Preserving A Seneca Dress
the brooches in situ. But we ran the risk that the brooches would re-tarnish while on dis- play. To mitigate this risk we made an apron of Pacific Silver Cloth, a cotton flannel fabric embedded with fine silver particles manufac- tured commercially for silver storage, to cover the silver brooches while the dress awaited installation. While the dress is on exhibition, the apron will be placed under the dress as a passive lining to slow the rate of silver tar- nishing. In addition, Zorflex FM10, a woven activated-carbon cloth, will be placed within the case to scavenge atmospheric pollutants that could cause tarnishing. Our final step was to stabilize the faded
and deteriorated ribbon on the collar. We chose to protect the silk and compensate for the color loss by stitching an overlay of sheer burgundy-colored silk fabric along the ribbon edges with dyed-to-match hair silk. These conservation measures improved
the overall stability of the dress for exhibition. The brooches shine as they would have on a diplomatic occasion. When the dress is shown with silver ball and cone earrings, beaded leg- gings and quillwork moccasins, the ensemble reflects a Seneca Clan Mother’s grandeur. While Jemison and Jacobs felt that the fading did not detract from the message of prestige, the dress is displayed with a blanket of finely woven sumptuous navy-blue wool fabric over the shoulders. Such a blanket would have been worn by Seneca Clan Mothers; the blanket partially obscures the fading and lessens the color contrast while allowing the magnifi- cence of the dress to take center stage. Passerotti’s research connected the dress to
Charlotte Sundown wearing the dress prior to its acquisition by Joseph W. Keppler, Tonawanda Reservation.
low suction through a soft, blanket-like fabric. Next we stabilized the tear at the hem with a cotton support patch, stitching the edges of the tear with hair silk, which is akin to stitch- ing with a strand of hair. With the tear stabi- lized, we could remove the old failing lacquer on each brooch in situ on the dress. One by one, we cleaned all 216 brooches,
using acetone on cotton swabs with a pro- tective barrier between each brooch and the underlying fabric. Fortunately the cellulose nitrate lacquer was readily soluble in acetone. Removing the brooches from the dress for cleaning would have caused further damage to the calico print fabric, as would re-coating
46 AMERICAN INDIAN SPRING 2015
the historic photograph of Gagwi ya ta, and informed the Seneca community that it was in the Museum’s collection. The research also confirmed the importance of the dress and the appropriateness of its use in representing a Clan Mother at the Treaty of Canandaigua. The Museum conservation department is proud that Passerotti is now a graduate stu- dent in the Art Conservation Program at State University of New York, Buffalo State, in Buf- falo, N.Y., which coincidentally is not far from the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum. X
Susan Heald is the textile conservator for the National Museum of the American Indian, and a graduate of the Art Conservation Program at the University of Delaware/Winter- thur Museum.
Nicole Passerotti belongs to the Seneca Nation of Indians, Bear Clan and is currently a first-year graduate student at Buffalo State SUNY Art Conservation Program.
FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE ROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER, ROCHESTER, N.Y.
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