Versatile Mannequin Design for textile display

It is always a struggle.  Whether you are a conservator, costume professional, or a museum curator, displaying garments on a suitable display-form leaves you dissatisfied with the results and exhausted from the struggle.  History has produced a variety of mannequins and display-forms: from ready-made, to custom-built, dress forms in passive and molded buckram, as well as carved mannequins, just to name a few.  Yet, each was specifically designed for a specific situation, leaving the mannequin "pigeon-holed" in its purpose.  But not any more.  The mannequin, as we know it, has stepped out of the ho-hum and has evolved into the hot-diggity!

What if a mannequin could be as versatile as the entire collection it needs to display? What if a single mannequin could be used to display a mid-century taffeta gown, or just as easily, an 18th century military uniform?

These questions, along with a set of specific demands, led to the development of just such a mannequin.  During a project to create 33 mannequins for the National Air and Space Museum's exhibit, "America by Air", Spicer Art Conservation (along with the museum staff and SmallCorp) were able to come up with an easily dressed form for both male and female garments, displayed at various heights and positions.  This reliable and versatile form is easy to produce and easy to use.  It's novelty is the internal armature, known as "side-ways ladders"(see illustrations below: left: original drawing of mannequin; right: side-ways ladder embedded in foam)

A display from NASM's 

Often it seems that conservators take on all steps of mannequin production.  But by allowing the metal armatures to be made by a metal smith, the conservator can focus on the careful shaping of the ethafoam forms.  The other benefit is "straightness on the base".  How many times has a conservator spent hours carving a form, only to have it inserted on an angle onto the metal display post?  (The answer: Too many times!).  With this design, the placement of the armatures ensures straightness on the base.  An added bonus is that the procedure is quite quick. Dressing a mannequin is made simple as all the parts disassemble.  What is more, is that the design is not limited to a specific fashion period, gender, or ethnic group.

Above: Carving the foam 

So we have a mannequin that is easy to dress, looks great, is adaptable to any display situation, and can be used multiple times with flexible and versatile components that are able to be mixed and matched.  Did I mention that the upper portion could be used for both the display AND the storage of the artifact? (see 4/25/12 blog entry: "Conservation is More Than Treatment")

 

(series of three photos above:  a gradual progression of building a mannequin for Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society's exhibit, "Trial of Red Jacket".)                                                        

As a conservator, I love a challenge.  And I especially love when an item in our daily repertoire can be reinvented to become something extraordinary.  My hope is that museums (both large and small), institutions, and those in private practice can use this design in a successful way to display a wide variety of costume garments easily over the course of many exhibits.

This blog post by Barbara Owens summarizes a paper and talk given by Gwen Spicer, "A Versatile Mannequin" presented at American Institute for Conservation's 34th Annual Meeting. To download a copy of the paper, just click on the link.

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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.

Conservation of a 200 year old War of 1812 coatee, including a custom mannequin for display, and storage

by Barbara Owens

Last year, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC had the great honor of working on the John Ellis Wool coatee, c. 1813, from the Rensselaer County Historical Society.  RCHS was a 2011 recipient of a Conservation Treatment Grant from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network.

Wool's 200 year old coatee, a rare (only three known coats of this type exist) uniform from the War of 1812, had considerable damage to it from previous insect infestation, with holes scattered over much of it.  It had open seams and deteriorated thread and cording.  The jacket also had overall soiling and grime.  A few creases and folds were evident.

Each of these areas of treatment needed to be addressed, but equally important is that Wool's coatee is often studied by military researches and re-enactors.  It is also requested for exhibition at other museums and historical societies.  These various needs, from very different groups, required that the coatee be prepared for exhibition, study, storage, and transport.

Through the Conservation Treatment Grant, RCHS was able to have the coatee itself preserved and stabilized.  The next step was to create a custom-made mannequin form for exhibition.  The form consisted of metal armature which supported a Ethafoam structure.  The Ethafoam was then covered with both cotton knit fabric and display fabric where visible.

But this is no ordinary mannequin, this mannequin included something unique.  This mannequin's custom built components are two-fold.  They serve to provide both structure in exhibition, as well as support while in storage.  This is accomplished by building a "vest" (which fits around the mannequin) with attached padded arms that stay with the artifact during both exhibition and storage.  The vest is separate from the form, however it remains inside the coatee to provide support in storage.  An additional padded form was made to retain its three-dimensional shape to prevent crushing and deformation during storage.  This padded form would be inserted into the "vest", inside the coatee for storage.  (See photos below: the first is the inside view of the vest, the second is the storage form inserted into the vest.)

A custom-made storage box was also created from inert, conservation approved materials to hold the padded coatee.  The storage system made the coatee accessible for study whilst protecting it from excessive handling.

Working on a grant-funded project like this one from RCHS poses challenge and opportunity.  Never before had Spicer Art Conservation been asked to not only provide expert preservation of a garment, but to provide a versatile mannequin capable of providing structure and support for very different needs and demands.  It came out beautifully and the garment has since travelled to Canada for a visiting exhibition.  

Doing the conservation work for the Wool coatee also marked an important milestone for Spicer Art Conservation.  This was the 11th consecutive year we have done conservation for at least one of the organizations who were recipients of the Conservation Treatment Grant from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network.

Learn more about John Ellis Wool's coatee and RCHS here: http://www.rchsonline.org/

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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.