From Storage to Display: Conserving a 17th-Century Leather Jerkin

by Ned Lazaro   

Thanks to a generous Dean F. Failey Grant from the Decorative Arts Trust, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (the Wadsworth) in Hartford, CT, has conserved and prepared for display a rare, 17th-century leather jerkin, or buff coat. Made from animal hide (likely bovine) the garment—an early form of armor—offered protection in combat. Contemporary accounts describe buff coats repelling arrows and sword strikes. For example, in a 1637 account, American colonial militia leader Captain John Underhill wrote of a “buffe coat” stopping an arrow during a skirmish. It is a featured object in the museum’s semiquincentennial exhibition Framing American Democracy: Radical Roots, on view through September 27, 2026.

Conservation of the jerkin was performed by Windsor Conservation, a textile conservation studio in Dover, MA, with Associate Conservator Johanna Tower leading the project (figure 1). From the outset, the goal was to enable a safe and visually dynamic display of the garment.

Initial discussions focused on the jerkin’s condition and history. Although its exact provenance remains unknown, the garment was purchased by the museum in 1960 at an auction of items belonging to a Hartford collector, suggesting a possible American presence of this English or European garment in the 17th century. The leather had been washed with detergent by museum staff in the 1960s in an effort to soften it, leaving residues that remained in the material. The object had also been affected by a water leak in storage. Upon examination, the leather was found to be brittle and misshapen. Testing confirmed that staining could not be significantly reduced and that reshaping the garment in three dimensions would be limited by the condition of the material.

In consultation with the Wadsworth’s associate costume and textile curator, Ned Lazaro, a cautious treatment approach was adopted. Low-suction surface cleaning was performed with a Nilfisk vacuum. Seams that had come loose—particularly along the rear peplum vent and one side—were stabilized. A custom mount was then carved and padded to support the jerkin’s form while minimizing mechanical stress, allowing the object to be displayed as a garment rather than as a flat textile.

For exhibition, the mount is affixed to a stand so that the jerkin can be presented as it would have been worn. This approach aligns with the Wadsworth’s broader goal of increasing the presence of historic dress in its galleries and offering visitors a more immediate sense of how such objects appeared in daily life.

Public engagement is also central to the project. Johanna Tower will present a gallery talk at the Wadsworth on Sunday, August 2 at 1 p.m., offering visitors insight into the conservation process. The museum has found strong audience interest in conservation-focused programming, particularly in opportunities to better understand the care and preservation of collection objects.

The Wadsworth is deeply grateful to the Decorative Arts Trust for its support. The conservation of the jerkin not only ensures the long-term preservation of a rare and fragile object, but also allows it to play a meaningful role in interpreting the material and culture of the early colonial period for contemporary audiences through our exhibition Framing American Democracy.

Ned Lazaro is the Associate Curator of Costume & Textile at the Wadsworth.