National Museum of Australia - Theatre seat textile conservation

Theatre seat textile conservation

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The padded Bowraville theatre seats posed a great challenge for the National Museum's textiles conservators. Here, a seat is cleaned and repaired for display in the exhibition From Little Things Big Things Grow.

Photos: Peter Bucke, Karolina Kilian and Carmela Mollica.

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Striped reddish-brown seat back, showing wear at the top and metal studs on the side.

After the chairs were taken apart, all components were photographed. This image shows some of the more extensive damage to the fabric at the top of a seat back, which remained exposed in storage and was not protected by the upturned seat bottom.

Close-up image showing damaged fabric on the underside of a seat cushion.

Rust staining on the velvet and damage to this seat's black fabric liner were revealed when the metal seat bracket was removed.

Close-up image of seat fabric showing greyish-white deposits of dust and dirt.

An accumulation of dust and dirt is visible in this close-up image of a seat cover.

Close-up image of seat edge with torn reddish-coloured velvet fabric.

Extensive tearing is visible in the velvet fabric that covers one of the seats.

Underside of a theatre seat with slats of timber exposed by torn black fabric.

Extensive damage to the black fabric lining resulted in the timber base of this seat becoming exposed. Extensive repairs were carried out to stabilise the base.

A woman in a laboratory hand-stitches black fabric to the underside of a reddish-coloured seat cushion.

Textiles conservator Carmela Mollica stitches on a fine black conservation fabric to stabilise the damage to the textile under the seat.