Category: Peace Flag

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part IV

4/1/2015

The reinstallation of the Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag went off without a hitch on Monday, March 30th, despite President Obama being in town and the flurries that reminded us of all the snow that fell while the flag was under our care.

Newly dyed silk borders are pinned to the fringe border.

The final week of conservation was not without some drama. After deciding that the original ivory silk borders were unsuitable for continued display, new ones had to be made. Camille set about dyeing 16-mm Silk Habotai using Jacquard acid dyes, both purchased from Dharma Trading. After one test bath that produced too dark a shade of ecru, she was able to dye the final four strips of silk the perfect color. After washing and ironing, they were laid out and pinned to the original fringe border.

Corner miters are aligned and pinned.

Seams are blind stitched with a curved needle.

Seams are top stitched with cotton thread.

Each of the four mitered corners had to be aligned perfectly to meet the corners of the flag, as well as the corners of the fringe. We pinned the seams open, blind stitched with a fine curved needle, and then top stitched in two rows. Sewing through multiple layers of silk was a bit like sewing through Jell-O®! This was only slightly preferable to stitching through the thick trim around the flag and the fringe, which broke several of our larger curved needles.

Megan Creamer and Cara Jordan stitching the flag into its new border.

Megan Creamer trimming the back of the new ivory silk borders.

After we attached all of the original elements, we gently flipped the flag over and trimmed the new ivory silk borders. A dust cover made of cotton plain weave was constructed, to which we machine sewed a strip of Velcro-compatible fabric. We pinned the dust cover to the top edge of the flag and hand stitched through the machine stitching holes using straight needles. Because the ivory silk borders are semi-transparent, we made a deep turnback in the dust cover, which ended just below the top of the central flag. By mitering the turnback to follow the corner border seams, we avoided any distracting shadows.

Adjusting the invisible Velcro slat.

Camille Breeze carefully sliding the rod through the silk bows from which the flag originally hung.

We carefully rolled the flag up for transport to the Mary Baker Eddy Library, taking special care to keep the fringe tidy and not to crease the central flag. Upon arrival, we unrolled the top edge of the flag in order to press the Velcro slat to the Velcro on the back of the flag. Library staff lifted the roll up to Camille and another staff person, who hung the slat off of the four original hooks inside the case. The flag was unfurled and small adjustments were made. The visible ends of the slat were camouflaged with beige cotton caps. Finally, the original brass rod from which the flag had hung was threaded through the silk bows and placed on the hooks.

Peace Flag before conservation, inside its case.

Peace Flag after conservation, in the lab.

The success of this project came from the Mary Baker Eddy Library's willingness to allow conservators to make decisions in the best interest of the flag that will permit continued display in its historic location. The end result is a cleaner, more stable, and less distorted flag that preserves the appearance of the original while making much-needed improvements.

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.

0 Comments

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part III

3/20/2015

0 Comments

In Part II of the Mary Baker Eddy Blog, we discussed several tough decisions we had to make to ensure that this fragile silk flag would be able to hang safely in its original display case along the second floor mezzanine at the Mary Baker Eddy Library. This blog is all about the difficult task of stabilizing, stitching through, and supporting the 100-year-old artifact.

The Peace Flag without the ivory silk border and fringe.

Before we stitched the flag to the muslin lining, a single piece of ivory nylon net was laid on top. This barely alters the brightness of the flag and is key to its long-term display life. A team of conservators hand stitched all three layers together--net, flag and muslin--along every seam and star. Now all of the silk is encapsulated and the job of fighting gravity is shared by the sturdy muslin. The lined flag was clamped in pant hangers and allowed to hang out for the weekend.

Once the flag was surface cleaned and the shattered ivory silk border and heavy fringe were removed, we laid the flag out flat on a piece of washed cotton muslin. The relative humidity was increased in the vicinity of the flag and then we very gently pressed it with a warm iron through a damp piece of cotton. After modest improvement was made in the wrinkles, we gently pinned the flag to the muslin, avoiding the multitude of splits and tears hidden along many of the seams and old creases.

One of several splits found along the 80-year-old hard creases.

The Peace Flag seen from behind after attaching the muslin lining and nylon net overlay.

Conservator Cara Jordan maneuvering among the many flags at MTS.

With one week to go, we still need to construct the replacement ivory border from our new, custom-dyed silk; sew the original fringe to the new border by machine; attach the new border to the flag by hand; and then attach the dust cover and Velcro header with hand stitching. The Velcro header will attach to an aluminum Velcro slat manufactured by Small Corp., Inc. The slat will be suspended with wires from the existing brass rod/cup system from which the flag hung for 80 years. No one but us will know it's there.

Stay tuned for the final installation of the Mary Baker Eddy Blog series, in which we share the reinstallation of her newly conserved Peace Flag.

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.

0 Comments

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part II

2/24/2015

0 Comments

Conservation of the Peace Flag from the Mary Baker Eddy Library got off to a quick start, here at Museum Textile Services. As our previous blog mentioned, we were able to transport the flag to our studios just before the string of winter storms. The first treatment, as always, was surface cleaning the flag to remove airborne pollutants. Although the flag was sealed in its case for 80 years, the gasket had deteriorated, allowing soot, dust, and other air pollutants to permeate the flag.

Cotton ball, chamois, and cosmetic sponge were all ruled out in favor of surface cleaning with vulcanized rubber sponge.

In the end, after gently surface vacuuming the flag with a micro-suction attachment, we decided to remove the remaining surface soiling using vulcanized rubber sponges. As the picture of dirty sponges indicates, we removed not only dirt but some red fiber as well; therefore, sponging was kept to a minimum and required a great deal of attention and delicacy, which Cara Jordan accomplished with great success.

As you can clearly see from our cleaning tests, the flag was filthy. We tested four materials to aid in removing the deposits: cotton balls, chamois, cosmetic sponge, and vulcanized rubber sponge. Although cosmetic sponge and chamois pulled a lot of dirt, we felt there was too much drag between them and the silk. Cotton ball were judged the least effective, and seemed to be embedding debris further into the silk.

Vulcanized rubber sponges were chosen to delicately reduce soil deposits while endeavoring to abrade the silk as little as possible.

The silk fringe has already been separated and next the ivory border will be removed from around the central flag.

A difficult decision came next. After nearly a century of display, the condition of the ivory silk border was so poor that the only remaining treatment option was a full adhesive lining. We were concerned about returning the flag to its case by the April 1 deadline without allowing the adhesive to off-gas; however we were also unsure if the ethyl vinyl acetate adhesive film would would continue to release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) inside the sealed case.

Instead, the library staff gave us permission to instead replace the ivory border with a new piece of custom-dyed silk. We cut away the original border from the outer fringe, then the inner flag, before archiving in an acid-free box. We pirchased yardage of 16mm silk habotai from Dharma Trading, which we will hand dye using Jacquard acid dye. ( We had used this combination before with excellent results.) The new border will provide the longevity and neutrality necessary for extended exhibition in the flag's display case.

Supplies for the new border came from Dharma Trading.

The next difficult decision we faced was whether to exhibit the flag with the same side outward, or to show the original colors preserved on the reverse. We considered two factors went into the decision to continue to show the same side: First is the congressional report entitled, "The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions," updated in 2008. Section 7.i states that, "When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union [star field] should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left." Equally importantly, there was no guarantee that the back of the flag would not fade sometime in the future, and if that were to happen, no evidence would remain of its original vibrancy.

The side of the flag that was on exhibit for eighty-plus years.

The original colors preserved on the other side of the flag.

Stay tuned for the next installment to see how dyeing of the new ivory border went, and learn how we plan to make the central flag strong enough for another century of 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.

0 Comments

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part I

2/3/2015

0 Comments

by Megan Mary Creamer

Museum Textile Services recently spent a pre-blizzard Monday morning in Boston alongside the Mary Baker Eddy Library staff de-installing the famous century-old Peace Flag. Since 1936, the flag has been hanging in its custom-built bronze and glass case made by the Gorham Company of Providence, RI, on the second floor mezzanine at the Mary Baker Eddy Library. Below the flag is a painted plaque reading, “This flag was made by 400 workers for World Peace and presented to Mary Baker Eddy as a tribute to her efforts in behalf of World Peace." It was given by Eddy to the Christian Science Board of Directors with the words “For the mother Church with love.”

MTS Director Camille Myers Breeze points out the flag's weak points to Mary Baker Eddy Library staff. Photo by Museum Textile Services.

Walking through the deinstallation steps ahead of time reduces the likelihood of damaging the delicate silk flag. Photo by Museum Textile Services.

Camille and MBE Library curator Pamela Winstead had been discussing this project for several months, and each arrived with a team to get the flag out of the case and safely rolled for transport to MTS for conservation. With plenty of staff on hand to document and assist, Camille laid out the plan for safely removing the flag, accounting for all the variables and potential issues to look out for to get this large, delicate flag off of the wall. The custom case had done an excellent job over the years, but the gasket had failed, allowing dust to work its way in. The ten individual bows of red, white and blue silk tying the flag to a brass rod were now causing the flag to sag under its own weight. Other issues, such as possible breakdown of the silk, light damage, accretion of other substances, and structural issues would be fully assessed after the flag was removed.

Camille Myers Breeze and MBE Library curator Pamela Winstead open the flag onto a prepared surface prior to rolling. Photo by Museum Textile Services.

Taking down the flag went off without a hitch as two Library staff slowly lowered the brass rod, allowing the flag to accordion itself on a muslin sling. Camille and Pamela then carried the sling over to where clean muslin was laid out onto the floor and gently unfurled the flag. It became immediately apparent that the flag has retained more of the vibrancy of the original dyes on the reverse, though it is unknown whether this occurred while in the case or in the roughly twenty years between its creation and subsequent installation at the library.

Assessing the structural integrity of the flag, its surrounding silk, and the heavy silk fringe. Photo by Museum Textile Services.

Camille inspected the flag carefully and planned for the best way to pack and transport it. To keep the aged silk from shattering, and not introduce any more fold lines or other stress, the flag was rolled onto a padded archival tube with additional padding between the layers, making a soft and secure package for transport. Over the next two months, MTS staff will conserve this historic flag before returning it to its custom case. Be on the lookout for the next MTS Blog detailing conservation treatments, a new hanging system, and re-installation at the Mary Baker Eddy Library.

Megan Mary Creamer has a BFA in industrial design from Massachusetts College of Art, and is completing an ALM in museum studies at Harvard University Extension School.

0 Comments

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part IV

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part III

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part II

The Mary Baker Eddy Peace Flag, Part I

Want Answers?

Get the Blog

Categories

Join Our Mailing List

Museum Textile Services, LLC