Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2023.11
Old and new terminology describing fabrics of the women's traditional dress of Split
Vana Ribarović
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explain the terminology found in museum records and used when describing base fabrics used for various items of the women's traditional dress of Split, and to try to find more adequate technical terms to supplement the records. The terminology is primarily based on the local language of the area and period, as well as the standard language used at that time. A standard practice before conservation and restoration is to review museum records for information on the items in question. This was also the case with the following three items: two short jackets and one bow, from the Collection of Adriatic Costumes of the women's folk costumes of Split. Use of vague terminology in describing the base fabrics used to make the items was observed in the records. The terms that were used were quite confusing, since they consist mainly of loanwords that are no longer in use, and technical terms, which, after a detailed visual inspection of the subject, were found to have been used in an inadequate way. First, technical terms that were more adequate were added to the questionable terminology used to describe the fabrics for the three above-mentioned items, while building on the technical terminology prescribed by the international organization Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens (C.I.E.T.A.), and on relevant Croatian technical literature and dictionaries of the Croatian language. Then it was decided to check whether the problem with terminology was also present in the records of other items in the same collection. The research sample consisted of records for 36 items. The use of the same or similar terminology was confirmed in all of them, and all terms that were used were catalogued. The sample was then narrowed down to include only the base fabrics of 15 items, which were examined more carefully and compared with the terminology that was used, and for which, in reference to technical dictionaries and literature, appropriate technical terms were determined. Finally, it was concluded that the value of the terminology that was originally used is indisputable, due to its ethnological context, but that it was necessary to supplement it with appropriate technical terms in order to facilitate the understanding not only of the records, but also of the items themselves, and to optimize the searching and categorizing of items within the museum's databases, used by many museums to manage their records.
Keywords
museum records; localisms; Standard Croatian language; fabric nomenclature; women's traditional costume of Split; atlas; damask; velvet; plain velvet; patterned velvet
Hrčak ID:
312370
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2023.
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