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.
11 November 2009 by Liz Holcombe. Collection, News, Of love and war, 11 November, Armistice, Exhibition, Flickr, flickr commons, Of Love and War, Remembrance Day.
One year ago today, the Australian War Memorial joined the Commons on Flickr. We put up a set of 30 photos of soldiers, sailors, nurses, airmen, wives, mothers, sisters, sweethearts, a prime minister, and a koala. The photos are part of our photo collection of well over a million images which covers the experience of Australians at war and Australian military history from the 1860s to the present. We have uploaded other sets on the Commons since then, each with its own theme: Christmas, children, animals, ANZAC Day, and First World War aviation.
The 103 images have been viewed almost 180,000 times; there have been over 530 comments, 2,000 favorites, 340 tags and 830 contacts. read on
10 September 2009 by Nicholas Schmidt. Collection, Exhibitions, From the collection, News, Of Love and War.
Those who regularly read the AWM blog might remember the Valentine’s Day blog post about a mysterious love letter from a young French woman to her soldier sweetheart.
This letter, and the mystery that surrounds it, created lots of interest. With the help of an enthusiastic member of the public, and her wonderfully helpful relative in France, we have since found a few more details about Marthe and her letter.
Marthe and her family were evacuated from Armentières, on the French/Belgian border, to Saint-Sulpice-Les-Feuilles during the First World War. Armentières was destroyed during the war and rebuilt afterwards.
It was in Saint-Sulpice-Les-Feuilles that Marthe met her sweetheart. However, the identity of Marthe’s sweetheart and his fate remain a mystery. The two never married as he rejoined his battalion and never came back to her. Marthe’s nephew heard the story from his father but the family cannot recall his name after all these years. However, enquires continue and I’ll do another blog post if any more information turns up.
Marthe’s letter will be on public display as part of the Memorial’s Of Love and War exhibition opening in December.
Wedding dresses for Of Love and War on temporary mannequins
