by Nicole Giacomantonio, recent graduate. I was very fortunate to spend the last month at the Kelvin Centre for Conservation and Cultural Heritage Research to undertake the final stage of treatment on a 1920s’ gold beaded dress belonging to Glasgow Museums. The dress (E.1973.62.b) was originally purchased from Murielle’s of Sauchiehall St in Glasgow and… Continue reading
By Erinn Dunlea, first year student, MPhil Textile Conservation. Conservators must tailor each conservation treatment to the needs of the object in their care. This can be informed by the object’s nature, condition, and the context and objectives of the treatment. This past semester I undertook the conservation of a length of fabric which belongs… Continue reading
It has been quite an academic year for all students and staff, especially as on top of navigating post-graduate learning and teaching during a pandemic we also managed the additional upheaval of relocating to Kelvin Hall over the Easter break. By way of acknowledgement of our fortitude and flexibility the Textile Conservation Foundation (TCF) generously… Continue reading
by Sarah Foskett, lecturer, MPhil Textile Conservation. It felt rather strange to be going somewhere and I was filled with both excitement and slight trepidation as I dusted off my holdall and headed off to Slaithwaite in Yorkshire for the Part 1 of the ETSG Identifying and Describing the Structures of Archaeological and Historic Textiles… Continue reading
by Catherine Harris, second year student. After being unable to complete a placement as planned in the summer of 2020 as part of the Textile Conservation programme at the University of Glasgow, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to go and work with Zenzie Tinker Conservation Ltd (ZTC) in-person. For three weeks between… Continue reading
8 May 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr Karen Finch OBE, the Founder of the Textile Conservation Centre, the predecessor of our Centre at the University of Glasgow. Karen’s legacy is enormous. As Jane Bridgeman wrote at the time of her death in 2018, “It is no exaggeration to say that… Continue reading
By Nicole Giacomantonio, Textile Conservator. The Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History has officially moved house! After 10 years in the Robertson building, the Centre has relocated temporarily to the Hunterian Collections Study Centre, awaiting the development of a more permanent lodgings, also in Kelvin Hall, scheduled for completion later in the year.… Continue reading
Ahead of Karen’s centenary on 8th May 2021, please visit the blog on the Karen Finch website. Here you can find out what is planned for the centenary year and where to send your recollections and reminiscences for inclusion in the upcoming Centenary section of the site.
by Callie Jerman, second year student, MPhil Textile Conservation It’s strange sometimes how themes can re-occur throughout a project or course. For the current second-year students one theme of the semester was ‘pesticides’. Historic pesticide use in museums is a huge problem, as a wide variety of toxins were applied to objects, starting in the… Continue reading
by Beth Gillions, 2nd year student, MPhil Textile Conservation My first encounter with dyeing came at a young age when my family started participating in historical re-enactments at a beautiful Tudor Manor House in Suffolk. Nestled in the grounds of Kentwell Hall’s barn sward sits the woolshed where first I learned to turn sheep’s fleece to yarn, and the ‘Dyers’ where I first… Continue reading
