Spring 2012 - Dress and Textile Specialists

Figure 1. Linking understanding of the object with its use and social life (based on Kingery 1996)
Key points from the ‘collections conversations’ were identified for the filmed conversations. An
informal plan for the discussion was made, identifying who was to make which point and in which
order. Normally, the starting point was a full view of the garment or item followed by more detailed
close-ups according to the flow of the conversation. When working with groups of more than one
colleague, the conversation was initially mediated by the Fellow but as colleagues grew in
confidence, the discussions were increasingly a creative dialogue between the two of them. When
working in pairs, it was usual for the colleague and the Fellow to take turns in leading and recording
a conversation. It was important to ensure that colleagues felt comfortable with the process.
Themes which drew on both the strength of the collection and the Monument Fellow’s specific
knowledge of the collection were identified:
Spotting the Rot: exploring the causes of degradation in textiles
War time Fabrics and Fashions: Utility and non-Utility garments and accessories
Hardware: Protective clothing for humans and animals, including military items
Dressing the 18 th century Lady: using an 18 th century doll as the centrepiece
together with comparable and complementary dress and accessories and images
from York Art Gallery
Gems from the Collection: highlighting some of the most significant and unusual
pieces in the Dress and Textile Collection
Fibres and Fabrics looking at the main types of fibres and different fabric structures
After these themes had been selected and objects had been identified and located, conversations
about the objects took place using an object-based methodology, supported with information and
research resources prepared by the Fellow. This information eventually became part of the resource
handbook for each theme. Insights from previous encounters with the object where integrated into
the handbook.
Knowledge gained through previous conservation treatment and radiography of the eighteenth
century doll was included in the handbook for Dressing the 18 th century Lady. This discussion was
also framed with information about York’s position as a centre of fashion in the eighteenth century.
The manager of York Theatre from 1766, Tate Wilkinson observed in his Memoirs ‘The ladies of York
without any compliment have a grace and manner not often met with out of London’. 9 Using images
from other collections in York Museum Trust was also helpful in contextualising the doll and her
dress. A painting in York Art Gallery of New Walk, 10 a tree-lined avenue created in the 1730s by the
corporation of York as a formal space for the fashion conscious to stroll and socialise and prints of
the Assembly Rooms 11 showed eighteenth century dress in movement both inside and outside.
Integrating information about fashionable consumption in York was also important such as a 1740
advertisement by George Roe, Silk Mercer and Linen Draper at the Sycamore in the Minster Yard
detailing the range of fabrics he sold. 12
A similar approach was used for the Fibres and Fabrics theme. Specific examples of unusual fibres
where highlighted the Ardil nightdress from the Wallis Archive in the collection (YCM 431.78). 13 This
is an example where understanding that the nightdress contained ICI’s peanut fibre led to a changed
understanding of the garment and a bigger research project. A mourning bonnet made by Rowntree
Milliners of 16 Parliament Street, York was used as an example of a crepe fabric (CCT 1956; YORCM
25/73).
Sharing knowledge with colleagues
21