Blood stain identification

[Deborah Bede <stillwaterstudio@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone:

I have a client with a cotton Confederate (1860's) flag with stains that
have historically been considered to be blood.  My client is interested in
having the stains analyzed to confirm or disprove this.  I'm aware of fairly
simple spot tests such as the one in Nancy Odegaard's book, but I wonder how
accurate that would be on an aged stain on materials this old.  Plus the
fabric is intact in most of the stained areas and sample collection would be
challenging.  Does anyone have experience working with an analytical lab or
a forensic scientist (or other?) to identify aged stains as human blood?

Thanks,

Deborah Bede
Stillwater Textile Conservation Studio, LLC
Bradford, NH 03221
(603) 938-2310
(603) 938-2455 fax
stillwaterstudio@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.stillwaterstudio.org