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Developing a Scientific Practice in Preservation of 19th Century Royal Malay Songket Shawl

Received: 23 May 2019     Accepted: 4 July 2019     Published: 16 July 2019
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Abstract

The fabric under study is one of the exquisite songket shawl dated around 19th century housed in National Museum of Malaysia. This study aims to identify the materials, techniques and analyze the texture, motifs and dyes through historical and artistic review as well as scientific analysis, identification of deterioration factors and examining the different causes of damages. In order to conserve and restore the samples, identification of the material technology on natural and metal threads, weaving as well as dye and motifs were carried out. Natural fibers were detected by using chemical analysis, FTIR and FESEM-EDS were used for examination of metallic threads. The condition survey was carried out and analyzed through the original historic samples to identify its feature and behavior against physical and chemical agencies. Examination results showed the fibers are delicate cotton and natural pigments used in dying process. Also according to the FESEM results, metal threads was identified as gilt-silver which is deteriorated in some parts and covered with layer of corrosion. A series of internal and external destructive factors as well as improper past repairs caused several damages to the fabric. It became evident that by exposing fabrics to improper storage and display technique had caused considerable physical, chemical and mechanical harm to the parts of sample. Based on the current condition of the fabric proper method of preservation treatment was applied and a specific method of displaying of songket shawl textiles was designed as a guideline for Malaysia’s museums.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 8, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13
Page(s) 54-61
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Songket Shawl, Preservation, Restoration, FESEM-EDS, FTIR, Display

References
[1] Ghani, Adline Abdul and Ros Mahwati Ahmad Zakaria, Tradition and Continuity: Woven and Decorated Textiles of the Malay Peninsula, Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2013.
[2] Maxwell, R., Ismail, S. Z., and Rashid, A., Songket: a Malaysian heritage, Kuala Lumpur: Petronas, 1999.
[3] N. Md. Nawawi, Songket Malaysian, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 2002, pp. 68-114.
[4] Nawawi, N. M., Legino, R., Khalid, M. F. M., Abdullah, N., Ahmad, M. Y., and Basaree, R. O., Symmetrical pattern; analysing songket in wallpaper pattern, ResearchGate April 2014.
[5] S. Z. Ismail, Songket: Satu Warisan Malaysia (Editor: Mas Zeti Atan), Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, 1999.
[6] Janpourtaher, M., and Barkeshli, M., Technical Study on Conservation and Restoration of Niavaran Palace’s Embroidered Pateh, Journal of Quantity Surveying and Construction Business Vol. 7, Issue 1, 2016.
[7] Bahauddin, A., Contemporary Malaysian Art: An Exploration of the Songket Motifs, Intercultural Communication Studies XI: 2, 2002.
[8] J. Gillow, Traditional Indonesia Textiles, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1995, p. 30.
[9] G. I. Selvanayagam, Songket; Malaysia’s Woven Treasure, Oxford University Press Pte. Ltd. New York, 1990.
[10] Thompson, K., Coupar, S., and Benner, J. (2012) Most I Saw Were Very Dirty, Some Very Ragged and All of Very Coarse Cloth: The Conservation of the Nineteenth-century Student Gown in the Hunterian, Transactions of the Burgon Society, University of Glasgow No. 12. 36-45.
[11] E. M. Osman, Y. E. Zidan, N. K. Fahim, The determination of conservation state of archaeological moroccan kilim by physical analytical methods, International Journal of Conservation Science, 8 (1), 2017, pp. 51-58.
[12] Yurdun, T., Karsli-Ceppioglu, S., and Gurcan O. R., (2012) Investigation of Metal Wired Coloured Historical Textile Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and HPLC-DAD, Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. p. 591-598.
[13] Thompson, K. (2014) Adhesives in textile conservation: a select annotated bibliography of references about adhesives in textile conservation compiled, ICON: The Institute of Conservation No. 3.
[14] A. Ghani, N. K. S. Shan, K. Y. Meng, A. R. Shahari, Textile Weaving Techniques. Culture Treasures: Textile of the Malay World, National Museum, New Delhi, 2003.
[15] Janpourtaher, M, Scientific Approach of Preservation Treatment and Restoration Procedures on Historical Royal Songket Sarong, International Journal of Conservation Science Vol. 10, Issue 1, 2019.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mina Janpourtaher, Mandana Barkeshli, Rashidi Othman. (2019). Developing a Scientific Practice in Preservation of 19th Century Royal Malay Songket Shawl. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 8(2), 54-61. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13

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    ACS Style

    Mina Janpourtaher; Mandana Barkeshli; Rashidi Othman. Developing a Scientific Practice in Preservation of 19th Century Royal Malay Songket Shawl. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2019, 8(2), 54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13

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    AMA Style

    Mina Janpourtaher, Mandana Barkeshli, Rashidi Othman. Developing a Scientific Practice in Preservation of 19th Century Royal Malay Songket Shawl. Am J Environ Prot. 2019;8(2):54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13,
      author = {Mina Janpourtaher and Mandana Barkeshli and Rashidi Othman},
      title = {Developing a Scientific Practice in Preservation of 19th Century Royal Malay Songket Shawl},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {8},
      number = {2},
      pages = {54-61},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20190802.13},
      abstract = {The fabric under study is one of the exquisite songket shawl dated around 19th century housed in National Museum of Malaysia. This study aims to identify the materials, techniques and analyze the texture, motifs and dyes through historical and artistic review as well as scientific analysis, identification of deterioration factors and examining the different causes of damages. In order to conserve and restore the samples, identification of the material technology on natural and metal threads, weaving as well as dye and motifs were carried out. Natural fibers were detected by using chemical analysis, FTIR and FESEM-EDS were used for examination of metallic threads. The condition survey was carried out and analyzed through the original historic samples to identify its feature and behavior against physical and chemical agencies. Examination results showed the fibers are delicate cotton and natural pigments used in dying process. Also according to the FESEM results, metal threads was identified as gilt-silver which is deteriorated in some parts and covered with layer of corrosion. A series of internal and external destructive factors as well as improper past repairs caused several damages to the fabric. It became evident that by exposing fabrics to improper storage and display technique had caused considerable physical, chemical and mechanical harm to the parts of sample. Based on the current condition of the fabric proper method of preservation treatment was applied and a specific method of displaying of songket shawl textiles was designed as a guideline for Malaysia’s museums.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Developing a Scientific Practice in Preservation of 19th Century Royal Malay Songket Shawl
    AU  - Mina Janpourtaher
    AU  - Mandana Barkeshli
    AU  - Rashidi Othman
    Y1  - 2019/07/16
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 54
    EP  - 61
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20190802.13
    AB  - The fabric under study is one of the exquisite songket shawl dated around 19th century housed in National Museum of Malaysia. This study aims to identify the materials, techniques and analyze the texture, motifs and dyes through historical and artistic review as well as scientific analysis, identification of deterioration factors and examining the different causes of damages. In order to conserve and restore the samples, identification of the material technology on natural and metal threads, weaving as well as dye and motifs were carried out. Natural fibers were detected by using chemical analysis, FTIR and FESEM-EDS were used for examination of metallic threads. The condition survey was carried out and analyzed through the original historic samples to identify its feature and behavior against physical and chemical agencies. Examination results showed the fibers are delicate cotton and natural pigments used in dying process. Also according to the FESEM results, metal threads was identified as gilt-silver which is deteriorated in some parts and covered with layer of corrosion. A series of internal and external destructive factors as well as improper past repairs caused several damages to the fabric. It became evident that by exposing fabrics to improper storage and display technique had caused considerable physical, chemical and mechanical harm to the parts of sample. Based on the current condition of the fabric proper method of preservation treatment was applied and a specific method of displaying of songket shawl textiles was designed as a guideline for Malaysia’s museums.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Applied Art and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • Department of Applied Art and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  • Department of Applied Art and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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