Staff Profile

Julie Wertz
Beal Family Postgraduate Fellow in Conservation Science

julie_wertz@harvard.edu / 617-384-8717

Ph.D., University of Glasgow
B.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Julie Wertz uses analytical chemistry to study the materials of historical and art objects at the museums, including dyes on textiles, pigments in paint, and the identity of binding media. She is especially interested in color and the processes of making objects, both individually and industrially. Before joining the Harvard Art Museums, she was at the University of Glasgow where she researched Turkey red textile dyeing and printing, madder and synthetic alizarin, and natural and early aniline dyes.


Recent Publications

Wertz, Julie H., Pik Leung Tang, Anita Quye, and David J. France. “Characterisation of Oil and Aluminium Complex on Replica and Historical 19th C. Turkey Red Textiles by Non-Destructive Diffuse Reflectance FTIR Spectroscopy.” Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 204 (5 November 2018): 267–75.

Wertz, Julie H., David J. France, and Anita Quye. “Spectroscopic Analysis of Turkey Red Oil Samples as a Basis for Understanding Historical Dyed Textiles.” Coloration Technology 134, no. 5 (October 2018): 319–26.

Wertz, Julie H., Anita Quye, and David J. France. “Taking Historical Chemistry to the Bench: A New Perspective for Modern Chemists through the Re-Creation and Analysis of 19th-Century Scottish Turkey Red Dyed Textiles.” Mitteilungen, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker 25 (2017): 302–28.

Wertz, Julie H., Anita Quye, David J. France, and Lesley Richmond. “Authenticating Turkey Red Textiles through Material Investigations by FTIR and UHPLC.” In Preprints ICOM Committee for Conservation 18th Triennial Meeting, Copenhagen, September 4–8, 2017. ICOM Committee for Conservation, 2017.

“Unravelling Turkey Red.” Journal for Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers 262 (Summer 2017).

“Turkey Red Textile Dyeing in Glasgow: A Cross-Disciplinary Investigation into Scotland’s Bygone Industry.” Scottish Business and Industrial History 29 (November 2014): 74–97.