As important as healds and reeds are to the weaving process, little has been documented about their history or production. Alfred Barlow cursorily encapsulated the developments in heald making: ‘Healds were formerly made by hand by means of a reel, &c., and many are still formed so. […] Heald-making machines…

The folk custom of hanging funeral garlands in churches was one of many topics that would have been raised in the wide-ranging discussions that generally followed Karen Finch’s weekly lectures to first year students on the Textile Conservation course in 1980/81. Customs involving textile objects that connect our lives to…

Abstracted in free translation by Karen Finch (1998) from: Sofus Larsen. (1939) Nordisk Guldspinding og Guldbroderi i den tidlige Middelalder. København: Ejnar Munksgaard. Note on the translation: I wish to stress that the information abstracted relates mainly to the practical aspects of making gold thread for weaving and embroidery. Sofus…

Organisation The work on cataloguing the Collection began in 1975 when it was moved from 7 Western Gardens, Ealing to Hampton Court Palace. There were many difficulties to overcome because of the lack of space and inadequate facilities and progress was slow until 1985 when the Warrant of the third…

At present, in England, we have no accepted course of training for anyone who wishes to work at the conservation of textiles. Indeed there is hardly anyone outside a museum, or without some personal contact with the work, who would even know there is a need for workers in this…

A knowledge of materials used in Textile objects and their history is the basis of sound conservation and is essential to Textile Historians and Conservators alike. This knowledge may be gained in part from tutors and colleagues but in the main the study of books and the examination of a…

Introduction Our first alumni meeting was about the dyeing of support fabrics. The meetings were a means of catching up with new developments, relating new experiences – and getting to know about how to organise such meetings. Mary Brooks asked me to talk about how the TCC began – I…

The Beginning When I married and came to England in 1946 I had just completed a three-year course in weaving and design at Kunsthåndværkerskolen in Copenhagen. At that time the Art School was still housed in the Museum of the Decorative Arts. I had loved the collections there and the…

Two exciting projects came into being during our campaign for The Textile Conservation Centre which is now housed at Hampton Court Palace. The first one was the conservation of the King’s Bed at Knole Park. I had been concerned with the textiles at Knole Park since 1969 when the National…

The survival of so many important objects should always be considered when assessing the means of their collecting and their possible repatriation. The British heritage of textiles of artistic, cultural and historic importance including tapestries, embroideries, furnishings and a wide range of ceremonial pieces may be seen not only in…