‘Magic’ exhibition, Bristol Museums and Art Gallery

Bristol Museums and Art Gallery’s 2019/20 major winter exhibition, entitled ‘Do You Believe in Magic?’ explored the objects and stories that ‘reveal how magic has been used to heal, hunt and harm across the world’.  The studio conserved and mounted several textiles for the exhibition including a Maori feather cloak, Chinese hat, Victorian straw veil, Nigerian robe and various embroidered garments from Pakistan. The most complex object to prepare for display was a horse bridle from India made of leather, cream cotton and red wool fabrics and cotton pom-poms.  The bridle was cleaned using low vacuum suction and microfibre cloths, and the holes in the red wool from insect damage were stabilised and infilled using studio dyed colour matched fabric.  A mock-up of the bridle was created as a guide for mount maker Stephen Umpleby of Artefacts Conservation Services to create a life-size horse head in inert foam for display.