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An exceptional group of silk fragments was unearthed in 2014 from a shipwreck, which sank in the mid-17th century, in the Wadden Sea, The Netherlands. A unique example of 17th-century fashion, it comprises about 300 textile fragments from garments, parts of garments and furnishing fabrics, almost entirely made of silk and embroidered or woven with metal thread. These are in remarkably good condition, which may be related to the archaeological environment, the quality of the silk yarns in the fragments, and the presence of metal threads and other metallic objects from the shipwreck. Surviving archaeological maritime silk textiles are extremely rare, which makes this a distinctive find posing challenges for selecting the most suitable conditions for exhibition and storage.Scientific research was carried out with the aim to evaluate the response of modern and archaeological silks to temperature, relative humidity, light and oxygen, in order to define the most suitable parameters for the long-term storage and exhibition of the collection. Artificially aged samples taken from one of the archaeological fragments were analysed at the visual, structural and molecular level by means of colour measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a fluorescence detector (UHPLC-FLD). The results showed that light exposure, in combination with high temperatures, oxygen and moisture strongly affected the silk's structure and molecular composition. Limiting exposure to light and removing oxygen reduced this effect and increased life expectancy significantly. Therefore, the analytical results obtained were essential to defining a preliminary preservation strategy for the collection: while on display, anoxic conditions slow down degradation of the silk by a factor of 4-5, whereas in a in dark storage, a low RH is the most important factor, with anoxic conditions providing additional reduction of decay.

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[heading]Museum objects are often highly complex and composed of materials with varying properties, some of which may have changed as a result of ageing and/or conservation treatments. Research into defining sustainable environmental conditions by balancing energy cost and risk to these vulnerable objects, has mainly focused on experiments in laboratories with new, single materials or on computer modelling, but only to a limited extent on actual objects. This paper presents a method to collect empirical data from a large group of decorated wooden panels in order to investigate the effects of humidity fluctuations on these objects and relate them to their material properties and construction. Wooden panels were chosen as they are regarded to be particularly sensitive to fluctuations in relative humidity. The fluctuations may cause the wood to shrink and swell and can result in open glue joints, cracks and deformation of the panels as well as losses and cracks in the decorative layers. Empirical data are scarcely available as yet but are essential to study relationships between material properties, type of construction, damage and as input and validation for modelling and experimental studies. The method, referred to as the Rijksmuseum Study, was performed on a group of 300 objects from the furniture and paintings collections of the Rijksmuseum.