Asian Textile Database

Introduction

The Asian Textile Database began in 2005 as a digital (FileMaker Pro) inventory of textiles used for mounting screens and scrolls at the National Museum of Asian Art, Freer and Sackler galleries, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Until then, small, numbered reference samples, placed in overstuffed binders, comprised the only inventory. The nearly one thousand mounting fabrics, acquired by the museum’s East Asian Painting Conservation Studio (EAPCS) over the past 95 years, were organized by fabric type and color for ease of access when selecting fabrics to remount paintings or calligraphies. The Studio was also increasing its stock of old textiles and commissioning new bolts of fabrics, reproducing antique textiles from historic scroll mountings in the museum’s collections. With the growing number and variety of textiles, a more manageable, digital solution was necessary.

As the database first developed, it became clear that the basic inventory data of color, pattern and fabric type - with images - would need to be expanded. Research projects and requests to survey textiles in the museum’s collections also were increasing. Visiting researchers explained the problems of access to many collections and the need to travel to numerous locations to try to piece together the histories and relationships of countless Asian textiles scattered across continents. Comparative analysis was siloed because there was no generally available repository of data. With the advice of textile scholars from Asia, Europe and the US, the database was expanded to include fundamental technical data – pattern type, weave structure, thread count and twist, measurements, etc. High-resolution photos, necessary to identify and compare characteristics of individual textiles, where also included. The goal became an open access database that would expand over time and help facilitate the study of Asian textiles. The terminology used and extent of information gathered is a compromise of ideas and resources.

The next step was to take the database online. It made sense to partner with MFA, Boston because of CAMEO. The MFA Asian Conservation section is also making a digital inventory of their mounting fabrics to include in the database.

This Mediawiki database originally contained approximately 400 textile entries. Editors were selected to help maintain the textile records, updating information for existing textiles and adding new textiles with relevant information. Gradually, institutions with Asian textile collections are invited to become partners with the database, providing new information for the editors to add and links to textiles in online collections. Articles, new information and comments are welcome from all users and will be added selectively to the Database, Bibliography or Lexicon in accordance with the fundamental informational framework. Scientific research concerning textiles, especially thread and dye analysis, will be added as they come to the attention of the editors. Links to related research publications are welcome and will be added in the Bibliography section.

Please see this Lexicon for more information on the terminology used in the database as well as their relationship to Japanese and Chinese terms.

Entries Divided by categories