iCCrom Conservation studies 7 Conserving Textiles studies in honour of Ágnes timÁr-BalÁzsy iCCrom Conservation studies 7 Conserving Textiles studies in honour of Ágnes timÁr-BalÁzsy Original Hungarian versiOn edited by: istván eri editOrial bOard: Judit b. Perjés, Katalin e. nagy, Márta Kissné bendefy, Petronella Mravik Kovács and eniko sipos Conserving Textiles: Studies in honour of Ágnes Timár-Balázsi ICCROM Conservation Studies 7 ISBN 92-9077-218-2 © ICCROM 2009. Authorized translation of the Hungarian edition © 2004 Pulszky Hungarian Museums Association (HMA). This translation is published and sold by permission of the Pulszky HMA, the owner of all rights to publish and sell the same. The publishers would like to record their thanks to Márta Kissné Bendefy for her immense help in the preparation of this volume, to Dinah Eastop for editing the English texts, and to Cynthia Rockwell for copy editing. ICCROM International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property Via di San Michele 13 00153 Rome, Italy www.iccrom.org Designed by Maxtudio, Rome Printed by Ugo Quintily S.p.A. In memoriam: Ágnes Timár-Balázsy (1948–2001) gnes Timár-Balázsy was an inspirational Ágnes became well known around the world as a teacher of conservation science and she will teacher of chemistry and of the scientific background be remembered as a joyful and passionate of textile conservation for professionals. She taught person, with vision, intelligence and the regularly on international conservation courses Áability and willingness to work very hard. She loved at ICCROM in Rome as well as at the Textile both teaching and travel and developed a network of Conservation Centre in Britain, the Abegg-Stiftung friends and colleagues all over the world. in Switzerland and in Hungary. Ágnes also taught in Ágnes began her career in 1966 as a metal, ceramics Austria, Chile, Finland, Ghana, Israel, Nigeria and and glass conservator at the Hungarian Central Museum Zambia. Hundreds of conservators benefited from Technology Group, then at the Institute of Conservation her knowledge and enthusiasm. One outcome of her and Methodology of Museums, the National Centre of teaching was the publication in 1998 of Chemical Museums, and finally at the Conservation Department Principles of Textile Conservation, co-authored with of the Hungarian National Museum. She took a degree Dinah Eastop. She was proud of its many reprints and in chemical engineering at the Budapest Technical was always delighted to see well-thumbed copies in University in 1975, a further degree in 1985 and was conservation workshops. As well as teaching, Ágnes awarded a PhD degree in 1997. Her doctoral disserta- carried out important research into the analysis of tion focused on the dye analyses of museum textiles. historic dyes and the cleaning of historic textiles. From 1974 onwards she contributed to the training She was particularly proud to contribute to the of Hungarian conservators and remained committed to investigation of the dyes of the Hungarian coronation improving the standards and status of Hungarian con- mantle. servation and conservation training. In 1991 she was Ágnes succeeded Judith Hofenk de Graaff and instrumental in establishing a programme in conserva- Mechtild Flury-Lemberg as coordinator of the ICOM tion training as a successful collaboration between the Conservation Committee Textile Working Group, Hungarian University of Fine Arts and the Hungarian which she led between 1990 and 1996. She became a National Museum. Ágnes loved Hungary and was proud member of the ICCROM Council from 1994 to 2001, of its rich cultural heritage and strong museum sector. and Vice-Chairperson of the ICOM Conservation She was a gifted linguist and disseminated the results Committee from 1999. of Hungarian conservators’ work and conservation In 2001, Ágnes postumously received the ICCROM training at an international level. She fostered interna Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution tional links, for example by co-organizing the Interna- to the field of cultural heritage preservation. tional Restorer Seminars in Veszprém, Hungary. In memoriam iii Contents In memoriam iii Conservation of silk finds dating to the Anjou period 1 1 (1301-1387) JUDIT B. PERJÉS, KATALIN E. NAGY AND MÁRTA TÓTH Excavation of the crypt of the Dominican Church in Vác: 20 2 preserving coffins, dress and other funerary paraphernalia, 1731-1808 JUDIT B. PERJÉS, EMIL RÁDULY AND MÁRIA ÚJVÁRI The conservation of two medieval parchment codices 33 3 ILDIKÓ BEÖTHY KOZOCSA Conservation decision-making: from object to 39 4 collection to community and back again DINAH EASTOP The image of a crucified man on the Turin Shroud: 43 5 measures taken for conservation of the legibility of the body image MECHTHILD FLURY-LEMBERG An eighteenth-century Hungarian court dress with 52 6 nineteenth-century alterations: an example of historicism in the collections of the Hungarian National Museum KATALIN DÓZSA Dyeing black in seventeenth-century Holland 60 7 JUDITH H. HOFENK DE GRAAFF Metal thread variations and materials: simple methods1 of 68 8 pre-treatment identification for historical textiles MÁRTA JÁRÓ Assessing the risk of wet-cleaning metal threads 77 9 KATIA JOHANSEN Eastern and Western influences on Hungarian 87 10 footwear of the thirteenth-seventeenth centuries MÁRTA KISSNÉ BENDEFY Problems of the second restoration of two general’s 97 11 atillas (military coats) from 1848/49 MÁRIA KRALOVÁNSZKY Academic training of conservator-restorers in Austria: 103 12 past experiences and future perspectives GABRIELA KRIST Lace from the Secession (Hungarian Art Nouveau): 106 13 sewn, coloured lace articles EMŐKE LÁSZLÓ The conservation of the painted cloth travelling 112 14 ‘tapestry’ of Ferenc Rákóczi II GYÖRK MÁTÉFY The philosophy of restoration: new for old? 117 15 ANDREW ODDY Bulya vászon: a type of loosely woven cloth 124 16 EMESE PÁSZTOR Restoration of an embroidered board game 131 17 ANIKÓ PATAKI Conservation of ancient Egyptian painted artefacts 141 18 ANNE RINUY The evolution of conservation and restoration as 147 19 reflected in the Coptic textile collection of the Textile Museum of Lyon MARIE SCHOEFER-MASSON Figures from a Neapolitan nativity crèche 157 20 ENIKŐ SIPOS The conservation of the flag of the Loránd Eötvös University 165 21 NIKOLETT SZEDERKÉNYI vi Conserving textiles The symbolic meaning of red in seventeenth-century 173 22 clothing LILLA TOMPOS Bibliography 182 vii viii Conserving textiles 1 1 Between 1998 and 2000, finds in extraordinary profusion and of a unique quality were excavated by archaeologists of the Budapest Historical Museum on an 8,000 sq m stretch lying west of szent györgy square in the Buda Castle.1 the archaeologist Dorottya nyékhelyi, in charge of the excavation at well no. 8 of the teleki Palace, still supplied by fresh water rivulets, uncovered hundreds of ceramic dishes, wooden objects (spoons, casks, dishes, troughs and carvings), as well as leather footwear and wooden caskets covered in leather. textiles of various sizes also came to light during the excavation. the conservation of these finds is bound to continue over many years. A rather concentrated layer of black peat, metres deep (composed of seeds and wood debris apart from the already mentioned historically significant objects), had preserved the objects. What follows is a description of the conservation of the silk cloth with the Hungarian and Anjou Coats of Arms (referred to below as the Anjou Cloth), fragments with oak-leaf-and-flower patterns, and spearhead-shaped, acorn-topped fragments. [ Judit b. Per Jes, Katalin e. n agy and Márta tót H ] Conservation of silk finds dating to the Anjou period (1301-1387) The good condition of the silk material is Excavation explained by the fact that the fragments had been in An initial cleaning of objects recovered from the well, the oxygen-free environment of the mud, and in a which was brimming with sludge, was undertaken state of equilibrium through the centuries with only simultaneously with the ongoing excavation. slight variations in temperature. The peat was pH This consisted of extracting the objects from the 9. In theory, alkaline conditions are unfavourable to enveloping mud. Immediate transportation of finds both leather and silk materials, but experience has to the restorers’ workshop was facilitated by its shown that lack of contact with oxygen and a fixed proximity to the site. The restorers carried out a pre- temperature are the most important conditions for liminary cleaning of the objects grouped according the preservation of archaeological finds. to their material (wood, metal, ceramics, glass, Following excavation, restorers of the Budapest leather or textile). In the case of wooden and leather Historical Museum kept the textile items damp and objects, conservation commenced immediately. An cool, and wrapped in polyethylene sheeting. The exceptional piece among the silk finds was the Anjou prolongation of the state of equilibrium was of Cloth, which arrived at the laboratory on Friday, fundamental importance in this instance. A sudden 4th October 1999, encased in a solid block of mud change in the textiles’ environmental conditions and packed in plastic foil. The mud-block packs (e.g. temperature, humidity or light exposure) after containing the two other silk fragments were brought excavation had to be avoided. Irreparable damage out of the well a few days later. The finds had lain at could have been caused to the partially disintegrated nearly the same depth.2 (Figs. 1-3) textile structures if they had suddenly dried out. 1 • Conservation of silk finds dating to the Anjou period 1 Preliminary cleaning The solid block of mud containing the Anjou Cloth could not have been unpacked without immersion in water. After sixteen hours under water, the silk had loosened enough to allow it to be spread out without tearing.3 Unaware of the size or form of the piece of silk, it was first allowed to soak in a smaller plastic dish and was only later put into a large photo-developing tray.