By Kathryn Khanwalkar, FHC Costume Collection Manager
May 26, 2016
The FHC has amassed a large costume/textile collection over the years and I’ve been working on an exhaustive audit of these pieces to determine their provenance and condition. As I review each object (over 600 so far…) I ask what it reveals to us about the people who owned it or made it. How many hands did it pass through on its journey to our collection and what function did it fulfill? What was the significance that deemed it worthy of heirloom status and eventually a place in our collection? Investigating each piece in this way reveals details about the collection as a whole and about the people who made Framingham their home.
Shattered Silk…
As we assess the condition of each object, we consider its potential for exhibition. Is the object ready to meet the day-to-day physical challenges of an exhibition such as gravity, vibrations from foot traffic, and exposure to light? Have the agents of deterioration managed to obscure the original appearance of the object? For example, textiles made from luxurious silk, which were weighted in the manufacturing process with metallic salts, often succumb to an interesting type of decay known as “shattering”. These salts, which give the fabric its luster and heft, are the same agents that lead to its decay. The dehydrating action of the salt causes the garment to stiffen and become brittle and the sharp edges of the crystalline structures sever the fragile fibers. Eventually, larger angular fractures are formed which present an appearance similar to broken glass.
Preserving and caring for objects requires space and special resources. The climate should be monitored and sustained for optimal temperature and humidity. Storage solutions should mitigate the effects of gravity and light exposure and handling should be kept to a minimum. With all of these considerations, storage solutions end up being as varied as the objects themselves. Some of the recent upgrades to our collection storage include; the purchase of a new 7-foot rack to accommodate our teagown collection and 50 padded hangers that were produced in one afternoon by our wonderful volunteers in an old fashioned sewing bee! Additionally, local Framingham upholsterer and seamstress, Barbara Gatlin, has been working with us to create twill tape waist supports which will reinforce the waistbands and redistribute the weight of our heavier gowns.
Proper care for a collection is indeed an intensive undertaking that requires many resources and a lot of collaboration. A collection cannot amass beyond the museum’s ability to care for each artifact. Sometimes an object has limited exhibit potential and its place in the collection is no longer justified. Deaccessioning such objects allows us to allocate our time, space and resources to those objects that are most significant to the history of Framingham enabling us to tell Framingham’s story in the most meaningful and accurate manner. Occasionally, we come across an object that has an exceptional story to tell, but it’s condition prevents us from being able to put it to work. In such instances, conservation treatment, although an expensive endeavor, is a justified necessity!