marion kite head of furniture, textiles and frames conservation. victoria and albert museum
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Science and Heritage Research Cluster Lace:- Conservation issues, past, present and future possibilities
Marion Kite
Head of Furniture, Textiles and Frames Conservation.
Victoria and Albert Museum
What is lace?
• Textiles made of a variety of different techniques with a common characteristic of an open delicate structure.
• Originally a narrow tape or braid
• By late 16th century a term used for all forms of openwork.
• Made by professionals and amateurs.
• High quality lace changed technically and stylistically in response to changes in fashion
Types of lace
• Cut work• Bobbin lace• Needle lace• Tape lace• Metal thread lace • Parchment lace• Machine made lace • Embroidered net• Chemical lace- (machine
embroidered pattern upon a sacrificial fabric which is chemically treated so as to disintegrate after the pattern is created.)
• Lacebark tree (Lagetta Lagetto)
How worn and used
Worn by• Men• Women• Children
• Day and evening• Secular and
ecclesiastical purposes
How worn and used
Used on• Toys• Dolls• Dress Accessories• Furnishings• other
Materials
• Linen
• Cotton
• Silk
• Hair
• Lace may be coloured- colours may not be fast?
• Combination of fibres and materials- straw, cactus fibre
• synthetic polymeric fibres
• Chemical lace
• Wool- (yak lace)
Materials
• Metal threads around silk or linen core
• Metal thread applied to paper around a silk core
• Parchment lace• Copper wire- 17th c. 3D
lace, • horse hair – French
needle lace,• pearls, beads, sequins, • Other…….
Types of damage
• Overall weakness and fibre degradation due to various causes.
• Wear whilst in use– physical damage
– Poor handling and storage
Types of damage
• Wear and tear• Stains and soiling
– dirt– Food– other
• Light, (fading – yellowing)
• Temperature (hot iron)
• Humidity. (mould)
Types of damage
• Staining/soiling various causes
Possible past treatments-whilst in use• Washing, (wet cleaning)
– Boiling –and harsh physical treatment
• ‘sent every 2 weeks to Fulham steam laundry’
– washing soda (sodium carbonate)
– commercial detergents with ‘optical whiteners’
– biological detergents
– soap, (soapwort plant, Genus Saponaria, Family Caryophyllaceae) Amphipathic glycosides
• Ironing– Scorch marks.– pressure
Possible past treatments-domestic-whilst in use
• Bleaching, – sunshine– chlorinated bleaches– ammonia– ‘blue bags’ 1852 synthetic
ultramarine and sodium bicarbonate
– Carbolic soap-contained phenol or carbolic acid
• Stiffening, – Starch- various --wheat
starch, rice starch, Sugar solution
– Other?
Possible past treatments-Conservation treatments in museums
• Cleaning- wet cleaning-
– Soap (saponaria) Amphipathic glycosides
– Lissapol (Nonylphenoxy)polyethylene oxide)
– Synperonic detergent -alcohol ethoxylate
– Sodium borohydride also known as sodium tetrahydroborate
– Coloured silk if fugitive could have been treated with acetic acid
– others
Possible past treatments-Conservation treatments in museums
• Bleaching/stain removal- – Chloramine T
sodium p-toluenesulfonchloramide trihydrate
– ‘Poot’ Sodium silicate, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide
– EDTA. ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
– Hydrogen Peroxide and ammonia
Possible past treatments-Conservation treatments in museums
• Stiffening, – Rhodoviol- polyvinyl alcohol– starch- wheat, rice, others
• Consolidant-Soluble nylon N-methoxymethyl nylon
• Metal thread cleaning – IMS +deionised water– Ammonia in water– Silver dip- (active ingredient
hydrochloric acid)– acetone
• Lacquering nitrocellulose lacquer – to prevent tarnishing, (but also
stiffens and coats core fibre)
Conservation Treatments- Repair and support
• Restoration work- where lace has been fully reconstructed (19th c)
• Repairing linkages-by stitching and by adhesive methods.
• Full/partial support- stitching, patching with net.
• Support-thermoplastic adhesive carried upon a support fabric- often a nylon net
Research Questions
• AimsTo inform future actions for conservation and care:-to establish protocol and methodology before new conservation treatment is undertaken.
Research questions
• What are the residues?
– identify chemical residues
• How do we determine structural integrity of fibres?
– investigation of non destructive testing techniques
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