How to store cloth that is shedding
Two pieces are never hung — they lie flat, in storage and in the exhibition alike.
Silk of a certain period was treated with metal salts to add weight. Over time that treatment destroys the fibre from within: the cloth looks whole but crumbles under its own weight the moment it is hung.
Such pieces are stored flat, between layers of acid-free paper. For the exhibition sloped cases were built — not horizontal, so they can be seen, and not vertical, so they are not loaded.
