Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 27. (Budapest, 2009)
Györgyi FAJCSÁK - Andrea FÜZES: Chinese Embroidered Screen from the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries
cleaning and reinforcing the fabric decoration, the frame, and the mandarin buttons. Restoration therefore involved replacing the old, unsatisfactory repair of the tunic fragment and applying backing over its whole area. The unsightly black yarn which had previously been sewn into the light embroidery threads as reinforcement could thus be removed, and the tunic fragment, which had been fixed in deformed condition by mounting it on black silk, restored to its proper shape. To minimise displacement of the weakened material, removal of the densely and unevenly sewn-on reinforcement fabric was carried out on the back of the embroidery. As the unpicking proceeded, it became clear that the embroidery was almost all that was holding the very weak black base fabric together (fig. 15). Removal of the previous reinforcement led to a revelation regarding the history of the material. After the embroidery of the base material, it was not made up as a woman's tunic, even though this was clearly the original intention. The proof of this is the integrity of the tunic-fragment material, which became apparent when the reinforcement was removed. The piece applied to the neck opening covered the unembroidered black base fabric, and was not put there by the maker of the screen fabric just to cover up holes (figs 16 and 17). Before starting the textile restoration, the appliqué was removed from the tunic fragment neck opening and the thread holding the narrow braid to the edge was unpicked. Loosely-adhering dirt was removed by vinegar and micro-vacuum cleaner. After obtaining negative results in colour bleeding tests, the textiles were cleaned using deionised water and foamed HostaponT 19 anionic surface-active detergent. The aqueous cleaning caused the adhesive holding the braid to the tunic fragment edge to dissolve, enabling the braid to be treated separately. During cleaning, the starch layer covering the folded-over edges of the fabrics swelled up and was removed from the surface by brush. The detergent was removed from the textiles with deionised water. Each piece was placed on thin tulle for cleaning, in order to protect the weakened base fabric. This auxiliary fabric made it easier to move the piece and prevented further damage. After laying the silk fabric on a glass plate and adjusting the grain direction, the detached and stray embroidery threads were restored to their original places on the tunic fragment. The smoothed-out fabric was lined up with a previously-prepared sewing pattern, weighed down with glass plates and dried at room temperature. The braid, border and applied decoration of the neck opening was cleaned in the same way as the tunic fragment, laid out with insect pins and dried on a Nikecell board covered with polythene sheet. 2 0 The condition of the tunic fragment base fabric warranted complete backing, for which thin silk georgette fabric and silk thread selected for sewing conservation were dyed to the desired shade using Lanaset Schwarz B acid dyes. In the first stage of sewing conservation, the tunic fragment was attached to the backing material using staggered tacking stitch, and the weakened, damaged and frayed parts and the fabric-ends around the holes were conserved by couching. through-stitching. The narrow braid and the intact base-fabric appliqué removed from the neck opening was then sewn with black silk thread, in line with the original invisible running stitch, to the backing-reinforced fabric of the tunic fragment. After these were sewn together, the minor ruptures in the braid were repaired with black silk thread using couching. For structural 179
