Forensic investigation of microtraces on an item of Dutch eighteenth century clothing in the Rijksmuseum collection

Abstract Most garments in museum collections have belonged to people of high societal status. Clothing of the common people, however, has rarely been preserved. Because of this, the conservation of such rare items is of special importance. The current study focuses on such an object from the Rijksmuseum collection; a pair of eighteenth century breeches that were retrieved from an anonymous grave on Spitsbergen. As these breeches contain several unidentified materials, it is unclear how best to conduct the conservation of the object. The identification of trace material plays a key role within... Mehr ...