Collection
Textile Conservation Facilities
The Textiles Conservation Facilities has been part of the museum organization from the very beginning. Its task is to protect and preserve textiles from the collection, which grows constantly alongside the problems with housing, preserving and conservation of these objects. The collection of textiles housed in the Central Museum of Textiles involves an extensive scope of historical textiles with various destiny manufactured of various materials, with the use of diversified techniques. These are kilims, decorative tapisseries, hand tied and machine-made carpets, furnishing textiles and garment fabrics, embroideries, printed and painted textiles, appliqués, laces, knitting and other, very different objects, in case of which authors define manufacturing method as “mixed techniques”. Apart from textiles there are also folk costumes, made-up textiles, exquisite garments from the best fashion houses as well as authors’ hand-made creations. Garments are accompanied by fashion accessories made of various materials (the most popular – but not only – are metal and leather).
Each of these assortments is the reason of various problems, which must be solved by appropriate elaboration of conservation work programme. A relatively easiest problem, although it need not be so – is washing big textiles, such as carpets and tapestries, up to a dozen or several dozen square meters. Let alone the weight of the tapestry soaked in water. The workshop owns special big bath tubs equipped in the system of elevators, but washing itself is also a big problem. Special ventilation tubes are used for cleaning bigger surfaces with the use of chemicals (usually dangerous for health). Another conservation issue is preserving in good condition the collection of the contemporary tapestry. Many of these objects are manufactured in unique techniques of various, often non-typical exotic fibrous materials or other, which are even not textile in the traditional sense of the word. Each of these objects requires individual, very complicated and complex conservation programme.
Silk textiles, often embroidered, although homogeneous in material are easily susceptible to technical damage. They are placed on frames under net and washing them means numerous drowning them in bath.
All objects housed in the museum after preservation procedures are analyzed with regard to possible reconstruction. Not all damaged objects are reconstructed. Sometimes conservation works end with repairs of borders in case of losses. Yet, as a result of conservation works, majority of textiles return to the former state and looks.
All textiles and yarns used for reconstruction are dyed in the workshop and then the losses are made up for with the use of techniques identical with the original ones.
Jacek Królewski
Senior Conservator
Head of Textile Conservation Facilities
Main Conservator of the Central Museum of Textiles