Needlework Sampler Conservation Assessment

FAIN: PG-50623-09

Camden County Historical Society (Camden, NJ 08103)
Andrea Kent Cakars (Project Director: May 2008 to May 2011)
Linda Gentry (Project Director: May 2011 to May 2011)

Hiring a textile preservation specialist to conduct a conservation assessment of twenty-six needlework samplers. The samplers, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, were created by girls and women and demonstrate the family and social history of Camden County and southern New Jersey.

Building on recommendations made by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in their Overview Preservation Needs Assessment Report on the Camden County Historical Society's (CCHS) museum collections, CCHS seeks to undertake a Conservation Assessment of the needlework samplers in its collection. Textile conservator Nancy Love would examine the condition and provide treatment proposals for all 26 needlework samplers in the CCHS collection. The needlework samplers are each unique works of art as well as historical documents made by girls and young women in the early 19th century. They have an extremely fragile nature and are at high risk of deteriorating. This project is an important step in preserving the needlework samplers into the future.