Rosemary Baker

Rosemary Baker, MA Textile Conservation graduate and now a PhD student

IDENTIFICATION METHODS FOR EARLY SYNTHETIC TEXTILES DYES INTRODUCED BETWEEN 1856 AND 1900

(Working title of MPhil/PhD)

When textiles are considered for conservation it is necessary to investigate them carefully to determine the appropriate treatment. One facet of this is to determine the materials used in the object and of these the dyes used are an important component. Identifying the dyes can help to date a piece or to determine if some parts have been added at a later date. It can also be important to make safe decisions about treatment and display conditions as some dyes are more fugitive to light and washing than others.

My MPhil/PhD project investigates the development of spectroscopic methods for textile dye identification. These methods involve illuminating the surface of the textile with a broad range of light or similar radiation at different wavelengths and analysing the reflected spectra. They have the advantage over previously developed methods that they do not involve taking a sample from the piece and are therefore non-destructive. They have a ready application in the field of textile conservation and could also be used to look at late nineteenth century fabrics, possibly Arts and Crafts textiles or dated needlework samplers, to determine how widely the (then) new synthetic dyes were used.