Chemistry Helps Unravel Textiles' Mysteries

Duke Chemists Help Unravel the Secrets of Ancient Textiles at Nasher Museum of Art

Anna Sheinberg, Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry, is working with fellow researchers in Trinity College’s Chemistry Department and at the Nasher Museum of Art to uncover new information about some of the ancient, dyed textiles in the Nasher’s collection. 

Sheinberg and Adjunct Professor Martin Fischer are using an advanced imaging technique called pump-probe microscopy to study pigments for cultural heritage, science and conservation. 

Pump-probe microscopy uses two ultrafast laser pulses: one excites the pigments, while the second measures the changes from the first beam’s pulse. Information from the laser pulses can help materials that appear similar to the human eye look remarkably different under the microscope. Importantly, the technique does not cause damage to the textiles during imaging. 

In collaboration with Julia McHugh, the Trent A. Carmichael Director of Academic Initiatives and Curator of Arts of the Americas at the Nasher Museum of Art, Sheinberg visited the Nasher to study the museum’s collection of ancient textiles from present-day Peru. They were specifically focused on the cochineal-dyed textiles. Cochineals are small insects that live on prickly pear cacti native to Mexico and South America and have been harvested and used by Indigenous communities for thousands of years to produce vibrant red dyes. 

Being able to determine whether the textiles were in fact dyed with red pigment from cochineals could help the researchers understand who created the textiles originally.

“The Nasher has a great collection of ancient textiles from the area we now call Peru that could be of use to [Sheinberg’s] research,” said McHugh, who is also an adjunct assistant professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. “These were pieces that we didn't know a lot about ourselves.” 

With Sheinberg and Fischer’s help, McHugh hopes the museum can learn more about the textiles and confirm that they are cochineal-dyed, helping to narrow down when they were first made and uncover which binding agents were used to help the dye adhere to the fibers. 

Sheinberg said the collaboration illustrates what is possible when chemistry is used to study and help preserve cultural heritage — and serves as a reminder for the power of collaboration across Duke’s resources. 

“I’m very grateful that the Nasher was willing and able to let us test our proof of concept on some real textiles.”

This study has been supported by Schmidt Sciences.

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