Santina M. Levey

Santina Margaret Levey (25 April 1938 – 26 August 2017) was an English costume and textiles historian, conservator, and author. She began her museum career in Northampton and became an expert in 16th and 17th century textiles. Levey worked for the Victoria and Albert Museum in its department of textiles and as its keeper of textiles. She authored various articles, books and conducted other textile research and wrote for some journals.

Early life and education In April 1938, Levey was born in Nottinghamshire, the second of three children in her family. When the Second World War broke out, she and the rest of her family relocated to Leicester, where school teachers were bemused with her handwriting and spelling but recognised her intelligence and artistic ability.

Career

She briefly taught as a teacher, before she went on to begin her museum career in Northampton. She later was appointed Norwich Museum's keeper of social history, and Le Pompe: 1559: Patterns for Venetian Bobbin Lace. In 1989, Levey was required to resign her role as the last V&A's keeper of textiles that she had held between 1981 and 1989 as a consequence of a major staff restructuring, but she was able to get work as a consultant and an independent scholar researching in Europe. She presented lectures on "Fashion and Lace: A Complex Relation" and "Art and Industry: Lace-Making in the Nineteenth Century" at the Texas Memorial Museum in May 1990.

Levey provided advice and assistance to the Bowes Museum and had begun cataloguing the Blackborne Lace Collection in the late 1990s to which she was instrumental in having it installed in the Bowes Museum She was a director of The Textile Conservation Foundation from 26 May 1991 to 9 February 2011 as well as of The Embroiderers' Guild between 23 March 1995 and 27 March 1999. Bess of Hardwick's inventories, and a catalog on exquisite embroidery needlework and other materials such as the tapestries. She examined the materials in detail and was open-minded to new discoveries. She established the School of Historical Dress and became a trustee of it, and collaborated with Janet Arnold and Jenny Tiramani to make "The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women C. 1540–1660" Volume 4 of the Patterns of Fashion series.

Personality and legacy Ksynia Marko of the National Trust described Levey as "a thoughtful mentor and a great encourager of others, being endlessly supportive, selfless and generous – and fun to be with." Anne Swift, writing for Antiques Trade Gazette, wrote Levey's legacy would be she would be a person remembered for "her kindness, her generosity in sharing her time and knowledge, but most of all for her humility." Clare W. Browne said of Levey's work: "Her publications on historical embroidery and lace are fundamental to the study of their subjects."