Stabilization Methods for Textiles from Wet Sites

Abstract

Compared with artifacts of a more durable nature, the survival of textile objects in moist archaeological conditions is uncom1non. Textile 1naterials become degraded during prolonged burial and are already fragile and weakened when excavated. Methods of cleaning, consolidating, and drying textiles from wet terrestrial sites in temperate climates were investigated for this study. Methods considered were 1) no treatment, 2) aqueous cleaning, 3) aqueous cleaning with a surfactant, 4) lubricant treatment, 5) consolidants treatment, and 6) solvent treatment. Both air- and freeze-drying were utilized. Using two undyed wool fabrics that had been buried in representative southern New England soil, these stabilization methods were tested to determine which were the most suitable for treating the wool textiles. The treatments were evaluated by testing shrinkage, stiffness, and fabric strength, and by microscopic examination of the treated samples. Stiffness test results were statistically analyzed.

None of the treatments was found to cause further fiber degradation in the treated samples. While the surfactant cleaning resulted in the highest degree of soil removal, fabrics were weakened by the mechanical action of the treatment. All of the wet treatments left redeposited soil embedded within the fiber and yarn structure of the samples. Regardless of treatment the air-dried samples were stiffer and experienced more overall shrinkage than their freeze-dried counterparts. Studies investigating alternative 1neans of soil removal and appropriate methods of freeze-drying wet archaeological textiles are recommended for further research.     

Characterization of dyes in ancient textiles from Yingpan,Xinjiang

In this paper we analyzed the natural dyes in well-preserved, ancient textiles from Yingpan, an important archaeological site on the Silk Road, using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometric detection. Dyes were removed from textile fibers using a soft extraction method (pyridine, water and oxalic acid). Two species of madder-type plants, Rubia tinctorum and Rubia cordifolia were identified as the dye sources in red and brown samples. We also were able to detect unusual flavonoid glycosides in yellow and green woolen yarns, although we have not been able to pinpoint with certainty a specific plant that may have been used to produce this dye(s). On the other hand, we found that yellow and green silk threads had been colored with protoberberine-type dyes, probably obtained from species of cork tree, Phellodendron spp., and/or other protoberberine producing plant. We propose that the textile dyes found at Yingpan reflect a merging of Eastern and Western practices and technologies during the 800-year period (206 BCE–618 CE) encompassing the early years of the Silk Road.     

‘Fashioned from Nature’

Abstract

This paper examines the situation of the male draper in terms of his relationships to textiles and female customers between the 1870s and the outbreak of the First World War. Drawing on accounts of shop work produced by men employed as drapers and drapers’ assistants, the essay highlights the ridicule levelled against men who sold textiles, their work with fabrics and clothing, as well as the service they provided for an almost exclusively female clientele, being widely derided as unsuitable labour for a man. Analysing three first-hand accounts of the draper’s lot — H. G. Wells’s discussion of his years as a draper’s apprentice in his Experiment in Autobiography (1934); William Paine’s Shop Slavery and Emancipation (1912), based on the injustices experienced by drapers’ assistants; and the diary of a Bond Street draper, Charles Cavers, posthumously published as Hades! The Ladies! Being Extracts from the Diary of a Draper (1933) — the essay shows how social constructions of masculinity framed the draper’s work, particularly the handling of fabrics.     

An Analysis of Textile Fragments from the Janey B. Goode Site

Abstract

Excavations at the Janey B.Goode site (11S1232), located in the American Bottom region of Illinois, yielded carbonized textile remains from two pit features dating to the Terminal Late Woodland period and from one pit feature dating to the Mississippian period. The remains comprise both twisted or braided cordage pieces and actual twined textile fragments ranging in size from 2×3 cm to over 9×9 cm. Four different twining techniques are represented: two types of compact twining and two types of space twining. All textiles appear to be constructed of bast fibers, probably from the outer part of herbaceous plant stems. The textiles are similar to those described from other Midwestern sites dating to the Woodland and Mississippian periods, reflecting the existence of a widespread fiber industry. In this paper, the textiles from the Janey B. Goode site and the production technology used to produce them are described.     

连云港尹湾汉墓出土缯绣的染料研究

潮湿埋藏环境出土的丝织品文物极为珍贵,但由于染料信息的大量流失,使得其原本色彩难以辨认。采用高效液相色谱-质谱联用法以及紫外-可见分光光度法对连云港尹湾汉墓出土的缯绣衾被残片所使用的染料做了分析,在其萃取液中检测到了苏木的染料成分。结合科技鉴定结果以及文献记载分析,确定苏木为织物原始的上染染料。这项研究成果表明西汉时期除了茜草和蓝草以外,苏木也被用于丝织品的染色。这将植物染料中苏木的使用提前至西汉乃至西汉以前,极大地完善和丰富了纺织考古的资料和信息。同时,也为潮湿环境出土织物的染料研究提供了借鉴。     

北京市石景山区一清代墓葬出土纺织品染料与染色方法综合研究

清代的染色技术无论在染料的选择、染色方法,还是在获得颜色的数量上均达到我国古代天然染料染色的最高峰。文献和传世品研究极大推进了对清代纺织品染色技术的了解,但对清代考古纺织品染料的分析研究尚无结果发表。在此,对北京市石景山区2006年出土清代墓葬中纺织品的染料和染色方法进行了研究。化学分析使用超高效液相色谱法,首次将我国考古染料结合历史文献、传世纺织品颜色及染料组成详细比对,检测出苏木、黄檗、含鞣花酸染料(疑为橡斗)及蓝草四种染料。大多数样品上鉴定出一到两种染料,少数样品可能由三种或更多染料染成。相同的染料组合可以通过不同用量获得深浅不同的颜色。研究第一次对同一墓葬出土不同织物的染色方法进行比较,发现同种染料可以用于染不同类型、质地和用途的织物。这套纺织品所用的染料和染色方法与文献记载和传世样品都相符合。这一研究也是针对清代考古出土纺织品染料展开的首次成功的分析鉴定,补充了传世纺织品和染色历史文献,是清代染色史的重要部分。     

An Integrated isotopic study of Early Intermediate Period camelid husbandry in the Santa Valley,Perú

ABSTRACT

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions were determined for camelid bone collagen, hair, and wool (fibre) sampled from textiles from archaeological sites in the Santa Valley (north coast of Perú) occupied during Moche III (El Castillo, A.D. 300?500) and Moche IV (Guadalupito, A.D. 500?700) phases; a small number of camelid bone collagen samples were also analysed from the Late Suchimancillo Phase (A.D. 0?300). These data suggest that localised camelid husbandry was practiced in the Santa Valley from at least the Moche III phase. The nature of camelid husbandry likely involved animals being kept spatially segregated and fed a diverse range of fodder. The isotopic compositions of the bone collagen and wool textiles were very similar, which suggests that the wool that was used to produce the textiles was derived from local camelids rather than being acquired from the highlands. The transition from Moche III to Moche IV, which saw a significant increase in Mochica presence in the Santa Valley, was not accompanied by major changes in camelid husbandry practices. Localised camelid husbandry continued through this transition with minimal change; the prolonged droughts of the sixth century A.D. had no discernable effect on camelid husbandry, probably due to the special hydraulic conditions unique to the Santa Valley.     

髹漆丝织品光老化性能的测试分析

髹漆丝织品光老化性能的测试分析,旨在了解其抗光老化的能力,为出土髹漆丝织品的保存和展示提供科学的依据。本工作以精制纯漆和桐油漆料分别髹涂的丝织物及未经髹涂的丝织品为试样,进行加速光老化处理。对试样的测试表明,两种髹漆试样经光照后强伸性下降轻缓,相同时段的降幅远低于丝织品,桐油漆试样降幅最小。两种漆膜在光老化中均有轻微的空洞和裂纹,纯漆膜损伤稍大。光老化过程中,漆膜对丝纤维的保护作用较好,漆丝的结晶度未有明显下降,而未髹漆丝纤维的结晶度下降显著。本研究的结果可以为出土髹漆丝织品的保存和展示提供科学的依据     

International Economic History Congress

Abstract

Elda Pavan Cecchele was an Italian hand-weaver who began by producing household linen at the end of the 1930s. She produced hand-woven fabrics for firms such as Salvatore Ferragamo in the early 1950s and Roberta di Camerino from the 1950s to the 1960s; these designers were active on both the Italian and international fashion scene. These fabrics were used in clothing, accessories and furnishings. This article examines Cecchele’s significant contribution to the creation of important fashion items and collections. Like many other artisans, her contribution proved decisive but she worked in the background and had no public recognition. Surviving records from Cecchele’s workshop, including samples, design notebooks, designs and documents, are now in a private archive. Access to this material, together with numerous interviews with her former customers and collaborators, have enabled her abilities to be rediscovered and the re-evaluation of her artistic contribution to Italian fashion.     

Light for Art Conservation

Abstract

High-intensity light from lasers is used for the surface treatment of works of art to bring about a cleaning or divestment, stabilization, sterilization, and renewed activation. The use of conservation techniques of laser divestment for textiles, leather, paper, pottery, bronze, glass and concrete have all been achieved and some are here described in detail. The author believes that through this type of work, science is repaying a debt to art, saving works of art from deterioration and ultimate destruction.     

常熟彩衣堂彩画蓝色颜料研究

常熟彩衣堂建筑彩画是江南地区古建筑彩画中的杰出代表,可一直存在彩画的部分色彩与传统图案用色难以对应的问题。为明确彩衣堂彩画蓝色颜料的使用情况,在前期研究工作成果的基础上,对采集的样品采用光学显微镜、激光显微拉曼光谱仪、X射线荧光分析仪等进行了综合分析。结果表明彩衣堂彩画使用了蓝色有机颜料花青和矿物颜料石青,蓝色纹样处一般只有作为底色的花青残留,从而使得显现的颜色与传统图案用色无法匹配。     

Identification of ancient textiles from Yingpan,Xinjiang, by multiple analytical techniques

Various extraordinary textiles were excavated from a graveyard at Yingpan, Xinjiang, on the middle route of the ancient Silk Road. Applications of western motifs and designs to traditional Chinese textiles led to the emergence of compound woven textiles with central Asian characters. For a better understanding of the cultural exchanges and textile trade between the West and the East in ancient times, identifications of archaeological fibres and dyes were carried out for various funerary textile objects by using multiple analytical techniques, such as high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode detection, optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Fibre identifications were performed for 35 archaeological textile samples, and the results showed that the ancient textiles were mostly made from Bombyx mori silk and wool. The SEM and FT-IR experimental results revealed that these ancient textiles remained morphologically intact due to the special (very dry) climate in Xinjiang, but noticeably degraded at the molecular level due to long time thermo-ageing and/or biodegradation. The principal colouring matters, such as alizarin, purpurin, indigotin and luteolin, were respectively characterised for nine archaeological textile samples. The yellow dyestuffs derived from luteolin-based plants were assumed to have been imported to China from the Middle East and Western Asia through the Silk Road.     

Towards an Interpretation of Textiles in the Provincial Domestic Interior: Three Homes in the West Midlands, 1780–1848

Abstract

This article explores the role of textiles in the home in the later eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. The methodology adopted is a response to the difficulties of researching homes in this period when probate inventories had largely ceased to be made. Instead of using quantitative analysis, this essay focuses on three case studies of homes where detailed lists allow speculation on the uses of furnishing textiles in these homes. Three themes are identified: conspicuous consumption, domestic ideology and the possible meanings of stored textiles. These themes are explored using recent cultural theories to provide a framework for analysis.     

Economy and Respectability: Textiles from the North Brisbane Burial Ground

Textile remains were discovered during a salvage excavation at the site of the North Brisbane Burial Ground, a nineteenth-century cemetery in the city of Brisbane, Australia. Ninety-six textile samples were collected at excavation, comprising 39 twill weaves, 17 tabby weaves, one haircord weave, one satin weave, three knitted fabrics, one piece of felt and 34 masses of loose wool packing. Most of the woven textiles recovered were coffin coverings or coffin linings. Similarly, the majority of non-woven textile samples were also associated with coffins and their dressing. Five of the identified textiles were likely to have been fragments of garments worn by the deceased.     

多光谱摄影技术在印绘纺织品文物信息提取中的应用——以正德八年诰命为例

为了探讨多光谱摄影技术在纺织品文物信息无损提取中的实用性,利用多光谱成像系统和微型光谱仪对正德八年诰命中破损的纹理组织、模糊的墨书字迹进行识别。在对诰命的图像信息提取后发现,多光谱的红外光波段对纺织品文物上的墨书字迹具有较好的识别作用;在颜色复杂或肉眼无法识别细微纹理的情况下,结合提取对象的反射光谱,可以较好获取织物颜色和纹理信息,完善和补充纺织品文物的相关信息。多光谱摄影技术在纺织品文物信息无损分析方面具有较好的实用性。     

Salamander's Wool: The Historical Evidence for Textiles Woven with Asbestos Fibre

Abstract

In 1684 Members of the Royal Society of London discussed the nature of a type of woven cloth described as incombustible linen, or salamander's wool. It was an attempt to explain scientifically the phenomenon described in many cultures over more than 1,500 years, of a cloth which could be immersed in fire and emerge, not only unburnt, but even cleansed. Such cloth is known to have been woven using fibres from the mineral asbestos. This paper explores the evidence for the historical use of asbestos fibre in woven textiles before its rediscovery and commercial development for fire protection in the nineteenth century.     

What's in a Name? The Practice and Politics of Classifying Māori Textiles

Abstract

Textiles form an important part of Māori culture, of interest to Europeans since contact with New Zealand in 1642. The need to describe Māori textiles in English has determined the terminology chosen to describe them, and also affected understandings of Māori weaving. Ethnographic observation and recording of Māori textile production by European non-weavers, inaccurate translation of Māori words, as well as incorrect use of terms have all contributed to difficulties in understanding Māori textile structures. The development of current terminology for describing Māori textiles is discussed, highlighting how it arises as a result of temporal, cultural and political factors, and the consequent importance of names. The values implicit in names given to Māori textiles then affect knowledge, scholarship and communication of their attributes. One Māori textile form, rāranga, illustrates how basing classification on structure alone could clarify understanding, remove implicit value judgements, and enable accurate communication of the properties of artefacts.     

Identification of materials in post-Byzantine textiles from Mount Athos

Numerous textiles of inestimable historical significance have been preserved in the monasteries of Mount Athos for several centuries. However, our knowledge regarding the materials used in these objects is very limited. In the present study, microsamples extracted from ecclesiastical textiles (16th – 19th c.) of the monastery of Xeropotamou (Mount Athos) are investigated using Optical Microscopy (OM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a Photodiode Array Detector (HPLC-PDA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX). The first goal of the study is to identify the colouring materials of the historical samples, which were of silk nature (OM). The presence of Prussian blue is revealed using FTIR and organic colourants such as cochineal, dyer’s broom (Genista tinctoria L.), fuchsin, indigo carmine, old fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria L.), soluble redwood (Caesalpinia trees), weld (Reseda luteola L.), young fustic (Cotinus coggygria Scop.) and indigoid dyestuff source(s) are identified using HPLC-PDA. Dyestuff extraction from silk substrates is achieved using the TFA method, which preserves the contained glycosides. Thus, the report provides further evidence to support the efficacy of the TFA method to extract various organic colourants from historical silk samples (second goal). Finally, metal threads included in some historical samples are studied using OM and SEM-EDX. The latter is employed to analyse the composition of the metal surfaces. Silver (Ag) and gold (Au) are detected on the surfaces of the majority of the samples. Two samples were manufactured only with Ag.     

A COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR ESTABLISHING FATTY ACID CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS ACROSS POTSHERDS: A CASE STUDY USING LATE BRONZE AGE CANAANITE AMPHORAE*

Canaanite amphorae fragments in fabrics believed to be associated with the bulk transport of vegetable oils from the fourteenth‐century BC site of Amarna, Egypt, have been examined. A comparison is made between solvent extraction, saponification and the use of TMTFTH (m‐trifluoromethylphenyl)trimethylammomum hydroxide, used here for the combined extraction and derivatization of ceramic‐absorbed organic residues. Extracts were studied using gas chromatography and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. The extraction of fatty acids from small ceramic samples has established concentration gradients of absorbed organic matter from the inner to the outer surfaces of the sherds.     

A WATER ABSORPTION ANALYSIS OF NABATEAN,NORTH AFRICAN AND OTHER CLAY LAMP FABRICS UNEARTHED AT THE RED SEA PORT OF ROMAN AILA (AQABA,JORDAN)*

A water absorption analysis was conducted on 103 clay lamp samples to determine whether the fabrics of this pottery type are porous. If so, this would lend further support to the long‐standing assumption that lamp makers coated their lighting vessels with slip—not just for decorative purposes, but as a means of preventing oil seepage of the fuel chamber. The samples were excavated at the Red Sea port of Roman Aila (modern Aqaba, Jordan) and belong to 10 different types originating from Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Gaul. The results of the experiment reveal that clay lamp fabrics are porous, and comparatively more so than a reference group of non‐lamp pottery from Pella (Jordan). Petrographic thin‐section analysis of select fabrics confirms the presence of pores, cracks and propagating veins indicative of thermal stress resulting from repeated lamp use. Meandering veins identified in a nozzle fragment were created by the diffusion of vapours, probably originating from the burning lamp oil itself. Ancient lamp makers understood that, given its direct exposure to the extreme temperature of the flame, the nozzle was particularly vulnerable to breakage as a result of thermal shock. A porous lamp fabric, however, helped limit crack propagation, allowing the nozzle and the lamp body to expand and contract to avoid breakage.