Material culture in action: conserving garments deliberately concealed within buildings

The study of material culture encompasses the material and the symbolic properties of things. Approaches based on an understanding of material culture can help with the conservation of textiles because they encourage considerations regarding changes in their properties, both material and symbolic, over time. Examples of textile conservation illustrate material culture in action to the extent that they analyze the challenges posed by garments deliberately concealed within buildings to conservation. The significance attributed to such textiles varies: some are valued as rare samples of clothing; others are appreciated for their protective function; while others are viewed as rubbish. The conservation strategies are indicated by the significance attributed to these textiles.O estudo da cultura material abrange as propriedades materiais e simbólicas dos objetos. Abordagens do ponto de vista da cultura material podem auxiliar na conservação de têxteis, por encorajar considerações acerca de mudanças de suas propriedades, tanto materiais quanto simbólicas, no decorrer do tempo. Ao analisar os desafios à conservação apresentados por tecidos deliberadamente escondidos em construções, a conservação de têxteis fornece um exemplo do modo de ação da cultura material. A significação atribuída a esses têxteis varia: alguns são valorizados como exemplos raros de vestimentas; outros, por sua função de proteção; e outros, ainda, são vistos como lixo. As estratégias de conservação são indicadas pela significação atribuída a esses têxteis

Stuff happens: a material culture approach to textile conservation

Textile conservation, defined here as the preservation, investigation andpresentation of textiles, is often viewed largely as a technical andaesthetic problem. This research develops an alternative view byunderstanding objects as being subject to both material and socialchange. The dynamic aspects of this material and social process isemphasised as ‘stuff happens’. This research proposes, and providesevidence for, a material culture approach to textile conservation, anddemonstrates its development and application. An analysis of case studiesshows how the material and the social interact at the point of assessmentand intervention. Examination of the material aspects of textileconservation reveals that social values influence decision-making. Valuesheld at the time of conservation are shown to depend on the categoriesused. Investigation of these categories demonstrates that any anomalousquality of the textile undergoing conservation allows for contestation ofsocial values. As values change over time, analysis of each conservationassessment and intervention reveals a comparison of values held atdifferent times viewed retrospectively. The resulting approach is centredon the interaction between things, persons and language where eachmediates relations of the others. It is argued that this material cultureapproach enhances understanding of the dynamic material and socialenvironment of textile conservation principles and practices

Restoration and conservation - issues for conservators: a textile conservation perspective

This paper inquires into different ideas and meanings (according to different languages and cultures) conveyed by the concepts of conservalion and resloralion, as well as evenlual changes laking place lalely. II discusses differences of approaches, procedures and objectives Ihat distinguish both activities as seen from the point of view of textile conservation. Severa I examples of diverse approaches in the Irealment of textiles differenl in nalure are given full account.O texto discute as idéias e diferentes conotações que os conceitos de conservação e restauração trazem em diferentes idiomas e culturas e as possíveis mudanças conceituais ocorridas nos últimos anos. São discutidas as diferenças de abordagem, procedimentos e objetivos que as duas atividades apresentam, sempre do ponto de vista da conservação de têxteis. Vários exemplos de abordagens distintas, desenvolvidas em função dos tratamentos de têxteis de diferentes naturezas são discutidos em detalhe

Restauração e conservação: algumas questões para os conservadores. A perspectiva da conservação de têxteis

O texto discute as idéias e diferentes conotações que os conceitos de conservação e restauração trazem em diferentes idiomas e culturas e as possíveis mudanças conceituais ocorridas nos últimos anos. São discutidas as diferenças de abordagem, procedimentos e objetivos que as duas atividades apresentam, sempre do ponto de vista da conservação de têxteis. Vários exemplos de abordagens distintas, desenvolvidas em função dos tratamentos de têxteis de diferentes naturezas são discutidos em detalhe

Communicating Textiles Within and Beyond Museum Walls: New Directions

Innovation in the past, present and future will be considered by reference to an extraordinary but little known collection: the textiles and dress preserved in the Board of Trade Representations and Registers of Designs, 1839-1991. This set of records is held at The National Archives [of the UK government] and contains records of nearly 3 million designs, registered by proprietors worldwide (but mostly UK and mainland Europe). Innovation in the past will demonstrated by this registration scheme which encouraged investment in design by enabling copyright control over both ornamental and useful designs, for many materials and products. Recognising design as intellectual property encouraged interest in ‘good design’ and led to developments in art and design education, and to the establishment of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Design Register, which includes designs by William Morris and Christopher Dresser, has hundreds of volumes of textile designs with details of who registered them and when. As well as being of excellent provenance, one distinctive feature of this collection is that many textile designs are represented by samples of cloth or artefacts (gloves, kerchiefs, bonnets), some in ‘as new condition’. Innovation in the present will be reflected in two ways. First, by the recent online delivery of the written records for each design registered 1839-1883/4, making these text records fully searchable. Second, by our user-engagement strategies, which include the provision of polynomial texture maps (PTM) to enable user-friendly and effective online study of textiles and other textured surfaces. Innovation in the future will be demonstrated by new ways of engaging users who have grown-up in an age of spectacle and online interaction, e.g. intuitive Image browsing, which allows researchers to sort images in a way that suits them. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/s/res?_q=BT44 http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/ capturing-and-exploring-texture/ http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/texture-mapping-part-two/ http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/texture-mapping-part-three/ http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ blog/texture-mapping-part-four/ http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/new-light-on-old-seals

Playing with Haddon’s string figures

The transformative properties of string are considered via an analysis of string figures, also known as cat’s cradles, which are loops of string manipulated to form three-dimensional patterns in sequence. This paper looks at the string figures which form part of the collection made by A.C. Haddon in 1888 of everyday objects used by Torres Strait islanders. He promoted the documentation of string figures as a means of ethnographic enquiry, notably via the 1902 publication A method for recording string figures and tricks, co-authored with W.H. Rivers. The paper considers how representation of Haddon’s string figures and how the significance attributed to them has changed. Haddon’s string figures are analysed in their various forms and contexts: as objects acquired by the British Museum in 1889, as published representations of the string figures, and as performance. How meaning is gained during the performance of string figures is understood here as due to the transformative properties of string as a medium

Stuff happens : a material culture approach to textile conservation

Textile conservation, defined here as the preservation, investigation and presentation of textiles, is often viewed largely as a technical and aesthetic problem. This research develops an alternative view by understanding objects as being subject to both material and social change. The dynamic aspects of this material and social process is emphasised as ‘stuff happens’. This research proposes, and provides evidence for, a material culture approach to textile conservation, and demonstrates its development and application. An analysis of case studies shows how the material and the social interact at the point of assessment and intervention. Examination of the material aspects of textile conservation reveals that social values influence decision-making. Values held at the time of conservation are shown to depend on the categories used. Investigation of these categories demonstrates that any anomalous quality of the textile undergoing conservation allows for contestation of social values. As values change over time, analysis of each conservation assessment and intervention reveals a comparison of values held at different times viewed retrospectively. The resulting approach is centred on the interaction between things, persons and language where each mediates relations of the others. It is argued that this material culture approach enhances understanding of the dynamic material and social environment of textile conservation principles and practices.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Outside in: making sense of the deliberate concealment of garments within buildings

The practice of deliberately concealing garments within the structure of buildings is described. These finds provide a means of exploring how space was conceived and experienced in the past, and how these deliberately hidden garments mediated, and continue to mediate, the relationship between people and the spaces they occupied, and may continue to occupy. The Deliberately Concealed Garments Project was set up in 1988 to locate, document and analyse garments found hidden within buildings. Concealments have preserved many textiles in the U.K., mainland Europe, Australia and North America. The significance of these caches rests not only in the finds themselves, as rare items of dress, but also because of what they reveal about perceptions of domestic space. The concealments are believed to serve a protective function, not against the weather or immodesty, but against incoming malevolent forces. As apotropaic (evil-averting) agents they protect from within rather than as outer coverings or internal divisions. The paper discusses how garments concealed within buildings transform space through the work of metaphor

The cultural dynamics of conservation principles in reported practice

Conservation is a cultural phenomenon open to analysis using cultural theory. This chapter analyses conservation as both a social and a technical practice involving interactions between people and objects mediated by language. The application and interpretation of conservation principles are analysed by reference to three recent accounts (published in The Object in Context: Crossing Conservation Boundaries, IIC Munich Congress 2006) which provide a basis for analysing the rhetoric and reported practice of conservation. The dialectic between written principles and reported practice reveals their mutual influence. The meanings, use and effect of principles, e.g. in influencing notions of integrity, are discussed. Principles are shown to be culturally bound rather than ideologically neutral