- Hello, and welcome to Insider Insights.
I'm Emma Wegner, Associate Educator in Public Programs,
and Creative Practice at The Met.
In this series, we're providing closer looks
at objects from the collection and exhibitions,
as well as a glimpse behind the scenes
of the work of Met experts,
who interpret and care for the collection.
Today, we're joined by my colleague
Cristina Balloffet Carr,
Conservator in Textiles Conservation.
Cristina will discuss how advanced imaging techniques
like X-rays and microscopy help tell the stories
of textiles in the Met collection.
She will also discuss how The Met's
Department of Textile Conservation
uses new scientific discoveries
to understand historic textiles.
Thanks so much for joining us today, Cristina.
- Thank you so much for inviting me, Emma.
The Department of Textile Conservation is responsible for
preservation, conservation, technical study, and research
of the museum's collection of approximately 36,000 textiles
in 12 curatorial departments.
It's an encyclopedic collection
representing a range of categories.
13 professionals with diverse areas of expertise, as well
as fellows, interns, and volunteers comprise the department.
I am a long-time conservator in the department,
and have worked with textiles from most
curatorial departments,
coordinating the installation of numerous exhibitions.
And I have been particularly interested
in seamlessly integrating digital technology
and traditional museum practices.
The enabling factors in the evolution of material culture,
especially with respect to textiles, can become obscured
or misinterpreted with the passing of time.
Accounts of social and economic production realities,
contemporary to the time and place of manufacture,
help clarify conditions and opportunities
at a particular point in history.
However, the physical object itself
carries unique core information,
independent of historical interpretation.
Objects convey information, and might have been created
expressly to convey information,
relevant to a specific time and culture.
Written accounts regarding material culture
when removed from one's own experience
can place an object in historical context,
but the object itself is no longer the primary focus.
Systematic study, documentation,
and scientific investigation
is integral to our work as conservators.
Advanced imaging combined with analytical techniques,
such as microscopy and X-radiography,
permit the visual deconstruction of an object.
The process itself of capturing images
is an opportunity to focus on isolated physical qualities,
core characteristics, both visible, and invisible.
It is a way of thinking.
The sorting, manipulating, comparing, and re-comparing
of images can result in unexpected insights.
This multifaceted examination
compensates for losses in overall appearance,
promoting a deeper understanding
of this 14th century embroidery,
and how it might be best preserved and enhanced.
And the microscope offers a primary entry point
for understanding the materials, techniques,
past history, and current condition of a textile.
The addition to our compound microscope
of a digital camera, tethered to a computer
with image processing software, was a game changer.
In the past, this intimate view was limited to
the individual who happened to have access
to both microscope and textile.
Images on a monitor, either live or recorded,
can make external what is an internal,
nonverbal understanding.
Close examination with the aid of a microscope
reveals more than fiber type and weave structure.
On the left, you see needle holes
where the silk embroidery floss has deteriorated,
and faint remains of the original pink thread.
On the right, comparison of front and back
shows that the original colors are well-preserved.
Silk embroidery on linen plain weave comes alive
when you see the complexity of the interacting elements
in this well-preserved 17th century Torah binder.
Textiles are the result of a series of actions
from raw material to finished product.
Both front and back, in the analysis of weave structure,
can invoke this process,
while clarifying how the design is achieved.
Close examination can provide a window into the past,
and even this time-worn 17th century fragment
becomes three-dimensional.
While preparing a group of early modern
English embroideries for exhibition,
I was struck by the power of
close examination under magnification,
to deliver visual information about an object as a whole.
Objects are created at a point in time of a particular culture,
but they tend to outlive their initial use.
They can gain or lose significance as they slip,
or because they slip,
from the commonality of a material culture.
Gloves were prestigious gifts
in 16th and 17th century England,
and they could be quite lavishly worked.
They became popular again in the 19th century
as costume accessories for fancy dress occasions,
which may be what took a toll
on these embroidered gauntlets.
Close examination can clarify fabrication
by suggesting a logical sequence of events.
It also allows a bit of freedom for more oblique thinking.
Each element can be distinguished from the composition,
and in its abstracted form deliver a profound impression.
After focusing on one square centimeter
of this richly worked and much deteriorated gauntlet,
I found myself continually returning
to the overall embroidery with the effects
of the multiple reflective planes of the
stunning metal thread work embedded in my mind.
These metal threads are created with a strip of silver,
or silver gilt, wrapped around the silk core.
Often, silver strip is wrapped on a white core,
and silver gilt around a yellow core.
Experiencing light and color under magnification
can fill the mind's eye with information
that alters perceptions of the object as a whole.
Visual information can provide an intimate view
of core characteristics,
which may resist linear organization,
but are absorbed by our minds in a subliminal fashion.
Reflectivity, volume, weight, contour can all be identified,
measured, and documented without conveying
the changeable interactions that occur
in a three-dimensional object.
These details, when viewed in a back-lit format,
gain a dimensional quality.
X-rays, long used for analytical purposes,
reveal a compelling alternate view.
The white areas of the X-ray on the right
are the silver elements of the embroidery.
The full bling originally intended.
This early 17th century English purse
was worked with virtuosity,
most likely in a professional workshop.
Its sumptuous appearance is the result
of the interplay of color, triggered by
the multiple angles of the reflective surfaces.
Up to four colors were used in the
silk core of these metal threads.
The array of colors, highlighted by the reflective surfaces,
demonstrates the range of effects possible
with a seemingly limited palette.
This high quality silver has remained smooth and reflective
even after considerable manipulation.
Insects were a favorite motif
in 17th century English embroideries.
Detached needlework adds depth and dimension
to the wings of this butterfly,
which appear to float in the air when magnified 100 times.
Feathers were often used in the depiction of insects.
And although damaged, these feathers retain
the iridescence common to many insects.
Even the silk lining of this purse
contributes to the overall effect,
casting a pink glow from behind the embroidery.
Photomicrographs can help reveal these qualities,
which may not be apparent at even a small distance.
This embroidered portrait of Charles I,
about six inches in height, retains what is likely
its original, slightly downed blazing.
Images permit a more layered thinking,
following a path both visual and conceptual,
offered within the object itself.
Details such as the highlight of the pupil
rendered with a single pass of white silk thread.
There is an interplay between
embroidery thread and foundation fabric,
at times incorporating the white silk satin
into the overall composition.
Nuanced hues of silk threads
create subtle shading, and soft contours.
The pattern in the lace edging of the collar
is so detailed that it is an almost identifiable pattern.
Multiple images captured at varying magnifications
can help convey the intended dimensionality
of the composition.
Remains of gilding on the medal of the
Order of St. George reveals the high standard of quality
in every detail of this embroidered portrait.
The sequence and magnification in which images are ordered
may vary, each variation delivering a different impression.
In this mirror surround, complex materials
in a variety of techniques
are employed to create an overall effect.
Unexpected devices creating underlying narratives
can be isolated and documented at close range,
bringing the viewer into close proximity,
and compensating for the distance that is felt
when presented with an unfamiliar object.
The embroidered components of this mirror
have hidden elements revealed in an X-ray.
The overall embroidery in the dress appear uniform.
But a closer look shows a skillful
masquerading of techniques.
The skirt has a metal wire foundation,
and the embroidery of the bodice and sleeves
is on a simple woven fabric.
Worked separately, the skirt was secured with red thread
to the silk satin foundation fabric.
Under magnification, the cut wire is clearly visible
following the lines of the under drawing.
And actual seed pearls were used to create the necklace.
Wire was used to give shape and add dimension to motifs
as seen in the hem of the skirt,
layered above a meticulously detailed shoe.
Careful placing of the silk thread
secured and masked the wire in the skirt.
Manipulating extra images can accent intended highlights,
as well as reveal hidden structure.
The metal thread floral elements that frame the figure
would have reflective light highlighting the composition.
Assembling visual information requires
three-dimensional thinking,
sometimes revealing to the observer the maker's hand.
Our most important source of information
is the textile itself.
This needlepoint picture is embroidered with wool
and silk threads on a plain weave foundation fabric.
Appliqued fragments of woven silk
create the garments of the figure of God
depicted in this narrative.
The reverse of a textile can reveal a wealth of information.
Much is evident regarding how a textile is made,
and if it has been repaired or otherwise altered.
An X-ray revealed extensive metal thread
in the fragments used in the figure of God,
two finely woven silks that most likely had a previous life
as part of a garment or furnishing fabric.
What is not so evident is that the metal threads
of the woven fabrics follow the drape of the robe.
This would have been quite visible when new,
bringing life to the composition.
Museum exhibitions require many hands, and much thinking.
Whether or not accompanied by a printed catalog,
exhibitions can bring life to a group of textiles.
In the exhibition, "Examining Opulence",
a set of Renaissance tapestry cushions,
coincided with the major 2014 exhibition:
"Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst
and Renaissance Tapestries".
The small gallery space outside the Ratti Textile Center
was an ideal venue for a more didactic presentation
of these small-scale tapestries.
Of six Flemish tapestries created circa 1600,
depict scenes from the life of Abraham,
and are contemporary to the monumental tapestries
in the "Grand Design" exhibition.
The more intimate scale of these smaller pieces
provided the opportunity to present
the materials and techniques
of 17th century Flemish tapestry weaving in detail.
Their good condition and small size
made it possible to exhibit them
in freestanding exhibition cases.
A thin, transparent support attached to the upper edge
stabled each of the tapestries,
which were then hung from a plexi bar, held by plexi rods,
leaving both front and back fully visible.
This 360 degree presentation
was an important aspect of the exhibition.
The Abraham and the angels tapestry,
which you see on your right,
was exhibited as the viewer would have worked,
with the warp vertical, and the design horizontal.
Further technical information was included
in the object labels on the wall panels.
I began this project by examining each tapestry.
The subtle and minor details in the face of Sarah,
details executed with great skill,
caught my attention and began to shape for me
an exhibition that would include the extraordinary world
of textiles viewed through a lens.
On the monitor, you see an area of one square centimeter,
which is the area visible at 10 times magnification.
Here, this detail is of an area approximately
four centimeters by three and a half centimeters.
To show an area of this size at the 20 times
magnification you see here requires multiple images
which are stitched together in an image processing program.
The depth of the loose threads on the back
created multiple focal points,
and many more images were required
to create a final image that was completely in focus.
These details illustrate joints used in the tapestries,
as well as the difference
in the reflective qualities of wool and silk.
Each presents front and back of a detail
measuring under one square centimeter,
at 20 times magnification.
X-rays provided further important
technical and visual information.
The white areas in this image are the metal threads
used to highlight the composition.
In particular, the figure of Sarah,
the central character in the story.
Photomicrographs can reveal the original
complex and changing interplay of colors
in the now tarnished metal threads.
These images are details from Sarah's headscarf and dress.
They show front and back of each detail.
This detail is on the back of the tapestry
where the surface was more protected.
Dye analysis identified cochineal, weld, indigo, and madder.
Examples of these dyestuffs were exhibited in a vitrine
directly underneath the images of Sarah,
showing the great range of color achieved
by combining a few dyestuffs,
a color range further extended by the inherent qualities
of wool and silk.
Photomicrographs and X-ray images of the tapestries
were included on the wall panels,
which were roughly the same size
and proportions as the actual tapestries.
The proximity of the tapestries to the printed images
allowed the viewer to go back and forth
between distinctly different types of engagement.
"Examining Opulence" continues to have
a presence on The Met's website.
And to see more Met exhibitions
with integrated technical information,
please visit the Department of Textile Conservation's
new landing page on The Met's website.
Thank you.