National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies' (NUWSS) Banner

Description

The banner comprises a rectangle of red cotton with applied green panels and white painted inscription on the obverse; red wool tapes; originally secured to procession poles with two corner loops.

Client brief/Role of object

Make safe for long term display on a horizontal pole within a glazed wall cabinet.

Condition before treatment

Good to fair condition overall; some loose and ingrained soils; creased. Main areas of weakness along raw edges and loosely stitched seams of green cotton; some holes in green and red cotton. Painted surface delicate but stable.

Treatment

Mechanical action removed soils from non-painted areas. Humidification reduced creases. Stitched support to custom-dyed patch secured areas of loss and loose threads. Cut edges were secured with conservation stitches. An extended cotton pole sleeve provided an evenly tensioned hanging mechanism.

Condition after treatment

Successful relaxing of creasing improved the banner’s appearance. Banner is sufficiently stable to be hung from pole in glazed display case.

Further information

The banner is now in the collection at the London School of Economics, Women’s Library@LSE. Click the link below for more information.

https://www.vads.ac.uk/digital/collection/FSB

Acknowledgements

Reproduced courtesy of the Women’s Library@LSE, London School of Economics.
Kate Gill Textile and Upholstery Conservation Services © 2012.

Work undertaken by Kate Gill, treatment completed June 2012

Digital Drama's short film about the history of suffrage banners to mark the 100 year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act and the year that some women in the UK first got the vote. Expert Elizabeth Crawford examines how these beautiful banners were used in the campaign to gain the vote.

This short film, 'Silk, Satin and Suffrage,' was produced by Digital Drama (www.digitaldrama.org) and was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the 100 Banners project.