Marissa Stevenson presented on the effects of long-term display on the “Libbey Dolls” in the Toledo Museum of Art. The dolls were created in 1915 and are named for the collector who purchased them. They depict characters popular in the later nineteenth and early twentieth century using multiple types of media that include wax, plaster, feathers, fur, human hair, lace, plaster, cotton, plant material, wire armatures, and more. After full-time display for over fifty years, along with two interventions that date to pre-collection in 1917 and to 1951, the dolls were showing damage. During that time, the dolls were exposed to incandescent lighting with the associated light and heat conditions, fluctuating environment, and lack of support on display. The result? Disfigurement, cracking, light damage, and other structural damages, topped off with a healthy dose of dust and grime.
The conservation study focused on the wax and included identification and treatment. Through IR analysis, the wax was identified as bee’s wax, which was observed to become brittle and darken. It was applied in four layers, with two layers of plaster supporting it. Cleaning tests of 1% ammonium citrate, saliva, methylcellulose with deionized water rinses, and gels, showed that wheat starch paste and saliva were the most effective. Adhesive tests with Jade 403, Aquazol 500, Rhoplex AC33&N58, Avalure UR450, Avalure AC120 showed that Avalure AC120 and Aquazol 500 preformed best. The Avlaure also supported good pigment dispersion, so this was used in areas that needed pigmented fill material. Since Avalure has not been tested as an adhesive, Stevenson chose to use it to adhere a broken leg in her case study. The leg’s hidden location will allow them to observe how the resin holds up over time without compromising aesthetics should it prove to be problematic in any way. Since the head is in a visually prominent location, and Aquazol has been tested as adhesive with good results, it was used there.
With the wax issues under control, the next step will be to investigate what the clothing’s needs and to address them. Finally, storage mounts need to be made. Solutions will need to consider how to fully support the dolls, and will in some cases necessitate horizontal storage, and in others vertical storage. Fosshape is a likely candidate for helping to create these supports, forming it on Ethafoam model. An audience member brought up the idea of using Varaform fabric for the mounting system since he said it is less bulky than Fosshape, comes in 3 weights, and though it is heated to use, it is not thermally conductive. This was a new material for Stevenson, who said she would investigate. This also led to a brief discussion regarding to long-term storage. Since Fosshape has pass Oddy testing, it seems like a good idea, but we do not know about its aging properties, so question was raised about it being appropriate for long-term storage.
Category: Specialties
43rd Annual Meeting – Book & Paper Session, May 14, "The Book as Art: Conserving the Bible from Edward Kienholz's The Minister by Todd Pattison"
Todd gave a thought provoking talk on the biases a conservator brings to treatment proposals. His primary point was that while conservators have a responsibility to bring their expertise and ethical considerations to every treatment they do, they must also be flexible and considerate of curators’ wishes. He contended that while there were always wrong treatment decisions that could be made, there was no one right treatment decision. Every book is a living object. Treatment should be as unique as the treated item and should be considered in context with the item’s purpose and environment. To support his argument, Todd shared four examples from the NEDCC’s experience.
Example 1: Edward Kienholz’s The Minister
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery approached the NEDCC to treat a damaged bible. The bible was just one small part of a larger artwork by Edward Kienholz entitled The Minister. Like many of Kienholz’s artworks, The Minister was comprised of found objects, including the damaged bible. The NEDCC had been contacted because an overly enthusiastic patron of the gallery had accidentally separated the text block from the bible’s cover. Even before this catastrophic event, however, the bible had been in damaged, dirty and weak structural condition. This evidence of use in the bible’s pre-artwork past was an integral component of The Minister. As such, the NEDCC’s proposal for a standard treatment was not acceptable because it would have altered the appearance of the bible (and thus The Minister as a whole) too much. Instead, the bible’s structure was stabilized while carefully retaining all of the original spine linings and visible signs of damage.
Example 2: Riviere binding of Ben Johnson’s Works
The NEDCC quoted a 17th century copy of Ben Johnson’s Works which had been rebound in the early 20th century by the Riviere Bindery. During the rebinding, the text block had been bleached, oversewn, and bound in a tight red morocco binding. There was absolutely no question that the binding was causing further damage to the text, however the curator considered the piece to be a valuable teaching tool – not only for the original content of the text, but also as an example of an expensive personal possession from the early 20th century. It was important to the curator that the binding be preserved, not replaced with a binding sympathetic to the century in which the volume was published, regardless of the fact that disbinding the volume to address the structural problems would have provided stronger protection to the weakened paper of the text block. As a result, the NEDCC repaired the Riviere binding and otherwise left the binding and sewing structure as they received it.
(For those interested, Princeton University Library has a lovely collection of Riviere bindings online.)
Example 3: A View of Antiquity by Jonathan Hamner, et al
The discussed copy of A View of Antiquity came to the NEDCC in beautiful disrepair. The binding had parted way with the pastedowns, the sewing thread was missing entirely. All in all, it could have served as a wonderful teaching tool on bookbinding structure of the 17th century. As such, the NEDCC’s first instinct was to quote nothing more than a box to protect the volume; however, this volume was central to the institution’s identity. The volume was an important marketing tool for the institution, and it needed to look the part, so the NEDCC did a thorough and aesthetically pleasing restoration of the volume.
Example 4: Battlefield Bible
Todd’s last example was a bible covered in mud to the point of textual illegibility. As a conservator, one’s first instinct would be to wash the text block, but that would have destroyed the history of the volume – for its provenance was that it had been recovered from the battlefield at Gettysburg.
This last example reminded me strongly of the recent Preserving the Evidence: The Ethics of Book Conservation Symposium held at the Newberry library in April. Jeanne Drewes of the Library of Congress discussed a copy of Lincoln’s second inaugural speech that was found to have a fingerprint on it. They are currently doing DNA testing to find out if the fingerprint belonged to Lincoln himself. Had that document been cleaned, the evidence would have been destroyed.
43rd Annual Meeting, Textiles Specialty Group, “Breaking Canvas: A Case Study on a French Embroidery,” Rebecca Beyth
Rebecca Beyth, Assistant Conservator, Textile Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art, presented an interesting case study of a pair of embroidered curtain panels in the Met’s collection. The panels had been selected for display in the Met’s 2013-14 Invisible Globe exhibit. Beyth noted that in first looking at the pieces while they were being considered for the exhibit, she and her colleagues thought that they would need very little treatment. Once the pieces came into the lab, the conservators were able to examine the pieces more closely and realized that they were much more fragile than they had originally seen. The ground canvas was splitting and shredding.
Beyth reviewed the treatment history of these pieces at the Met, which showed some previous treatments, including stitching repairs, removal of the linings that were on the curtains when they came into the collections (these are now preserved in the Met’s Ratti Center), and attachment of a lining in the 1980s. This review of past treatments conformed to my experiences – no matter how good you think your documentation is, it is never complete and never answers some of your key questions! Beyth and her colleagues felt that the 1980’s lining did not offer enough support for the three month exhibition, for which the curtains were to be displayed vertically. They decided to remove the 1980s lining and begin again.
This time, they used a heavier weight fabric from Creation Bauman. To allow researchers access to the back of the embroidery, they made the lining in three wide, vertical strips, leaving two-inch areas between the lining strips. The back of the embroidery was visible in these areas. To me, this was the best aspect of the treatment. The linings were applied to the curtains by sewing, using couching stitches in areas of damage and herringbone stitches for the main support. A header of the same fabric and a Velcro strip were sewn to the top edges.
To display the curtains, they used what they call a “gallery installation mount,” a fabric-covered rigid mount. They stapled the hook side of the Velcro to the mount and affixed the curtains with the Velcro. For display, the mounted curtains were placed in a five-sided Plexiglas box.
This treatment permitted these colorful objects to be a part of an important exhibit. It allows them to be stored rolled, to save space, and provides access to researchers. I also enjoyed the presentation as it gave a few more views of the Interwoven Globe exhibit, of which I am a huge fan.
43rd Annual Meeting – Objects Specialty Group Tips Session, May 16, “Lacquer Fills” by Ellen Promise, with Jessica Chloros and Holly Salmon
During the OSG tips luncheon, Ellen Promise, currently of Historic New England and formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, presented new techniques for filling and inpainting lacquer. The techniques, developed in collaboration with Jessica Choloros and Holly Salmon, are readily applicable to many types of objects, not just lacquer.
Lacquer objects, especially those damaged by light, have very sensitive surfaces; therefore creating fills in situ can be dangerous. In the technique presented, Golden Acrylic Regular Gel Medium in matte was mixed with acrylic paint to a frosting-like consistency. The tinted mixture was then cast out onto silicone release mylar. After drying, the paint film remains flexible, has the bulk required for a fill, and resembles the sheen of aged lacquer. The paint film is trimmed to shape with a scalpel and then adhered in place with fish glue or B-72. While the fill isn’t invisible at the edges, it is harmonious with aged, cracked lacquer and remains reversible.
Promise also described her experiments with inpainting lacquer, specifically the fine gold lines often found on these objects. While acrylic paint is easy to use, the texture and shine is often not a good match. Promise tested several other options – metallic pens and markers, metallic paints, and mica powders dusted over sizes. She evaluated the materials for color, texture, gloss, and adhesion to an acrylic substrate. For the object in her case study, a Chinese export table in the collection of Historic New England, she had the best results with a Decocolor opaque paint marker. The marker was a good color match and had a high pigment load without bulk. The marker, which produced a fine line, could be used directly on the fill, or the ink could be dispensed into a palette, mixed with solvent, and brush applied.
AIC 43rd Annual Meeting Paintings Specialty Group Session, Friday, May 15, 2015 “Fracture or Facture: Interpreting Intent During the Treatment and Analysis of Georges Braque’s AJAX” by Allison Langley
mixed media on paper mounted on canvas,
180 x 72 cm, Bequest of Florene May Schoenborn,
Art Institute of Chicago
Allison Langley gave a fascinating and comprehensive presentation on how the research and technical analysis conducted by she and her colleagues, Francesca Casadio and Ken Sutherland led to treatment decisions on a mixed media painting done by Georges Braque late in his career, AJAX. Allison’s description of Braque’s use of materials on this and other of his paintings, his working methods and evidence gleaned from pigment analysis and period photos wove a wonderful tapestry that provided the audience with a rich and intimate understanding of the creative process of this modern master.
The paintings primary support is paper mounted to two canvases on a stretcher. The subject, a mythological figure, is an example of the artist’s fascination with the subject in this period of his career and is related to a group of etchings by Braque of mythological figures in black and white. Ajax is depicted in profile in black against a white background. The white ground layer, identified as lead is intentionally exposed on some areas of the design. The painting demonstrates Braque’s interest in surface variations which, in this case, resulted from the artist’s reworking of the painting over a number of years, between 1948 and 1953. Photos of the artist’s studio showed AJAX among other works and illustrate the fact that the artist was known to work on several paintings at once, perhaps every day and would return to work on some paintings months and years later often reworking his compositions. An anecdote to this scenario was the fact that GCMS of a burnt umber paint showed nicotine in the paint!
The original delineation of AJAX was executed in a thin, black paint identified as carbon black. Its gouache appearance was confirmed as containing pine resin and gum. Original reworkings of the composition over old losses demonstrate that the painting had insecurities early on, while in the artist’s studio. Reworkings, often in the form of drips and splatters cover large losses, some on the figure. The authors were able to identify older and newer losses and cracking in the paint film.
Analysis of reworkings over losses show changes to Braque’s palette in his late career. Visible brushwork and drips that were later additions were identified using GCMS: he added mars red with impasto, the addition of a light green passage in the upper right which wrinkled upon drying contains ochre and Prussian blue, added loops of white were identified as containing zinc and titanium and Hansa yellow was found in highlights. A dark grey showed iron with black.
These technical insights contributed to the notion that Braque played arbitrary games with the image as it evolved. Loops, wet drips and other passages show an idiosyncratic application of paint with varying surface characteristics. The figure “8” was added later as it is not visible in older photos and he painted over the word “AJAX” in the lower right. The additions added ever greater variations in the surface sheen. These variations are preserved by the artist by avoiding a final, overall varnish layer. Braque even left a warning to future conservators with his inscription on the reverse: “Ne Pas Varnis”.
Critical to the development of the treatment protocol for the painting was the need to consolidate insecurities without disturbing the delicate balance of varied sheen and texture on the surface. Braque accepted some losses as adding texture. High resolution scans were overlapped provided a map where losses could be compared. The old photos aided in the interpretation. A 4% solution of ethulose (ethylhydroxyethylcellulose) in water and ethanol, 1:1, was used with a hot air tool to consolidate loose paint without adding shininess. Gamblin conservation colors were used on early losses and repaints in a blue area were left untouched. Losses were not filled. Losses in the head were compensated with inpainting.
This unique work testifies to Braque’s diverse palette late in his career. The used of drying oil, linseed oil, pine resin and stand oil, identified during analysis lead to the varied texture he created on the surface. These experimentations highlight ideas Braque was contemplating with his contemporary, Manet.
AJAX was included in an exhibition of Braque’s work at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2014.
43rd Annual Meeting – Joint Session: Architecture and Wooden Artifacts, May 14, "Furniture/Interiors Conservation Training in China by Gregory Landrey"
The third class of students has just been accepted into the CRAFT Program (Conservation Resources for Architectural Interiors/Furniture and Training) at the Palace Museum/Forbidden City in Beijing, co-sponsored by World Monuments Fund, the Palace Museum and Tsinghua University, where Greg Landrey worked as Conservator in Residence last fall. Landrey began his lecture by introducing the city of Beijing with a focus on the layout of the Forbidden City, in particular the Qianlong Garden (a cluster of 28 modest buildings in the northeast corner), as these interiors and their furnishings are used as teaching tools and selectively treated by the students in the program. The current student class size is approximately twelve students, and Landrey spoke through an interpreter when teaching. He also introduced the team of American conservators who have been teaching at CRAFT, and stressed that collaboration with the team was extremely important throughout the teaching process. Chinese experts also teach courses on wood identification, furniture history, and architectural history and preservation.
Landrey showed numerous photographs of the students at work in their classroom and lab, which appeared to be a large, modern, and filled with natural light. His curriculum began with conservation ethics and theory, using the “three-legged stool” example as a teaching tool. Other subjects included the nature of wood, building hygrometers to see wood movement in action, wood technology, loss compensation, and casting. Landrey said that learning went both ways, because the students shared their knowledge of craft approaches and techniques with him throughout the semester. Treatment was also a teaching tool, with the students working as a class to document, analyze, and clean a three-part screen from the Qianlong Garden quarter of the Forbidden City. Landrey also had the students carry out drawing exercises each week to hone their drawing and observation skills, and he showed some particularly lovely examples to the audience. Field trips were taken to museums in Suzhou, as well as to the studio of a traditional lacquer artist and brocade museum with active looms.
Landrey had the students regularly read the AIC Code of Ethics as well as the Principles of Conservations of Heritage Sites in China, and expound on passages they felt were particularly meaningful to them. The student answers were shared with the audience as they were very insightful and showed how much they had learned. The goal of the program is to produce conservators to serve projects in China, and eventually the CRAFT curriculum will be entirely taught by Chinese conservators and scholars.
This talk was peppered with wonderful images and insights into Landrey’s life in Beijing, including the lively chaos of the city streets, Tai Chi being practiced by the students and staff in the morning, and the reverence the culture has for trees, which apparently made him feel a little bit more at home.
43rd Annual Meeting – Joint Session: Architecture and Wooden Artifacts, May 14, "Analyses of the Architecture of Wooden Churches from Buzau County, Romania by Necula Elena-Theodora"
The speaker began with some general information about Romania, where more than 12,000 historical wooden churches survive, eight of which are UNESCO sites. In the north, one distinguishing feature of the churches is a bell tower atop a sharply sloping roof, for drainage due to the abundant rainfall in that area. In the drier south, there are no bell towers and the roof is lower, more in the style of a traditional Romanian house. Focusing on Buzau County (located between Moldova, Transylvania and Wallachia), most of the churches are in the northwest region, with thirty-two historic churches of particular importance. The speaker carried out in-situ investigations of these churches in the summer of 2013, and these investigations appeared to consist of archival research, visual investigation and documentation. Most of the buildings are of wood beam construction with a rectangular floor plan that follows the plan of the Orthodox Church, and include a porch at the front entrance. Many contain interior paintings on sheet metal or on wood, executed in oil (on metal) or tempera (wood). Some exterior decoration survives in the form of shallowly carved motifs. The speaker spent a few minutes presenting each church, usually showing an overall exterior photograph, a floor plan, any specific construction details that made it unique, as well as an abbreviated history of its restoration. Some images of the interior paintings were also shown. The state of conservation of the churches was not discussed, although it was a question afterwards. The speaker answered that while some of the churches are still in use, most are completely abandoned and in need of care.
AIC 43rd Annual Meeting- Architecture Specialty Group Session, May 16th: “One Piece at a Time- The Repair of Felt-Bases Sheet Flooring at Johnny Cash’s Boyhood home in Dyess, Arkansas” (Christina Varvi)
Christina first discussed the location- a New Deal planned farming community of 500 homes. It is now the only surviving home from the community and the town now has only 388 residents today. The home was acquired by the Arkansas Heritage Sites if Arkansas State University, located an hour and a half away. The home was furnished with 2 rooms of original flooring and objects owned by the family augmented by furniture dating to the time and 2 rooms of floor covering belonging to nearby Dyess Colony houses. The house was to be opened as a historic site for visitors in August 2014
RLA (Rosa Lowinger & Associates) was brought in at the end of the project to conserve the original floor coverings. Consideration had to be taken into account that the living room flooring would be walked on. There was little time and budget due to this being an add-on to the project at the last minute. The original estimate was double what the project could afford. Discussions led to a scale back in the project and priorities were set to what was most important to happen right away. Treatment was mostly confined to the 2 original-to-the-house floorings- those in the living room and Johnny Cash’s boyhood bedroom. Treatment was confined to cleaning (vacuuming and surface wet cleaning), stabilization of tears (on back with Japanese tissue and B72), fills and in-painting on living room flooring, and varnish (applied by brush) to protect the surface of the flooring. The non-original-to-the-house flooring was not varnished. Recommendations for now are furniture pads to protect the floor underneath, recommendations for visitors to remove shoes and use booties in the living room and roller shades to reduce light during off hours. Next steps are to raise additional funds to finish work on the floor, work on additional buildings on site (outlying farm buildings) and to raise funds for a visitor center.
There were many complexities to this project: the area was very rural, there was no running water in the house, the house was climate controlled but not airtight, no shops to be able to get supplies and the client was an hour and a half away. Everything had to be brought in. Additionally since the floor covering project was a last minute addition, furniture was already in place and could not be moved out of the house. With careful planning, much more was accomplished in the time given than was though possible and the treatment was a success.
AIC 43rd Annual Meeting- Practical Philosophy General Session May 15th: “Suspended Rules for Suspended Worlds: Conserving Historic Stage Scenery” (Mary Jo (MJ) Davis)
I was interested in this talk because it seemed an interesting intersection between textiles and objects together with the complications of working on objects that are still in use.
MJ discussed the set of challenges of working with historic stage scenery: climate, use, lack of funds, space to do treatments, ect. The “Curtains Without Borders” team (started 15 years ago in the state of Vermont) of conservators came up with a standard method of treatment that could be applied, with some differences as need, to the stage curtains. The typical treatment consists of: on-site technical examination, cleaning (vacuuming and dry sponging), mending tears with patches of muslin w/B72, inserts to areas of loss, consolidation of edges (all sides reinforced with muslin w/B72), structural support at top edge if necessary and reattachment of bottom roller, paint consolidation (sprayed B72), in-painting of losses and reinstallation with volunteers or professional riggers as needed. All work is done onsite by conservators and a team of local volunteers (with at least 2 at all times). Many conserved curtains have been revisited over the years and additional issues have been attended to. Issues have mostly come from handling of curtains once they were re-installed.
The project has been a success all over New England- with more requests coming in from all over the country for help. There are plans to continue the project and expand territory.
AIC 43rd Annual Meeting- Book and Paper Group-Case Study: A Practical Approach to the Conservation & Restoration of a Pair of Large Diameter English Globes (Lorraine Bigrigg & Deborah LaCamera)
This talk presented the multi-disciplinary treatment involved in conserving two English globes- one celestial, one terrestrial. Overall it took 1400 studio hours! That is no typo! Deborah has kindly forwarded some screenshots of the powerpoint that you will find below.
The globes were made between 1845-51 by Malby & Co (http://www.georgeglazer.com/globes/globeref/globemakers.html#malby jump to “Malby”) and they were acquired in 1851 by the University of Deseret, the university founded by the Church of Later Day Saints, now University of Utah.
The structure of these globes goes back to the early 16th century. Globes are essentially 2 hemispheres molded over a form and joined at the equator with an adhesive. The globe is then covered with plaster and paper gores (a gore is the name for the printed sections of paper that contain the informational content of the globe) and the entirety is burnished and varnished.
The Malby globes of the University of Utah were in poor condition, with cracks and losses and discolored varnish. The speakers considered the options for treatment of the two globes and decided they needed to treat them differently, since the terrestrial globe was so damaged that all of the gores needed to be removed and the hemispheres realigned, while the celestial globe had only small areas of damage so it did not need to be completely disassembled.
The treatment involved removing the varnish, removing the paper gores with a hand-held steamer, realigning the terrestrial globe’s hemispheres, cleaning the gores, mending, filling losses, reattaching the gores, burnishing, then varnishing.
Where there were areas of loss to the information on the gores, the TKM studio found gore reference sheets from Malby at the Royal Geographic Society in London. These were copied and then printed using pigmented ink-jet printer for the celestial globe. Gores from another globe, also at the RGS in London, were used as a reference for the terrestrial globe replacement gores. The reproductions were inserted as fills in the specific areas of loss in the cartography. Since this treatment, carried out in 2007, new techniques have become available, and the TKM studio has been using Pronto plates (http://www.nontoxicprint.com/polyesterplatelitho.htm ) for the past year or so. These plates use traditional printer’s ink, which is light, solvent, and heat stable.
The filled gores were registered and reattached to the hemispheres using a wheat starch paste-methyl cellulose mix.
After mounting the gores, the globes were burnished, then sized with 3% gelatin mixture. After in-painting, the globes were varnished with Dammar containing Tinuvin. The authors stressed that the entire project was multi-disciplinary as the stand was repaired and the metalwork was cast and engraved to form the completed object.
The treatment is published in the most recent Journal of the Institute for Conservation, volume 38 no.1 2015