Susan Catcher The conservation and display of a Korean embroidery panel from a traditional Hwarot

Описание: This paper covers how we promote and contribute to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collections through the understanding of historic materials and techniques that go into the making of such objects. This both improves academic research and ultimately enhances the visitor experience through creating a culturally acceptable display. The conservation of a Korean embroidery panel originally found on an hwarot or bridal gown demonstrates this. The collaboration of both conservation disciplines (textiles, science, paper) and Korean practitioners (social history, pattern making, embroidery techniques, paper making) enabled the work to be meaningful and informative. The decision to remount the hwarot panel as a robe structure, as it had been previously disassembled for the foreign market, was agreed upon, as was the retention of the lilac repairs. These ‘repairs’ were as a result of repeated wearing, and as such form documentary evidence. Hwarots worn by commoners were often shared by the woman of the same family or village as they were expensive and time consuming to make. The Korean Folk Museum provided dimensions and a pattern that would replicate the robe on which to attach the embroidered panel. A typical hwarot would have had a red exterior and a blue interior to symbolize the yin/yang relationship between the husband and wife, including decorative patterns to bring wealth, good fortune and fertility to the new couple. The replica robe takes into account the historical context of the panel and can be re-utilized for the eventual conservation and display of the sleeve and front panels.