 The exhibition Modern Gothic, The Inventive Furniture of Kimball and Kavis, provided the opportunity to do a special study on this small but significant 1875 corner chair. It's a highlight of the museum's 19th century decorative arts collection and one of few extant examples of this particular model. Opulstery is both decorative and functional, and it's frequently replaced when textiles wear out or when tastes change. For this project, a team of curators, scholars, conservators, and artisans, led by guest curator Barbara Weith, endeavored to restore a key element of this iconic Modern Gothic chair. First, we needed to determine the type and style of textile that would have been used originally. A period photograph contained our first clue, a similar chair with what appears to be patterned velvet trimmed with cord and ribbon. Next, we consulted scholar and collector Wayne Mason. A three-part suite in his collection retains elements of original upholstery. Deconstructing the upholstered elements, which were designed to slide and pull apart, revealed areas where the textile was better preserved. And our second clue, gold velvet embossed with the floral pattern and fragments of a colorful woven textile. The velvet pattern also matched a textile that lines the alcove of a cabinet at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Finding this pattern on multiple forms made it a compelling candidate to reproduce for our chair seat. To determine the original color of the now faded velvet, scientists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art conducted laboratory analysis of a sample. The results pointed toward a natural pigment called old-fustic, which we matched to a small range of Pantone colors. With pattern, material, and color in hand, it was time to recreate our historical textile. Philadelphia textile artist Kevin O'Brien used a detailed photograph of the Baltimore Museum's cabinet to make a scaled tracing and template of the pattern, which was then made into a silk screen. After some trial and error in the printing process, O'Brien's studio custom-died the velvet and produced the final textile. The original upholstery remnants on Wayne Mason's suite also included pastimentary or decorative trimming. These samples were similar to historical patterns in the catalog of the French manufacturer Preuil and Pastimentary Verrier, whose workshops have been operating since 1752. Working on both manual and automated looms, their artisans recreated the cord and gimp for our chair. Dying the threads to the correct color can take many attempts and adjustments. While the velvet and the cord and gimp were being fabricated, textile conservator Nancy Britton of the Metropolitan Museum of Art prepared the corner chair by removing its previous upholstery, leaving the muslin skimmer cover. A single piece of the new textile was used to cover the entire cushion. Then the cord was laid around the top edge of the seat where a seam might have appeared in the original. Finally, the gimp trim was attached alongside the bottom edge. Reupholstering a historical chair with period-appropriate fabric takes a team of experts. In this case, 17. After hundreds of hours of collective work, the Brooklyn Museum's Kimbell and Kavis Modern Gothic corner chair is restored to its full splendor.