The textile collections held within Scotland’s museums and archives are wide and varied like tissu ameublement fauteuil. These online resources aim to place these collections into a historical context and demonstrate how the collections within the Scottish Textile Heritage Online database can be used and interpreted by everyone from school children to academics.
This groundbreaking pilot project aims to provide a one-stop shop for anyone wanting information about the richness and diversity of Scottish Textile heritage collections. Users will be able to browse through a database of some 4,000 descriptions of archive and museum collections and objects with supporting images.
Led by Heriot-Watt University and funded by a Scottish Museums Council Strategic Change Award, the project is surveying and documenting important collections of material relating to Scottish textile heritage within the 6 partner museums and archives as well as providing links to significant collections held elsewhere in Scotland and the UK.
If you would like to be kept informed of updates to this web site, then why not join our mailing list by emailing info@scottishtextiles.org.uk
The Scottish textile industry has a rich legacy that is preserved within numerous museums and archives within and beyond Scotland. These collections comprise textile machinery, tweeds and tartans, haute couture garments, knitwear, paisley shawls, furnishing fabrics and pattern and sample books, designers’ records and other business archives of their manufacturers. Many of these collections are relatively unknown yet can provide a wealth of information for historians, textile designers and other researchers.
The project aims to provide a one-stop shop for information relating to Scotland’s textile treasures. The project team are surveying and catalogue textile collections within the 6 partner institutions and other museums and archives within Scotland. The end result will be a searchable database and image gallery for the first time giving a holistic view of Scotland’s textile heritage held within Scottish museums and archives and pointing to significant collections held elsewhere. This will be enhanced with online essays and articles that demonstrate how the collections can be used and interpreted.
Further to this, the project will also devise methodologies for the appraisal and documentation of textile collections and develop a framework collecting policy for a distributed national textile collection.
The project is led by Heriot-Watt University Archive, Records Management & Museum Service and is funded by a Scottish Museums Council Strategic Change Award and runs from May 2003 until May 2004. A team of archivists and museum professionals staff the project. They include a Project Co-ordinator based at the Glasgow School of Art and Documentation Officers based at Paisley Museum and Art Galleries and Heriot-Watt’s Scottish Borders Campus in Galashiels. The project also draws upon the expertise of textile historians, designers and other users.
The University Archive Services holds an extensive collection (approx 221 linear metres) of records relating to the textile industry both in Dundee and India. The collection of records relating to the jute industry is the largest in Europe, possibly the world. Records of the local textile industry, including textile engineering, relate to linen and jute firms, and Dundee’s links with India and Pakistan/Bangladesh, c1800-c1978. The development of jute spinning and weaving in India, from 1855, and the Indian industry’s relations with the industry in Dundee is an important aspect of the collections. The records chart the rise and decline of the textile industry and its impact on the city of Dundee. Collections include:
The Museum collections include:
A collection of 300 images of textile objects and archives will be made available on this part of the web site representing some of the “treasures” held in the partner institutions. Some sample images are shown below.
If you have a query concerning this project or would like to join our mailing list to receive site and project updates, please email us at info@scottishtextiles.org.uk
We would appreciate your comments and feedback on this site. We have tried to make it as inclusive and easy to use as possible but if you have any suggestions please let us know by emailing your query to info@scottishtextiles.org.uk
If you have a query about a specific collection or item, then please contact the holding institution at the relevant address below:
Dundee University Archive, Records Management and Museum Services
Patricia Whatley
University Archivist
Matthew Jarron
Curator
Dundee University Archives
Tower Building
Dundee DD1 4HN
Scotland
U.K.
Tel: 00 44 (0)1382 344095
Fax: 00 44 (0)1382 345523
Email: archives@dundee.ac.uk
Web: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/Archives
Glasgow School of Art
Sarah Hepworth
Archivist
Glasgow School of Art
167 Renfrew Street
Glasgow G3 6RQ
Scotland
U.K.
Tel: 00 44 (0)141 353 4592
Fax: 00 44 (0)141 353 4746
Email:
Web: http://www.gsa.ac.uk/library/archives/index.html
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Heriot-Watt University
Ann Jones
University Archivist
Archive, Records Management & Museums Service
Corporate Affairs and Management Services
Heriot-Watt University
Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
Scotland
U.K.
Tel: 00 44 (0)131 451 3218/9
Fax: 00 44 (0)131 451 3164
Email: A.E.Jones@hw.ac.uk
Web: http://www.hw.ac.uk/archive
Glasgow University Archive
Services
Duty Archivist
Glasgow University Archive Services
13 Thurso Street
Glasgow G11 6PE
Scotland
UK
Tel: 00 44 (0)141 330 5515
Fax: 00 44 (0)141 330 4158
Email: dutyarch@archives.gla.ac.uk
Web: http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk
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Paisley Museum & Art Galleries
Valerie Reilly
Paisley Museum & Art Galleries
High Street
Paisley PA1 2BA
Scotland
UK
Tel: 00 44 (0) 141 889 3151
Email: Valerie.reilly@renfrewshire.gov.uk
Web: http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk Scottish Borders Council Museum Service
Shona Sinclair
Scottish Borders Council Museum Service
Municipal Buildings
High Street
Selkirk TD7 4JX
Scotland UK
Tel: 00 44 (0)1750 720096
Fax: 00 44 (0)1750 378506
Email: SSinclair@scotborders.gov.uk
Web: http://www.scottishborders.gov.uk
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