Endrei Walter szerk.: Textilipari Múzeum Évkönyve 8. 1995 (Budapest, 1995)

dr. Ágnes Balázsy: "A stitch in time saves nine" - ethical aspects of textile conservation

Figure 1. The three layers of the Hungarian corontion mantle fixed to each other After the thoroughful investigation the leader of the team formulated the following statements to the committee dealing with the future of the coronation mantle: • The three layers of the mantle are fixed together throughout the whole object. Although these clumsy stitchings can be considered as mendings and not conservation stitches, they belong closely to the history of the mantle. • Removing these stitches would result in countless fragments of the original embroidery. The 2nd and the 3rd layer would undergo considerable dimensional changes, namely, the present dimensions of these layers are determined basically by the many fixing stitches throughout the whole large object. Removing these stitches would also result in an unpredictable loss of original materials. • Further dimensional changes could be expected in water if wet cleaning were decided. Wet cleaning of the object could not be carried out without separating the layers because the tensions caused by the stitchings would ease off in water leading to a wavy, uneven surface of the piece. Each layer would behave differently in water including the threads of the stitchings and instead of relaxing the fibers of the textile as wet treatments usually do, more tensions would be caused. • If disassembling were decided, how to reassemble the piece: In the original bell shaped chasuble form? In the first coronation mantle form? In its 1. Base fabric from the first quarter of the 11th century /layer 1/ 2. Support fabric from 16oo-163o /layer 2/ 3. Support fabric from before 1848 /layer .3/