Shattered silk
Research on weighted silk in the costume collection of the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum holds a number of weighted silk objects in their costume collection. These can cause complex conservation issues. The aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of the nature of these issues, their causes and possible remedies.
About the project
During the late 19th and early 20th century silk was often weighted with metal salts. This process was done in order to increase its value (silk was sold by weight) and to improve processes such as dyeing. Conservation of degraded weighted silk is highly problematic. Costume collections worldwide are having trouble managing and conserving these objects. This research aims to further develop an easy method to establish the number of objects made with weighted silk in the costume collection.
Aim of the project
The aim of the project is the conservation of weighted silk objects in the costume collection of the Rijksmuseum. Firstly, the research investigates the scope of the problem: how many objects are we dealing with? Which types of weighted silks are present, and how can damage caused by weighting be distinguished from that caused by bleaching? The second part of the research concentrates on the conservation of the types of objects, such as optimizing storage conditions and improving conservation treatments.
Staff
Suzan Meijer
Head of the Textile Conservation
s.meijer@rijksmuseum.nl
Marjolein Koek
Junior Textile Conservator
m.koek@rijksmuseum.nl
