Anchorage Loan Conservation Project

Conservation staff were fortunate to met Fran reed while she was researching gutskin onjects in the NMNH and NMAI collections at the Smithsonian Institution, and subsequently attended one of her workshops on gutskin to better understand the working properties of the material. Reed had published several papers on construction and adornment of gut and fishskin garments. Non-native consultants, such as Fran Reed, provided invaluable insight on both materials and technology. Following Fran's workshop, project conservators conducted a hands-on reconstruction of methods for preparing and drying hog intestines.

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  Fran with gutskin object in the NMAI collections.
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  Fran talks about working properties of intestines.
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  Hog intestines used at the workshop were soaked in water before being manipulated.
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  Air used to inflate the intestines for dying.
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  Inflated tube of hot intestines.
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  Anchorage Conservation Project team working on hog intestines.

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Conservation staff were fortunate to met Fran Reed while she was researching gutskin objects in the NMNH and NMAI collections at the Smithsonian Institution, and subsequently attended one of her workshops on gutskin to better understand the working properties of the material. Reed has published several papers on construction and adornment of gut and fishskin garments. Non-native consultants, such as Fran Reed, provided invaluable insight on both materials and technology. Following Fran's workshop, project conservators conducted a hands on reconstruction of methods for preparing and drying intestines.