Endrei Walter szerk.: Textilipari Múzeum Évkönyve 8. 1995 (Budapest, 1995)
dr. Ágnes Balázsy: "A stitch in time saves nine" - ethical aspects of textile conservation
Reweaving of missing parts of carpets used to be a common method in textile conservation some decades ago. The demand to use conservation methods, which do not cause extra tension in the object as reweaving does, increased in the last ten years. Attempts to apply a reversible completion to missing parts were carried out in the course of the conservation of an early 19th century Caucasian shadda flatwoven carpet some years ago [7]. In this case, the missing segments of the edge were completed by drawing the new warps into the reverse side only under every second weft. In addition, the warps were left floating openly on the back side of the carpet instead of weaving them back into the textile. This method had two advantages: the textile did not become substantially thicker than the original, and the alterations made on the carpet were reversible (Figure 2, 3). Fig. 2. Fig. 3. The documentation picture of the missing The completion of the missing edge of the parts and edges of the Caucasian shadda Caucasian shadda carpet carpet The above mentioned works of Hungarian textile conservators serve as examples of a few ethical rules which determine the decision on the conservation process of a historic textile. In fact, the whole attitude of the conservator towards museum objects is an ethical issue. Ethics is not equal with law: its rules may change with the improvement of the profession. Each textile object is an individual piece requiring different treatments. What must be permanent is the responsible attitude of textile conservators. Acknowledgements The author is indebted to Ms Katalin Nagy, leader of the team investigating the Hungarian coronation mantle and to other Hungarian textile conservators for sharing their experiences with her.
