Textiles in the collections of Spanish museums, a long history of valuation and conservation

Abstract

Textiles have been associated with the human being since ancient times, as objects of consumption, were repaired, modified and even abandoned. At a certain moment, the interest in their collecting emerge and the first museums were created to preserve them. However, this did not make its value change and for many years, they continued to be treated as objects of consumption, with a rather inappropriate treatment and a total lack of documentation. Thankfully, that perception of textiles has changed and now they are now claimed as evidence of a way of being, living and doing. Therefore, the conservation treatments carried out on them, are based on the current conservation criteria which are applied to any cultural materia, where maximum respect for the original prevails, with treatments supported by scientific-technical studies, preserving not only the material but also the history behind them.