TESSIMILIAEVENTI della tessitura a mano + ARTI TESSILI et SIMILIA
TESSIMILIA
http://www.tutankhamuns-wardrobe.com/
The exhibiton
Tutankhamun's Wardrobe
The exhibition is to be seen in the
Netherlands
July 1st until August 27th 2000
Pieterskerk Leiden
Pieterskerkhof 1a, Leiden
weekdays 13.30 - 17.00 hours
weekends 11.00 - 17.00 hours
T +31 71 512 43 19
The Textiles
Literally hundreds of lengths of cloth
and fragments of
material were found inside the tomb. The textiles were
found scattered around the tomb, tied around the necks of
statuary and in large chests. Somecourier the textiles are
simply narrow rolls of cloth, in other cases they form part
of elaborate, ceremonial robes covered with gold sequins
and embroideries. Apart from the garments worn by
Tutankhamun when he was an adult, there are also
numerous items of clothing which dates from his
childhood. These yield a fascinating insight into the type
of garments worn by a royal child.
The condition of the textiles
The state of the textiles when they were
found was a
problem, and to a certain extent a mystery for the
excavators. A number of cloth objects were so
deteriorated that they could not be removed intact from
where they had been originally left. This problem is vividly
described in a letter sent by one of the excavators, A.C.
Mace, to his wife: "We have some fearful problems in the
tomb. Just now we are working on a box which contains
garments and shoes all covered with beadwork. The cloth
is so rotten you can hardly touch it, and the beads drop off
the shoes if you look at them." Yet in other areas of the
tomb the textiles were in a near pristine condition. It was
concluded by the excavators that the condition of the
textiles was due to two factors. Firstly, damage caused by
the rough handling of the objects by the priests following
the two robberies of the tomb. Secondly, that over the
centuries water had penetrated various areas of the tomb
causing a microclimate to develop. In turn these
microclimates had caused the apparently random
deterioration of the textiles.
Reference: Vogelsang-Eastwood, G.,
1992. Tutankhamun Textiles and Clothing in the Egyptian Museum,
Cairo, Leiden. ISBN 90-5613-028-5
http://www.tutankhamuns-wardrobe.com/
