Category: Specialty Sessions

Posts on talks that were presented as part of the specialty sessions at AIC’s Annual Meeting

45th Annual Meeting – Sustainability, Wednesday May 31, 2017, “With Room to Grow: Design and construction of a new conservation facility at the University of Washington Libraries”, Justin P. Johnson

Having a new conservation space built is the greatest hope and fear of many conservators – such an opportunity to take advantage of, and also to potentially go wrong! Justin Johnson’s presentation about their experiences at the University of Washington Libraries in Seattle, WA was a great insight into the process, and, given they seem to largely be pleased with the outcome, demonstrates that you sometimes can get what you want, as well as what you need.

The previous conservation space was located in a basement, cramped at only 2000 sq ft, and had last been updated in 1963. A new conservation position, partly funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, was the impetus to create a new conservation space with more up-to-date equipment and space for the now four full time conservators, plus up to three part-time students and interns.

One of the early things the conservation team did was to create future goals for their space. Some of these included:

  • increasing the ability to undertake major treatments on collection items, while maintaining general collection work
  • incorporate book, paper and photograph treatments in the same space
  • have the ability to teach and train student conservators and interns
  • have a flexible and open space that could be used for workshops and research as well as treatment

The team also consulted widely with conservation scientists and treatment conservators of many disciplines.
A new space on the rooftop was identified, double the size of the previous space at 4000 sq ft, with natural light from five skylights. However, there were limitations on HVAC and ducting placement for a fume hood. Services with restrictions were placed in the design first, with other equipment fitted in around them. The fume hood location was determined first, followed by the rest of the wet lab: sinks, exhaust trunks, microscopy, suction and humidification, light bleaching and materials storage.

A multi-purpose documentation room was designed, where curtains could screen off an area to allow for photography or artefact examination and low-tech analysis, but still allow the space to be open to the rest of the lab area.

At one end of the main space a storage, office and reception area was located, with the rest of the space being fitted out for the main treatment work, including space for 10 work benches and more storage. This space had an open focus to encourage communication and collaboration as well as reconfiguration, when required.

While an architectural team was engaged to create the space, the conservation team were heavily involved, thinking through the design of furniture (especially for storage purposes) and thoroughly investigating the departmental work flows and how they would work in the space.

The conservation team drew their workflow movements on paper and overlaid them on the design drawings and also used computer tools, such as Live Home 3D Pro, to visualise the space and move furniture around to try out new orientations. This software was very useful to ‘walk through’ the space, make adjustments to the design and then send them via pdf to the architects. It also facilitated communication between the conservators and architects and saved a lot of money in lengthy redesigns which would have occurred in a later phase of the project.

15 months after the initial bid phase, the team moved into their new space in February 2016.

Questions:

Q1) What is the climate and do you know the air exchange rate? A1) Aiming for 70F/50% but are still in the process of balancing the AHUs. They are finding that the fume hood competes with the HVAC.

Q2) Who did the lighting design? A2) It was done by a UWA group at the end of the project; the Live Home 3D Pro software has a large database of furniture and lighting which can be added to the design.

Q3) What was the total budget? A3) Got support from the Mellon grant, UWA donors and campus funding. A lot of money was saved in design fees by the proactive work of the conservation team.

Q4) What was the size of the benches and the area around them? A4) The benches both fixed and moveable are all the same height and measure 60” x 38” with 3.5’ between benches.

Q5) Detail on the skylights: specification and R values? A5) The lighting system has an automated system to take the daylight into account; the lights reduce on a bright day (which is rare in Seattle!).

45th Annual Meeting – Objects Session, Wednesday 31 May 2017, “Archaeological Glass Conservation: Comparative approaches & practicalities of using acrylic resin films as gap fills” presented by Jan Cutajar and Hana Bristow

Jan Cutajar is Research Assistant at the University College of London, and Hana Bristow is Assistant Conservator at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. They jointly presented on their experiences making acrylic resin fills with Paraloid B-72, an acrylic co-polymer, for use with glass repair. They based their work on techniques previously established by Steve Koob from the Corning Museum of Glass and recently updated at the CCI Symposium in 2011 (See here for the last update: https://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/discovercci-decouvriricc/PDFs/Paper%2035%20-%20Koob%20et%20al.%20-%20English.pdf).

 

Cutajar and Bristow treated two archaeological glass vessels: one Sassanian glass from UCL, and one beaker from Exeter, as case studies. They had common goals of needing reconstruction, stabilization, and the ability to be studied. They also had similar physical characteristics of degraded but stable glass with relatively good contact between the extant shards, thin walls (as thin as 0.2 mm), and substantive loss around of 35%.

Detail of resin fill in place on the Exeter glass jug (300/1988/G155, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 2015). Photo by Hana Bristow

In looking for a fill system, they wanted a material that could reinforce weak areas, aid in practical assembly, and be as minimally interventive as possible. Since working with epoxy would require considerable manipulations with the artifact for both direct and indirect casting methods, this was not chosen. Instead, acrylic resin fills were explored because they are lightweight, strong, flexible, thin, detachable for future retreatment, simple to produce and insert, and can be manipulated for color and opacity matching.

Detail of resin tab application on Sassanid glass vessel (6300, UCL Conservation Teaching Collection, 2015), highlighted on the left and blended against the glass on the right. Photo by Jan Cutajar.

Koob’s technique is based on 30% w/v Paraloid B-72, an acrylic co-polymer, in acetone, with ethanol added to slow the evaporation rate, thereby reducing the potential for bubble formation. For coloring, ground pigment can be added to the ethanol before adding it to the resin mixture. The pigmented ethanol should be first decanted to prevent larger pigment particles from being added. The solution is cast and stored in a partially sealed environment for slow evaporation. Bristow felt that B-72 alone was too flexible, so she explored resin mixtures and tested varied proportions using B-72, B-48N or B-44 either straight or mixed in 2:1 ratios but always 30% in acetone. She also tested these opacifiers: fumed silica, marble dust, titanium dioxide and whiting. She cast the test resin mixtures in boxes of the same size, also holding the volume and concentration of the solution and the volume of added ethanol constant. The tests were evaluated after 4-5 days of curing for hardness, plasticity, and appearance. She found that a 2: 1 solution of B-72: B-48N produces a strong film without brittleness. This film was stronger than the B-72 film and not brittle like the B-48N alone or B-44 films.

The resin films are set to cure in a partially sealed solvent atmosphere. Photo by Hana Bristow.

For the opacifiers, Bristow found that fumed silica worked well for adding translucency, and marble for opacity, but whiting and titanium dioxide produced speckled results and were difficult to homogenize with the mixture. She also notes that dry artist pigments are good for tinting but shouldn’t be relied on for opacity as well, because they easily over saturate the mixture, resulting in a cracked and weakened cast. She recommends a maximum of 1.5 micro-spatula scoops per 30 mL resin mix.

 

Cutajar and Bristow offer some practical notes and tips:

  • Achieving desired film thickness can require some trial and error. Expect about 70% volume shrinkage.
  • Trays should be non-absorbent and easily release the resin. Making or using solvent-resistant boxes lined with release papers or films works well.
  • Enclose the poured resin trays in an acetone rich environment to slow the rate of evaporation. This will help prevent bubble formation.
  • Films should set for at least 4-5 days before removing, otherwise the films are too flimsy for these applications.
  • Films are best to manipulate directly after demolding. Things that can be done are:
    • Texturing
    • Shaping
    • Cutting – determine the size by taking a tracing of the loss area
  • Shape can be adjusted using heat; about 20 seconds under a hair dryer works well. Once warm, hold the cast in the desired position until it cools enough to hold the new shape. This can be done through repeated heating and cooling cycles until desired shape is achieved.
  • Adapt a cast by creating a lip at the edges where joins are very thin. This creates a slight overlap with the adjacent glass. The lip can be created with a heated spatula away from the glass.
  • Bonding can be activated with acetone, but Cutajar and Bristow suggest using more adhesive (Paraloid B-72) to make the join since acetone can compromise a good fit.
  • The film can be cut into tabs and used as reinforcements across joins. Cut the tabs into shape, lay them across the join, and activate with solvent. The tabs are virtually invisible.
  • The film can be used to make recessed fills for backing thin, curved glass, providing local stabilization and weight redistribution.
  • Backing films are easier to apply when they are freshly removed from the solvent atmosphere and retain a slight tack.

45th Annual Meeting – Objects Session, Wednesday 31 May 2017, “So Delicate, yet So Strong and Versatile: The Use of Paper in Objects Conservation” presented by Paula Artal-Isbrand

Paula Artal-Isbrand, Objects Conservator at the Worcester Art Museum, presented the various ways in which she uses paper in her objects treatments. She shared some background on paper types. Asian papers typically come from the paper mulberry tree and produce long fibers (kozo) and strong paper or from the gampi tree, producing shorter fibers to make crisp and translucent papers. Mitsumata shrubs are a third source, but not part of this presentation. Western papers are more often made from cotton, linen, flax, or hemp. Paper in conservation is strong, inert, compatible with conservation materials, has excellent long-term stability, and does not pose health risks. It can also be manipulated to mimic a wide range of materials through inpainting and coating. By choosing the right coating materials, the translucency and texture can be adjusted to fit the application. These papers can also be inpainted with standard inpainting materials to match color and texture.

Beaker, Roman, 3-5th century CE, glass, 15.5 x 7.0 x 6.5 cm. Sardis archaeological site (Turkey), Inv. # AhT67.IV.130N3,before and during treatment using kozo paper saturated with B-72 acrylic consolidant (Courtesy of Sardis Archaeological Excavation, photo: Paula Artal-Isbrand)

Artal-Isbrand outlined two ways for thinking about how to use paper. First, it can be used as a restoration material. Artal-Isbrand offered several examples of how she’s used paper in this way. For example, she used acid-free matboard cut into shape for a loss repair in a fan. For archaeological glass, she toned paper kozo paper with watercolors (not with acrylics since they would create too much opacity) and impregnated the paper with Paraloid B-72, acrylic co-polymer. The toned and resin soaked fill was a perfect match for the glass and was attached with Paraloid B-72. She has made paper fills to reconstruct chain mail, for joining heavy elements of an iron helmet, for reinforcing failing solder joins for bronze armor, and for backing a Roman lead curse tablet that needed to be unrolled. These repairs were carried out using a combination of kozo paper with Paraloid B-72, and are a testament to the paper’s strength. Artal-Isbrand also described that paper can be an interlayer between an artifact and fill material to ensure reversibility and how cellulose powder can be a bulking additive for fills, and if toasted, can also impart pigment to fills.

Missyurka turban helmet, Ottoman Empire or Caucasus, 16th century, iron, 29 x 18 x 18 cm. Worcester Art Museum, 2014.102. Bequest of John A. Higgins, during and after treatment with kozo paper strips. (Courtesy of Paula Artal-Isbrand)
Missyurka turban helmet, Ottoman Empire or Caucasus, 16th century, iron, 29 x 18 x 18 cm. Worcester Art Museum, 2014.102. Bequest of John A. Higgins, before, during (using kozo paper band-aids) and after treatment. (Courtesy of Paula Artal-Isbrand)

Second, paper can also be used as a tool. It can work well as a facing for an intermediate phase of treatment. It can also serve as a barrier layer. For example, thin papers are a great barrier film for gels. Here, Artal-Isbrand mentioned that thin gampi paper can be good for this. The paper is placed between the surface and the gel, allowing for easier clean up in gel removal. Paper can be a poultice material. Artal-Isbrand uses Whatman cellulose powder, which will cling well and hold the poultice solvent. For these same reasons, shredded filter paper soaked and blended in water can be used to create a mold of another artifact. The mold should be sealed with resin (for example, Paraloid B-72) to keep it from getting damaged by water applications. If using the mold for creating a plaster fill, this step is critical.

 

During the question / answer period, there was a brief discussion on how shredded paper serves well for poulticing, and is better than cellulose powder or other very fine materials, because those become difficult to remove and can leave a hazy residue. So, it is important to distinguish between powder and pulp or shredded and/or ground paper. An interleaving layer can be helpful if powder is used. Also during the discussion, another example was mentioned that paper can be rolled into “worms,” impregnated with Paraloid B-72, and inserted it into losses to provide filling that is more easily removed than putties or other fillers.

45th Annual Meeting – Research & Technical Studies, June 1, “Stability of Polyvinyl Butyral Polymers with Light Exposure” by David Thomas, Matthew Clarke, and Blythe McCarthy

Art from the Kizil Caves at the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

David Thomas and I could be career siblings. We both have technical backgrounds in materials and polymer science. We both spent time in industry. And this the first time for both of us at an annual AIC meeting. Add in my pre-conservation R&D work on adhesives and the photochemical reactions of polymers, and it’s not surprising that I was chomping at the bit to hear his talk “Stability of Polyvinyl Butyral Polymers with Light Exposure”.

David explained how he, Matthew Clarke, and Blythe McCarthy were looking at the possibility of using polyvinyl butyral (PVB) as an adhesive material for use in consolidating fragments of wall paintings from the Kizil Cave Complex in Xinjiang Province, China. These wall paintings are generally matte in appearance and are comprised of gypsum on mud plaster support. More specifically, sixteen fragile fragments had been leant to the Freer Gallery from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

PVB was identified as a potential match to the consolidation needs of the wall painting fragments for a few reasons. It darkens to a matte surface comparable or better than similar materials, it is easily applied and removed using ethanol, and it has been shown to be an effective consolidant for wood and bone materials. This left the question: how does PVB age under light exposure?

Photo-aging of PVB might sound familiar. David pointed out that Robert Feller published results on the photodegradation of PVB materials in 2007 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391005005057), digging into the chemical mechanisms of PVB degradation. The goal here, David emphasized, was not to look at the degradation mechanism itself but to investigate a more practical comparison of similar consolidation materials in actual use.

I found David at his most compelling when digging into the compositions and manufacturers of various grades of PVB. The types of PVB available vary primarily in their relative amounts of butyral, alcohol, and acetate content, a consequence of the polymer manufacturing process. He had a clear wealth of knowledge to offer here, and I wish he had presented even more (but that might just be the polymer scientist in me, your mileage may vary).

David and coworkers cast test films of a number of these grades of PVB, as well as control films of pure polyvinyl acetate (the industrial PVB precursor) and the ubiquitous Acryloid B-72 acrylic polymer, which were all then exposed to UVA (long wavelength UV) irradiation. At the same time, coworkers aged the same films by exposure to a weatherometer’s Xe lamp at the National Gallery of Art. They then tracked changes in color, mass loss, and IR spectra.

Trends in weight loss during aging of the films seemed to correspond with the polyvinyl alcohol content of the PVB: more alcohol led to more weight loss (ie, Mowital B30H degraded more quickly than Butvar B-98). The controls of B-72 and polyvinyl acetate showed no weight loss, and no appreciable discoloration. And by using a fiber optic-coupled FTIR to track the C=O carbonyl signal, an indicator of light-induced oxidative degradation, David showed that indeed the most rapidly degrading B30H showed increased C=O during aging compared to B-98, while the stable B-72 showed comparatively little C=O change and thus less degradation. In all cases, light-exposed PVB could be easily removed with ethanol, showing that no cross-linking reactions were occurring.

Comparison of chemistry induced by light sources as different as a weatherometer’s Xe arc lamp and comparatively narrow-band UVA lamp is a delicate affair. So I was disappointed that the talk did not include how the team evaluated light irradiance and dosage. It begs the question of how much photo-chemical energy was actually imparted to each sample. This also begged the question of heat. A Xe arc lamp in a small weatherometer chamber could reasonably be expected to induce a significant amount of heating compared to UVA bulbs. As David highlighted the comparatively high temperatures of Feller’s prior PVB work compared to the work presented here, it makes it difficult to determine how similar or different these varied results might be.

The data showing PVB applied and aged on Plaster of Paris mock-up materials looked promising. David offered some reasonable guesses as to why PVB might be more promising in real object application than on thin films. For example, more opaque materials would shield PVB from full light exposure by acting as a competitive absorber. And the color changes in PVB could be relatively minor compared to the colors of the treated object.

I still would have loved to have seen more about how closely the thin films and mock-ups behaved and had time to ask some of my more nagging questions about light and heat levels.

There are a few broader take-aways from David’s talk that I know I will be keeping in mind for myself:

  • It never hurts to take an extra look at the sourcing and composition of “trade name” products. As vague as they might be, a product’s MSDS/SDS could provide a useful starting point to sleuth out the components in new products or find changes in existing ones.
  • Mindfulness in equipment specs are crucial for useful comparisons of test cases. Perhaps even more crucial is carefully reporting those specs to simplify and aid others in their own comparisons.
  • Don’t take old studies at simple face value. David made a good case for trying them again closer to home and closer to your specific application of interest. You never know what you might find.

45th Annual Meeting – Textile Session, June 1, “Agarose, Two Ways: Successes and Challenges in Large Scale Gel Application” by Dana Goodin

The Textile Specialty Group audience got a real treat with Dana Goodin’s talk on using agarose gels on tapestries.  Dana, who works at the Textile Conservation Laboratory at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC, used agarose gel on two tapestries in two different ways.

The first was a Baumgarten tapestry dating to the 1910s.  It, and many others, were discovered on the walls of a townhouse on the Upper West Side of Manhattan after a developer purchased the property.  In previous years, the room the tapestries were in had been rented out as a studio apartment.  (As an NYC resident myself, you can only imagine the envy this inspired in me!)  The tapestries were attached to the wall around the perimeter with nails.  Stains from leeching plaster were prevalent and the lining had fallen down behind one tapestry, resulting in ballooning and a large slit at the bottom.  A square had even been cut out of a tapestry to access a utility box!  The tapestries were de-installed in 2013 and brought to the Lab, where there were laid flat in a humidity tent.  The humidity was maintained between 52% – 58% for many months.  This was not enough, however, to restore flexibility to the desiccated silk elements of the tapestry.  Since the silk in the tapestry was in such poor shape, it was feared it would disintegrate during wet cleaning.  It was therefore decided to clean, and of course humidify, the tapestries through agarose gel.  Dana told us that the Textile Conservation Lab would usually use a 1% density gel if the material were smooth and could later be rinsed under suction.  Because this was not an option with the silk, it was decided to also rinse the cleaned tapestry with agarose gel and deionized water.  For cleaning, 3.4% density gel, ¼” in thickness, was cast with Orvus.  The Orvus solution was 5ml to 300ml water.  The entire Baumgarten tapestry was cleaned with gel, although the wool elements received thicker gels and were rinsed under suction, rather than with gel.  The treatment was a great success: the appearance was incredibly improved and the tapestry regained enough moisture that it could afterwards be rolled without worry.

Clearly, this treatment required a lot of agarose gel, the cost of which escalated quickly.  Not to mention the time spent casting it.  Therefore, Dana and the other conservators at the Lab tried out reusing the gels.  Tests were performed on white China silk and it was found that after three rinses/soaks of the gels in Orvus, no soiling was redeposited on the test silk.  This was a great find, although it was concurrently found that the gels could only be reused three times before disintegrating.

The second tapestry Dana spoke about was an Agam tapestry from the 1970s.  It was made from white wool yarn and a variety of wool/synthetic colored yarns.  It suffered from hard glue residue on the top and bottom 2” of the tapestry, which previously attached a lining.  Complications arose from the fact that the red and black yarns bled.  The face of the tapestry was cleaned via dry surface sponging, but obviously that did nothing to address the glue, which was so hard it couldn’t be sewn through.  Tests showed that amyl acetate removed most of the glue.  Application methods tested were with blotters, cotton linters, and agarose gel.  The agarose gel proved the most effective.  Gauze was placed below the tapestry, then the gel was draped over the glue, before being weighted.  Although effective, this proved very time consuming.  To speed things up, Dana and the other conservators decided to apply the amyl acetate directly to the glue and then drape the gel over these sections with weights on top.  2% gel was used for this, and left on for one hour.  This process was repeated until as much glue was removed as possible.  The treated areas were rinsed with deionized water, and the tapestry received a new lining and a Velcro hanging mechanism.

I don’t think I’m overstating things by saying these were two awesome treatments.  Thanks for sharing them with us, Dana!

45th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper + RATS Session, May 31: “Contacts that Leave Traces: Investigations into the Contamination of Paper Surfaces from Handling,” by Karen van der Pal

In libraries, archives, and museums around the world, those in charge of protecting cultural heritage struggle with the topic: Gloves or No Gloves? Karin van der Pal’s talk on the contamination of paper surfaces from handling gives measurable data pertaining to the debate.

Van der Pal’s studies in forensic analysis are being conducted at Curtin University in Western Australia. She is currently collaborating with the Indianapolis Museum of Art on the chemistry of latent fingerprints and with Flinders University, in South Australia.

Van der Pal received paper samples from an Australian paper mill to conduct her research. She first solidified her own approach on how to not contaminate the papers she was testing: wearing cotton gloves underneath nitrile gloves she could take off the top layer and replace with a new set of gloves during the process without any of her marks coming through.

Historically, we know that dark fingerprints appear on paper. The edges of leaves in books become discolored as well. But is this a result of dirt, or could it be because of fingerprint oils? Van der Pal explained that the residue left by fingermarks include aqueous deposits, lipids, and dead skin. The proportion varies based on a person’s age, gender, and diet. Another variable on the kind of mark that is left is environmental exposure. If the pages with the contamination are left in the dark, there is little discoloration, but exposure to light causes the marks to darken.

Fingerprint deposits can be a combination of sebaceous oils and sweat from ecrine and apocrine glands. Typically, van der Pal explains that when a finger print is left, the oily sebaceous residue is on top, while amino acids sink into the paper, and the oil residue evaporates. In van der Pal’s experiments, the fingerprints are not visible to the naked eye, so it was necessary to apply an indicator agent that could show the intensity/saturation of the print left on her test papers. Ninhydrin has historically been used, that develops a fingerprint into a pink-purple. 1,2-Indandione/Zn Chloride exhibits color and luminescence and can show marks left up to 150 years old, so van der Pal selected this to use as an indicator.

The goal of the speaker’s most current experiments was to determine how effective hand washing is, if contaminants pass through gloves, and what effect hand gels and sanitizers have on papers. Using the 1,2 Indandione/Zn Chloride, van der Pal was able to determine that no contaminants come through nitrile gloves up to 2 hours. She cautioned that fingerprints and oils can still be picked up onto the outside of the nitrile gloves if one handles doorknobs and keyboards, for example. One also has to be mindful that wearing nitrile gloves for an extended amount of time is very unpleasant, so an option could be to wear cotton gloves underneath.

Van der Pal’s experiments show that 5 minutes after handwashing, the oils in the skin come back, and that 15 minutes after washing, there is more oil than prior to washing because the body is working to redevelop the oil lost.

Hand creams are left on the surface of the paper.

Antibacterial gels also do not prevent oils from being left on paper.

In the future van der Pal expects to study how drying/aging affects a wider range of paper, how long the fingermarks last on the paper, and what effects whether the marks darken.

Questions from the Floor:

Q1: Can you still detect marks on paper that have been washed? A1: Yes, you can still detect marks on paper that has been subsequently washed up to 3 months.

Q2: Regarding gels, how long did you wait until you tried to detect the oils? A2: we tested at different intervals of time.

Q3: Was there a transfer of the materials/paper to the gloves? A1: Reusing gloves can cause a transfer. Some gilding can attach to cotton gloves. Nitrile shouldn’t pick much up.

45th Annual Meeting – Textile Session, May 31, “Learning From Treatments That Did Not Go As Planned” by Suzan Meijer and Marjolein Koek

Involving a beautiful dress from the late 1860s and stunning before and after photos, Suzan Meijer’s talk was a definite crowd pleaser.  Her talk focused on a silk moire dress in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.  (Now on my Top Ten list of places to visit, as it has over 10,000 textiles, the largest collection in the Netherlands!)  Treatment of the dress was spurred on by the museum’s launch of an expanded website that would allow digital access to select objects in the collection.  This dress was selected because it is one of the few examples of the late 1860s pre-bustle period remaining unaltered.  However, its selection meant that it would have to be dressed on a mannequin for extensive photography.  The dress had been kept in hanging storage, covered, for decades, and Suzan spoke of the truly delicate condition it was in: the silk was split throughout the skirt, and shattered in many places across the bodice.   These damages far exceeded those outlined in the last condition report from 1950 (which may have been partially caused by the dress having been worn to a party at the museum in the early 20th century!).  Although wear and long-term hanging storage undoubtedly contributed to the poor condition of the dress, Suzan noted how the moire production process would also have contributed to the degradation of the silk.  Moire is produced through calendering, which involves heat and a lot of pressure.  Tests showed that the silk may further have been weighted slightly, as small amounts of aluminum and iron were found in the fibers.  But despite structural issues, the silk was phenomenally un-faded!  The dye came back from the lab as 50% barberry and 49% unknown purple, red, and violet components.  One could easily see why the museum was eager to have this dress appear on their website!

However, to make this possible, it was determined that the skirt had to receive a full lining, and that the full lining would have to be adhesive since the silk was so delicate.  Unusual for the period, the bodice and skirt of the dress were attached.  Suzan said they hoped to apply the adhesive lining without clipping any of the original stitches but that attempts soon proved this impossible, due to the tight cartridge pleating at the waist.  Therefore, the decision was made to remove the skirt from the waistband so it could be laid flat.  Evacon R, an EVA adhesive, was applied to silk crepeline.  The adhesive coated silk crepeline was then attached to the interior of the skirt using heat reactivation, between 65-75 degrees Celsius.  When this was completed and the skirt began to be re-pleated, it was noticed that some of the slits were popping.  To fix this, nylon net was used as an overlay along the top few inches, sewn down to the underlying silk crepeline.

As for the bodice, it lacked both boning and lining, which proved fortuitous when repairing the shattered silk.  As with the skirt, adhesive-coated crepeline was used, but rather than a full lining, patches were applied.  Again, net was used as an overlay and stitched through to the crepeline.  However, unlike the skirt, small areas of the silk were missing, rather than just split.  Toned Japanese paper was used to fill in these losses.  After the stunning photograph was taken, available here, it was time for the dress to go back into storage.  Obviously, hanging storage was no longer an option, so a large custom box was made in which the dress could be stored flat.  A small “shelf” and tray was built into the box to accommodate the separate belt.  Suzan says that how surprising the condition of the dress was when treatment commenced led them to re-think their hanging storage.  Covers were removed and the garments moved farther apart so that any downturn in their condition would be noticed immediately.  I wish I had before photos to truly illustrate the amazing transformation this dress underwent.  Good job, Suzan!

 

45th Annual Meeting- BPG Session, May 31, “The Codex Eyckensis (8th century). Re-evaluation of the 20th century restoration & conservation treatments by Lieve Watteeuw

Professor Lieve Watteeuw introduces her presentation with a description of the Codex Eyckensis, the subject of her talk. The Codex is comprised of two distinct gospels bound as one, most likely made at the scriptorium of Echternach in Luxembourg in the 8th century. A study in 1994 showed that both of the gospel manuscripts were made in the same scriptorium, and most likely by the same scribe. The manuscripts were held in the treasury of the Abbey of Aldeneik until they were transferred to the treasury of St. Catherine’s church in Maaseik in 1571 during a period of religious unrest. In 1596, a pilgrimage feast was arranged to honor the pilgrimage of the Codex and the other treasures from the Abbey of Aldeneik. Every 7 years thereafter, in tandem with the holy feasts of Aachen, the Codex would be on view, processed to its former home at Aldeneik.  The manuscripts were turned over to private ownership in the years following the French Revolution, until they were returned to Maaseik in 1871. From that date, the manuscripts were again part of processions, but only every 25 years.

from http://www.codexeyckensis.be/codex-eyckensis-the-unique-codex-of-eyke

It was observed in 1957 that the manuscripts were in very poor condition, so an attempt was made to preserve them. At the time, bookbinder Karl Sievers of Dusseldorf laminated the pages of the manuscript with Mipofolie, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In the late 1980s, Professor Watteeuw noticed that the leaves had suffered from this treatment. The PVC had turned yellow and had hardened, and it was decided to remove this damaging material.

The conservation treatment spanned from 1989-93. The removal of the mipofolie was accomplished using a technique developed in Budapest, which involved suction and a light table. Once the mipofolie had been removed, losses in the leaves were filled with parchment pulp. In removing the plastic foil, some pigment was removed as well. All of the mipofolie sheets were kept that had been removed from the Codex Eyckensis with the idea that they might be able to be used one day. At the time of this intervention, the curators decided to rebind the two distinct manuscripts separately using glue free bindings with deer skin covers over oak boards. The manuscripts were put on permanent display.

from http://www.codexeyckensis.be/codex-eyckensis-the-unique-codex-of-eyke

After years on permanent display, Professor Watteeuw was asked to perform a condition report of the Codex in 2008, and in 2016-17 she began the process of analyzing the manuscripts. Her studies showed that there was still residue of the PVC within the pores of the parchment. With the Hirox 3D microscope, parchment fibers from the leafcasting treatment could be seen overlapping into the pigment on the leaves as could Japanese paper fibers from paper mends. MA-XRF (macro x-ray fluorescence ) analysis demonstrated the presence of Cu, Fe, Pb, and Iron Gall Ink, suggesting important similarities to the pigments used in the Book of Kells. The MA-XRF also showed that the same palette was used for both of the manuscripts of the Codex Eyckensis. Watteeuw used photometric stereo to document the thickness of the paint layers along with their texture. Using the pigments peeled away from the manuscript leaves on the mipofolie foils, Watteeuw could analyze the pigments using Raman, essentially making the best of a bad situation set in motion when the mipofolie was applied in 1957.

All of this analysis gives information on the possibly very close connections between the manuscripts of the Low Countries to Anglo Saxon lands. During this analysis,  Professor Watteeuw also played a crucial role in digitizing the Codex, which is now available online.

Questions from the floor following the talk:

Q1: Were you able to ID the green pigments? Can you see corrosion? A1: yes we were able to see corrosion, but undetermined green pigment, since some green not corroded.

Q2: Was there treatment strategy of stabilizing copper green? A2: no consolidation in the 90s, but parchment pulp might not have been the best choice of fill material (could have made worse?) Watteeuw notes she is afraid to turn the pages because she can hear the PVC within the leaves.

Q3: Any underdrawing? A1: yes, underdrawing or “mise en place” of canon tables is visible

Q4: Is it on permanent display? A4: yes, was on permanent display at fixed page. Now it’s in the lab, but will eventually be on permanent display again, for which we are developing lighting scenarios.

What a great, informative talk! Thanks to Professor Watteeuw, and I look forward to seeing what more they discover about these incredibly important manuscripts!

 

Bibliography

https://www.arts.kuleuven.be/english/news/codex_eyckensis

http://codexeyckensis.blogspot.com/

http://www.codexeyckensis.be/codex-eyckensis-the-unique-codex-of-eyke

45th Annual Meeting – Book and Paper Session, June 1, “The Challenge of Scale Revisited: Lessons learned from treatment and mounting an exhibition of 160 illuminated manuscripts” by Alan Puglia and Debora Mayer

At last year’s annual meeting, Debora Mayer described the approach of Harvard University’s Weissman Preservation Center to the treatment of 160 illuminated manuscripts for the exhibition “Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections.” That talk had focused on the challenges of undertaking a massive amount of media consolidation, which they had done by forming two teams of conservators, each following the same procedure in treating the manuscripts. This year, her colleague Alan Puglia followed up on that talk with a reflection of what they learned in the effort.

It is rare that a conservation lab can review a large body of conservation work that was, at least theoretically, conducted in the same way. This is particularly true when one considers media consolidation. Likewise, few labs are large enough to have so many conservators collaborate in trying to create consistent treatments. As such, the two teams decided to review a segment of their consolidation treatment to evaluate its efficacy.

One of the main goals of the treatment protocol had been uniformity; that is, it should be impossible to identify which conservator had treated which items. Another goal was open communication. Over the course of the review, it became clear that there had been some degree of departure in treatment procedures due to a lack of communication between the two teams of conservators. The teams were efficient in themselves, but communication tended to occur within the teams. As such, when a team tweaked procedures in response to the needs of specific manuscripts, these changes were not communicated to the other team. Alan identified this as one of the major pitfalls of undertaking large-scale treatments of this type – communication between teams as well as that within teams needs to be prioritized.

A selection of treated manuscripts was reviewed, and this review process was also conducted in two teams. The review was conducted blind, without looking at pre-exhibit documentation. Where there were questions raised, the other team was asked to review the pre-exhibit documentation. Pre-exhibit treatment documentation had been conducted in Photoshop with specific colors depending on the type of consolidant used; post-exhibit treatment was conducted on the same files using different colors to show the extent of the need for additional treatment. The result of the review process was that, while most manuscripts did not require much further work, there were some that clearly required a more complete treatment. The reasons for this are complex. As Alan said, the best treatment is not proof against handling, and perhaps the stress of travel and handling was too much for the fragile media in some manuscripts. In one manuscript, the three leaves that had suffered the most damage were clearly by a different artist, and perhaps there was something relating to the quality of his materials that made the media more vulnerable. Other red flags included cockling and creases, and the presence of glazes or overpainting.

The review also raised additional questions. When should the conservators stop treatment? Is their handling causing damage even as they seek to preserve the manuscript? Ultimately, Alan acknowledged, updating consolidation protocols is an ongoing process.

45th Annual Meeting – Objects Session, June 1, “The 40 Year Old Restoration of Bruce Conner’s CHILD” by Megan Randall

In this talk, Megan Randall, Objects Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art, tells the unique treatment history of Bruce Conner’s Child from 1976 – 2016. Bruce Conner was an artist who worked across media, from collage and sculpture to painting and drawing. Created in 1959, his sculpture Child is a corpse-like figure made of casting wax and shaped by hand. He sits in a high chair and is bandaged with stocking fabric and a belt around his waist, with additional wax painted on the surface. Child was made in response to the execution of Caryl Chessman, which Conner believed to be a social injustice.

Megan structured her discussion to be a timeline of Child’s complex exhibition and treatment history and described the numerous events that resulted in the figure’s condition when she first arrived at MoMA as a fellow in 2015. The sculpture was first exhibited in 1960 and received great attention from the public. It continued to gain exposure at galleries, in Conner’s one-man show, and even in public protests against police brutality and in 1970, was acquired by MoMA. The work was treated in 1976 in which the cheeks and head needed to be stabilized and an arm mended. Then, later that year, it was exhibited at SFMOMA, where Conner was disappointed to see its state significantly worsened. At this point, there had been no direct contact between MoMA and Conner, but he referenced the Geoffrey Clements photograph of how Child was originally positioned. It was clear that the shape of the figure had been badly deformed. The full figure had slumped forward, the mouth was now closed rather than open, and the legs had lowered and were in complete contact with the chair. However, it continued to tour at Hirschhorn Museum in 1988 and then at the Whitney in 1996, where Conner saw it once more and horrified, requested that it immediately be taken off view.

After several correspondences between MoMA and Conner, with the artist’s input on what needed to be adjusted, it was decided that a treatment of Child was necessary. Much of the issues with the positioning of the body was a result of the failing handmade hardware and joints and during an unfortunate turn of events during treatment, the body fell apart. Luckily all the original material was maintained, and the challenge was in terms of its assemblage. Sadly, Conner passed away in 2008.

In 2015, Megan Randall and Associate Objects Conservator at MoMA, Roger Griffith, started the journey to restore the exhausted Child. They began with documentation of the figure including imaging, photogrammetry to observe the three-dimensional positioning, and radiography to get a sense of the joining materials and the thickness of the wax. Child had been a victim of transport, handling, and failing of structural elements between its conception in 1960-2000.e treatment aimed to return the figure and vintage nylon stocking to their original orientation and stabilize the materials, while using images from the archive and Conner’s studio as reference.

Using a Go-Pro to document the process, the conservators carefully disassembled the figure, photographing each individual section and even had a carpenter create a replica of the high chair that Child sat on so that they could build up the figure away from the original nylon and wood. Loose sections were consolidated and the wax that had deformed was readjusted with heat and pressure. The next challenge was to create an armature that would help support the weight of the wax, as this was one of the original causes of the figure’s collapse. After months of testing, Megan and Roger decided to use polycaprolactone (PCL), an orthopedic thermoplastic polyester resin. It suited this project as it is a conformable, adjustable material that can withstand travel and is long lasting. Altraform was added into the armature and 3D Light Mesh was used to support weight from above as well. These materials were also Oddy tested and deemed safe for conservation practice.

After the figure was positioned back together, Megan and Roger had to tackle the vintage nylon stockings. Luckily, most could be repositioned safely, but three pieces needed replacements, for which Roger ordered online and surprisingly, toned with coffee and tea, to obtain the distressed appearance that gave Child its haunting effect. Finally, Child was back in its original orientation and ready to be shown at the Bruce Conner Retrospective at MoMA, and then subsequently, SFMOMA and the Reina Sofia.

After treatment photographs were taken to capture the armature inside each section and several techniques were used for recording its position. Photogrammetry was captured once again to compare future sets for monitoring any potential deformations or movements and radiography was done in order to monitor if the armature moved in the future as well as if the figure shifted in any way. A custom crate was created for safe travel to its next two immediate exhibition spaces and it just returned safely to MoMA, much to the happiness of the conservators. Ultimately, Bruce Conner’s Child has a complicated and extensive history, including it falling apart, but after countless hours of testing and treatment by conservators at MoMA, the figure was returned to its intended appearance and we as visitors had the pleasure of viewing its haunting and delicate beauty.