Specialty Sessions – Page 12 – AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse

44th Annual Meeting – Research and Technical Studies Session, May 16, "Looking Closer, Seeing More: Recent Developments in the Technical Documentation of Paintings", by Ron Spronk

In the morning session on May 16th, Ron Spronk, Professor of Art History in the Art Conservation Program at Queen’s University, shared his experiences with several recent endeavors to standardize the technical documentation of paintings and to make the resulting information both accessible and user-friendly.

Followers of the Rembrandt Research Project will be familiar with the missions of the projects Spronk describes in that they each generally aim to comprehensively study the oeuvre of a single artist. However, the crucial difference is that the more recent ventures are web-based, open-access, and shareable, and they are highly reliant on the compilation and comparison of images obtained using consistent methods across institutional boundaries.

Spronk spoke first about Closer to Van Eyck: Rediscovering the Ghent Altarpiece, an initiative made possible through the partnership of many organizations, including the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK/IRPA), the Getty Foundation, and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. During the presentation, Spronk briefly toured the audience through the website, which is beautifully user-friendly and self-explanatory. Definitions are available for each of the analytical techniques used, and it is also possible to download condition, materials research, and dendrochronology reports.

The follow-up website, Even Closer to Van Eyck, is set to launch shortly and will focus more on the treatment of the altarpiece. As the Getty Foundation website pronounces, “This second phase of the Van Eyck project will incorporate high-resolution images produced during and after the full conservation of the altarpiece, which is currently underway. The web application is expected to set new standards for digital projects related to art history and conservation by providing access to the decision-making process for the treatment of the altarpiece and by disseminating the open-source technology behind the website to the museum community.” Another extension of the Closer to Van Eyck website is VERONA, or Van Eyck Research in OpeN Access, which has aimed to study and document all paintings securely attributed to Van Eyck in a standardized manner. The resulting scholarship will be published online.

The Bosch Research and Conservation Project similarly attempts to consistently document the entire oeuvre of Hieronymus Bosch and includes restoration of nine works. Several structural treatments were supported by the Getty Panel Painting Initiative. The Bosch website shows three works represented by high-resolution photographs in normal light, infrared images, and X-radiographs, with a three-pane slider moving between them. Spronk described the method by which all of the images were obtained using a window frame, which lets the camera remain completely parallel, and showed a video demonstrating the documentation process. A larger website application is set to be launched at an indeterminate date.

Although not covered during the presentation, the abstract also lists the “Hand of the Master on panels by Pieter Bruegel the Elder,” a comprehensive workshop on Bruegel that took place at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna from November 24-25, 2015. The workshop program and a presentation by Angela Cerasuolo on The Parable of the Blind and The Misanthrope in the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples may be found on Academia.edu.

In searching for these websites after Spronk’s presentation, it became clear that these projects are all very much in progress, and only partial information is, as of yet, available. However, these endeavors appear to be extremely promising. The Even Closer to Van Eyck website in particular is eagerly anticipated because it will share the methodology used to treat the altarpiece. Much as the altarpiece during treatment is itself on display, this website should set a new precedent for transparency and should further raise public awareness of conservation activities. The founding concept of comprehensive, standardized, and open-access documentation on which these projects are based presents an encouraging model that will hopefully one day become more common practice, providing greater opportunities for interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

44th Annual Meeting – Paintings Specialty Group Tips Session, May 17

This year’s Paintings Tips session focused predominantly on a range of commercial products that can be adapted for specific uses in paintings conservation.
Gordon A. Lewis, Jr. recommended powerful LED and UV flashlights for examination of paintings in-situ, which are available from Amazon.com. In addition to other uses, he demonstrated the suitability of these lights for transmitting a strong light through the back of a canvas to reveal tears and other structural issues.
Dina Anchin introduced the audience to the ProScope Micro Mobile, a hand-held, high-resolution microscope that attaches to one’s phone and allows the capture of photomicrographs. This is particularly useful when examining paintings in-situ or on research visits.
Alexa Beller presented on behalf of herself and Joyce Hill Stoner on miniature “Humidification Chambers,” using a moistened blotter placed within the lid of a pigment capsule (such as used for a palette of dry pigments) and positioned over the area of the painting requiring humidification.
Josh Summer recommended miniature hand mixers or milk frothers as a helpful and inexpensive tool for preparing emulsions and gels.
Erin Stephenson presented on behalf of Sarah Gowen, who has researched and tested a number of materials potentially suitable for filling cradled panel paintings prior to obtaining an X-radiograph. These fillers include Elvacite 2045, Elavacite 2044, Elvacite 2046, Poly(vinyl alcohol), Butvar B-76, Paraloid B-72, and wood flour. Of this list, Sarah recommends Elvacite 2045, as other materials tend to clump, are too visible in the X-radiograph, or produce slippery residues.
Claire Winfield described the recipe for a “milkshake” paintable fill (1 part Modostuc or spackle, 1 part acrylic gesso, dry pigment and water to taste), so-named because it is mixed to the consistency of a milkshake. This fill material can then be brush-applied within areas of loss and is particularly useful in retaining some canvas texture.
Gwen Manthey pointed out that many websites including Pinterest show helpful flat-lay pack methods when packing tools for on-site conservation work. She also mentioned that shaving brushes are often made of badger hair, and shaving product companies can be a useful source for these brushes.
Judy Dion presented a number of product recommendations, including washer head screws for attaching backing boards (such as Teks Lath Screws), a muffin cooling fan for low solvent extraction from studio spaces, and small LED spotlights with flexible necks for microscope work . Judy also demonstrated the use of a T-track for clamping, easel construction, or a height-adjustable armrest for working on large paintings.
Rustin Levinson spoke about the recent construction at ArtCare Inc. of a mobile paintings storage rack consisting of marine ply and PVC with clear vinyl flooring. The entire rack can be covered and moved around the studio.
Rob Proctor recommended a number of tools, including 1 mL calibrated glass droppers and vacuum nozzles adapted as handles for burnishers. To minimize shock to a painting during structural treatments, he also demonstrated using a nail pusher to insert tacks and using a clamp to gently push in keys.
A few attendees volunteered last-minute tips, including a portable Miroir projector for on-the-go presentations, and the brand Muji for black Q-tips, useful for testing sensitivity of light-colored paint passages.
The session ended with an update from Elise Clifford about the Reverse of Paintings Database being developed at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The completed database will allow users with a login to upload and search information related to the reverse of painting such as labels, canvas stamps, and stencils. If you are interested in participating in beta-testing of the website, you are invited to email Elise.
Thank you to all of the presenters for such valuable tips!

44th Annual Meeting – Photographic Materials Session, May 16, “Photochromatic Images of Edmond Becquerel: Where do the colours come from? Tracks in the understanding of the origin of their colours.” by Dr. Marie-Angélique Languille, Edouard de Saint-Ours, Jean-Marc Frigerio, and Christine Andraud

Edouard de Saint-Ours clearly described the fascinating work he and his colleagues have done to identify the source of the colors in one of the earliest color photographic processes. In 1848 Edmond Becquerel successfully produced a color photographic image, but himself was unable to identify the cause of the colors. The discovery of several of his early plates in the archives at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris sparked Edouard and his colleagues’ interest in Becquerel’s process and the source of his colors.
Edouard began by explaining the two known ways in which color can be produced in photography: through the use of colorants, or through the production of interference colors. It was assumed that Becquerel had been relying on one of these two types of color, and the research team focused on methods of analysis that would identify either of these two methods of producing color.
Becquerel’s photochromatic images were made by dispersing sunlight through a prism for several hours, exposing the plate in camera to form a direct positive. The images were not fixed, and will fade if exposed to light. In order to understand the physical and chemical composition of the Becquerel plate, Edouard and his colleagues replicated the technique themselves. To make a photochromatic image a silver plate was polished and cleaned, and sensitized by immersion in copper chloride, or by hydrolysis in a bath of hydrochloric acid. The latter is referred to as an electrochemically sensitized plate. Once sensitized, the plate takes on a red-brown hue. In the replication of the process the plates were exposed to a Xenon lamp with colored filters, and the colors produced on the plate corresponded to the color of the light.
Once they had replicated the technique, they set about studying their sample plates in order to identify the cause of the colors they had produced. SEM analysis and cross-sectional analysis showed that there were no surface or structural differences between the different colors. Although this suggested against interferential colors, it did not rule out the possibility entirely.
SEM-EDX offered the researchers more information about the chemical composition of the different colors, but also indicated no difference between the green and red colors on the sample plate. Both were almost entirely comprised of silver chloride. However, Edouard mentioned the very interesting possibility that very small variations in the proportion of silver could cause different sizes of silver nanoparticles to form on the plates. In this scenario, a different size of nanoparticle would form from each color of light, and the color of the silver nanoparticles would vary depending on their size.
From this hypothesis, the researchers performed spectroscopic analysis of the colored surfaces, a technique which can detect the chemical state of an element. However, this analysis showed only oxidized silver on all colors, with no indication of difference between colors, or the presence of metallic silver. Again, this suggests against the presence of silver nanoparticles, but does not definitively rule out that possibility.
Although the project has not returned any definitive results, the research is ongoing. In the meantime, the work has cast light on the complexity of Becquerel’s early process, and the intriguing questions still presented by early color photography.

44th Annual Meeting – Photographic Materials Session, May 16, “Understanding Temperature and Moisture Equilibration: A Path towards Sustainable Strategies for Museum, Library and Archives Collections,” by Jean-Louis Bigourdan

Preventive conservation is becoming an increasingly important part of our work as conservators, but it often seems that many important questions about environmental control have yet to be answered. Questions such as to what degree are fluctuations of temperature and RH humidity damaging to collections, and are they more or less damaging than strictly maintained but not ideal conditions?
Jean-Louis Bigourdan addressed some of these uncertainties in his talk on temperature and moisture equilibration in storage spaces containing significant quantities of hygroscopic materials. He focused on reconciling the need for climate-controlled storage with the quest for sustainability and the pressure of budgetary limitations. His introduction was reassuring: the current thinking on storage climate is that relatively stable low temperatures are desirable (“cool storage”), but there is little benefit to maintaining a perfectly stable climate (i.e. without fluctuations). Rather, a certain degree of cycling is acceptable, so long as the shifts are not extreme.
Following from this fact, Jean-Louis presented the concept of “dynamic management” of HVAC systems. Dynamic management entails shutting down the HVAC for short periods, such as overnight, and adjusting climate set points seasonally. This would save on energy, and thus reduce the environmental impact and cost of operating such systems. Of course, we as conservators are immediately concerned with the effect on collections materials during such shutdowns: How extreme are the fluctuations in temperature and RH resulting from periodic shutdowns of the HVAC?
This is the questions Jean-Louis attempted to answer through two phases of testing. He was particularly focused on the possibility that collections containing large quantities of cellulosic and/or hygroscopic materials might buffer against large or sudden shifts in temperature and RH. Jean-Louis undertook two phases of testing to understand the extent of the self-buffering capabilities of such materials. The first round of testing was conducted in the laboratory, and the second in library and archive collections storage rooms.
In his laboratory tests he exposed different types of materials to large fluctuations in temperature and RH. The materials included things like closed books, matted photographs and drawings in stacks, and stacks of unmatted photographs. He also tested the effects on these materials when they were placed inside cellulosic microenvironments, such as archive storage boxes, measuring the temperature and RH at the surface of objects, and at their cores. His results indicated that the RH at the core of books or stacks of cellulosic material does not change as rapidly as the exterior environment. Temperature equilibration occurred over a period of hours, and moisture equilibration occurred over the course of weeks or even months. Microenvironments increased the time to equilibration, mostly by controlling diffusion of air.
Another useful result of this laboratory experimentation was that it demonstrated that the moisture content of paper-based and film collections was more affected by environmental temperature than by environmental RH. In other words, at the same exterior RH, the moisture content of the collections object was lower at higher exterior temperatures. The laboratory testing therefore suggested that storage spaces with significant quantitates of hygroscopic materials will be buffered against large changes in RH and temperature due to moisture exchange with the collections materials.
Jean-Louis found that field testing in collections storage spaces returned many of the same results as his laboratory tests. 6-8 hour shutdowns of HVAC systems had little impact on environmental RH, and many of the systems they examined were already following seasonal climate cycles without causing dramatic shifts in the temperature or RH of storage environments. He encouraged conservators to take their collections materials into account when evaluating the buffering capacity of their storage environments.
I was very encouraged by these findings, although I have some remaining questions about the potential effects on collections materials. How much moisture is being exchanged with collections items in such a scenario? Is it enough to cause dimensional change in hygroscopic materials, especially on exterior surfaces, and will that contribute to more rapid deterioration in the long term? Regardless, I was happy to be prompted to remember that collections materials are an active part of the storage environment, not an unreactive occupant of it.
The talk wrapped up with Jean-Louis raising a few areas of further research. He hypothesized that changes in storage climate which are achieved through a series of small but sharp changes would result in slower moisture equilibration between environment and collections than would a change made on a continuous gradient. He also raised the possibility of predicting the internal moisture fluctuations of collections materials using their known hygroscopic half-lives. Both of these areas of research could be extremely helpful to conservators attempting any dynamic management of their climate control systems.
A particularly thoughtful question by an audience member provided the opportunity for more climate control wisdom. A Boston-area conservator of library and archive collections wondered whether it made sense to use dew point as the set point on HVAC systems in the winter to save money on heating costs, but during the summer to use RH as the set point to insure against mold growth. Jean-Louis felt this would be an unnecessarily complicated method of control, but offered a general rule for the storage of hygroscopic collections. He suggested thinking of lower temperatures as the primary goal, and of RH as important to maintain within a broader range. Lower temperature slow degradation reactions inherent to such materials, and so generally lower is better. However, RH need only be high enough so as not to embrittle material, but low enough to prevent mold growth. Essentially he suggested that if your RH and temperature are too high, you are better off reducing temperature slightly, which will slow degradation reactions, and as a side-effect your collections may absorb a small amount of moisture, thereby lowering the RH in the building environment.
Jean-Louis’s talk left me intrigued and excited about the possibility of taking advantage of hygroscopic collections materials to provide a more stable and sustainable storage environment.

44th Annual Meeting – Research and Technical Studies Session, May 16, 2016, “Combining RTI with Image Analysis for Quantitative Tarnish and Corrosion Studies” by Chandra Reedy

This talk focused on the combination of two technologies, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and Image analysis. Much of the talk dealt with the application of these two technologies to evaluate accelerated aging or Oddy Test coupons in a quantitative manner. As the evaluation of Oddy tests has traditionally been subjective, making reproducibility problematic, I was particularly interested in the potential for quantitative analysis.
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a relatively inexpensive and simple tool that creates a mathematically synthesized image of an object’s surface from a series of image (typically ~36) lit from different angles and directions. The image produced by the RTI software can reveal visual information that is difficult to discern under normal conditions.
Image analysis software utilizes algorithms that enhance the visual separation of features and marks them for analysis, a process known as segmentation, thereby enabling those features to be quantified. The software used by the authors of this presentation was Image Pro Premier by Media Cybernetics, which has previously been used for thin section analysis of ceramics.
The authors used RTI and Image analysis in combination to evaluate Oddy test coupons. The process aided in visual assessment, improved the documentation of the results, and provided quantitative results. Adding RTI and Image analysis to the Oddy test protocol was not a cumbersome addition, requiring only ~ 20 minutes. It was noted that the type of coupon used made a big difference for this technique, as foil and bent coupons were not ideal since the added texture complicated interpretation of the results.
After exposure, the coupons were photographed and processed in batches by metal: silver, copper, and lead. A single image of the coupons was chosen from the RTI viewer and used for image analysis. A different protocol was used for each metal. The image of the lead coupons was converted to grayscale and the colors inverted, background, control, and corrosion areas were defined, and the “Smart Segmentation” tool used to separate and quantify them. The image of the copper coupons was not converted to grayscale and the variety of corrosion types were all treated the same by the segmentation process. The image of the silver coupons was converted to grayscale or pseudo-color to enhance differences before segmentation. The software allows for individual segmentation protocols to be saved and reused. The percentage of tarnished to untarnished surface could be calculated for each metal. Comparison with visual evaluation of test coupons yielded the following results:
Control or clear pass: 1-4% tarnish
Clear Fail: 45-100% tarnish
Pass for temporary use: 7 – 17% tarnish
The “temporary” category is particularly hard to judge when evaluating Oddy tests in the traditional manner, so this method seems to be especially useful in this case.
In addition to Oddy test results, RTI and image analysis were used by the authors to evaluate rapid corrosion tests and coating tests. In each case, like with the Oddy tests, the process provided good documentation as well as the possibility for quantitative results. The combination of these techniques seems to have great potential for a number of applications and their relative simplicity and inexpensiveness make them a great tool for institutions with limited analytical capabilities.

44th Annual Meeting – Photographic Materials Session, May 16, "Separation Anxieties: Freeing photos adhered to glazing or to each other" by Barbara Lemmen and Emma Lowe

This talk was split into two sections, beginning with a presentation by Emma Lowe examining the nature of the adhesive bond formed between blocked photographic prints (prints stuck together in a block) and glazing. This was then followed by Barbara Lemmen providing an overview of existing treatments used by photo conservators to tackle this issue.
The Experiment
Lowe’s research aimed to assess the nature of a blocked bond, and determine the factors that affect the bond e.g. surface finish, glass coatings, age of the bond.
She tested artificially aged samples of both glossy and matt prints adhered to three different types of glass including glass with no coating, glass with UV surface coating, and glass with integral optical coating. Half the samples were aged for 80 days, the others for 150 days at 30°C (86°F) and 50% RH.

Blocked glossy and matt DOP samples — Blocked glossy and matte DOP samples

Experiment Results
At 80 days, it was found that all the samples could be popped off the glass. At 150 days, 75% of the samples tore upon removal; glossy prints were even more likely to tear than matte samples.
XRF analysis of the gelatin layer pre and post-experiment showed that there was migration of the elements in and out of gelatin. At 80 days, there was a slight increase in Si in matte samples. At 150 days, there were changes in elemental composition. FTIR showed compositional changes in gelatin and glass pre and post experiment. SEM/EDS on cross sections of the artificially blocked samples showed the migration of elements across the blocked bond. Changes in elemental composition were seen within the gelatin colloid.
In short, Lowe’s experiment determined the following points:

The initial adhesion between matte finished prints to glass is stronger, but aging leads to a stronger bond between glossy finished prints and uncoated glass.
UV coating on glass acts as a barrier to adhesion
There is a migration of materials between 80 – 150 days; electrostatic attraction between the glass and print converts to a covalent bond, explaining the increased bond strength. At 80 days 100% of samples separated without damage, at 150 days 75% of samples tore from the glass.

Treatment Overview
Lemmen then presented a variety of techniques used for the separation of photographs from glazing or blocked prints. For prints on glass (depending on the sensitivities of the object), the introduction of heat or moisture allows the gelatin to swell; this can be done via local humidification, the targeted application of aqueous solutions, steam or immersion (less common). Mechanical methods include removing the object from glass with a blade, or breaking the glass using a glass cutter. Dry heat or freezing with dry ice can also be used as a form of separation.
Blocked prints can be peeled apart mechanically, or they can be swelled with moisture. While trying to peel the sections apart, the local application of aqueous solutions to the adhered areas can aid separation. Overall humidification can be done on fiber base only. Splitting the RC prior to immersion was also discussed.

what works reliably — Treatment options for fiber base and RC prints

In conclusion, it was recommended to prioritize treatment of prints adhered to glass. In the occasion where prints need to be framed without a window mat or spacer, use UV filtering glass face-in to reduce the possibility of adhesion.

AIC 44th Annual Meeting – Paintings Session, May 15, “The Painting Materials and Techniques of J.E.H. MacDonald: Oil Sketches from 1909-1922” presented by Kate Helwig, Senior Conservation Scientist at CCI, and Alison Douglas, Conservator at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection

Conservation scientists at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) continue to examine artists’ works and contribute each year to the growing database of information on Canadian artists’ working methods and materials.
One of their latest projects is the characterization of the materials used by painter J.E.H. MacDonald (1873-1932). The study looks at the supports, grounds and paint formulations MacDonald used during the period 1909-1922. This study compliments an important retrospective of the artist’s work planned for 2018 at the McMichael Collection of Canadian Art.
MacDonald was a founding member of the famed cohort of Canadian landscape painters known as the Group of Seven, and was closely associated with the celebrated painters, Lawren Harris and Tom Thomson
In all, 32 works from Ontario museum collections were examined, comprising 11 oil paintings and 21 oil sketches. The goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the artist’s working methods and materials, and to assemble some reference data to help attribute works of uncertain date or origin. This particular presentation focused on observations and results from 13 of these works.
Throughout the period under study, MacDonald used a variety of rigid painting supports, including fiberboard, pulpboard, laminated pulpboard, and thin bookbinder’s board, which may have been his preferred support.
The study reveals that there was a shift in the size of the support he favoured through this period. Early works before 1914 were varied in size, often small, less than 7 x 9 inches. Through the years 1914-1917, he often chose a standard 8 x 10 inch format, and after 1918 he chose a slightly larger size, 8.5 x 10.5 inches, which was also the size favoured by his friend Tom Thomson, who died mysteriously in 1917.
This change in size of the support was also paralleled by a gradual change in his preparatory layers and painting technique. A variety of materials were found in the grounds of his early works. Sometimes he employed coloured double grounds. After 1918, he abandoned traditional grounds, preferring simply to seal the board surfaces with shellac. It was noted that this layer could prove to be solvent-sensitive during future varnish removal operations.
There was a gradual shift in his painting technique as well: his palette changed from muted colours, layered wet into wet, to a bolder paint application. By 1918 in his Algoma paintings, the brushstrokes are more confident and vigorous, often applied using complimentary-coloured paint strokes. An interesting feature of these works is the fact he often left the support or underlayers visible at the edges of his brushstrokes. Bold outlines of oil paint underdrawing are also sometimes seen through the brush strokes of the upper layers of paint.
Paint pigments and fillers were also characterized for the paintings and sketches studied. MacDonald’s paints were generally complex mixtures made of multiple colours, composed of 2 or 3 main colours, adjusted by the presence of small amounts of 2 or 3 more colours. A distinguishing element of his favoured palette include a characteristic mixture of lead sulfate and zinc oxide for his whites – a mixture that was commonly used by Tom Thomson and members of the Group of Seven. This particular white is likely the new “Flake White” paint manufactured by the renowned British colourmen, Madderton & Co. (founded by A.P. Laurie) used for its Cambridge Colours paints that were sold worldwide in the first three decades of the 20^th century. Viridian was the only truly green pigment the artist used, while various blues and yellows were also combined to make other shades of green. Yellows, blacks, reds and blues were also characterized. Of interest is the bright yellow paint, likely a Winsor and Newton tube paint, since it contained chrome yellow and a magnesium carbonate filler, materials not found together in the Cambridge paints line.
The publication of this information on MacDonald’s materials will be a welcome contribution to the advancement of our knowledge of the artist’s working methods. This information will also be essential as scientists begin to examine and ponder the materials used in a controversial group of small oil sketches that were purportedly buried for decades on the artist’s estate, before they finally entered (in recent months) the collection of a major Canadian institution. Tip of the iceberg indeed…

44th Annual Meeting—Book & Paper Session, May 15, “The Challenge of Scale: Treatment of 160 Illuminated Manuscripts for Exhibition,” Debora D. Mayer and Alan Puglia

With a team of 25 conservators, technicians, and interns, the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University is responsible for 73 individual repositories. A large-scale preservation program is essential to care for the vast amount of material in their collections, and Debora Mayer began her talk by commenting on the shifting attitudes in conservation to large collections. As the title of her talk had been changed last minute and large-scale treatment of collections is often associated with terms such as “business plans” and “time management” in my mind, I was expecting to hear a talk about compromises, budgets, and efficient treatment alternatives. Talks about these subjects are often impressive in demonstrating how much work can get done in a limited time, but can sometimes be a little sombre as they often remind us how often conservators don’t have the time to do everything we want. Debora’s talk was therefore uplifting and inspiring in describing how her team avoided burnout by working together to complete large amounts of high quality work within a reasonable time frame.

Treatment for over 160 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts with varying issues concerning structure and media stability had to be carried out within a two-year timeframe in preparation for a loan to a multi-venue exhibition. Since visual identification of unstable media using a microscope was insufficient (media that appeared unstable could actually be stable and vice versa), the team at the Weissman Preservation Center concluded that testing had to be done individually. Within the timeframe, it was not feasible to carry out an extensive study of all objects or to consolidate every illuminated leaf; only the ten leaves on either side of the display opening and the first leaf, often handled, would be tested and treatment carried out if necessary. Even so, this meant a staggering 57,000 cm² of illuminations requiring consolidation. Based on previous treatments, it would take a conservator two to three minutes consolidating every cm², but Debora pointed out that it was also important to remember the extra time required for handling or treating large items, housing needs, packing, documentation, etc. during time estimates for treatments. A 5,000-hour time estimate was drawn up, with 2,800 hours expected for consolidation. This was equivalent to three conservators working full time on the project for two years. I shuddered trying to imagine being one of three conservators tasked with the responsibility of this enormous project.

To reduce the work-fatigue that three conservators working on the project full time would inevitably experience, ten conservators worked halftime on the project over the two years, using excel spreadsheets to plan and keep track of workflow. With the amount of people working on the project, it was important to maintain uniformity in treatment procedures and judgment. All conservators followed the same protocols (e.g. using the same magnification or tools) to give the appearance that a single person treated the collection. For quality control, one conservator carried out treatment while another assessed to ensure the media was stable and that there was no visual change. Debora explained how the quality of treatment increased when multiple conservators could agree with a procedure and work together to set standards.

I really admired Debora’s emphasis on teamwork and communication—being open minded, ready for sharing observations and extensive discussions, and letting go of egos. Her talk was encouraging, showing that it is possible to get such a large amount of work done within a short timeframe while maintaining positivity and enthusiasm.

44th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper Session, May 15th, "Treatment of a Terrestrial Cary Globe by Joanna P. McMann"

Joanna P. McMann presented the conservation treatment of a terrestrial globe from 1835 made by John and William Cary in London (UK). She, Janet Mason, and Sherry Guild completed the treatment as well as the treatment of its partner celestial globe at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) over two years ending in 2013.
The terrestrial globe required treatment due to a fall out of a window. To quote from the abstract of this talk: “Impact upon landing forced the central pillar of the globe to move, pushing the sphere out at the North Pole and pulling it in at the South Pole. Extensive cracking, with losses of paper and plaster at both poles, had been repaired prior to the mid 1970’s with a generous application of polyvinyl acetate adhesive. An area of plaster loss, where the papier mâché foundation was indented, had been filled with a thick plaster.”
The damage meant that the globe was no longer spherical and could not rotate on its axis and the brass Meridian ring was distorted. Each hemisphere of the globe is covered in 18 half-split gores. Each of these gores is comprised of 20 degrees of longitude. Bodies of water were hand colored and the landmasses were either fully or partially colored. The globe was coated with a colophony varnish, which had discolored and become brittle over time.
One of the first steps in the treatment was figuring out how to support the globe. This was done by creating a stand made of a beanbag chair insert placed inside a ring to create a ‘nest’ that was then covered in polyester film. Once this problem was resolved the next tackled was how to remove the varnish. It was soluble in both ethanol and acetone, however these were not used due to concerns of staining the paper gores. Instead mechanical removal under stereomicroscopes was undertaken with ethanol and acetone used sparingly. This setup allowed up to four conservators to work on the globe at once!
Next the plaster repair was removed to inspect damage to the papier mâché. Then a small hole was cut in the papier mâché to insert a small camera into the globe and make sure there was not more structural damage hiding. This examination found the wooden support rod and the rest of the papier mâché to be in good condition. It also allowed the conservators to discover that the papier mâché globe was made of waste sheets of printed paper.
The next step was to examine the paper gores. Raman spectroscopy and a portable XRF were used to determine the chemical makeup of the colors. The brown color on the landmasses was found to contain copper. Following this a 5% Gellan gum was used to clean certain areas of the globe and to remove soluble copper II ions. Only certain areas were cleaned because the Gellan gum was found to remove colors in some areas.
The repairs at both Poles required the gores to be lifted and supported with pieces of wove paper before being rolled back out of the way. Polyester film was used as a barrier layer to protect the gores during the plaster repairs. The film was adhered to the gores using methylcellulose. Rhoplex W24 was used to repair cracks in the plaster and they found that Jade 403 had enough bulk to fill small losses. Flugger was chosen after testing to be used for the larger plaster fills. Once these steps were completed the gores were put back in place and repaired where needed. At the North Pole losses were filled with digitally printed fills made of Griffin Mill paper. The infills were sized with a 1.5% B type gelatin.
Next the entire globe was sized with five coats of a 2.5% gelatin in order to achieve the correct look after varnishing. There were six resins tested as potential varnishes: UVS (Regalrez 1094), Regalrez 1126, MS2A, Golden MSA, Soluvar, Paraloid B-72. In the end Paraloid B-72 in toluene was chosen and 10 coats were applied via sprayer.
Finally, when the globe was reconstructed the Meridian ring had to be flipped due to the distortion left from the fall out the window.
This was a very insightful talk into a vast and complex treatment of an interesting object. One thing I could not convey in my post without it becoming overly long was the amount of thought and testing of different options that went into every decision made in regards to this treatment.

44th Annual Meeting – Book and Paper Session, May 15th, "The Rationale for Rebinding at the Pierpont Morgan Library in the Early Twentieth Century: A Case Study by Saira Haqqi"

I was very excited for Saira Haqqi’s talk about rebinding at the Pierpont Morgan Library when I first saw the 2016 AIC Conference Program. Most of my scholarly interests lie in book history and early binding structures. Inevitably this means coming across manuscripts and incunabula that have been rebound.
This talk focused specifically on the early 20^th century rebinding of the Morgan’s collection by Marguerite Duprez Lahey. Marguerite was the first binder contracted by Pierpont Morgan to rebind some of his ever-growing collection. Her appointment was a departure from past practices. Until the early 1900’s most bookbinding in the United States was carried out by immigrant binders. For example, the Grolier Club in New York City brought in binders from France when needed. But the Arts and Crafts movement led to the aristocracy taking up bookbinding as a hobby. Many who did so were women. This was how Marguerite entered the field. Originally she took up bookbinding as a hobby, studying with binders in New York and Paris but not as a formal apprentice.
She quickly came to be regarded as one of the preeminent binders of the day in America and began working for Morgan in 1908 and continued to work for him and later the library until her death in 1958. During her career she rebound over 400 books for the Morgan Library as well as working with other collectors. Her own personal style favored sewing books on cord as a tightback with a French double endband (common for the time period) and with limited board decoration, though a healthy amount of spine decoration. Her tooling was something she was particularly proud of—she made sure to mention it in every interview she gave. Marguerite was also very particular about the leather she used in her bindings, which lead to high quality goatskin being used frequently.
Conservation as the field we know today was in its infancy during Marguerite’s lifetime and the modern field of book conservation did not exist at all (most agree book conservation as it is known today began with the response to the Florence flood in 1966). Therefore, there are almost no records of what type of binding books had before being rebound and the records that do exist are mainly Marguerite’s notes about payments received and what work was done. These records tend to read as “X amount of money received, two volumes rebound in goat”, which is not overly helpful when trying to piece back together the history of these objects.
As a result many things were done that today would not be considered in a conservation lab. The tightback structure was regarded as a very strong structure—something Morgan wanted his books to have. Saira points out that there are many conservation issues with tightback structures. This has led to many modern conservation concerns with Marguerite’s bindings. These include books not opening well—especially those with parchment textblocks, flaking of pigments on illuminations, and the joints failing. These issues are not solely Marguerite’s fault.
Pierpont Morgan, Jack Morgan (his son), and Bella da Costa Greene (first librarian and director of the Morgan Library) all had input into the designs of bindings and had very particular thoughts about how books should look without any knowledge about the structure of books. Book collecting during this time period was viewed as collecting art objects and functionality was not considered. Bindings were only considered interesting if they were pretty or had belonged to someone important. And many of design changes can probably be attributed to Morgan’s changing tastes over time.
Marguerite did her best to please her clients and did so while conforming to the standards of the time in her work. As many of us still do with treatments she had to balance practical concerns with aesthetic preferences. It is also likely that many of the books she rebound were purchased by Morgan rebound (though there is not direct evidence of this in her records) and as such makes her own rebinding less problematic. Still in the recent past some of her rebindings have again been rebound due to the conservation concerns mentioned above. However, this does not change that she was regarded as the best American binder of her day and her bindings are still sought after by collectors.
Saira did an exemplary job exploring the use of rebinding at the Morgan Library early on in its history and presenting it at AIC. She has helped shed light on how these decisions were made and explored Marguerite Duprez Lahey’s role in executing these treatments.