I’ve been holding my class at the Design Center of Philadelphia University this semester. This is the fashion and textile schools study collection for their students and scholars. Recently I found a box of textiles (while looking for something else entirely) that was simply labeled 15th century. Upon inspection Sarah and I found (Sarah is the head of the Design Center) a box with approximately a dozen or so samples of textiles from the 15th and 16th century (there are a few 17th century in there too). Most were brocades, some were silk velvets and they ranged in scale from clothing use to full on wall hangings.
In any case some are in need of a lot of care, which costs money the Center does not have. So here is the deal, as a fund raiser they have agreed to host a small hands on exhibition of these textiles. This means that those who go can examine them up close, in detail for a long duration (maybe two hours total for the tour). The whole box will be pulled (I think). And yes, photos, sketches, magnifying glasses are all welcome. Go ahead and count the threads per inch, its fine.
The tour will be approximately 10-20 folks and since its a fund raiser it will be somewhere between $50-100 a person. The money will go directly to helping these textiles get better housing in larger boxes and for some flat preservation. They are not in a position to pay for or do restoration of them at this time.
Interested? Follow the link above.
