Church banner

This is an ongoing project undertaken in partnership with another master's student. The banner likely dates to the Victorian period but nothing else is known about its origins. The dyes and weighted silk show signs of photodegredation, particularly the background of the figure which has been temporarily consolidated with nylon netting while other repairs are carried out.

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The back of the banner was removed to facilitate consolidation of the goldwork embroidery, which needs to be stitched through the linen core to ensure long term stability.

 

The hanging loops were removed, humidified, and flattened. The threads were aligned and couched in place under dyed silk crepeline. The inner loops were stabilized with  Lascaux-coated silk crepeline and then each loop was sewn to the banner and supported with a Plastazote insert.

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For the split near the top of the banner, the linen substrate was repaired with a herringbone stitch. The green silk was consolidated first with Lascaux-coated silk crepeline inserts and then by couching stitches to align the threads.

 

The figure background motif was recreated from existing silk fragments. It will be printed on to cotton poplin and sewn in place. The current step is matching the printed color to the original.