• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.30 no.3 s.151
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• pp.447-457
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to document and preserve an unidentified textile purchased at a flea market. This study object is important because it is one of the very rare silk insert series from 1930s which were created for commercial use(as inclusion in cigarette packages). The investigation was conducted by researching the limited publications that discuss silk inserts, visiting many sites on the internet that offer such inserts for sale or catering to the collectors of these silk inserts, and especially visiting the collection of silk inserts, named the J.R. Burdick Collection, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Several pieces matched the patches used in the study piece. But Buidick's description on time frame(1912-1915) did not indicate the full range of production of silk inserts. After the identification of object, the conservation treatment was carefully done using adhesives. The results of this study can be summarized as follows; 1. The silk inserts of the study object were included as promotions by some company owned by the American Tobacco Company, probably at some time between 1934 and 1939. 2. The initial stage in the conservation treatment was mechanical surface cleaning using a vacuum cleaner. After vacuuming, humidification was conducted to reduce creases in the top of the object. The damaged areas were backed with stabiltax coated with a solution of Elvace 45675 since the fiber of this object was too deteriorated. 3. Adhesive treatments using Elvace showed satisfactory results: flexibility, strength, no damaging effects on the study object, removability without damaging the object.