19 November 2009 by Sarah Clayton. Conservation, Of love and war, Conservation, Of Love and War, preservation, Textile, wedding dress, Wedding Dresses.
Once we determined that the remaining three wedding dresses, requested for the exhibtion Of Love and War, were able to be safely put on display, the textile conservators worked in collaboration with curators and exhibition staff to determine the dimensions of showcase and, the types and styles of mannequins. To get the most accurate dimensions the dresses were placed on temporary mannequins and the trains were arranged as they will fall on display. In the picture the two wedding dresses in the foreground have undergone no conservation treatment and are on ill-fitting temporary mannequins, the wedding dress in the back is on a mannequin previously custom made for it.
As part of the process of conservation we will ensure that mannequins are custom made for all the wedding dresses and uniforms on display in Of Love and War. This will ensure that the garments are correctly supported and shaped and that all materials used in the construction of the mannequins are of archival quality.
12 November 2009 by Emma Jones. Conservation, From the collection, Of love and war, Conservation, Exhibition, Love and war, Of Love and War, youtube.
Back in September, I was doing some work out at our Treloar Annex, which is where our conservators work. I was videoing the construction process of the mannequins being made for the 3 wedding dresses that are to be included in the “Of love and war” exhibition. During a break in filming I got talking to Jessie Firth, who was working on one of the wedding dresses . She was applying fake perspiration to material to see what effect it would have. Picking up my trusty camera, I went down to the conservation lab and the following is an interesting account of just what 65 year old perspiration can do to a wedding dress and how conservators plan to tackle the problem it presents.
Sweat on a 60 year old wedding dress
11 November 2009 by Sarah Clayton. Conservation, Exhibitions, Of love and war, Conservation, Exhibition, Of Love and War, preservation, Textile, Wedding Dresses.
As previously explained four wedding dresses were initially selected for “Of Love and War“. One of the wedding dresses, originally owned by Mrs N S Bissaker, required hundreds of hours of painstaking work before it would be strong enough for display, so unfortunately it will not be ready for display in “Of Love and War”. Instead this dress with go on our Vulnerable Textiles conservation list and be conserved with all the care it deserves to preserve it for the future. In cases like this, it is the vulnerability of the dress that determined its exclusion from this exhibition. However, the Memorial plans to make images of this dress available on its website in the near future.
You can see in the pictures the fragile state of the lace, which has many holes visible as black areas. For full conservation of this dress, sheer silk panels will be inserted behind each piece of the dress and then the lace will be carefully stitched to these panels, giving the dress the structural support it requires.
29 October 2009 by Emma Jones. Conservation, Exhibitions, Conservation, Exhibition, Love and war, wedding dress.
Here is the first of several blog posts about the wedding dreses being considered and conserved for our upcoming Of love and war exhibition.
Recently the Textile Conservation Laboratory retrieved from storage four wedding dresses that are proposed for the up and coming exhibition Of love and war. Three of the dresses – originally owned Mrs Isabel Bell, Mrs Audrey Norton and Mrs Norma. Bissaker – are relatively new to the Memorial’s collection and have not undergone any detailed conservation treatment. The fourth dress – owned by Mrs Violet Glover – has been fully conserved as it was used in an earlier exhibition . The pictures attached show what the dresses look like in their storage boxes.
Once curators select these items as potential objects for display in the exhibition, textile conservators have to carefully document the condition of the wedding dresses. Part of this process is to determine if they are stable and strong enough for display on mannequins for this exhibition. Special consideration is given to the materials when assessing if they are able to be displayed not only at the Memorial, but also at the venues around Australia they will travel to in 2010 and 2011.
20 July 2009 by Mel Hunt. Collection Highlights, Conservation, From the collection
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The Research Centre holds a fascinating and unusual collection of 68 aerial photographs of Gallipoli in 1915. The majority of the collection consists of 48 numbered aerial photographs taken over Anzac and South Suvla by the British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in October and November 1915 at a time when aerial photography was very much in its infancy and highly experimental.
Much of the early aerial photography at Gallipoli was conducted by Flight Lieutenant C. H. Butler of No. 3, RNAS. From April to June in 1915, when he was badly wounded, Butler would personally take over 700 photographs of fortifications and gun positions before the landing at Gallipoli.
At the war’s end It was soon discovered by the Memorial that these aerial photos were not suitable ‘for permanent record purposes’. In the field, early issue of the photographs was more important than permanency and many of the prints were insufficiently washed and liable to fade, so it was arranged for permanent prints to be prepared (AWM16 5). Despite being ‘Treated for Permanency’ by the Memorial in the 1930s, as suggested by the Royal Photographic Society, these Gallipoli aerial photographs have since faded and yellowed to the point where the images were virtually unusable.
With the help of our multimedia section, a project was undertaken to photographically restore these images to their former glory.
Often when old prints have faded they will become a yellow or brown colour. By using a blue filter and an increased exposure to make a new negative for each image we were able to restore contrast and density levels.
Even when very little detail is seen by the naked eye in the original print, a blue filter (Kodak Wratten filter number 47B) can pick up much of the unseen information. The blue filter works by reducing the yellow content, and teamed with increased exposure the original detail (before fading) is able to be restored and seen in the new negative and print. It can then be further enhanced using Photoshop if required.
This process reminds us of the importance of proven traditional photographic techniques, especially because a lot of what we are working with is quite old and sometimes unstable.
read on
01 April 2009 by Laura Kennedy. Collection, Conservation, From the collection
The sponson on the left hand side of the Mark IV tank was removed last year for inclusion in the Memorial’s exhibition, “1918, Advancing to Victory”.
The tank was relocated to the Memorial’s Large Technology Workshop in order to safely remove the sponson. This provided an excellent opportunity for Conservation to undertake a preservation treatment of the tank which would include a full repaint, back to it’s original colour scheme.
One of the major components of the treatment was the removal of the tracks. The primary objective of this exercise was to ensure that the area underneath the tracks was stable and to search for additional evidence of the tank’s history. The dirtiest and most time consuming aspect of this was going to be cleaning the tracks of almost 100 years worth of “gunk”. This had never been done, so as you can imagine, there was a lot of grease, grime, rubbish, dirt from the showgrounds it had visited, and dust from years of being on display.
But, first things first. Registration had to get the tank up on stands before we could pull the tracks off.
More on this treatment to follow…
17 April 2008 by Andrew Pearce. Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Collection, Conservation, Aircraft Conservation.
Upon removal of the fabric from the upper mainplane it was discovered that an extensive number of the ribs were damaged.
Work has been underway to repair this damage and give the wing much of its original strength.
read on
11 April 2008 by Andrew Pearce. Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Collection, Conservation, Aircraft Conservation.
The Memorial has been able to gain access to substantial amounts of the original fabric, which was removed from the Albatros during the 1960’s restoration with the exception of the rudder and the ailerons. Significant analysis of this material has been carried out in order to determine the correct details for fabric colours, panel widths and orientations, seam widths, rib stitching and the dimensions of rib tapes. read on
03 April 2008 by Andrew Pearce. Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Collection, Conservation, Aircraft Conservation.
Work is underway to clean and repair the fuselage of the Albatros.
During the course of the last nine decades, a significant amount of grease, dust and general grime has built up inside the fuselage of the Albatros, particularly in the engine bay. read on
03 April 2008 by Andrew Pearce. Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Collection, Conservation, Aircraft Conservation.
The Large Technology Conservation Section are currently working on five aircraft for the upcoming First World War exhibition “Over The Front” due to open in November 2008.
The Albatros D.Va was last restored in the mid 1960s and there are a number of areas which need attention.
read on
Wedding dresses for Of Love and War on temporary mannequins
