Student restores rare Jolly Roger pirate flag to former glory
20th June 2007
Daily Mail
A rare 18th century pirate flag has been restored to its former glory.
The crudely-stitched Jolly Roger was captured in battle on the Barbary Coast of North Africa in 1780 by Lieutenant Richard Curry, a Royal Navy captain who later became an Admiral.
The Jolly Roger: the flag, dating from the 1770s, restored to its former glory
The red wool fabric bears a painted cotton fabric skull and crossbones roughly stitched onto one side and was in a poor condition when it was brought into the Textile Conservation Centre (TCC), part of the University of Southampton, Hampshire.
The flag's current owner, a descendant of Lieutenant Curry, asked the centre on Winchester School of Art's campus to conserve the flag.
The work took student Bonnijo Chervenock six weeks to complete as part of her second-year Masters degree in Textile Conservation.
American Ms Chervenock found gunpowder and small holes with charred edges on the flag during the conservation.
It also appears to have been cut out of another piece of fabric as a buttonhole shape was found on the underside and it is not cut in a square.
Jolly Roger flags were historically flown by pirate ships as a form of psychological warfare, aimed at inspiring their own men during battle and intimidating their victims into surrender.
If a ship's crew knew they were under attack by pirates, they might be more willing to surrender without a fight, handing the pirates an intact ship with all its cargo.
A Jolly Roger with a red rather than a black background was most feared as it meant no life would be spared in a ship's capture.
Ms Chervenock said: "I cleaned the flag very carefully, to remove dirt and to return the fabric to a more neutral ph - it was extremely acidic which would be damaging in the long term - but without removing the gunpowder which is an important part of its history.
"Having cleaned each little painted fragment individually, I attached each piece onto dyed silk crepeline fabric using an adhesive technique.
"I then stitched the consolidated skull and crossbones onto the flag, which had been stitched onto a new fabric."
The cleaned and supported Jolly Roger was then stitched onto a fabric-covered acid-free board so it can be framed and displayed at the owner's hotel.
dailymail.co.uk
20th June 2007
Daily Mail
A rare 18th century pirate flag has been restored to its former glory.
The crudely-stitched Jolly Roger was captured in battle on the Barbary Coast of North Africa in 1780 by Lieutenant Richard Curry, a Royal Navy captain who later became an Admiral.
The Jolly Roger: the flag, dating from the 1770s, restored to its former glory
The red wool fabric bears a painted cotton fabric skull and crossbones roughly stitched onto one side and was in a poor condition when it was brought into the Textile Conservation Centre (TCC), part of the University of Southampton, Hampshire.
The flag's current owner, a descendant of Lieutenant Curry, asked the centre on Winchester School of Art's campus to conserve the flag.
The work took student Bonnijo Chervenock six weeks to complete as part of her second-year Masters degree in Textile Conservation.
American Ms Chervenock found gunpowder and small holes with charred edges on the flag during the conservation.
It also appears to have been cut out of another piece of fabric as a buttonhole shape was found on the underside and it is not cut in a square.
Jolly Roger flags were historically flown by pirate ships as a form of psychological warfare, aimed at inspiring their own men during battle and intimidating their victims into surrender.
If a ship's crew knew they were under attack by pirates, they might be more willing to surrender without a fight, handing the pirates an intact ship with all its cargo.
A Jolly Roger with a red rather than a black background was most feared as it meant no life would be spared in a ship's capture.
Ms Chervenock said: "I cleaned the flag very carefully, to remove dirt and to return the fabric to a more neutral ph - it was extremely acidic which would be damaging in the long term - but without removing the gunpowder which is an important part of its history.
"Having cleaned each little painted fragment individually, I attached each piece onto dyed silk crepeline fabric using an adhesive technique.
"I then stitched the consolidated skull and crossbones onto the flag, which had been stitched onto a new fabric."
The cleaned and supported Jolly Roger was then stitched onto a fabric-covered acid-free board so it can be framed and displayed at the owner's hotel.
dailymail.co.uk