Out of the cedar chest

While sorting through contents of a cedar chest recently, my siblings and I discovered a souvenir of France dating from World War II.  I vaguely recalled my mother saying that it was given to our grandmother by one of her sons who served in Europe during the war. Neither my brother nor sister were interested in having it, so I took it with thoughts of having it mounted and framed. My husband's family has ancestral French connections, and a distant cousin and family from France are coming to visit in November 2012. My goal is to have it hanging on the wall by the time they arrive.

Here are photos of it as uncovered. The textile item appears to be made of silk in the center with a delicate cotton lace border. The center piece measures 18” x 18”; the lace is 3-1/2” wide. It has been stored folded, but the fabric does not appear to be compromised. There is no discernible discoloration. The backing is one solid piece of fabric. There is no opening that would indicate it was meant to be a pillowcase. There are ribbon bows on each of the four corners. The colors in the photos are not true. The background silk is a pale peach.

The photo below shows detail of what I have been told appears to be a thin gauge wire wrapped with embroidery floss forming the leaves and flag standards. The stitches on the whole item are so regular in size and tension that I assumed it was machine manufactured.

The pink bows on each corner appear to be rayon. The lace is in remarkable condition; not a snag to be seen.

 The next two photos are of the back of the piece.

I contacted several textile conservators via email with questions about how to go about conserving and mounting the piece. The recommendations included

• don't try to clean it
• use archival mounting materials
• use cotton instead of linen for backing (linen absorbs moisture more than cotton, and it will be displayed in humid New Orleans)

A couple of the conservators indicated they had seen similar items in less than pristine condition. None were able to suggest what its intended purpose might be.

Since we winter in New Orleans, I contacted the National World War II Museum to see what I could find out about the history of the piece and get further suggestions on how to conserve it responsibly.