To investigate the deterioration of textiles with metal thread, I surveyed 40 textile objects, dating from the 11th to the 19th century from Korea, China, Japan, and Central Asia at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This survey included various types, widths, and thicknesses of metal thread. In addition, deterioration was examined under the microscope and color information was collected using the spectrophotometer. While investigating metal thread in the collections, I fabricated 12 different types of metal samples with metal leaf(24K gold, silver, and copper leaf), adhesive (hide animal glue and a mixture of hide animal glue and iron oxide red), and paper substrate(Korean mulberry and Taiwanese kozo paper). The accelerated deterioration process of those fabricated samples was carried out using a light box(UV and daylight), and a humidity cabinet. In the light experiment with blue scales textile fading card(aka, blue wool standard), the metal leaf began to peel off during the deterioration process with 756,000 lux-hours UV and daylight. In the temperature and humidity experiment, I could observe the reddish tarnish on copper, and some part of it began to peel off. Color reading on the light exposed samples showed that the degree of color change on the surface follows the amount of exposure as it increased over time. On the other hand, color change on the samples after artificial deterioration using temperature and humidity factors showed random change of color with occasional spikes. Distortion of original shape worsened in the samples exposed to temperature and humidity.
To study the cleaning effects and post-treatment stability assessment of various methods of cleaning textiles with metal thread, six naturally-soiled historical textiles with metal thread were investigated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Prior to the cleaning of fabricated gold, silver, and copper thread that had been glued onto a paper substrate, the artificial deterioration was carried out in a controlled environment with light(UV and daylight), and temperature and humidity factors which would weaken and damage the samples. A synthetic soil mixture was applied to the samples to imitate soil found on the historic and archaeological textiles with metal thread; the cleaning effect and post-treatment assessment were investigated by use of three textile cleaning methods: mechanical cleaning, wet cleaning, and solvent cleaning. While investigating the naturally-soiled textiles with metal thread, it was determined that the soil colors and sizes of contaminating particles of each textile were different due to the diversity of original environmental factors and conditions. After cleaning with kneaded rubber, Stoddard solvent, n-decane or n-hexane, a bright, clean effect was apparent. Kneaded rubber was successful in picking up both large and small particles, but its stickiness caused some of the metal leaf to peel off. Stoddard solvent produced a good cleaning effect, but after use of n-hexane and n-decane in the cleaning process, a white layer of residue remained on the textile's surface. Wet cleaning was not effective and the rapid humidity changes between wet and dry conditions caused the edges of the paper substrate to lose their original shape.
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