History of Textile Conservation

The Department of Textile Conservation became an independent entity in 1973, under the leadership of Nobuko Kajitani, Conservator in Charge, until her retirement in 2003. Kajitani’s object-centered approach emphasized close examination of materials and techniques and the importance of an integrated historical and scientific approach in understanding and preserving the cultural legacies of textiles.

In 1973, textiles were stored either in the Textile Study Room or in curatorial storerooms throughout the museum. The renovation of the American Wing in the early 1980s provided an opportunity to incorporate a dedicated storeroom and workroom to meet the needs of the growing collection of American textiles. Nobuko Kajitani along with Elena Phipps, conservator at that time for American textiles, worked closely with the architects in every aspect of the project, including purpose-built cabinets and integrated conservation and viewing areas. The subsequent American Decorative Arts storeroom attracted wide attention for its innovative collections care of textiles.

In the late 1980s, Antonio Ratti provided funds for a comprehensive center to accommodate textiles from all curatorial departments.  Under the visionary leadership of Nobuko Kajitani, the design included a state-of-the-art centralized storage for textiles with adjacent study rooms to provide for both staff and public access as well as a laboratory for the Department of Textile Conservation.

During the planning period, the department was tasked with assessing the long-term preservation needs of the Museum’s textile collection. This project provided an unprecedented opportunity for conservators to review the existing conditions in the collection, to re-evaluate the storage format, to plan and design the new storage facilities, and to transfer and consolidate the textile collection from storage in individual curatorial departments to a new common storage facility. The resulting database was integrated into TMS (The Museum System), a museum-wide initiative. The Department of Textile Conservation evolved from an 800-square-foot room to the current 9,400-square-foot state-of-the-art facility.

The TMS database, a digital innovation at the time, was based on information from catalogue cards and required increasing computer literacy for all involved in this project. This unique history resulted in the Department’s early adopting of new technology across a broad range of applications with analytical equipment.

Following Kajitani’s retirement in 2002, Florica Zaharia continued as Conservator-in-Charge until October 2016. Under Zaharia’s leadership the Department continued to build on its scholarly foundation, refining a collection-based comprehensive digital database including technical information and high-resolution analytical images of historic textiles from raw material to finished product.

Conservator-in-Charge Janina Poskrobko continues to support innovative applications of emerging digital technology in refining a collection-based, comprehensive digital database, including technical information and high-quality photo micrographs.  The Department is currently working on compiling information in a format that will appear on the Departmental landing page of the Met’s website.

To date, the Department’s Pinterest and Instagram accounts have showcased research in an image-based format. The pandemic has fast-tracked the adopting of social media platforms in cultural institutions worldwide promoting the sharing of collections and providing access to scholarly research. The Department of Textile Conservation will continue to take an active role in using emerging technology to disseminate information.