Chinese binding shoe from Cyfarthfa Castle
01
Before treatment
There is no information about the history of the Chinese binding shoe. There are signs that it was used before and the condition of the shoe is poor. The threads for the embroidery have detached from the fabric and, the silk is fragile and missing fabrics at mutiple areas of the shoe.
02
Analysing the material
X-ray scan shows that the embroidery was decorated using metal threads. I also used the Keyence VHX-970F microscope to look at the detail of the metal threads. The core of the thread is silk with metal wrapped around it.
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03
Analysing the colour of the shoe
By looking at the shoe through the Keyence VHX-970F microscope, the colour of the shoe was probably red-pink in colour but has been light damaged and faded to a cream colour as there is evidence of red dyed silk on the shoe remaining.
04
Treatment in progress
The shoe has now been cleaned using soft brushes and a conservation vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attached to the top and a protective screen over the vacuum cleaner hose. The treatment of the shoe is still in progress, it has been challenging due to the very small size of the shoe and very fragile.
