The restoration of the Banyan

Robe with floral pattern on ivory ground, fitted around the chest with flaring from the waist. Frontal opening with straight facings with double-breasted overlapping, fastened by two rows of nine buttons, sewn on the ends of long horizontal eyelets. Stand-up collar and cuffed sleeves. The interior presents the front of a waistcoat of the same fabric sewn along the sides of the robe, fastened with nine eyelets and fabric covered buttons. Pink salmon hued lining.

The design of flowered stems is outlined in print (block printing) and coloured by brush.

Selvages with four red stripes.

The model corresponds to the type of dressing gowns and robes with a close-fitting cut and construction, which is believed to have spread at a later date than the easier looser model already documented by the end of the seventeenth century.
Examples of this type of garment preserved in museums seem to reach the mid-eighteenth century at the farthest. The rare banyan model from Palazzo Madama, with a false waistcoat of the same fabric, corresponds exactly to a banyan of German provenance found in the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

The false waistcoat was taken in and made smaller, thereby increasing the lateral overlap on the front, and it was reattached at the sides and on the shoulders.

Throughout its use the banyan was adapted to a person with a smaller frame. The lower end was folded and fixed to the lining. The false waistcoat was taken in and made smaller, thereby increasing the lateral overlap on the front, and it was reattached at the sides and on the shoulders. The sleeves were shortened turning the cuffs inwards, thus hiding the wear along the hems.

To clarify the provenance of the banyan’s fabric, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Turin conducted an XRF analysis (X-ray fluorescence) on the fabric’s ground and colours.

The fabric demonstrated typical characteristics of natural silk fibres, with small amounts of chlorine, calcium, iron and, most unusually, zirconium, probably owing to the usage of the garment and pollution through time. The colours used comprise both inorganic and organic pigments.

Initially, the painted fabric and lining were cleared of dust via suction on the obverse and on the reverse. This was followed by wet cleaning, also useful to rehydrate the yarns.

After a verification of the stability of the painted layers, the fabric was laid flat using appropriate supports and was gradually dampened with distilled water applied with an with a micro-mist sprayer, removed via dabbing.

Once damp, the painted areas of the fabric were consolidated by brush (Acquazol diluted to 5% in distilled water).

The stitched consolidation of textiles was conducted with total supports of crepeline silk and partial reinforcements; the fabric’s frail worn out warp areas were fixed with laid couching stitching.

The elements of the false internal waistcoat were repositioned in the correct position with respect to the cut cut of the garment.

The stitched consolidation of textiles was conducted with total supports of crepeline silk and partial reinforcements; the fabric’s frail worn out warp areas were fixed with laid couching stitching.