Before & After Stories
American Flag from the Fauerbach Brewery
At The Center, we treat items of great worth, historical artistic significance and shared cultural value. But perhaps some the most rewarding work we do is in preserving family heirlooms. These items very greatly from paintings to furniture and can be extremely valuable or purely sentimental, but all hold stories with meaning to the owners. We feel honored to assist families with preserving these items for future generations, and allowing their stories to carry on, and would like to share a recent story from one of our clients.
The Conservation Center's Services During EXPO CHICAGO
The Moore-McDermott Christening Dress
The Dress was in extremely fragile condition when it arrived at The Center. After consulting with the client, The Center’s Textile Conservator created a treatment plan that made it suitable for continued use and took into consideration the historic nature of the piece. The repaired dress was returned to the client in an archival box that can be used to protect and house the piece between christenings.
Coverings, Calendars, and Ketubahs
As Jewish heritage spans many countries, cultures, and customs, the ceremonial and ritual objects pictured here are only a few of many permutations and preferences. Nevertheless, they share the same background and prominence in their congregations and households. The conservation of these pieces often had the added task of ensuring that these objects could still be used or ritually displayed, which will also be discussed.
The Torah Mantle: Preserving a Cultural Treasure
This drapery is known as “pruchat aron”, and is used to cover the sacred cabinet that houses the Temple’s Torah, in the form of a massive scroll. Along the upper section are the main symbols of First Temple: The Torah Crown; a pair of wings belonging to the “karuvim”, or angels, who were believed to overlook the sacrificial altar; a seven-light Menorah (as opposed to the eight-light Hanukkah Menorah); the robe worn by the great “cohen”, or priest, who would be commanding the Temple; the tablets with the Ten Commandments; and the sacrificial altar. Collectively, these symbolize the holiest of the elements pertaining to the Temple.
Omer Calendar Scroll, Custom Mount & Vitrine
This Omer calendar scroll is hand-painted and calligraphied on a continuous strip of goatskin vellum, rolled on a pair of wooden spools. Over time the vellum became heavily buckled and fragile, making it impossible to unroll more than twelve inches at a time. The challenge was to provide an archival mount which would preserve and protect the fragile manuscript, and also allow the owner to scroll through it at will.
The Benefits of Digital Reproduction
This decorative hand-painted Esther scroll arrived tightly wound inside a beautiful metal case. In its fragile condition, the scroll could sustain even more damage if continuously rolled and unrolled from its case. Therefore the preservation challenge was to find a way to appreciate the scroll, but not damage the document itself. Digital reproduction was recommended as a solution to this problem, so the original could remain in the case with less handling, and therefore experience less deterioration over time.
