The Treatment of Historic Carpets
Functional objects for daily use or fine art to be preserved and admired?

John Maclean

IMAGINE: a historic house, open to the public, with an assortment of carpets on the floor. There will be a mix of hand-woven and machine-made; the eastern and the western; the recently purchased and those with an intrinsic value which is integral to the character of the property. Some carpets will be physically protected while others will be in areas of heavy public use; some will be deemed 'art' and others may be considered 'tat'. Far reaching decisions based on sound conservation principles have to be made concerning the preservation of them all: each requires its own preservation equation.

Nearly all carpets start out as utilitarian objects, no matter how beautiful or well made. Their primary function is therefore that of floor covering, while their secondary function is decorative. The consequent presumption that most carpets are to be freely, if carefully, used to the point of their ultimate destruction has a significant effect upon how they are cared for. Their maintenance tends to be remedial rather than preventative and focuses on 'keeping things going', rather than specifically addressing their preservation needs as artefacts of historic, aesthetic or cultural interest. Similarly, there are no clear-cut criteria for distinguishing those carpets that have aesthetic or artefactual value from those that are purely functional. indeed, carpets that start out as functional objects can often assume artefactual value: their value thus changing through time.

In historic houses there is an increasing number of carpets whose primary value is now as artefacts rather than as functional objects. If these are to survive for posterity, we must firmly grasp the nettle and give clear priority to their conservation. Likewise, where carpets are clearly of utilitarian value alone, we should be able to defend their use and accept a more flexible approach to their repair and maintenance. Bearing in mind that continual use will ultimately lead to a carpet's destruction, deciding their fate can be an onerous responsibility. The issues are rarely black and white: every decision is a compromise between competing requirements, and are often limited by the resources available.

To be able to make informed judgements about the treatment of individual carpets, we need to know the right questions to ask, and to ask them consistently. The following criteria provide a starting point in this process. It is not perhaps the specific decisions that are reached regarding a particular carpet, but rather the programme of thought and the quality of judgement that are of paramount importance. When we can look at any given carpet in our care, and articulate and defend our preservation policy towards that carpet, then we will be a little further along the right track.