Preservation Assessment of Textile Collection

FAIN: PG-50524-09

Peabody Historical Society and Museum (Peabody, MA 01960-5520)
Heather Leavell (Project Director: May 2008 to March 2011)

Hiring a textile conservator to conduct a conservation assessment of the society's textiles. There are 33 samplers, 23 quilts, and 51 wedding gowns, dating from the 17th century. The collection supports education and research on the social history and culture of Massachusetts.

A textile conservator with expertise in storage design, will conduct a conservation assessment of the Peabody Historical Society and Museum's samplers, quilts, and wedding gowns and provide detailed condition reports and recommendations and priorities for the future treatment of these textiles. The conservator will also work with the staff curator to plan the re-housing of these collections in order to create a "finished" space within the costumes and textiles department. The grant will support the immediate needs of some of the Society's most valuable and fragile items, while providing a model for the future assessment and re-housing of the entire costumes and textiles collection. The procedures thus established also will contribute significantly to a long-term collections care plan, which was a recommendation of a Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) survey conducted in 2000.