Patchwork & Quilting UK – July 2019

56 British Patchwork & Quilting JULY 2019

My thanks to Textile Conservator Liz Rose

and the British Library for allowing me to

use their images.

The last of the three items I viewed was a

religious covering called a Torah Mantle.

(Sefer Torah: The Pentaleuch Scroll 18th - 19th

century). This fabric protecting the scroll is a

rich woven silk brocade with a raised pattern

and stitched with silver and gold thread. The

silk was badly degraded and exceptionally

brittle. Liz said that ‘the most challenging

aspect of this was stabilising the degraded silk

so that it could be handled.’ Each section, as

it was conserved, was imaged so a full record

of the conservation treatment could be kept.

The Conservation process took almost three

months (©British Library Board. Shelf mark.

OMS/Or 13027/2).

Lid of the Torah Mantle showing how it was made up of small

pieces of fabric covering the wood. (MS

FEATURE // textile treasures of the British Library

The Torah Mantle covering the Pentaleuch Scroll 18th – 19th

century. Found crushed in a box with the scrolls. (Or 1302/2)

Cream net applied to stabilise the degraded silk. (Or 13027/2)

The Torah Mantle after conservation Back of the Torah Mantle showing the highly

coloured silk