This blog concludes our four-part series on the Solon A Perkins flag, cared for by the Greater Lowell Veteran's Council, here in Massachusetts. It took nearly 18 months for the Vets to administer this complicated project, including hiring Museum Textile Services to conserve the flag and MasterWorks Conservation to conserve the frame. The flag will be rededicated on May 31, 2015, in a public ceremony at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
A solid-support panel was manufactured by Small Corp. Inc. to fit perfectly into the flag's inner frame. We covered the panel with padding and fabric before laying out the red and white polyester organza underlays. Camille then placed the striped section of the flag on top of this ghost image and hand stitched them both to the fabric-covered panel. Next, she transferred the canton, already stitched to its blue organza underlay, onto the panel and stitched it into place. The final step prior to framing was to tediously straighten all of the shattered silk and slowly cover the entire flag with silk Crepeline. Camille hand stitched around the perimeter of flag and beneath each white stripe to hold the tattered flag in place and to prevent any fragments from slipping down. This sheer overlay is invisible from even a short distance and provides a extra barrier between the flag and the acrylic above. The pressure mount was created by placing a sheet of UV-filtering acrylic over the mounted flag and screwing it down into the top of the panel. Because the rabbet of the green inner frame does not fully cover these mounting screws, we used an archival linen-covered mat between the underside of the frame and the top of the acrylic to mask the holes. Although the reinstalled flag looks as if it is a single framing system, this is an illusion; the flag panel, followed by the frames, were installed separately into the marble wall of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium and won't be going anywhere for a long time. Museum Textile Services would like to thank the members of the Greater Lowell Veteran's Council, especially John Mitchell, Bob Casper, and Thayer Eastman; Grant Welker, staff reporter from the Lowell Sun; and Larry Glickman of Traveling Framers. To contribute to the ongoing fundraising efforts for this project, please visit the Lt. Perkins Flag Restoration GoFundMe page.
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