Courtesy National Park Service, Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

The striking gown is believed to have originally belonged to Frances Elizabeth "Fanny" Appleton Longfellow (1817–1861), wife of author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. While we don’t know its exact date and country of creation, its quality suggest it is probably French in origin. Fanny’s archive of letters also tells us that her brother Tom sent her gowns from Paris on several occasions (Park Service communication). Could this perhaps be the "Spanish dress" that Fanny mentioned in an 1839 letter?

Then myself as Spanish lady–in a yellow satin petticoat, mantilla, genuine Spanish comb & veil of Mrs B’s trying to look coquettish over a fan; much applauded as my eyes did wink a hear’s breadth...

Fanny Appleton Longfellow, 1839. (FEAL‐B2‐F9‐I14 FEAL to EAW 1839‐08‐25). Courtesy National Park Service, Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

Certain elements of Spanish dress were well known enough to be co-opted for formal dress in France, England, and America. An 1855 Godey's story describes a hostess choosing a "fancy costume...of a Spanish lady"--the same description that Fanny herself uses. Ardern Holt's 1887 book Fancy dresses described; or, What to wear at fancy balls gives a number of Spanish-styled outfits, and a common theme--besides the high comb and the mantilla—is the use of black trim and lace, paired with a bold color. That Fanny favored this aesthetic is suggested by an 1834 portrait of her with a black lace mantilla against a red figured velvet.

The Spanish dress, before conservation. Image by MTS. Courtesy National Park Service, Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

Fashion plate illustrating the Spanish style. From French fashion magazine "Les Conseiller des Dames", 1850.

The over-arching category of "Spanish Lady" costume, according to Holt, featured a "short satin skirt (white, red, yellow, or rose) with black lace flounces headed by bands of velvet or gold; low bodice of the same...high comb; lace mantilla fastened over it with red and yellow roses." An 1895 glass plate photograph of Fanny's youngest daughter Anne Allegra Longfellow (1855–1934) shows Anne wearing the dress we are conserving and matching this description almost perfectly, down to the mantilla and comb.

Glass plate image showing Anne Allegra Longfellow (1855–1934) wearing her mother's Spanish dress. Courtesy of Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters.

"The Wassail Bowl". Painting by Marguerite Stuber Pearson (American, 1898–1978).

Further confusing the dating of this dress are additional images from the 20th century, one a painting and another a set of photographs. Around 1940, a portrait was made by American painter Marguerite Stuber Pearson of a young woman in the Longfellow parlor. Her hairstyle and face are strikingly similar to pictures of Fanny Appleton, who died nearly a century earlier in 1861, at the young age of 44. The Spanish dress has undergone some alterations since the glass plate image from the 1890s. Three tiers of black Chantilly lace can clearly be seen covering the stark white bobbinet on the skirt, as well as on the sleeves. Other additions we found, such as a pair of Naiad Dress Shields in the underarms, suggest the dress was also worn in the 1910s or 20s when that company was at the height of its popularity. Perhaps for a celebration of the centennial of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birth in 1907?

Edith Hollman Bowers, Fanny Longfellow's great-great-granddaughter, appears in four photographs taken at the Sesquicentennial celebration of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birth on February 27, 1957. Although we cannot see the tiers of the skirt, the top of the dress appears as it does today with the black lace added to the sleeves. Edith is wearing a 50s crinoline, which adds volume at the hips rather than creating a circular hoop. It is possible that the alterations found on the bodice--notably a letting out at the waist and a gathering at the bust—were made for Edith. At the time the dress was received for conservation, the bodice was also basted to the waistband of the skirt, though originally the dress was in two separate pieces. The fact that the dress survived a century of wearing by at least four different women with very little damage is a testament to the fondness the Longfellow family had for it.

Photographs of Edith Hollman Bowers (Fanny's great-great-grand daughter) at the Sesquicentennial of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birth, February 27, 1957. Courtesy National Park Service, Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

So could this be the same dress Fanny writes about in her 1839 letter? The evidence points to no. Judging from its silhouette and construction, this dress dates to the middle of the 19th century, probably between 1855 and 60. It has a three-tiered skirt, characteristic of the mid 1850s, and box-pleats, which experienced a renaissance around 1860. The deep bodice point and wider sleeves also grew more popular at the end of the 1850s. The 120” diameter hem was stiffened with a ring of plaited wood, possibly hickory, implying that it was made before the hoop crinoline came into popular use in the 1860s. Could Fanny have worn the dress before her untimely death in 1861? The answer is yes. In all likelihood, she admired the Spanish style enough to have more than one sumptuous dress of black and yellow in her lifetime.

Stay tuned for additional MTS Blogs about the dress's most striking feature—its bright yellow silk.

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MTS Magazine Issue 7, 2018

9/27/2018

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It's that time of year again! Fall is here and we are looking back on all of the exciting and amazing things that took place at Museum Textile Services over the course of the last year. This issue of our annual magazine is 50 pages long and has more features than ever, including tips and links.

Thank you for making this year the most diverse and fulfilling in our 19-year history!

Camille, Morgan, and Leah

A Natural Legacy: Orra White Hitchcock's classroom charts

History Rediscovered: The US Navy's Trophy Flag Collection

Out of Antinoé: Coptic Textiles from Bates College Museum

Intrepid Beginnings: Christening an Historic Aircraft Carrier

Click here to read the entire Magazine

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Out of Antinoé, Part II

8/8/2018

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In Part I of this blog, Museum Textile Services Director Camille Myers Breeze discussed the conservation treatment of twenty-three Coptic textiles from the Marsden Hartley collection at the Bates College Museum of Art. This blog will examine the history surrounding these archaeological textiles.

Marsden Hartley (1877-1943) was an American modernist painter born in Lewiston, Maine. In 1951, heirs to the artist's estate donated the remaining contents of his Corea, Maine, home studio to Bates College, in compliance with his wishes. The gift included 99 sketches, three oil sketches, and over 250 personal objects now belong to the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection and Archive. Hartley clearly drew inspiration from this collection, including his Coptic textiles.

Portrait of Marsden Hartley. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Painting No. 48 by Marsden Hartley. Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.

One of Hartley's Coptic textiles. Courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

The Coptic Period in Egypt refers to the centuries between the time of the Pharaohs and the Muslim rulers (roughly the 3rd through 7th centuries C.E.). Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt in 332 B.C.E. bringing new technologies to Egypt including tapestry weaving, new types of looms, better breeds of sheep, and classical iconography. There was not only a shift in leadership in this period, but also a shift in religion. Egypt was converted to Christianity in the first century A.C.E. All of these developments influenced the imagery woven into their textiles.

Albert Gayet in an imaginary Antinoé scene. Courtesy of The Coptic Tapestry Albums by Nancy Arthur Hoskins.

Everything we know about Coptic textiles comes from the thousands of textiles and textile fragments excavated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from cemeteries, monasteries, and other looted sites in Northern Egypt. Their survival can be credited to the arid climate, as well as to changes in ancient burial traditions. The ancient practice of mummification was simplified--the desiccated body was dressed in their finest clothes, enshrouding in linen, and buried more in keeping with Christian practices. Preservation levels seen in Egypt are matched in very few places around the globe, notably the desert coastline of Peru and Northern Chile, and parts of China such as the Gobi desert.

Based on the iconography of the Bates College Coptic collection, scholars have suggested that they are among the large numbers of artifacts excavated by Albert Gayet (1856-1916). Gayet began excavating at the Coptic necropolis in Antinoé (modern day Antinopolis) beginning in 1896. He brought his discoveries to France where he sold them to collectors. The Bates College Coptic textile collection was acquired by Hartley through Dikran Kelekian, a well known collector and dealer. Kelekian and his son Charles sold batches of Coptic textiles to museums, colleges, and artists around the US, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Wheaton College. (The Wheaton College collection of Coptic textiles was conserved by Museum Textile Services in 2006.) Many of Kelekian's Coptic textiles were reassembled with adhesive and sandwiched between small pieces of glass taped at the edges before being sold.

Thanks to the foresight of Marsden Hartley, these twenty-three textiles are cherished by the Bates College Museum of Art, who is proud to continue exhibiting them in their newly conserved state.

Morgan Carbone has an MA in Fashion and Textile Studies fron the Fashion Institute of Technology and a BA in Art History from Grinnell College. She is a volunteer with the Textile Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation. Morgan's interests include lace knitting and cats.

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Out of Antinoé, Part I

6/26/2018

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One of the most anticipated projects to take place at Museum Textile Services in 2018 was the conservation of twenty-three archaeological Coptic textile fragments from the collection of the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston, Maine. Originating from Antinoé, Egypt, these 1500-year-old textiles once belonged to the artist Marsden Hartley, who was inspired by their design and colors. MTS director Camille Myers Breeze first assessed the collection in 2006 and treatment was finally realized thanks to the persistence of museum curator Bill Lowe and a generous grant from the Coby Foundation.

Morgan Carbone was the project manager and lead conservator for the Bates Coptic textiles. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

The textiles were divided into three categories based on their stability, the presence of adhesive from an early 20th-century treatment, and degree of soiling. Ten textiles were identified as low-intervention, meaning they were sound and had no soiling of concern. Eight of them needed only surface cleaning with a high-efficiency filtered vacuum and micro-vacuum attachment. Two of them were sufficiently soiled that conservator Morgan Carbone flushed them with deionized water on the suction table.

Nine of the textiles were categorized as medium intervention. They were characterized by a large amount of adhesive reside on the reverse and moderate soiling. Seven of these textiles needed to be moistened with deionized water to soften the adhesive and allow it to be reduced mechanically with a micro spatula and tweezers. All of the textiles were then flushed with deionized water on the suction table.

A textile fragment of figures beneath a colonnade, during suction cleaning. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

A stitch diagram is provided to the client in the event that our treatment needs to be reversed for study or further conservation. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

Four textiles were categorized as high intervention, three of which were adhered to linen backings. After adhesive reduction and suction cleaning, all four fragments needed to be hand stitched down to a new backing fabric to preserve their structural integrity. One of the textiles was reunited with its earlier wool backing fabric, stitched to new cotton fabric, and also overlaid with net. Three textiles were found to be weak enough that we opted to overlay them with sheer nylon net to prevent against fiber loss and minimize the amount of stitching we needed to take through the remaining adhesive deposits.

Textile fragment in the process of lining with hand stitching to cotton. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

Textile fragment and the red tapestry-weave fabric to which it was glued in the early 20th century. Both pieces were suction cleaned and then reunited with hand stitching before being mounted to a new cotton lining fabric. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

An inherent part of the stabilization plan are the individual mounting boards Museum Textile Services constructed for each textile. Made of acid-free eight-ply mat board, each board was covered in grey cotton poplin adhered on the reverse with BEVA film. The ten low-intervention textiles sit passively on their boards with no mounting stitching, leaving both sides available for future study. The nine medium intervention textiles were sufficiently weak that they needed to be hand stitched to their fabric-covered mounting boards. After the four high intervention textiles were lined with new cotton, they were also hand sewn to individual fabric-covered mounting boards.

This "clavi," or pendand from the front of a shirt, was lined with beige cotton fabric and then mounted to a grey fabric-covered board. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

This fragile "clavi" was reunited with its wool backing fabric, lined with new red cotton, and stitched to its mounting board before being overlayed with red nylon net to protect against future loss. Image courtesy of Bates College Museum of Art.

In the next installment of this blog we will go into the history of Coptic textiles, the controversial archaeologist who excavated tens of thousands of fragments, and how they came to be disseminated across the United States, particularly in college and university collections. Until then, enjoy this slide show of the entire Bates College Coptic collection after we completed conservation and mounting.

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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A Natural Legacy, Part II

6/25/2018

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In Part 1 of this blog, Museum Textile Services Director Camille Myers Breeze shared her experience attending the opening of Charting the Divine Plan: The Art of Orra White Hitchcock (1796-1863) at the American Folk Art Museum. In this episode, we go into detail about the conservation procedures undertaken to prepare twenty early-19th-century painted textiles for exhibition.

Image by MTS.

Back in 2012, all sixty-one of the painted fabric "classroom charts" made by Orra White Hitchcock belonging to the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections were brought to MTS for preliminary conservation and rehousing. Intern Ryan Cochran, overseen by conservator Cara Jordan, surface cleaned and humidified each textile to reduce particulate matter and creasing. Together with conservator Courtney Jason and director Camille Breeze, the team rolled twenty-two textiles and constructed custom storage trays for the remaining thirty-nine textiles. At that time, recommendations were made for additional conservation treatments to correct losses and splits.

Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

The opportunity to address damage to twenty of the twenty-one most fragile textiles came about in 2018 when the entire collection was requested by the American Folk Art Museum for their comprehensive exhibit of watercolors, pen and ink drawings, prints, and classroom charts that Hitchcock created between 1810 and the 1840s. All were humidified and pressed where needed to reduce folds and wrinkles. Two textiles needed no further treatment and were repacked after humidification.

Four of the classroom charts had paper patches on the front that needed to be re-adhered before exhibition. Most were addressed with just a drop of liquid BEVA 371 allowed to dry beneath a weight. Paper patches on four textiles posed enough of a risk for separation or tearing that we opted to use overlays. Undyed silk crepeline coated with a 50-50 solution of Plextol B-500 in water was cut into small rectangles and adhered to the front surface with a tacking iron set to 50 degrees Celsius.

Detaching paper patch, before conservation. Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

Detaching paper patch, after conservation. Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

Polyester organza patch on the back of a hole. Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

Ten textiles had splits and tears that required support from the reverse. Many of the splits coincided with areas of dark pigment or chemical burnout. The underlay material we chose is “nude” polyester organza sold by Testfabrics, Inc. in West Pittston, PA. Of ideal stability, weight and transparency, these patches do not stretch and their boundaries are not visible from the front. After testing, we elected to use 1 mil BEVA film as the adhesive. BEVA was first applied to the organza. The textile was placed face-down and patches were tacked to the back of weak areas with a Clover tacking iron set to 50 degree Celsius. The textile was placed face up again, adhesion was double checked on the front, and additional tacking was done as necessary.

Loss caused by chemical burnout, before conservation. Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

Loss after stabilizing with a full lining. Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

Five textiles had substantial holes or tears requiring full backings to enable exhibition. The lining material we found most compatible is Holytex, a nonwoven polyester that is light-weight, stable, and resembles the classroom charts in its slightly papery behavior. 1 mil BEVA film was ironed to the Holytex using a Rowenta Steam and Press iron set to 65 degrees Celsius. Higher heat caused the Holytex to curl and pucker, so we used additional pressure with the iron to achieve a good bond. The textile was first placed face down on an ironing surface. The adhesive side of the Holytex was placed over the textile and minimally tacked with a D&K tacking iron set to 50 degrees Celsius. The textile was flipped face up and ironed again from the front side, through a piece of silicone-release film. Excess Holytex was carefully trimmed from the perimeter of the textiles with small scissors.

"Icthyosaurus" before lining. Image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

"Icthyosaurus" during the infill process to tone adhesive in areas of loss. Images courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

The appearance of the adhesive-coated Holytex in areas of loss needed to be addressed prior to exhibition. Exposed, unspent adhesive is shiny and tacky, and can pose a risk to other parts of the textile if not properly addressed. We elected to adhere paper pulp to these bare areas. Rather than purchasing the paper pulp, we created our own by filing scraps of acid-free mat board using a stainless steel nail file. This was slow but allowed us to create an optimal color by combining more than one shade of board. The pulp was dispensed evenly onto the spot and covered with silicone release film. The adhesive was reactivated through the paper pulp with a clover tacking iron at 55 degrees Celsius. Larger holes needed to be covered with pulp and heat reactivated several times in order to achieve the desired amount of coverage.

The final stage of conservation was to advise the American Folk Art Museum on safe methods of display. From the very beginning, they expressed excitement about the potential of neodymium, or rare-earth magnets, the use of which we have been developing at Museum Textile Services over the past few years. After discussing ways of camouflaging magnets with paint or fabric, the museum came up with the perfect solution. Pairs of tiny silver-colored magnets were used in plain sight, blending in with the modern support systems of clear acrylic and black fabric-covered boards.

Nine Orra White Hitchcock classroom charts on display. Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.

Rare-earth magnets used to suspend a textile against a layer of acrylic. Installation image courtesy of Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and the American Folk Art Museum.

At the conclusion of this conservation project, Museum Textile Services conservators had spent ninety-four hours assessing, testing, cleaning, humidifying, and stabilizing twenty of the sixty-one known classroom charts made by Orra White Hitchcock. To see them on display, visit the American Folk Art Museum before the exhibit closes on October 14, 2018.

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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A Natural Legacy, Part 1

6/12/2018

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Orra 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.”

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.

"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.

"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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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).

Photo of traditional collar of Blue Hmong being worn. Photo Courtesy of Herbarium Design.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Conservators Courtney Jason and Gretta Hempelmann building two Andover Figures® for "Leisure Pursuits."

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.

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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A French Gown in the Spanish Style

MTS Magazine Issue 7, 2018

Click here to read the entire Magazine

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Out of Antinoé, Part I

A Natural Legacy, Part II

A Natural Legacy, Part 1

Identity of a Community: Hmong Textiles

Textiles in Trust

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