A project to enhance the University of Glasgow’s extensive collection of records relating to the Scottish textile industry has received a funding boost.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded £91,800 from its Collecting Culture initiative to enable the University’s Archive Services to further develop its textiles collections.

The money will be used as part of the Darning Scotland's Textile Heritage project to add items such as fabric sample books catalogues, industry tools, and clothes made from 19th and 20th century textiles and theatre costumes.

The University's archive currently holds key collections including those from New Lanark Mills, United Turkey Red, the Stoddard-Templeton collection (two of Scotland's most significant and influential carpet designers and manufacturers) and The House of Fraser Archive.

The collections help inform the research and teaching in the College of Arts and the activities of the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History.   As part of the project a broad-reaching plan will enable many more people to learn about and research the Scottish textile industry through training, exhibitions and digital resources.

Collecting Cultures is unique in providing curators with a sum of money to develop their collections proactively rather than having to wait for a painting or object to become available on the market. It was developed as a one-off programme but has proved so popular that it is back for a second time.

Clare Paterson, Senior Archivist at the University of Glasgow and project lead, said: “Darning Scotland’s Textile Heritage focuses on the archival and material heritage of Scotland’s textile industry. The textile collections held by the University of Glasgow provide evidence of Scotland’s rich and diverse textile heritage, from weaving and sewing in the home, to full scale mechanized factory textile production.

“The resources held shed light on the entire lifecycle of textiles; from their design, production and manufacture, through their sale as a raw material, to their use in fashion, furnishings, theatre costume and as industrial textiles.

“The project will identify strategic gaps and opportunities for extending these collections through acquisition."

---

First published: 7 October 2014