the textile conservator, the constituent materials of the artefact have to be char-
acterised to give an appreciation of their current physical and chemical state.
The conservator needs to be able to understand whether the preservation of
the artefact is compromised in any way by its present condition, by what
means the materials can be stabilised and how they will behave in the future.
If the knowledge to provide this understanding is not already in the public
domain, the conservation scientist will need to investigate the nature of the
materials and especially their deterioration as brought about by heat, light
and moisture, and perhaps gaseous pollutants and microorganisms.
We intended our three case studies to not only provide suitable vehicles for
discussing the nature of our selected natural fibres, but also to illustrate the vital
role for science and the conservation scientist in the continuing preservation
of our cultural heritage.
Acknowledgements
We are particularly grateful to Lt Cdr Frank Nowosielski, Commanding Officer,
HMS Victory, the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Whitworth Art Gallery for
allowing us to present the case studies.
We would also like to acknowledge the valuable support of the following dur-
ing our research on the Victorysail: the Society for Nautical Research, Colin
Appleyard (Hood Sailmakers), Kate Gill (Textile Conservation Centre), Peter
Goodwin (Keeper, HMS Victory) and Mark Jones (the Mary Rose Trust).
As ever, we owe much to our colleagues at the Textile Conservation Centre,
Winchester, especially the Director, Nell Hoare.
References and Further Reading
We offer the following suggestions for those interested in learning about
other textile fibres and reading more about the science of textile conservation.
V. Ashton, A stitch in time, Chem. Brit., 2001, 37 (10), 46–48.
F.G. France, Scientific analysis in the identification of textile materials, in
First Annual Conference of the AHRC Research Centre for Textile
Conservation and Textile Studies, Scientific Analysis of Ancient and Historic
Textiles: Informing Preservation, Display and Interpretation, Winchester,
13–15 July 2004, R. Janaway and P. Wyeth (eds), Archetype, London, 2005,
137–142.
K.L. Hatch, Textile Science, West Publishing Co., Minneapolis/St Paul, 1993.
M. Lewin and E.M. Pearce (eds), Handbook of Fiber Chemistry, 2nd edn,
Marcel Dekker, New York, 1998.
Á. Tímár-Balázsy and D. Eastop, Chemical Principles of Textile Conserva-
tion, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1998.
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