News from the National Trust's Textile Conservation Studio in Norfolk
Before the Spangled Bed satin curtains could be treated they had to be deconstructed. The first step in deconstruction was removing the metal fringing along the edges. The metal thread fringes which adorn the outer edges of the curtains have been examined and documented during the past few months. There are two types of narrow… Continue reading Fringing galore
Supporting the lingings Following on from the last blog post, where the linings from the Spangled curtains were documented, humidified, wet cleaned and supported onto adhesive crepeline, the next step was to support the linings onto the dyed silk support. The damask linings have undergone extensive support stitching. In total, four conservators have worked over 1100… Continue reading Conservation of bed hangings from the Spangled Bed
After documentation it was time to start the treatment. The first step was to lay out the linings and satin inside a humidity tent created from a metal frame (a strawberry cage!) with a polythene sheet over to enclose the lining. A humidifier was set up inside to pump a fine water spray into the… Continue reading Supporting the Spangled Bed
Since the Testers arrival last year we have been busy documenting its condition and previous treatments including the use of adhesive. This is starting to fail, become very hard and brittle with age and discoloured to dark brown from its use in the 1960s. Our first job was to remove this adhesive, not as easy… Continue reading Update on James II Bed 1688 from Knole, Kent
Last week we went to Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk to clean the damask wall hangings in the Cabinet room. In 1751 the room, which was originally a drawing room, was remodelled to accommodate the Italian pictures Willian Windham II had acquired on his Grand Tour. These still hang very much, as he originally planned. During our… Continue reading A clean house is a happy house
The tapestry, ‘Leander taking leave of his parents’ (c. 1660-90) has been at the Textile Conservation Studio in Norfolk since March 2015. The tapestry is currently having a stitched conservation treatment, having already undergone full documentation, adhesive removal and wet cleaning. Removal of the 1960’s adhesive patch treatment resulted in the exposure of large areas… Continue reading Leander’s journey through tapestry conservation
Last Thursday the Studio closed for the day so we could all enjoy our Christmas outing. But before we could indulge in a delicious Christmas lunch we visited the the John Jarrold Printing Museum in Norwich, beautifully located next to the river Wensum. The John Jarrold Printing Museum was founded in 1982 by the Jarrold family, who… Continue reading A jolly to Jarrold Printing Museum
Last month Senior Conservator Rosamund Weatherall went to Mexico to talk about the conservation treatment of the Spangled Bed from Knole in Kent. The presentation "Topsy-turvy conservation: consolidating and wet cleaning the embellished hangings from the Spangled Bed, Knole" was presented at the North American Textile Conservation Conference in Mexico City. The conference was a… Continue reading Topsy-Turvy Conservation – A Mexican adventure
You can now follow us on Instagram under nttextileconservation. You will get a regular glimpse of what we get up to at the Studio.
The Argory in Northern Ireland, complete with its acetylene gas installation and light fittings, is an exceptionally rare survivor of a form of domestic lighting that enjoyed a period of popularity from the last decade of the nineteenth century until the late 1920s. The drawing room has a six-arm chandelier and four matching two-arm wall… Continue reading Fourteen Shades of Pink
