Museum Textile Services

This Japanese textile has been hanging at Mary Lyon Hall since 1987. In Spring 2013, Prof. Leah Niederstadt was asked to hang the portraits of the Board of Trustees Chairs in Mary Lyon. Her students had already begun cleaning the plaster casts on the upper landing, and she had noticed the textile on the wall. When re-hanging the portraits on 10 May 2013, Prof. Niederstadt decided to take down the textile to have it assessed. On 12 September 2013, the damask was formally under conservation at the Museum Textile Services at Andover, MA. On 4 March 2014, the director of Museum Textile Services Camille Breeze brought this piece back to Wheaton. This picture shows Cara Jordan, the conservator at Museum Textile Services was taking care of this embroidery. 

Text Sources:

Museum Textile Services, Conservation Report to Leah Niederstadt, September 12, 2013.

Yitong Cai, face-to-face conversation with Leah Niederstadt, April 16, 2014.

Image Source:

Yitong Cai, email message to Camille Breeze, Museum Textile Services, March 24, 2014.