AIC's 46th Annual Meeting

The city of Norwich, United Kingdom still produces beautiful and high-quality woolen textiles, although its heyday was between the 14th and 19th centuries. As a result of this active textile industry, garments and fabrics are found in numerous textile collections around the globe. In spite of its importance, information regarding dyes, mordants and technologies associated with dying practices in the city remain scarce. During the second half of the 18th century, when the trade of raw materials and finished goods was commonplace, merchant manufacturers used pattern books and cards containing textile swatches to facilitate sales and trade. Some of these outstandingly well-preserved pattern books survive. After thorough ethical conversations, a dye-and-mordant database incorporating chromatographic and spectroscopic data is being generated using samples from these pattern books. High-performance liquid chromatography – photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA) in conjunction with X-ray fluorescence (XRF), has allowed us to identify distinctive dye and mordant combinations, which, in parallel with collaborative historical and archival research, is aiding in understanding the industry’s practices. More importantly, this will ultimately support collections care by providing sound scientific information related to textiles’ constituent material properties, such as light and moisture sensitivity of certain color components.