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

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

paddings. The result was a perfectly clean and renewed piece which could be adored by the visitors of museums. On the other hand, conservation is often not possible without disassembling the textile artifact. When carrying out the restoration of a chasuble from the 15th century (Photo 1), the restorer realised that she will not be able to fix the loosened threads and restore the deformed figures of the rasied embroidery without separating the lining, the base fabric and the embroidered cross of the chasuble, and removing the old adhesive from the back of the embroidery. Since extra cotton paddings were added to the original figures in the baroque time, these extra paddings were removed now. The 'original' form of the raised figures were resewn on an embroidery frame as well as the loose threads of the base fabric were fixed to a support fabric with delicate conservation stitches. After reassembling, the chasuble presented a remarkable beauty (photo 2). In this case, the additions from the baroque time were not considered as part of the object to be preserved [1], The most exciting time when that kind of extended conservations became the subject of serious discussions in Hungary was in 1983. The coronation mantle originating from the beginning of the 11th century arrived back to Hungary in 1978 from the USA where it spent more than three decades after the World War II. A team of conservators was responsible for carrying out the investigation of the mantle and prepare a plan to its cleaning and restoration [2]. After an extended study and documentation of the piece, and investigation of its fibers, dyes, metal threads, and soil, the conservators realised that the applique embroidery was supported with two layers. By the beginning of the 17th century the original Byzantine fabric must had been so deteriorated (almost disappeared) that the rest had to be supported with a new layer. This lining (2nd layer) was fixed to the original 'fabric' and embroidery by countless stitches. An other support layer (3rd layer) was added and sawn to the first two ones somewhat later (Figure 1, Photo 3, 4). For the application of the type of conservation which was fashionable in those days, namely to clean and treat the layers of this invaluable piece individually, all the stitches fixing the three layers together should have been removed.