Tahitian Mourner's Costume Mounting

We recently installed the Tahitian Mourner's costume into the new Cook-voyage case.  To make the complex mount on which the costume is displayed, we worked with Rachael Lee, Textile Conservation Display Specialist at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Rachael writes:

'In the summer of 2014, I spent time in the conservation lab with Jeremy and the team to start work on a new display mount for the Tahitian Mourner’s costume, as part of the Cook voyage redisplay. The brand-new display case posed an exciting opportunity to re-interpret the Mourner’s costume as a full three-dimensional ensemble that would illustrate the decorative scale and social status of the Chief Mourner during the elaborate mourning ceremony.

Pearshell mask and wooden breastplate

At the Victoria and Albert Museum, I’m more used to working with 18th century bodices and breeches rather than 18th century barkcloth. A large part of my job is to mount historic dress and contemporary fashion for safe museum display. This involves adapting a wide range of mannequins and making bespoke underpinnings, to replicate an accurate silhouette and realistic body shape, close to that of the original wearer. In doing so, items of clothing can be well understood in terms of the cultural context in which they were designed and made, and subsequently worn or used.

Before and after mounting: Dress (robe a l'anglaise), about 1785, Museum no.IM.39-1934. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Mounting is an important final stage in the conservation process. Without it this robe à l’anglaise is at risk of strain and potential damage. After careful mounting and full support the robe is safe for display and the true shape of this late 18th century fashion revealed.

Initial assessment: neither Jeremy nor I were quite tall enough to measure the top of the tropicbird feathers!

Despite the obvious differences between Western fashionable attire and Polynesian ceremonial dress, the same method was applied in order to create a new mount that would maintain the safety of all nine elements of the Mourner’s costume. Below I outline some of the key stages involved in creating the new mount.

Adapted buckram torso with aluminium wire arms

We selected a buckram male torso that was slightly smaller than needed to allow for several layers of polyester wadding to be applied, creating a soft foundation for the initial barkcloth tiputa to rest against. We then added a pair of adjustable arms to the torso that can be raised and widened, creating a human T-shape. The arms further support the barkcloth and hold the sleeves of the feather cloak.

Three of the underpinnings made for the barkcloth tiputa and Pandanus matting apron

As the costume consists of many layers worn one on top of the other, it was necessary to make individual underpinnings that would help to control and define each part of the costume. The underpinnings also restrict contact between textured surfaces, minimizing friction and easing potential creasing.

To provide a firm yet soft support for the pandanus hat and barkcloth bindings, we also modified a buckram head with layers of plastazote® and polyester-wadding.
The head alone could not take further weight from the pearl-shell mask and wooden breastplate, so technicians Chris and Al custom-made a discreet steel bracket with security clips. This fixes at the neck of the torso and holds these heavy and fragile components securely.

Hands were cast from a fibreglass mould and finished with a stretch jersey cover

As intended, once all nine elements of the costume are dressed, no part of the mount is visible. However to help bring balance and symmetry to the large proportions of the costume, we somehow needed to add hands to the articulated arms. The solution? Fosshape! Fosshape is a non-woven, low-melt polyester fibre that can be easily moulded into different shapes with the application of heat. We found it to be a great alternative to standard mounting materials, as its lightweight properties didn’t add unnecessary bulk to the arms.

Installing the costume

The Mourner's costume in its full glory

The costume is now safely installed in the brand-new display case, which fittingly accommodates the imposing breadth and height of the chief Tahitian Mourner. We hope that this new interpretation, as a complete wearable ensemble, is easier to understand and highlights the unique decorative composition of this awe-inspiring costume.

Jeremy and I are really pleased with the outcome and hope that the conservation teams at the PRM and V&A will collaborate on future projects, to further develop costume mounting techniques for ethnographic dress.'

The stop-frame animation below shows us mounting the Mourner's costume for photography, and shows clearly the many complex layers of the costume and the mount created by Rachael.

A Feather Headdress

The feather headdress on the Tahitian Mourner's costume surprised us when we dismantled the Cook-voyage display back in 2009 and took the costume apart for the first time for over 20 years.  We expected the headdress to be a single object, when in reality is was made up of seven bundles of feathers tied around the top of the hat. 

Detail of construction of feather bundles

Each feather is split along the vane from the tip almost to the end. They are then bound, both individually and in groups of two or three, by coconut fibre cord. Four of these small bundles of bound feathers are then attached to a loop of coconut fibre. Four, or sometimes more, of these loops are then threaded on to a thicker cord made from twined barkcloth to form an individual feather bundle. There appears to be some distinction in size of feather used between bundles: feathers of approximately the same size are used in each bundle. The bundles were attached to the headdress with a string made from loosely twined barkcloth.

Feather headdress and mounts before assembly

The feather headdress is the final part of the costume to be mounted.  Chris and Al, the museum technicians working on the display, made a ring from firm, inert Plastazote foam which fits over the top of the hat and rests on the bindings. 

Plastazote ring covered in linen scrim

The ring was covered with scrim, a loosely woven linen fabric, to disguise the ring. Separate wire mounts, covered in a plastic covering to protect the feather bundles, were inserted into the foam around the ring, spaced to hold the bundles in position to give the appearance of a headdress.

The headdress in postion on the costume

A Black Stripe

For the last few weeks, we've been working with Rachael Lee from the Textiles Conservation section at the Victoria and Albert Museum to help us make a mount for the Tahitian Mourner's costume.  The costume will be one of the highlights of the new display of Cook-voyage objects which will open in 2015.  The new display case which will house this exhibition is being installed this week in the Lower Gallery of the Pitt Rivers, and the re-mounted Mourner's costume will use almost the entire 2.7m height of this case. 

A few months ago, I blogged about finding a strip of barkcloth in one of our stores which I was sure was part of the Mourner's costume headdress.  Once in the lab, it was possible to confirm that this was the case - the strip was exactly the right length to fit back on the cape in the expected position.

Barkcloth strip before conservation treatment

Expected position of black strip

The barkcloth was very fragile, and couldn't be handled without damage.  It was necessary to line the strip with very fine Japanese tissue, a strong paper with long fibres, leaving a tab at the top to attach to the white barkcloth under-layer of the cape.  The adhesive used for this was a made from arrowroot and sodium alginate - it is a fairly 'dry' paste but strong enough to support the strip when hanging from the cape.  Small magnets were used to hold the barkcloth in place until the paste was dry.

Small magnets holding the tissue tab at the top of the black barkcloth strip in position

The two parts of the cape have been reunited after 120 years - one thing that is more noticeable now is the extent to which the barkcloth of the cape has faded after being on display almost continously for almost 250 years, compared with the black strip which has been in storage. 

Cape after treatment

A Chance Discovery

The Pitt Rivers Museum was founded in 1884 when General Pitt Rivers, an influential figure in the development of archaeology and evolutionary anthropology, gave his collection to the University.  The ethnographic holdings of the Ashmolean were transferred to the Pitt Rivers in 1886, including the Forster collection.

Sometimes, objects, or fragments of objects, were transferred and the provenance was unknown.  Research into these is ongoing, and that's why I happened to notice a strip of barkcloth, waiting to be investigated, in one of our store rooms.  It carries the blue label which indicates that it came from the Ashmolean, and a note with it said that it has no provenance or number.

Barkcloth strip with blue Ashmolean label

On examining the strip of black-dyed, brittle barkcloth, two things struck me - that it was very similar in appearance to a strip of black barkcloth on the cape of the Tahitian Mourner's costume, largely missing, and that the remains of paste or gum along one long edge of the strip indicate that it was originally pasted onto something else, similar to the way that the differently coloured barkcloth strips are pasted onto the cape.

Remains of paste along the top edge of the strip

Closer investigation of the cape was difficult, as the Mourner's costume is currently on display in 'exploded' form.  However, we managed to take the hat and cape out of the case and examine the damaged black barkcloth stripe - there was no doubt that it was identical to the piece I had found.  Slightly puzzling was the fact that the loose strip was about 10cm too long to have been the missing part of this black stripe.

Expected position of barkcloth strip on Mourner's Costume cape

Looking at the cape, it appears that there is an entire stripe of barkcloth missing, as the pattern of stripes is broken near the top.  Lifting the remaining barkcloth strips, it's possible to see the underlying piece of barkcloth to which they are all pasted.  There, just where I had expected, were residues of a line of paste, with fibres of black barkcloth embedded in them. The length of the missing stripe corresponded  to the length of the barkcloth strip that I'd found in the store.  There is no doubt that the missing strip of barkcloth was the piece I had found, which must have been separated from the costume for over 120 years.

Actual position of barkcloth strip on cape

When the Mourner's costume is taken off of display in preparation for remounting as part of a new Cook-voyage display after the end of this project, I will reattach the strip of black barkcloth and reunite the pieces of the cape.

Plant Identification, and a 'fine and beautiful braid of human hair'

Last week, Caroline Cartwright from the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research at the British Museum came to visit us at the Pitt Rivers.  Caroline is an expert in the identification of plant fibres, and she will be carrying out some ID work for the Conserving 'Curiosities' project.  

In a previous blog post I mentioned that the investigation of the materials from which objects are made can give us information about where they come from - even though the Forster collection in particular is relatively well documented, there is still confusion about this.  Even when we know for sure where an object comes from, like this unique barkcloth from Easter Island (Rapa Nui), some of the materials still remain unidentified.  

1886.1.1250 Barkcloth, Easter Island

The barkcloth has decorative bands of plant material sewn across each end - said to be a rush that grows in the bottom of the extinct volcano (Rano Kau) on Easter Island.  A cord made from plant fibre was used to sew the layers of barkcloth together at intervals - almost like quilting.  

1886.1.1250 Detail of stitching and fibre

  

Other material that Caroline will look at includes plant fragments found in this headdress.  

1886.1.1685 Tamau Headdress, Tahiti

This is Forster No. 40, 'The Tamow, or headdress of plaited hair.'  Considered to be a 'lost' Forster object, it was found under the bindings of the Tahitian Mourner's costume.  

The tamau as found on the headdress of the Mourner's costume

The tamau was made of many metres of plaited human hair, made to form a continuous length.  It was worn by women as they danced, and the centre was filled with flowers.  

A young woman of Otaheite Dancing, after John Webber

George Forster, in 'A Voyage Round the World', saw a dance performance in the Society Islands in September 1773. He talks about the dress of the dancers, which included 'Poyadua (Poedua), the fair daughter of the chief Orea'…

'The neck, shoulders and arms were left uncovered, but the head was ornamented with a kind of turban, about eight inches high, made of several skains of plaited human hair, which they call tamow.  These being laid above each other in circles, which enlarged towards the top, there was a deep hollow left in the middle, which they had filled up with a great quantity of the sweet-scented flowers of the (gardenia) cape jasmine.  But all the front of the turban was ornamented with three or four rows of a small white flower, which formed little stars, and had as elegant an effect on the jetty black hair as if it had been set with pearls.'

William Ellis also described a group of dancers on Tahiti in 'Polynesian Researches', published in 1831.

'The daughters of the chiefs, who were the dancers on these occasions, at times amounted to five or six, though occasionally only one exhibited her symmetry of figure, and gracefulness of action.  Their dress was singular, but elegant.  The head was ornamented with tamau, a fine and beautiful braid of human hair, wound around the head in the form of a turban. *  A triple wreath of scarlet, white and yellow flowers, composed of the aute, the fragrant gardenia, or Cape jessamine, and the baslaria laurifolia, tastefully interwoven, adorned the curious head-dress.

* Mr Barff, to whom I am indebted for the principal part of this account, procured a head-dress of this kind, containing one hundred fathoms of the finest braided human hair.'  

One hundred fathoms is about 180m.  It is likely that the tamau in the Pitt Rivers collection contains closer to 1000m of hair.  

Fragments of plant material were taken from this and several other objects, and we hope that with Caroline's help some of the questions that people have been asking about the Cook-voyage collections for several hundred years might finally be answered. 

Object Labels

Many of the objects in the Cook-voyage collections at the Pitt Rivers have several labels on them.  Some are large, and visually intrusive, but they contain important information about the objects and their histories since they were collected.  The image below is of the labels which have been applied to one of the barkcloth 'ponchos' belonging to the Tahitian Mourner's costume.

Forster Number - No 9.  Written in the same hand as the 'Catalogue of Curiosities', almost certain to be that of George Forster, these numbers allow us to match objects to the entries in the catalogue.  The entry for the three ponchos reads;

9.Brown        Belonging to the Mourning dress, and put on one over the other, beginning
                     with the white, the red next and the brown overall.
10. Red
11.White

The large handwritten label was attached when the collection was still at the Ashmolean Museum, before the ethnographic collections were transferred to the newly-opened Pitt Rivers Museum in 1886. The information on it was complied by Philip Bury Duncan, Keeper of the Ashmolean, Edward Evans, Assistant Keeper, and Museum Assistant George Augustus Rowell.  The Catalogue was lost at this point, not to be 'rediscovered' until 1969, so the information about the costume must have come from other sources, although clearly the correlation between the handwritten number labels and Cook's collection had been made.   Interesting from the conservation point of view is the fact that 'the costume was undressed at the Ashmolean by Dr. Tylor, and Professor Mosely' in 1883 'for the purposes of drying the cloth and attending to the feather cloak, the latter being in very poor condition.'

Labels can tell us more than the written information they contain.  The handwriting, the types of paper they are written on and even where on an object they are applied can tell us more about the biography of an object.

Photographing Objects

One of the main outcomes of this project to investigate the Cook-Voyage collections at the Pitt Rivers is a new website, to replace the existing Forster Collection and Pacific Pathways sites.  High quality images will be taken by the Pitt Rivers' photographer, and I will supplement these with digital microscope images of materials.  Taking photographs through the microscope is relatively simple with the right adaptors for the camera.  We're using a Canon Eos 60D, which allows us to connect it to the computer using the Canon Liveview software, and to take pictures remotely, which minimises vibration.

A microscope with camera attached

A single image of a microscope slide or a sample from an object may not capture all the detail we need - the focal depth is sometimes too great for a single image and parts of the field of view may be out of focus.

A single image of a feather from the Tahitian Mourner's costume, x40.  Parts of the image are out of focus

Using Helicon Focus software, we can take a series of images of a sample, adjusting the focus of the microscope slightly each time.  The software then merges the images together, creating a final image which is in focus through the whole depth of field, with no blurry areas.

10 images of the feather were taken as the microscope focus was slightly changed.  The images were stacked together using the software to create this final image.

Hunting for Crystals

A significant part of the project to investigate the Cook-Voyage collections at the Pitt Rivers is to attempt to identify some of the materials used to produce the objects.  Over the years, there have been many informed guesses about what materials are present, but no physical identification has been carried out on the majority of the collections.  Once materials have been identified, it is possible that they may have some characteristic that could help identify similar material in future.  One of these is the presence of crystals in plant cells.  These crystals, or phytoliths, are found in many plant species, and their presence could be one of the features that allows for a positive identification of a sample.  Phytoliths are commonly made from calcium oxalate, but other crystals have been found that contain silica.

This week I took samples of plant material from two objects to Dr. Debra Carr at Cranfield University.  Deb has worked extensively on methods for characterising plant fibres, particularly those used by the Maori (see for example her article 'Approaches for Conservators to the Identification of Plant Material used in Maori Artefacts'  in Studies in Conservation Vol.53 (2008) http://www.iiconservation.org/node/1180).  The samples I took to her were from Tahitian objects.  One was a piece of aerial root from a type of palm (Freycinetia sp.) that was used to stabilise the structure of the cloak from the Mourner's costume (1886.1.1637 .4).  The other was a piece of hibiscus (Thespesia populnea) fibre from a woven mat (1945.11.130).  Both samples had already been identified, and Deb was interested to see if they contained phytoliths.

The samples were first examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD).  This technique allows for the identification of materials with a regular crystalline structure by focusing a beam of X-rays onto them.  The X-rays are diffracted by the crystals and the diffraction patterns detected and analysed - these are characteristic for different crystals.  The small size and dispersed nature of many of the phytoliths in plant material means that it's hard to detect them using this technique, although it was possible to say that there were crystals in the samples.

The sample of Freycinetia in the XRD machine

Next, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to examine the samples.  Again, the sample is bombarded with X-rays.  The elements within the sample release energy when they are excited by the X-rays, and the amount of energy released is characteristic of each element.  The XRF machine at Cranfield can build up an image of the sample, mapping out where the different elements of interest, such as calcium in this case, are located within the physical structure.  Again, there was some evidence, particularly in the sample of Freycinetia, that calcium was present just under the epidermis of the aerial root, where the presence of crystals might be expected.

 

Dr. David Lane carrying out XRF analysis

A map of the elemental composition of the hibiscus fibres obtained from the XRF

Finally, we looked at the samples under the electron microscope to see if we could visualise phytoliths within the plant structure.  The microscope uses a beam of electrons to illuminate the sample and to provide the image, and has a much greater resolution that a light microscope.  Although I was surprised at how much of the physical plant structure remained after nearly 250 years, we did not conclusively find crystals in either sample. 

Looking at the hibiscus sample under the SEM

It's possible that with more time we could find phytoliths within the plant material, and this would help us carry out identification in the future.  It's also possible, particularly in the case of the hibiscus mat fibre, that the way the fibre was processed before being woven, by being soaked in seawater for several days, could have removed any evidence of phytoliths.

The Tahitian Mourner's Costume Display

Earlier this week, the Tahitian Mourner's costume went back on display in the Museum.  In this post, Chris Wilkinson and Alan Cooke, Display Technicians, explain the process of designing a case.

1:10 scale model of the display

'The objective of the display was to give an ‘exploded’ view of the mourner’s costume. Restrictions, due to the case size, primarily its height, lead us to create a 1:10 scale maquette to fully understand how the objects would be positioned in the case. We then built a full size mock-up of the case. 

The mock-up of the case

To complete a final layout we first produced the mounts for each object and then arranged them within the mock-up case to determine their final positions. Individual temporary bases allowed us to do this. In the final case two permanent plinths took the place of these. The barkcloth mount is on a buckram torso and gave a central ‘body’ to the display around which the other artefacts were arranged.

The mounts were made using zf mdf (which does not contain formaldehyde) covered with an inert foam or calico covering to protect the artefacts and provide grip. These were then mounted upon poles as fixing to the sides or the back of the case would have meant too much visible structure due to the size and weight of the artefacts. The poles were colour matched to the case to minimize their visual interference. 

Chris (right) and Al install part of the costume

Particular difficulties were the fragile nature of most of the artefacts, for instance the feathered cloak required full support and this was achieved by stitching to a padded calico covered panel. Also the breastplates and masks needed multiple wire fittings to support individual components of the whole artefact.

As the display had been created off site transferring the mock-up into the case in the museum was a relatively simple task.

The final display

The Friends of the Pitt Rivers go behind the scenes...

On the 18th January we hosted two groups of Friends of the Pitt Rivers in the Conservation Lab so that I could talk to them about my work on the Tahitian Mourner's costume.  Juliette Gammon, the editor of the Friends Newsletter, writes:

'Friends of the PRM went ‘Behind the Scenes’ of the Conservation Lab for a very special and privileged insight into Jeremy’s work on the Tahitian Mourner’s costume. Multi-layered and dyed barkcloth ponchos topped with an extraordinary cloak of bundled Tahitian pigeon feathers led one Friend to exclaim: “It must have been awfully hot to wear.”

We were fascinated by a ‘lost’ Forster collection object, a tamau or headdress made from a mile long rope of plaited human hair which was hidden under the feathered headdress, and learnt the spiritual significance of the plate-sized oyster shell breastplate and mask, the latter spiked with tropic bird feathers.

Among the many anecdotes from Cook’s two Tahitian voyages we heard how Joseph Banks, naturalist on the first voyage, entered into the spirit of things by donning a loincloth and blackening his body with charcoal. But, on that first trip, Cook came away empty-handed. On the second he was wiser, and stopped off in Tonga to gather objects containing red feathers - much prized for their symbolism in Tahiti. These were successfully traded for around ten mourner’s costumes.

Jeremy - many, many thanks from all of us for our own voyage of discovery. You can read more in the May issue of the Friends’ Newsletter.'

If you're interested in joing the Friends of the Pitt Rivers (FPRM) details can be found here:

http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/friends.html

The Catalogue of Curiosities

 

The cover of the 'Catalogue of Curiosities'

The Cook-Voyage collections at the Pitt Rivers are from the first and second voyages.  The second voyage collection is the largest, and was donated by Reinhold and George Forster, father and son, who were the naturalists on board the Resolution.  The collection was given to Oxford in January 1776, and was accompanied by a document, the ‘Catalogue of Curiosities sent to Oxford’, which has been identified as being in George Forster’s hand. 

 

 

The catalogue divides the collection geographically, starting with Otaheitee (Tahiti) and the Mourner's costume.

The object numbers in the Catalogue correspond to labels attached to objects from the collection, although these have been lost in many cases. This is the Forster number on the Mourner's costume cloak, and the corresponding entry reads 'The feathered Coat, or Ahow-roope, consisting of strings in form of a Net, covered with bunches of feathers, and worn on the back.'

This documentary evidence is of vital importance in studying Cook-Voyage material.  Adrienne Kaeppler, a leading specialist in Oceanic ethnology, described the Catalogue and the Forster collection at the Pitt Rivers Museum as ‘the key to understanding all collections from the second voyage.’  

(Adrienne L. Kaeppler, ‘The Göttingen Collection in an International Context / Die Göttinger Sammlung im internationalen Kontext’, in Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin and Gundolf Kr&euuml;ger (eds.), James Cook: Gifts and Treasures from the South Seas—The Cook/Forster Collection, Göttingen / James Cook: Gaben und Schätze aus der Sudsee—Die Göttinger Sammlung Cook/Forster (Munich, 1998), p. 87)

You can read more about the Catalogue of Curiosities and see a digital version of the original manuscript here:

http://projects.prm.ox.ac.uk/forster/curiosities.html

Barkcloth

Barkcloth is used extensively in the construction of the Tahitian Mourner’s costume.  It is a fexible, cloth-like material made from the inner bark of several types of tree.  Tapa has become a generic name for barkcloth, although on Tahiti it was known as ahu.

Beater marks on barkcloth

The bark of the paper mulberry or the breadfruit tree was collected, then soaked in water for several days until the outer bark could be removed.  The inner bark was wrapped in leaves and left to ferment for a few days, before it was beaten into barkcloth.  Barkcloth beaters were generally square in section, and each side had grooves carved in it of various thicknesses.  Beating started with the coarsest side, and the side with the finest grooves was used to give a fine finish to the cloth.  Beater marks are often visible in the surface of barkcloth.  Thicker cloth was made by ‘felting’ thinner layers together.

Cape from Mourner's costume (1886.1.1637 .6)

Much of the barkcloth used in the Mourner’s costume is coloured, and was either dyed or painted.  The dyes are usually plant based, and red, yellow, brown and black were all commonly produced. 

At the Pitt Rivers, we have two Mourner’s costume headdresses.  Both have barkcloth capes.  The cape of the headdress currently associated with the rest of the costume has stripes of red, yellow and black barkcloth, while the other headdress is striped with brown barkcloth, and a decorated barkcloth which has resin applied on the surface in a pattern of dots.

Detail of barkcloth from second headdress, 1886.1.1637 .9

Barkcloth strips and core of plaited hair

Very large pieces of barkcloth are used to make the ‘ponchos’ which make up the bottom layers of the costume, but barkcloth is also used in other ways, for example twisted to form a cord for tying up the bindings used for the headdress. Barkcloth is also used in the bindings of the headdress as narrow strips wound around a core of finely plaited human hair.

The Cook-Voyage collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum

I’m Jeremy Uden, a conservator at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, and for the next two years I’ll be blogging here about my investigations into the museum’s Cook-Voyage collections.  

This two-year fellowship has been funded by the Clothworkers’ Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the Clothworkers’ Company (http://www.clothworkers.co.uk/)
 

Although the project began on the 3^rd January, I’ve been conserving the Tahitian Mourner’s costume (1886.1.1637), collected on Cook’s second voyage in 1774, for over a year now. The costume will be displayed later in January in a temporary exhibition.  Each part will be mounted separately, so that all the components can be seen clearly, including the amazing feather cape.

The costume as displayed in 2010

Today I have been working on the bindings that wind around the headdress of the costume.  These are made from a core of finely plaited human hair, wound with barkcloth strips.  More plaited hair is wrapped around the barkcloth.  There is a section made up of three cords, which is over 12m long, and two much shorter pieces.

In this photo you can see the bindings, as they appeared when we took the costume apart in 2010.  The hair had become very brittle and was in poor condition. 

The bindings after conservation

I spent over 100 hours securing the hair to the barkcloth using very small amounts of adhesive.  This has made the bindings far easier to handle, and earlier today we were able to coil them up to form a turban, using the smaller length of cord as a tie at the front.  The Pitt Rivers has a second headdress from a Mourner’s costume, (1886.1.1637 .9) and the bindings on that one are tied in the same way.  The coils of the turban were tied together with silk thread, which allows us to lift it on and off of the headdress – necessary because the turban will be displayed separately in the current exhibition.