Student Blog: Philadelphia Museum of Art

​White cotton gowns, silk tapestry, wool rugs: these are the types of objects you may envision when you think about textile conservation. You may not typically think of nylon tights filled with sand, miniature baskets, and glass beads. Nevertheless, they all fall under the purview of a textile conservator, and I was fortunate to interact with all of them during my summer internship in the Costume and Textile Conservation Lab at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

During my nine week internship, I treated a diverse group of objects, all in preparation for exhibit. They included a silk Chinese robe, a 19th-century cotton gown, a beaded bandolier bag, and numerous dresses and accessories designed by Patrick Kelly. 

Patrick Kelly was a Black designer who became the first American to show in the Paris couture shows in the 1980s. His designs are bold and incorporate a wide variety of materials. The pieces that I treated in preparation for an exhibit of the PMA's Kelly collection at the de Young Museum in San Francisco included plastic buttons, lace, silk flowers, leather decals, and miniature baskets. Thus their treatments allowed me to draw on both my major coursework in textile conservation as well as my minor coursework in organic objects conservation. One full ensemble I treated included a knit sheath dress decorated with silk flowers around the neck with a matching purse and head band each consisting of a wickerwork basket filled with lace and silk and wire flowers. The silk flowers were crumpled and stained. I was able to successfully draw on techniques I used during my second year to reduce the disfiguring staining, stabilize areas of detached wire stems, and reduce the overall crumpling through localized humidification. While I expected to use those skills this summer, I was surprised to use the connoisseurship skills developed during my second year independent study on basketry conservation in the description of this outfit's wonderful accessories! 

In addition to interventive treatments, I gained valuable experience in other areas of museum work. I assisted in the installation of textiles and objects in the museum's Chinese galleries, as well as the complicated deinstallation of seven pieces from the show “Senga Nengudi: Topologies," all of which included nylon tights, many filled with sand and/or nailed to the wall. I also completed a survey of the museum's 19th-century Empire waist gowns and participated in a virtual courier trip, lab tours, and dust mitigation in the museum's galleries. 

As I prepare to leave the country for my third year, which I will be splitting between at the Abegg-Stiftung in Riggisberg, Switzerland and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, I am grateful to have had these diverse experiences and know I will continue to expand upon them. 

— Annabelle (Bellie) Camp, WUDPAC Class of 2022​