Moccasins

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CCI Newsletter, No. 25, May 2000

Moccasins

by Janet Mason, Conservator, Treatment and Development Division (Objects)

Seven pairs of moccasins from the McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal were recently treated in CCI's Objects Lab by Ulla Zenz, a recent conservation graduate from Austria. She was in the middle of a year-long professional development internship and eager to investigate and treat North American Aboriginal footwear. Anne MacKay, the Chief Conservator at the McCord, personally selected and delivered the moccasins. (Many thanks to Anne!)

Among the beautifully embroidered, beaded, or quilled moccasins was a flattened pair of sealskin Inuit overshoes. Their beauty came not from the applied decoration but from the method of construction. The shoe was made from two pieces of skin. One piece formed the sole, which was tightly crimped over the toes and stitched to a narrow V-shaped vamp. On the underside of the shoes, an additional layer of sealskin was stitched to the toe and heel areas. On top of these 'clump' soles, strips of skin were sewn in a V-shape at the heel and in a meandering line at the toe. The clump soles provided extra insulation and the strips of skin provided traction on hard-packed snow.

The overshoes were flat, stiff, and somewhat brittle. A fine, white crystalline material was scattered over much of the exposed surfaces. Thinking that the deposit might be a toxic material applied decades ago to prevent insect attack, Ulla went to Jane Sirois of CCI's Analytical Research Lab with a request to analyse the unknown material. Jane determined that the white deposit was not toxic, but was puzzled why magnesium hydrogen phosphate hydrate should be on the overshoes. After discussions with Anne, Ulla removed as much of the deposit as was possible using a barely damp cotton swab.

In order to be reshaped, the overshoes were exposed to humid air (skin absorbs moisture and becomes more flexible). However, the moist but gentle humidification of the overshoes did little to allow reshaping. Therefore, a different mode of delivering humid air (which had worked on other tough skins in the Objects Lab) was used. The overshoes were wrapped in several layers of a polyester non-woven fabric, slightly dampened cloths were applied on top, and the overshoes were placed in plastic bags. Gradually the shoes could be opened and shaped to resemble their original form.

Ulla designed and made a storage box that would fit into the shelving space used at the museum. A window in this box provides easy identification, and the contoured cushioning in the base helps support the multi-layered soles.

One bit of advice that Ulla passed on to the museum was "Don't tie the laces. The overshoes are attractive enough without a bow!"