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

Enikő Sipos: Conservation of the mitre stored in the Treasury of the Basilica of Esztergom

applied the solution to the surface with brush and we have put several layers of an adsorptive material underneath and above the area we were cleaning. The cleaning of the linings was carried out in a solution that contained a nonionic detergent in distilled water. We have isolated the somewhat corroded settings of the gems from the embroidery by several layers of paper wadding, i.e. isolated the embroidery underneath the gems, then we have wiped the surface of the settings with an emulsion containing thiourea and then wiped it with distilled water. We have cleaned the tassels by immersing them into a solvent containing emulsion and rinsing them afterwards with distilled water. The most difficult part of our work was the sewing back of the pearls. On a great part of the pearls, it was not possible to draw through even the thinnest needle, because they cracked even under the lowest pressure. So in many cases we hardened the end of the sewing thread with a drop of adhesive, then we Strang the pearl on the thread and then we threaded the yarn in the needle and have sewn it to the base. Into the thick and rather hard supporting materials of the embroidery it was not possible to stick in a thinner needle. The pearls are very sensitive to temperature changes, their damage, resp. impairement is evidently the consequence of the unsuitable climatic conditions. The explanation of this phenomenon can be found in the structure of the pearls. The pearl is being built up of calcium carbonate layers developed in the body of the mussel. The mussel covers the extranous particles which get into its body with mother-of-pearl layers that have lamellar structure. The material of the small lamellae is calcium carbonate bund by organic materials. If it looses its moisture content, its lustre disappears and it gets transformed slowly to lime (4). It has not been quite clarified until now, how it was possible to bore holes into the small pearls which had been used in large number for the decoration and which were often smaller than pinheads. Theophilus presbiter, in his work written "About the different crafts": describes a tool which was suitable for this purpose "it is bored through with a fine tempered iron, this iron is set into a wooden handle, on which there is a small lead-disk and another wood, in which it turns. A leather-strap is placed on this, they turn it with this leather strap". However it is difficult to imagine, how this tool operated, if we know how great skill and craftsmanship is required for the boring through of the pearls, even nowadays. We have fixed the bundles of linen yarn which got loose at certain places, we have stitched them to the base. We have fixed the lining to the batiste supporting material with sewing-conservation, using thin silk thread. Finally we have connected the object, assembling it in accordance with its original condition (Figure 5.).