Embroidered Danish Heritage

Our intern, Olivia Frechette, shares her insights on a recent project.

Spicer Art Conservation, LLC recently received an intriguing and pretty cool counted cross stitch embroidery for treatment. An embroidered map of Funen County in Denmark (made up of Funen, Langeland, Æro, Tåsinge, and accompanying smaller islands) was handmade by a client's grandmother in 1959. It is clear she was a skilled embroiderer. The map has spent most of its life inlaid into a table top. While the map is looking great for 62 years old, it has been taken out of its table-home for a bit of care before both map and table are passed on to the client's son. 

Surface of the embroidery map. There is some water staining with tide-lines along the edges of the map fabric.

The main city of Odense, famous as the birthplace of well-known fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen, is labelled and marked with a red square.

Close-up of the island of Funen, Denmark. All roads lead to Odense, Funen County's main city.

The level of detail on this map is exquisite. Individual manor houses and landmarks are faithfully represented with neat and tiny petti-point stitches in a rainbow of colors.  

A detail of the map showing buildings in south-west Funen

A detail of the map showing buildings and orchards in north-west Funen

A ship is even bobbing in the Belt Straits, flying the Danish flag of course, with seabirds flying overhead.

Close-up of the embroidered ship

Detail of embroidered birds above Funen

Funen's Danish name "FYN" and the map's date are surrounded by an elaborate wreath. Isn't it pretty?

The map is titled in Danish "FYN" and dated 1959

When the map was unglued from its backing board, a 'ghost map' was discovered on the wooden board! Over the years, the sun snuck through the open weave of the support fabric and oxidized the map design into the wood. The denser embroidered areas was more able to block the light. Read and earlier blog post on other effects of long-term light exposure.

The removed backing board of the map, where the sun bleached the embroidery image onto the wood.

Perhaps the map wanted to start celebrating Halloween early with its 'ghost' double. Spooky!

Adinkra Cloth, Another Textile from Ghana

The kente cloth is a well-known woven textile from Ghana, stamped meaningful proverb symbols, and strongly associated with the Ashanti. Lesser known, but as important to the Ghanaians, is the Adinkra cloth.

Ntonso Visitor Center where demonstrations of Adinkra making are performed.

Adinkra cloth is a woven, solid-colored fabric that is stamped with a wide variety of symbols. I recently had the great opportunity to visit a center in Ntonso where it was being made. Ntonso, located 20 km northeast of Kumasi, is now the center of adinkra manufacturing. This cloth, like the kente, is also typically worn by men in the form of a toga. However, its use is reserved for more sober occasions, like funerals, where kente is used for celebrations.

Adinkra on display at the visitor center.

The origin of the adinkra dyeing technique is not fully known. Possibly it was adopted by the Ashanti around 1818, when King Osei Bonsu defeated the Gyaman (now in the Ivory Coast), whose chief at the time was called Nana Kofi Adinkra.

An early adinkra cloth is located at the British Museum, collected in 1817 by Thomas Edward Bowdich in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Empire. This shows that the tradition was well established by Ashanti culture.

The pigment used in stamping the designs on the cloth comes from the bark of the Badie tree (Bridelia migrant). Once broken up, the bark is soaked in water.

Preparing the bark of the Badie tree before cooking.

Then the bark is pounded to break it up with a large mortar and pestle.

Then it is soaked again. Before cooking begins, it is filtered through a sieve. Interestingly, after eight hours of cooking, the liquid can be used as an herbal medicine. But for the ink, more cooking is required, usually lasting 12 hours.

After 8 hours the liquid is an herbal medicine.

The stamps, the most important part of the adinkra cloth, are carved from sections of a calabash gourd. More than 60 different Adinkra symbols are used, each of them signifying a specific tradition or proverbs.

Using the calabash gourd for the stamp designs.

A sampling of symbol designs.

Once the symbol has been selected, it is inked and the fabric stamped.

The stool symbol.

Resources

http://www.thekingdomofasante.com/history-of-adinkra/

https://afrolegends.com/2014/08/27/adinkra-symbols-and-the-rich-akan-culture/

Wikpedia, Adrinkra Symbols

Metallic Threads Tango

Textile and organic conservators all have had the exciting, but also, at times, frustrating, experience of untangling metallic threads before restitching them. You consider yourself lucky when threads have a memory and really, truly want to return to their original placement. Would it only be the case for the breakable silk threads around which stable metallic thread is wrapped!

The reader might wonder what I am talking about, but there are many textile embroidery traditions that use metal-wrapped threads delicately arranged on the surface of the textile, which are then anchored with small stitches positioned regularly along the threads. Write Ingrid K. Jimenez-Cosme and Jannen Contreras-Vargas in their article, "Gilded silver threads; corrosion and cleaning":

The manufacture of gilded silver threads can involve different processes like fire gilding, hammering, drawing, spinning, rolling and striping wound around a fibrous core of silk or cotton, and that is just the beginning; the fine metallic threads are then combined with silk, linen, paper, parchment, cotton or other metallic elements to make complex textiles woven in lace, brocade, embroidery, etc.

M. JáRó notes in the article, "Metal Threads in Historical Textiles," "...threads have been used to decorate textiles, predominantly embroideries and woven fabrics, for several thousand years. We find them on ecclesiastical as well as on secular vestments, on different accessories like gloves, shoes, head dresses, or even on other objects like hangings and carpets." It is the Chinese and other Asian textiles that might be best known for their extensive use of metallic thread. And my examples here are Chinese. However, many other countries also had this tradition, showing their wealth and prosperity.

The technique we've been using at Spicer Art Conservation, LLC to handle metallic thread has recently changed. In the past, I had used small weights and, sometimes, very fine pins to hold the metallic threads in place. But this was never really fully successful. The sewing thread would get tangled in the heads of the pins or the tops of the small weights.

Small "kiss" weights (shot pellets
wrapped in thin polyester film
tied up with tape)

Anyone who has been reading this blog will soon know that our change, of course, has something to do with magnets!

Small block-shaped magnets covered with
paper and an extension with a handle.

Behind the silk we slipped a sheet of stainless steel. Then small block-shaped N35 magnets (1.5 mm x 8 mm x 6mm) were wrapped with filmoplast self-adhesive archival paper tape (Neschen P 90). A long tab of paper was left to serve as a 'handle' for carefully lifting or repositioning the magnet.

Metallic threads aligned and stabilized.

Learn more about magnets and their many uses in the new publications Magnetic Mounting Systems for Museums and Cultural Institutions. Available for purchase at www.spicerart.com/magnetbook.

Resources

Costa, Virginia, de Reyer, Dominique & Betbeder, Maria (2012) A note on the analysis of metal threads, Studies in Conservation, 57:2, 112-115, DOI: 10.1179/2047058412Y.0000000001

JáRó, M. (2003) Metal Threads in Historical Textiles. In: Tsoucaris G., Lipkowski J. (eds) Molecular and Structural Archaeology: Cosmetic and Therapeutic Chemicals. NATO ASI Series (Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry), vol 117. Springer, Dordrecht

Jimenez-Cosme, Ingrid K. and Contreras-Vargas, Jannen. Gilded silver threads; corrosion and cleaning, papers from the Forum of the ICON Textile Group, 4 April 2011, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Toth, Márta (2012) Lessons learned from conserving metal thread embroidery in the Esterházy Collection, Budapest, Hungary, Studies in Conservation, 57:sup1, S305-S312, DOI: 10.1179/2047058412Y.0000000056

Textile mounts of unusual sizes

Cultural heritage just does not come in regular sizes.

This fact can be both frustrating and interesting, especially when it comes to the mounting and display of artifacts, particularly textiles. In our modern mechanical world our lives are filled with things in pre-determined sizes and shapes; clothing comes in systematic sizes, small, medium and large, etc. Our houses are typically built in Colonial, Cape Cod, ranch (traditional, raised or split) or other blueprint with specified characteristics. But this not so for the artifacts that tell our stories. And so, mounts and storage spaces are all dictated by the unique and often non-conforming sizes of our collections.

A recent project at SAC is such an example. It is a most unusually embroidered artifact. I am not even sure if it should be singularly characterized as a sampler, or better described as a trade-persons portfolio providing examples of their handwork. Regardless of it's original purpose, it is clearly representative of a skilled needle person. We do not know if the creator is a man or woman as the artifact is signed at one end with an initial and last name and a date of 1857.

Here the sampler of Berlin wool work is seen after treatment. It has been mounted and framed using archival materials. The sampler's extra long size can be appreciated, stretching 12 feet, it beautifully showcases each of the 36 unique design panels and the 35 border designs between each panel.

Similar artifacts like the one above exist is several collections, it is likely that these artifacts were produced as a demonstration piece to show skill, and therefore secure work for the embroiderer. To this endeavor, this particular artifact is reinforced and protected for travel. The entire embroidery is backed with a glazed cotton that covers the reverse side, also hiding the reverse or "business side" of the stitches. The glazed cotton backing also protects it, especially while it is rolled during transport. The outer rough edges are covered with green silk ribbon and at each corner is a small bow. The green silk ribbon also provides a nice finishing touch to any presentation.

BEFORE TREATMENT: A close-up of the end of the sampler. Here, the fraying corner can be seen, along with the silk ribbon that covers the edge and creates the corner bows. This particular panel is lovely in that it captures both the needlework as well as the beadwork. 

This artifact is also unusually sized, measuring 146 inches (or just over 12 feet long), yet it is a mere 8 inches wide. It features 36 different and unique embroidery samples. No two pattern designs are alike. And while the outer black wool floral border is consistent around the entire perimeter, each pattern sample is separated by a unique dividing border of a repetitive design stitched in (see image below). While the sample designs include those worked with both glass and metal beads, the style of the vibrant wool colors is unmistakeable, referred to as "Berlin wool work", or just simply, "Berlin work". The panels feature much more than "standard" Berlin work, it also includes a mixture of cross stitches, Blackwork insets, and several Bargello needlework panels (see image below), some panels are embellished with glass and metal steel beads. As well as a mixture of both wool and silk threads. Such an artwork! It begs the question, who was the owner? Who did they present it to? Were they successful at their trade?

One of the several Bargello panels featuring the beautiful
brightly colored wool yarns. Here, two of the dividing
border patterns can be seen as well. 

After it was done being used as a demonstration piece for earning a living, no doubt someone saw the beauty in the piece and it became decoration. Following examination, we learned that it had been mounted previously. Signs of thumb tacks and nails were present along the twelve foot long sides of the embroidery.

The prepared mount was unusual, 150" long and only 9" wide. The owner wanted to have it span the entire upper wall "frieze" area of a room with a high ceiling.  

We are often asked what goes in to creating a mount that is both constructed of materials that are archival, and preferred among conservators, as well as museum professionals to ensure that the mount materials are safe and will not harm the artifacts they hold.

The structure of the mount is multi-layered. At its base is a support which is created from an aluminum honeycomb panel which will not release harmful pollutants, is buffered against acid migration, is not prone to warping, and is light weight (which is a wonderful characteristic when you are creating a large mount that could be tremendously heavy!). Over it is a layer of soft material, typically polyester batting. Then, over that is a mounting fabric, chosen to blend best with the artifact, composed of plain weave long-fibered cotton. The textile is then carefully attached to the mount using fine thread and stitches that follow former or existing stitching so as to not create additional holes (see illustration above). At the perimeter of the mount is the fillet, which creates the space (between the mount and the UV filtering Plexiglas) for the textile to rest. The frame of the mount is constructed of aluminum and is powder coated in any color, but typically black is the color of choice. Smaller mounted items can have a decorative frame placed over the top of the aluminum frame of the mount. The mount is completed with UV filtering Plexiglas. Plexiglas is much lighter than glass and it does not shatter like glass. Depending on the mount, the hanging mechanism is often incorporated into the back (see image below).

The reverse of the mount, with hanging mechanism.

Here at Spicer Art Conservation, we mount a lot of flags and other items that all tend to be closer to being square or a "reasonable rectangle". But to have a mount with this odd proportion is not just unusual, but also fun. The studio's work tables get moved around to accommodate the extra long size and then we begin to think about methods that might be slightly out of the standard. This is all great fun; we welcome and embrace the challenging mount and unusual textiles at SAC.

Textile Conservator, Gwen spicer works to prepare
the mount for the long needlework sampler.

_____________________________
Gwen Spicer is a conservator in private practice. Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper. To contact Gwen, please visit her website or send an email.

The conservation of 17th century needlework textiles, a conglomeration of stitches, symbolism and media

Mid-17th century English Stump Work embroideries feature a variety of symbolic images, with a variety of stitches, using a variety of materials. These pieces truly are are early "multi-media" pieces, and with their complex embroidery is a multitude of conservation needs. These 17th century pieces are rendered in a raised-work style, often referred to as "Stump Work". The images depicted in the needlework, the techniques and materials used, make these stump work embroideries all similar in appearance.

Recently in the studio was an embroidery called "Mordecai and Esther". It is named after the biblical story, yet the image is of Esther and King Ahaznerus of Persia. According to the story, Esther marries the King, and as his queen bravely implores his mercy to save her people from execution.

The overall image shows the density of embroidered symbols. Notice the windows in the town, they shine due to pieces of mica embroidered into the work. Below is a detailed image of the mica windows. From the collection of Newport Restoration.

Biblical stories are found frequently in embroideries of this time, the story of Esther is quite common because it was accepted as "historical" because it was Old Testament, and therefore not seen as overly religious (so it would not offend). The following quote describes this type of work quite well:

"The variety of method was almost infinite, though the range of subjects was limited.  The curiously disassociated juxtaposition of "curiosities', mythological, religious, natural historical and even heraldic, in unrelated scales, combined in creating an atmosphere of magic or fantasy" - Lanto Synge in Antique Needlework 1982

These needlework textiles are heavily worked with symbolic images. (Much is written on the symbolism found in art, and especially symbolism in textiles such as tapestries). This work alone includes:

• Stag (in corner)
• Lion (in corner)
• Unicorn (in corner)
• Leopard (in corner)
• Birds of various species
• A water fountain
• Clouds with rain and a rainbow
• Sun placed at the top, center
• Fish in a bird's mouth
• Trees - various: pears, grapefruit, orange? pomello?
• Insects - many species and sizes, disproportional to things around them, i.e. bug same size as bird
• Flowers - various
• Camel
• Squirrel
• City or town in the background

Detail of symbols and "distortion" of proportion (hare and peacock are the same size as a caterpillar, which is on the same scale as a flower).

The multitude of stitching techniques and symbolic imagery is typical of needlework from the mid 1600's. In fact, as we looked at some other examples, the style and manner in which the pictures are stitched makes one biblical story was almost indistinguishable from another. Below is a needlework picture from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the similar features are obvious.

These multi-media needlework pictures require the conservation of a multitude of elements including:

-Silk ground, backed in linen, with backing of silk.

-Silk thread, metallic thread, metal sequins, glass beads, pearls, mica

Closer inspection shows unique stitching techniques to create flat satin shiny areas, richly complex stitches creating 3-D images, and elements like pearls and sequins and chips of mica to create areas of interest and detail. Stitching techniques include (but are not limited to): tent stitch, gobelin, satin, french knot,  couching, rococo, detached buttonhole, etc. The satin stitch is easy to examine and clean in that the stitch is flat and easily seen. The knotted stitches and the dimensional work is much thicker and gives "nooks and crannies" for dirt to hide and mask unseen damage hidden below.

The added beads, pearls and sequins create interest, and more 3-dimensional areas. Below is a closer look, where you can see the metallic threads used to create the robe of this individual.

Regardless of condition, a 350+ year-old embroidery is a fragile textile and must be approached with regard to the age of the materials. This particular embroidery, while dirty and with some areas of loss,  is in good condition. As we always do, the treatment starts with a vacuuming using very low suction and a small brush attachment. When the silk and linen backings were removed, the embroidery showed evidence that it had been trimmed. This could indicate it was the lid or a panel of a larger object like a "casket" (not coffin, much like the one below).

A 17th century stump work casket from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum

The needlework we treated had been attached for a very long time to a wooden strainer and had been framed. It was removed from the strainer and placed on a mount constructed of DiBond that was cut to fit inside of the frame. A sealed package was created around the artifact that contained the the new DiBond backboard as well as new Plexiglas and spacers. The original wooden backing was returned, but only after it was separated from the sealed package with an interleaving layer of Marvelseal to protect the needlework from any other possible acid migration.

Some interesting work has been done by conservators using microscopy to look more closely at the complex threads used in these, and other 17th century embroideries, and how these threads were produced. Another interesting find is discussed at length on The National Gallery of Victoria's (Australia) website. While doing their microscopic evaluation they found evidence of peacock feathers used to embellish the bodies and feelers of insects depicted in the embroidery. Sadly, only these small pieces of evidence are left due to the quick degradation of feathers. Their website also includes x-radiography images of a needlepoint revealing hidden pieces of fabric and thread and how they were used.
_____________________________
Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.