Muffie Carol Austin, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., passed away September 12, 2019 in hospice care in Merrimac, Mass. She was born July 7, 1947 in Baltimore, Md. the daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. James A. E. Halkett. She was predeceased by her husband, John Hutcheson.
Muffie is survived by her only child, Christopher James Austin (Alicia); her granddaughters, Guinevere and Penelope; and her siblings, Scott (Cathy) Halkett, Jan (Don) Truitt, and Kim (Tom) Gillett.
She began her career in textile conservation after graduating from Massachusetts College of Art. Over the years as a conservator, she had been a staff member of the Textile Conservation Center in the Museum of American Textile History, the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston, and the Textile Conservation Workshop in New York. As a renowned conservator, she worked on tiny fragments to 18-foot tapestries in a variety of fibers, both flat and three-dimensional. She worked on a dress worn by Princess Diana, Teddy Roosevelt’s bear, and a ballet costume worn by Rudolf Nureyev. She did surveys, treated textiles, and assisted in mounting exhibits for such prestigious institutions as the Ellis Island Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, the Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, the Gardner Museum in Boston, the NSDAR Museum, the Lincoln Library, the Appleton Museum and many others. She worked in both Europe and in Asia while living in Singapore.
Muffie enjoyed cooking and entertaining with her favorite event being a dinner party with women of diverse personalities which created exciting and thought-provoking conversations. These get-togethers will be missed by those who had the opportunity of participating. The world of textile conservation has lost an exceptional, talented lady. Her friends will cherish her memory and let her live on.
Services will be held at a later date in Newburyport, Mass.