D07-MT-2019_Modena, Civic Museum, Evening dress in silk crepe and beads

Facilitated description:

 

The evening dress in blue fabric was made in 1920.
The dress is kept at the Civic Museum of Modena. 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the dress in 2019-2020. 
A restoration student restored the dress for her dissertation (final exam). 
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analyses to study the type of tissue. 
The restorer reinforced the torn parts of the dress. 
He inserted the torn and ruined fabric parts between two pieces of transparent fabric.
This technique is called "sandwich" and serves to protect damaged fabrics.
In the end, the restorer repositioned the torn sleeves.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

The restoration of the evening dress in silk crepe and beads of the Civic Museum of Modena was conducted as part of a thesis project of the Course in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage by Vicktoria Calore. The intervention was aimed at solving the main causes of degradation including lacerations along the sleeve gyrus caused by the weight of the beads and the weakening of the fabric due to the depolymerization of the fibers. 
The restoration, with the support of an interdisciplinary diagnostic plan, was therefore aimed at preserving the product in its authenticity, respecting the transparency of the original fabric, to restore legibility and protect the textile material from the degenerative process.
The conservative restoration has provided for the "sandwich" consolidation of the degraded areas with the insertion of a total support. In this way it was possible to restore structure and resistance to the textile surface. The parts affected by material loss were integrated taking into account the characteristics of the material. The treated areas have been protected with crepeline fabric, so as to allow conservation over the years.
The restoration ended with the repositioning of the two sleeves and the return of its original packaging.

 

Bibliography

V. Heat, Study and restoration of a 1920s evening dress in silk crepe with beads from the Civic Museums of Modena. Problems of conservative intervention and exhibition proposal, tGraduated in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Prof. Graziella Palei, Monica Gulmini, academic year 2019-2020.