The Costume Society of America, Western Region invites members and non-members alike for a special curators tour of three exhibits at the Fowler Museum at UCLA on August 21, 2010 (register by August 17). The press release for the exhibition notes the impact the making of cloth has on these women’s lives:
“In the Southeast Asian archipelago, making cloth is regarded as the archetypal form of women’s work and creativity. Traditionally, women learned the textile arts — typically weaving or making batik — before they were eligible for marriage. Later in life, excelling in making cloth, and especially in mastering complex natural-dye processes, was regarded as the highest measure of a woman’s achievement.”
Attendees will be treated to three personalized tours by well-spoken curator Roy Hamilton: The largest exhibition Nini Towok’s Spinning Wheel: Cloth and the Cycle of Life in Kerek, Javachronicles the last place in Java where batik is still produced on handwoven cotton cloth. The exhibition concludes with a series of seventeen outfits, each specific to a particular individual according to their sex, age, social status, occupation, and place of residence. Also on view will be Fowler in Focus: Courtly and Urban Batik from Java, an exhibition drawn from the Fowler Museum’s extensive holdings of Indonesian textiles and contrasts both courtly and urban batiks. Lastly is Weaver’s Stores from Island Southeast Asia which examines textile arts in Southeast Asia through video recorded in eight sites in four countries.
CSA Members
$10
CSA Student Members
$ 5
Non members
$15
Student non members
$10
For more information and directions, download the: Registration Form (PDF).
A few weeks ago, I posted on my experience looking inside 1950s Dior pieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This week, I want to draw your attention to a designer who was even more interested in re-shaping the female form than Dior in the 1950s: Charles James. As I’ve mentioned, In the Spring of 2003, I was fortunate to have a costume history class with Professor Elizabeth Morano, author ofSonia Delaunay: Art into Fashion. On one particularly unique day, we got to look inside the ‘four-leaf-clover’ dress – along with a few other James pieces.
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"Four-Leaf Clover," Charles James, 1953, C.I.53.73.
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Cornelius V. Whitney, 1953
While indeed the outside of this gown is phenomenally beautiful – especially the naturalistic and floral reference in the skirt, juxtaposed with the architectural lines of the bodice – it is the inside that reveals the true genius of Charles James. Below, you can see the photos we took of the inside construction of the skirt.
Handily enough, the MMA has several drawings depicting the exact construction and materials used to create this tour de force of design and fashionable architecture. Not only is the bodice heavily boned, but the skirt is as well – providing a heavily contrived and immobile piece. I distinctly remember wondering aloud with classmates about the practicality of wearing the dress – how could the wearer get to the party without sitting down in a car?
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Cornelius V. Whitney, 1953 (also above image)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art now houses two of these gowns, in addition to a slightly different and more elaborate version (as well as accompanying sketches). Visit their collection database to see them, here. Ohio State University also has a version of this gown worn by Mrs. William Randolph Hearst. Gayle Strege of Ohio State University did a marvelous research project on the construction and history of a ‘Four Leaf Clover” dress between 2003 and 2007. Her work focused on exploring, in detail, the interior and it was incorporated into the 2007 Charles James Exhibition at Kent state. (Until last week, much of her research was available online but was removed to make way for Kent State Museum’s new website).
I asked Strege to talk to me briefly about her research. Here’s what she had to say:
The thing that intrigued me the most about looking inside the gown was its understructure and discovering the overlapping layers of 4-5” wide horsehair braid (used in millinery) used to create the stiffness required to maintain the shape of the understructure. So many different types of stiffening materials were used to create the armature upon which James draped his satins, velvets and taffetas, including the braid, boning, horsehair canvas and non-woven interfacing.
Gina Bianco, a textile conservator in NYC, spent a lot of time with our James dress and noted several alterations to it as well as interesting construction details. She definitely saw James the milliner in this dress—especially in his use of materials to create his very 3 dimensional structures—like you would a hat. She likened the bodice to the crown of a hat and the skirt as a very wide brim—held out and reinforced with various stiffening materials.
Below are two images from Strege’s work with the dress that was at Ohio State the Brooklyn Museum** (do click on them to enlarge for details):
The other gowns that the class looked at that day revealed James’ consistency in form and use of materials – and also on his steadfast desire to remake a woman into an idealized silhouette. As you can see from the photo below, the gowns retain their shape on the hanger – acting more like sculpture than flat textiles.
Ball Gown, Charles James, 1949, Met, CI, 57.31.1.
The Museum at F.I.T. also has a number of gowns by Charles James gowns and the American High Style exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum currently has a large selection of Charles James on view.
(The above photo, and many more of the exhibits are available at C-Monster.net)
*”Four-Leaf Clover,” Charles James, 1953, C.I.53.73.
**Correction from Gayle Strege: On the photos: “they are not of our dress at OSU, but of the one at the Brooklyn Museum. I was researching it with reproducing the understructure in mind since OSU’s dress arrived here with the understructure in pieces, with other pieces missing. The great thing about it is that it was Austine Hearst’s dress, and the first one of this type James did.”
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs were taken by the author.
Cranbrook Art Museum is at an exciting and pivotal moment in its 80-year history as it completely restores its landmark Eliel Saarinen-designed building and completes a new 20,000 square-foot Collections Wing. The Museum, which is closed for the construction project, will reopen in stages in April and October 2011. Working collaboratively with the Director (who also serves as the Chief Curator), Registrar and Preparator, the Collections Fellow will research collections and acquisitions and assist with the development of their documentation, storage, care, conservation and inventory, as well as their display and interpretation within the new Collections Wing; help move the collection into the new Collections Wing; work with the Director to develop the temporary exhibitions and programs for the reopening; assist with the “2010 Graduate Degree Exhibition of Cranbrook Academy of Art”; develop collections-based education programs for Cranbrook Schools and regional students; assist with the representation of the collections on a new website; and provide tours of Saarinen House and the Cranbrook campus.
Ideal candidate should have an M.A. in Art History, with an emphasis on 20th-century art and a specialty/interest in the decorative arts and design; excellent speaking and writing skills; attention to detail; strong computer skills (Microsoft Office and PowerPoint); collections database experience (TMS) preferred. Previous curatorial experience or internships preferred. The 39-week (approximately 10-month) fellowship begins August 16, 2010, and ends June 3, 2011 (starting and end dates somewhat flexible). $17,750 salary with a modest apartment in Saarinen House provided (no pets or smoking permitted). Applications reviewed until position filled.
Send letter (including Fellowship and career goals), résumé, writing sample, references and completed Employee Application (which can be downloaded from the Employment page of our website at www.cranbrook.edu) to:
(2. Research Assistant, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum
The Costume Institute seeks a Research Assistant who will be responsible for the preparation and dressing of mannequins for a photography project. The primary responsibility will be to systematically record costume objects. Successful candidates will have knowledge of costume history, experience with TMS, excellent interpersonal, communication skills and experience with object handling and storage. Demonstrated experience in the care and handling of historic costume and accessories is necessary; ability to dress 18th, 19th and early 20th Century mannequins and prepare objects for photography is desired; sewing and garment construction skills experience are an asset. Knowledge of care and
handling principles, materials and techniques used for the dressing and
presentation of costume objects is a must. MA degree in Museum Studies
preferred.
Please send cover letter, resume, and salary history to employoppty@metmuseum.org
as a Word attachment only with the position title in the subject line.
* image of Nina Ricci dress courtesy of the Met Costume Institute
Since my trip to Hawaii last year, where I visited the Lyman Museum, I’ve become increasingly interested in Hawaiian history and their material culture. So when I had the chance to visit a more local exhibition covering a similar topic, I jumped at the chance.
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles current has three exhibitions on view in relation to Hawaiian fabric and textiles. They are Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion; Wendeanne Ke’aka Stitt: Contemporary Kapa and an unnamed Special Events Gallery showing of hand-stitched Hawaiian quilts. It should be noted here, that though it might appear that there were very few wall panels of text for any of the three shows – a gallery guide was available (to borrow and for sale – $.6.50) which filled in much of what was missing. It is well worth it to borrow the guide at the admissions desk, or to purchase one.
After paying our admission and entering the exhibition a friend and I stopped in the first gallery, where Wendeanne Ke’aka Stitt: Contemporary Kapawas on display. Theses are flat textiles made of various natural fibers. While at the Lyman museum in Hawaii, I learned that traditional Ka’pa cloth was:
“made from the mulberry tree, and then decorated by either block print, immersion dye, panting, overlay or cord snapping. ‘Plants, animals, and even dirt were ground in a stone mortar to get every color imaginable.’”
In this contemporary display, however, the pieces were made from a mix of local and Hawaiian materials including Black Walnut, Hawaiian red dirt, Queen of the Knight Black Tulips, and backyard Mulburries. When examining the cloth, one naturally wants to be able touch and feel the texture (especially the machine quilted ka’pa made with vintage cotton). Happily, several samples of ka’pa cloth were provided – it’s a surprisingly soft fiber. Also much appreciated, was an in depth wall-panel that explained in detail how the cloth is made, with photographic examples. I had not realized that Ka’pa is the only bark cloth that goes through a fermentation process!
Moving through to the special exhibition gallery was an unnamed show of hand-sewn Hawaiian quilts. Small labels next to each beautifully done quilt named the artist, the date and materials used but didn’t provide much in the way of curatorial direction. Additional information on the meanings of the forms was provided in the gallery guide. Our favorites were the Red Giner and Plumeria with Maile Leis – both by Chieko Nakagawa.
One small quilt by Carol Kamaile, Chinese Money Tree, was the artists ‘first’ attempt to design and complete a Hawaiian quilt – it took her five years to complete. I’m still trying to comprehend the skill and attention required by this extremely high-quality hand sewing.
Moving into Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion exhibit our mouths gaped and gasped at the colors of the textiles and fashion that lay before us. The exhibit seemed to flow beautifully through a rainbow of colors. Most examples dated to between the 1950s and 1960s though several garments from the 1980s were also included. Much ephemera, including advertisements, buttons, original hanging tags, and long beautiful bolts of vintage fabric.
If you like Mad Men at all, this exhibit is for you. Over and over again, the silhouette was the familiar, glamorous wasp waist of Betty Draper. New Look and wiggle dress silhouette’s abounded, in both dresses and swimwear. Men’s shirts and some children’s clothing were included as well.
It seems Shaheen was the cornerstone on which Hawaii’s garment industry was built (when he started his business there in the late 1940s). Much of the exhibit shows quite clearly the connections between East & West. The design of the garments include Watteau backs, Nehru collars, pagoda sleeves, sari-style draping, Chinese characters, as well as obvious inspiration from Egypt and India (especially in the later years). All this intermingles with what we now think of as traditional Hawaiian motifs – Plumeria, Hibiscus and other tropical flowers especially.
Shaheen apparently also sent his textile designers all over Asia and Polynesia to gather inspiration. The effect was an exotic look, that incorporated ethnic textiles and traditional techniques. I don’t want to give away too much here, and if you’re in the area I STRONGLY encourage a visit – you won’t be disappointed (so long as you get that gallery guide!)
I must, unfortunately, point out a few problems that proved too distracting to this otherwise enchanting experience. Most of these have primarily to do with the dressing of the garments, and to some degree the exhibition design. What wall panels were available were too long to hold a general museum-goers attention. Generally speaking, wall text shouldn’t be more than 300 words long, and the 2 or 3 panels that I saw were much, much longer than that. Given the sparseness elsewhere in the exhibit, the curator(s) could have spread their text out a bit more. I also found it frustrating to have to refer to a gallery guide, when an extended label would have worked nicely (and would have saved the museum money on photocopies).
Primarily though, my problem was the way the garments were displayed. Too often, garments were displayed on mannequins that were not the appropriate size (either too big or to small). To compensate for this, dressers folded and pinned dresses along side seams. Given the layout, and viewers ability to walk 360 degrees around a garment (a rare treat!) it would have been better if the design were uninterrupted.
It was particularly irritating on the pocketed yellow dress pictured above. The eye was naturally drawn to the pockets, but the dress was folded at the sides, stunting the effect and drawing the viewers attention to the problematic fit. Some of the smocked sundresses pulled at the back, indicating that they were also on incorrectly sized mannequins. So too were several of the floor length dresses folded along the back seam (when the interest was the back!)
My other issues with the exhibition related primarily to the use of plastics in the display. In some instances, I understood that they were trying to recreate a boutique look, as laid out by the Shaheen manual (a copy was provided at the exhibition). However, as you can see from the image above, the effect did a huge disservice to the clothing displayed and frankly, looked sloppy. It also emphasized the ’boutique’ or ‘shopping’ feel of the exhibition – a common enough problem when museums display garments. Having vintage Shaheen garments for sale in the gift shop didn’t help this problem either.
The use of plastic hangers to display the men’s Hawaiian shirts, and women’s bathing suits, in the gallery was unfortunate. It just looked unprofessional and too slap-dash for a professional museum to use this kind of display method. Objects displayed suspended from the ceiling seemed to be inviting patrons to touch the clothing, and frequently garments ended up touching each other, or other wall-mounted pieces.
Now, despite these shortcomings, I do think the Bay Area is lucky to have this exhibition on view. The clothes are luxurious and beautiful – especially the textile design. It is on view through August 8, in San Jose. These clothes are a rare treasure, and given the display techniques used, they aren’t likely to be around forever – so see them now while you can. For those not able to see the exhibition, here’s a brief slideshow of the exhibit:
*As an aside, collectors looking to obtain vintage Alfred Shaheen will find a surprisingly large selection on Etsy.
Hands-on fashion history education is something of a dwindling practice these days, with more collections moving their objects to offsite storage and switching to digital only access for researchers. There is an inherent value to being able to explore the inside of historical garments, with a professor, museum professional, and classmates in the room all offering observations. As a student at NYU, I was lucky enough to have regular collection visits incorporated into our curriculum.
In the Spring of 2003, I was fortunate to have a costume history class with Professor Elizabeth Morano, author ofSonia Delaunay: Art into Fashion. The class was Clothing History IV, and was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Costume Institute. On one particularly nice day, we explored a selection of Haute Couture garments of the 1950s. Two of these were designed by Christian Dior (I’ll be posting a second part on who else we looked at that day – stay tuned).
To our modern eyes, the above day dress appears to be a relatively simple, straight-forward belted-dress. However, when looking through the piece with our professor pointing out specific details, innovations and techniques, the real value of the garment and the importance of the designer became more evident. Being able to look at multiple pieces, by multiple designers – and comparing their styles, techniques and preferences helped us to develop connoisseurship.
“Trompette”, House of Dior, spring/summer 1950, Met, CI. C.I.54.6.3a–c
It also became evident that nothing about wearing couture in the 1950s was simple – multiple layers and heavy under-structures revealed some of the differences in social norms and expectations for women in that time period as compared with modern women. This dress in particular suggested ties to menswear through the fabric choice and the use of button detailing, but also made one question what is hidden and what is shown. The under-blouse pictured below, but also his design choice to assist the wearer of this narrow skirt in walking, by incorporating fullness at the knee into the design. The narrow silhouette, placement of buttons and the kickpleat all suggest a reference to the shape of a trumpet, drawing the eye to the back of the dress and to the calf. (Martin & Koda)
Detail photos of “Trompette”, House of Dior, spring/summer 1950, Met, CI. C.I.54.6.3a–c:
The other Dior piece we looked at that day was a silk evening gown dating to 1954. As an outside observer, this too was fairly simple looking, though elegant and slightly demure. Something about the large bow made me think it was intended for someone young and innocent.
“Priscilla”, House of Dior, fall/winter 1954–1955, Met, CI 1974.258.7
However, when a look inside reveals the the wearer of the dress was basically corseted, and the dress not as comfortable or ‘easy’ (by modern standards) as one might have thought.. The layers of chiffon-lined net add additional fullness underneath the skirt, resulting in an audible swishing sound (by rotating the mannequin back and forth) that in many ways brought the dress to life.
One could see that a simple demure-looking gown was in fact quite complicated and in many ways, contrived. Though a woman wearing this dress might in fact appear modest, knowing what was on underneath might not only affect her posture and over-all appearance, but could affect her mental attitude and behavior. Issues of sexuality and perception of ones own body immediately spring to mind. The corset itself was also an innovation for Dior, as it depicted his “H Line” which reshaped the bust into a different profile than had previously been popular. Here, he “seemed to flatten the chest and unusually widen[ed] the upper torso.” (Koda & Martin)
L'Officiel de la Mode n°343 de 1950
All this is to say: I really value my experience as it helped me learn how to think about clothing within a historical, cultural and social context, based on what was present in the object itself. Handling the materials, hearing how they sound and seeing how they move all seem important to this process. I’m concerned that future generations of students may not have this opportunity. For museum professionals, teachers and students: What has your experience or use of historic collections been like?
As an aside, I’m happy to announce two pieces of personal news: Tomorrow, I will officially take office as program chair for the Western Region of the Costume Society of America. I also have a newly designed website, going live today! It’s fully redesigned site, with much more photos and some writing that I hope you’ll enjoy.
More information:
Those interested in learning more about the history of couture, its designers and specific techniques should really venture over to the Golden Age of Couture microwebsite affiliated with London’s V&A Museum and its exhibition of the same name. Their time line feature by designer is an especially helpful element.
In recent months, I’ve been exploring issues related to moving museum costume and textile collections, including: “Issues in Dress Collections: Storage & Moving” Part 1 and Part II, and “Issues In Dress Collection: Deaccessioning.” The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently moved their collection of ethnographic textiles and I asked the assistant curator of the collection, Diana Zlatanovski (pictured above), to answer some of my questions related to planning, resources, funding, and a number of other details that might help enlighten Wornthrough readers to how this process works for a number of museum collections.
Heather: What are the first steps you took towards planning a move?
Diana Zlatanovski: Once it was decided that the relocation was definitely going to happen, one of the early steps in planning the move was determining how we would need to staff the collection packing. I knew we would be packing as much as we could ourselves, (instead of hiring fine arts packers) so it was a matter of how many people do we need packing for how many hours a day. I did a test run of packing a few textiles to get an average time per piece and then multiplied that out by how many textiles we have, divided by how much time we had until the scheduled move day. Voila! I had an estimate of how many people we needed packing and for how many hours per week in order to be finished by our move date.
HV: What, if any literature, resources or websites did you use to plan?
DZ: One of my most helpful resources is a listserve administered by the Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums (RC-AAM). I use it on a regular basis for information and great advice on all things museum collection related, the museum community has been really open and willing to share their experiences. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s website documenting their move and rehousing project is also really useful as is meeting directly with others who have moved their collections. [I highlighted their work in my earlier post, here]
(HLATC EAE1355, European piña tablecloth, 1950s)
HV: What issues/problems did you encounter and how did you address them?
DZ: We were lucky to not be faced with any huge unexpected problems, but a project of this scope will always have some issues that need addressing. Most of our issues were spacial, objects that were too large to fit into standard box sizes; crates and cabinets that were too big to fit through doorways. We were also dealing with a tiny tiny space which didn’t give us any room to move around and no freight elevator, just a small passenger elevator to get our entire collection from the 3rd floor down to the trucks. Solutions involved a lot of creative thinking both on our part and from the moving company.
I did end up having some custom boxes and crates built for specific objects that couldn’t be contained in stock-sized boxes. When ordering boxes, I made sure the bulk of the box sizes we used would fit onto our elevator, to reduce the hand carrying down the stairs to a minimum. We did also have to widen one doorway leading out of the collection, in order to be able to remove some of our cabinets.
Staging was another obstacle during our move, the entire relocation was similar to a giant logic problem. There were a lot of things that needed to happen concurrently as well as a lot of things that couldn’t happen before other things happened, all in very tight confines, both space and time wise. If we’re reusing the same cabinets for storage in our new space, where do we store the boxes while we move the cabinets? We didn’t have the luxury of enough space to pack everything into boxes and leaving it waiting in our storage room until move day. So we had to make sure to schedule everything perfectly so that as one aspect of the project moved along, another one moved into its spot.
Other problems, like Midwestern winters packing 20″ snowstorms could not be planned for, but we had contingency plans in place. Always have contingency plans.
HV: Where did you apply for funding to help financially support the move?
DZ: The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection (HLATC) exists as part of the School of Human Ecology (SOHE) at the University of Wisconsin. All of SOHE , including the HLATC, was relocated due to a large renovation and new building project, so our move was funded by the overall relocation budget from SOHE.
HV: How many people were involved, what kinds of outside vendors did you use?
DZ: I was the only one assigned to the move on a full time basis, though I did also have to manage other curatorial tasks during the move process. All of our packing was done by five curatorial assistants under my supervision. We also had involvement from our curator as well as other departments on campus: the SOHE Dean’s office and the UW space management office. I worked primarily with three vendors: our moving company-C. Coakley, our fine arts craters-Blueprint, and Gaylord Brothers for all of our packing materials.
(WFSA3091, Chancay, Peru, 1100-1400A.D.)
HV: How did you document any treatments done to objects before the move?
DZ: Any object treatments are ordinarily documented in our object record files and in our database records. However, we did not have any object treatments specific to this relocation. Our main documentation with the relocation was tracking objects by recording new object locations, box numbers, etc.
HV: Where are you now in that process?
DZ: The first phase of our move was completed at the end of January 2010. Our collection will remain boxed and in storage for approximately two more years until our new building is ready for us to move back in.
(HLATC E1242A, Opera quilt, France, 1897-1900)
HV: What would you have done differently, if you could?
DZ: I wish I would’ve known that we would end up with a cushion of time at the end, so we could have done more cataloging of pieces as we packed them.
HV: What are your future plans for the collection?
DZ: In a couple of years, the HLATC will have a new home which will be a big improvement in storage space as well as research and public spaces. Our location will be in a central part of SOHE’s new building so we are looking forward to improved visibility and accessibility for our patrons. We are also currently growing our online offerings, and plan to do so in the future as well.
Thanks so much to Diana Zlatanovski for agreeing to participate in this interview, and providing such useful information! For more on their move, please visit the HLATC’s blog, which includes detailed photos of their experience.
*Photos by Jeff Miller and Diana Zlatanovski via the HLATC blog
The responses to my January post on storage issues facing museums with costume collections, were both interesting and insightful. It seems that even more institutions are preparing to move their collections than I had originally anticipated. It became clear, however that a discussion of museum deaccessioning policies was needed (deaccessioning is regularly a part of pre-move collection evaluation). As Lauren mentioned on Monday, many have received notice that Augusta Auctions would be hosting a large auction of items deaccessioned from several reputable museums, including the Brooklyn Museum’s Costume Collections (Auction preview in New York is March 23rd, and the sale is the following day).
Deaccesioned: Printed Lame Opera Cape, Mid-1920s (Augusta Auctions)
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “De-accession” did not appear in the English language until the early 1970s.
De-accession:
“trans. To remove an entry for (an exhibit, book) from the accessions register of a museum, library, etc., usu. in order to sell the item concerned. Also absol.
1972 N.Y. Times 27 Feb. II. 21/2 The Museum of Art recently de-accessioned (the polite term for ‘sold’) one of its only four Redons. 1973 Time 26 Feb. 43/2 ‘De-accessioning’ pictures the barbaric museum jargon for preparing to sell. 1974 J. GOLDMAN Man from Greek & Roman v. 33 You deaccessioned, you took something off your shelves and sold it. 1981 Times 16 Feb. 4/1 The sale of Japanese art included a group of 38 lots of Japanese lacquer ‘recently de-accessioned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York’. 1987 London Rev. Bks. 19 Mar. 5/4 Curators may soon be tempted to start..‘de-accessioning’ what their recent predecessors have..acquired.
Hence as n., the act or process of de-accessioning; de-ac cessioned ppl. a., de-ac cessioning vbl. n.
1973 Newsweek 29 Jan. 76 Richard F. Brown, director of Fort Worth’s Kimbell Museum of Art, felt that..the ‘principle’ of de-accession is right although he might ‘disagree with the particular object chosen for de-accession’. 1973 Art in Amer. Jan.-Feb. 24 In order to illustrate..Mr. Hoving’s policy, he should show all the de-accessioned works. 1973 New Yorker 31 Mar. 83/1 Money gained through sales or ‘de-accessioning’, in museum parlance is often used for acquisitions. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Dec. 1604/2 The acquisition by Mellon from the Hermitage of famous paintings… This early twentieth-century instance of sensational ‘de-accessioning’ as it was to be uneuphoniously called by later adepts of the technique.”
Obviously, there is controversy tied up in the notion of a museum vetting its collection. One of the best ways to combat controversy is to have a clear and transparent accession and de-accessioning policy. Whenever money exchanges hands, legal issues arise, and should be considered as well. As with previous posts, my intention here is to provide readers with resources for further research.
Deaccesioned: Embroidered Blue Silk Chinese Export Shawl, Early 20th Cent (Augusta Auctions)
A good discussion of the ethical and budgetary issues associated with de-accessioning are discussed in this article from the San Jose History Association. They outline some key criteria involved when evaluating an object:
“the object is not relevant to the museum’s mission,
the object has deteriorated beyond usefulness,
the object is hazardous to other collections or staff,
there are multiple examples of the same object in the collection, and
the object is wrongly attributed or fake.”
Example policies can be found by joining the Museum Documents Listserve, along with other useful policies regularly set by museums. An article by Derek Fincham, of Layolla University College of Law, titled “Deaccession of Art and the Public Trust” outlines many of the legal aspects of de-accessioning (but be warned, it is 54 pages long). The National Parks Service discusses it’s policy on Deaccesioning in Volume II of its Museum Handbook. Other resources include a number of books, articles and thesis projects. None of these, however, seems to directly address specific issues relevant to costume and textile collections.
Deaccesioned: Two Pair D'Orsay Evening Shoes, 1920-1930 (Augusta Auctions)
For those currently involved in the deaccessioning/moving process, consider these questions (I encourage you to respond to any in the comments below):
What do you think is the best way to prevent controversy and ethical dilemma’s with respect to de-accessioning?
What is your institutions policy? How does it relate to your museums mission and collection policy?
How often do you de-accession? What is your process for decision-making?
What departments/professions are involved in the decision-making process?
Whom do you notify when de-accessioning?
Do you keep records of items that you have de-accessioned? What sorts of information do you keep?
How does ‘budget’ play into the decision to de-accession an object?
If private individuals purchase the objects, are they given any provenance records? Are they told of any potential contamination? (or are contaminated articles disposed of differently?)
What special concerns apply to de-accessioning articles of dress?
Are employees of the given institution permitted to purchase (or otherwise obtain) de-accessioned items?
What else do you think is important for the Museum community to consider? What do you feel the general public should know?
Coming soon is the Augusta Auction Company‘s latest antique and vintage clothing and textiles auction. Preview in New York City on Friday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 24th. Auction starts at 12 noon March 24th. If you can not be in New York City for the auction, despair not!Absentee, phone, and internet bidswill be accepted. Nearly 400 catalogued lots, this auction is especially interesting as its contents are consignments from a number of prominent American museums, including: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection,Museum of Fine Arts – Boston, Chrysler Museum (Virginia), Montclair ArtMuseum (New Jersey), and the National Heritage Museum (Massachusetts).
Two Mainboche Lamé Dresses
The sale features antique clothing, accessories, Asian & middle Eastern garments & textiles, rugs, tapestries, lace, ecclesiastical objects, and more from the 15th to 20th centuries. If you visit the Augusta Auction Company web site, you can view online galleries of consigned items, with more to be posted over the next few weeks. The auction catalog is schedule to be posted online March 10th.
The following information comes from an email sent by the auction company:
Lots to be sold include rare textiles and clothing objects from the 15th Century right up to the 1990’s, including…designs from many of the top fashion names of the twentieth century – Elizabeth Hawes, Bonnie Cashin, Halston, Claire McCardell, Chanel, Ferragamo, Mainbocher, Phillip Hulitar, Sarmi, Stavropoulos, Galanos, Elizabeth Arden, Rudi Gernreich, Eta Hentz, Pierre Cardin, Balenciaga, Zandra Rhodes, Geoffrey Beene, Lilly Dache, Gucci and many others.
Rose Pink Evening Gown, 1910
If you are at all like me (and I suspect you may be, if only a tiny bit, since you are reading Worn Through), you have already asked yourself, “Why are museum pieces up for auction?”
Taken from the Augusta Auction Company web site, here is the explanation, really quite simple:
Garments and textiles offered for sale from most of the museum collections include pieces that no longer fit the criteria of the museums’ collections policies, duplicate other pieces in their collections, or are pieces that are no longer exhibited. Many have been in museum storage for decades. All are new to market and have not previously been offered for sale. The museum collections are sold to the highest bidder, free of any minimum bids or auction reserves. Proceeds from auction attendees’ purchases go directly to the museums’ acquisitions funds or to support their conservation efforts.
See? You can add a treasure to your own collection, and feel good about doing so, knowing that the proceeds from your purchases go directly towards supporting the museums.
Here are a few more of the promised highlights of the March 24th sale:
Featured items include 1940’s posters from Charles James, donated by the designer to the Brooklyn Museum, a c. 1750 Chien-Lung Imperial palace hanging, a 15th C tapestry of Roman Soldiers, a 1770 dated Aubusson tapestry, a large 19th C. Meiji embroidery depicting mythical beasts, hand-woven and embroidered shawls, 16th & 17th C. ecclesiastical textiles & silk brocades, other early European embroideries, Victorian through late 20th C garments, shoes, hats, 19th C beaded purses & 20th C pocketbooks, silk lingerie and so much more.
Even if you do not plan to bid, if you are a collector it can be useful to check the results of this auction, as they can help you to determine the current market value of any similar pieces in your own collection (although, bear in mind that the museum provenenance adds to the value of these auction items), or even the potential auction price of a special something for which you have been searching and saving up.
To tempt you, below are some examples from the online gallery.
Elizabeth Hawes Evening Gown, 1945
Embroidered Chinese Export Robe, early 20th century
Orange and Gold Stavropoulos Evening Ensemble, 1982
As some may recall, I attended a special conference given by Seb Chan of the Powerhouse museum in September of 2009. While writing the post for that issue of Worn Through, I came across “The Australian Dress Register” that the Powerhouse was developing, which aims to “assist museums and private collectors to recognize and research their dress collections and support better care and management.” Fascinated by this idea, I kept it in the back of my head. Several months later, while trolling Twitter, I came to know Rebecca Evans, an assistant registrar for the Powerhouse and a new scholar in dress. After some discussion, I asked her if she might be able to give readers of WT some insider information on the Australian Dress Register – and she agreed!
I’m pleased to present this ‘sneak peak’ into the future of museum collections and their uses:
The Australian Dress Register is an inventive new project from the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney which aims to document provenanced historical dress. It is an online database that records information including:
measurements,
cut,
fabric,
photographs,
condition,
history and
provenance.
The project has two main aims;
to document men, women and children’s costume and
to assist museums and private collectors in recognizing the importance of dress in communicating history.
This is a comprehensive approach to recording and documenting some of the outstanding examples of costume in collections in the state of News South Wales. The project also provides many help notes focused on supporting the conservation of these examples of dress. We hope that the Dress Register will encourage collectors to consider their collections very broadly and preserve and share what they know about people, their dress and life in the past.
[Examples of the helpful information the project hopes to help provide is detailed instruction on this resources page, it also includes a series of instructional video how-to's including storage and measuring techniques, such as this one below]
I’ve been working on the project for about a year now and one of my favorite aspects of the register is its documentation of garment measurements. From a scientific point of view it is insightful to see how the shape of people’s bodies has changed over time, especially the circumference of women’s waists and peoples height. Silhouettes have dramatically altered over time, whether the width between shoulder seams, different lengths between the back and front of skirts or the length of a trouser – this information is useful for researchers, practitioners and industry leaders. One of the garments on the register from the 1840s, worn by a woman who had had four children, has a waist circumference of only 60 cm! This suggests the wearer was tightly corseted.
The project allows for the possibility to link similar examples of dress together, even though they are hundreds of kilometers away from one another. One of the best finds so far is linking a dress from the Powerhouse Museums’s collection and a skirt from the Tongarra Museum, both from the mid-1840s. The skirts in both of these examples have virtually the same construction with five, bias-cut strips down the centre front and distinctive plaid silk taffeta fabrics. These examples were made on opposite sides of Australia, one in Tasmania and other in New South Wales, one probably by a professional and the other by the owner. This tells us a lot about dressmaking practices of this period as well as generally what was in fashion.
Detail of check skirt, c.1845, The Tongarra Museum, Photography by Rebecca Evans
The Australian Dress Register will be officially launched as a public website in mid-2010. We have much to work to do till then but I am sure that it will prove to be a fantastic resource. I hope that it will be useful to people in the museum industry, academics, designers, scientists, home sewers, students and many more. I am constantly surprised and awed by historic dress and its ability to reveal history and describe its wearer.
I want to extend a very warm thank you to Rebecca for this insightful post. Be sure to check out the resources page for a selection of instructional videos and pdfs available from the powerhouse/dress register. Are there other institutions out there working on similar initiatives or projects? How is your institution making use of new technology, making collections more useful and accessible to its patrons? As a museum visitor, do you have suggestions or ideas for ways museums might better promote/utilize/connect collections across borders? Comments welcome below!
1960s Aloha Shirt from the University of Hawai'i Museum
Here is a funding opportunity for my fellow academics in the US, the Costume Society of America‘s College and University Collection Care Grant
Description
The $1500 College and University Collection Care Grant is intended to assist with the care, maintenance, preservation, and instructional missions of a college or university collection that is not eligible for a Small Museum Collection Care Grant.
Purpose
The College and University Collection Care Grant is intended to assist the costume and textiles collection of a college or university that receives little or no financial support from its institution. Funding may be used to support the care, conservation, and/or instructional mission of a collection of historic, period, or otherwise informative costume and textiles that are intended for preservation and are used for study by an institution that has a degree program in apparel, textiles, or theatre.
University of Hawai'i Museum
Eligibility
Institutions applying for a Grant must meet the following requirements:
be a degree granting institution
have a degree program in apparel, textiles, or theatre
The institution must legally own the collection; it cannot be a private collection housed in a college/university.
provide institutional support for the collection. duties include the care and maintenance of the collection.
provide institutional endorsement of the collection by some expression of commitment, such as, exhibition space, insurance, storage, or time invested in the care and management of the collection
to accept the Grant, the chosen institution must become an Institutional Member of CSA
The collection seeking assistance must:
consist of dress, textiles, and related objects (published materials, textile production tools/equipment, etc.)
be legally owned by the institution applying for the Grant (not a private collection housed in a college/university)
be intended for preservation
Selection Criteria
Applications will be judged by:
high impact of the project on collection’s well-being and mission
feasibility of the project in terms of budget, time line, and personnel to carry it out
significance of the collection to the academic unit
Application Deadline
Completed applications must be postmarked by February 28.
Application Procedure
Complete the application, and send five copies, together with any relevant documentation and supporting material, to:
Chair, College and University Collection Care Grant
The Costume Society of America
390 Amwell Road, Suite 403
Hillsborough, NJ, USA 08844
Further details may be found at the Costume Society’s web site.
*
. The class was Clothing History IV, and was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Costume Institute. On one particularly nice day, we explored a selection of Haute Couture garments of the 1950s. Two of these were designed by 
. AltaMira, 2004.
. Ashgate, 2004.
: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.
