CONSERVATION OF TEXTILES
The tapestries and textiles conserved at Talisman are either woven or nonwoven fabrics of natural fibers. They may be of any age or technique. Typically these are flat textiles, but some three dimensional costumes and modern fiber art are also accepted. Here a Yuan Dynasty crown of a court princess is being reconstructed. The bark core has deteriorated and been replaced with an exact ethofoam replica.
Textile conservation is recognized as an art, as well as a science. As with Oriental rugs, preservation and presentation are paramount. The photo on the right depicts the conservation of a Taiwanese tribal Atayal coat. Some damaged red wool is being replaced. The shell beading was repaired with beads dyed and treated to reproduce the matte and pitted surface of the original beads.
TEXTILE CLEANING
Cleaning involves an informed judgement about which soil is removable before actual textile materials are disturbed. Naturally, this varies considerably with each situation. Here an early Han dynasty fragment is being cleaned with the aid of a microscope. A lightly heated ultrasonic mist is being used with a vacuum to gently remove the crystallized debris.
Many tools, techniques and cleaning agents are used in order to meet the challenges of cleaning. All, or most, of the substances found in the material culture of humanity eventually find their way onto textiles and tapestries. This photo shows a jaguar motif pre-Columbian Chimu textile being immersed on the textile table.
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