Category: Specialties

AIC’s 39th Annual Meeting – Paintings Morning Session on June 3, “Industrial Literature as a Resource in Modern Materials Conservation” by Dawn V. Rogala

Artists working in the post-WWI era frequently used industrial products in their work.  This can put conservators in the position of dealing with materials with unknown compositions and behaviors that are not conducive to long-term preservation.  Unfortunately, existing conservation literature does not always provide adequate materials information or case studies for conservators wrestling with these issues.  Expanding literature searches to include period industrial articles can fill in those informational gaps.

Dawn Rogala discovered the benefits of such industrial literature while researching mid-century American oil-based zinc oxide house paint during her postgraduate fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.  Her research focused on a group of abstract expressionist paintings and the relationship between their zinc oxide grounds and failure of the paint layers.  She found that industrial literature provided significant evidence of a connection between the choice of materials and the current unstable condition of the paintings.

The period between 1925 to 1950 provided Rogala with the most useful articles, likely due to market demand and frequent product adaptation during that time.  The largest percentage of articles she found were presented by representatives of the paint manufacturers who were focused on promoting the benefits of their paint to consumers.  Those may seem like biased and unreliable sources for accurate information, however such articles often mentioned engineered mechanical behaviors that were considered beneficial in their paint films.  Approximately 25% of the articles in her research were affiliated with scholarly research.  Those articles provided more comprehensive and practical analyses of paint film behaviors with useful reference bibliographies.

Weathering test articles were another rich source of information on paint formulations and behaviors.  The variations in regional weather often caused adaptations in regional paint formulations.  This meant that artists working with a zinc oxide house paint in a mild climate may have worked with an entirely different formulation of zinc oxide house paint than an artist working in a more severe climate during the same period.  It also suggested titanium dioxide’s introduction into house paints in the mid-1950s could have been delayed on a global scale when considering issues of climate influences on formulation changes.

One of the specific examples Rogala gave to illustrate the usefulness of industrial literature referred to self-renewing paint films.  Weathering test articles cited a preference for acicular particles because their brittle nature allowed for microfissures in the paint, which would cause it to slough off in the rain and result in a crisp clean surface.  Another example was the mention that three years was the required life expectancy for engineered paint films according to industrial standards.  While such qualities were acceptable and even desirable in house paints, such paint films pose clear disadvantages for conservation.  In fact, Rogala pointed out a 1909 article that warned about the dangers of zinc oxide paint as a ground layer!

I thought this was an outstanding presentation.  Conservators must be resourceful and adaptable when dealing with unknown, unpredictable materials.  This is a particular necessity when it comes to the conservation and preservation of modern and contemporary artwork.  I appreciate Rogala’s study for delving into the industrial side of zinc oxide and providing an open look at a somewhat unconventional resource for conservation research.

AIC’s 39th Annual Meeting – Paintings Morning Session on June 3, “The Construction and Reconstruction of the 15th Century Spanish Retable” by Judy Dion

Judy Dion’s study of 15th-century Spanish retables adds to the limited information available on the impressive altarpieces that have undergone less technical and historical research than their Northern European and Italian Renaissance cousins.  Dion’s research is the result of five years of collaborative efforts during her Mellon Fellowships at the Balboa Art Conservation Center and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  The study involved extensive non-invasive examination of panel paintings from the collections at the San Diego Museum of Art and Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as paintings in Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and mainland Europe.  Dion focused her investigation by concentrating on panel paintings made in the Spanish regions of València, Catalonia, and Aragón. Her findings address construction methods specific to Spanish retables, how construction features on individual or smaller sections of panels can provide clues to their placement within a complete retable, and the history and changing attitudes regarding alterations of disassembled panels.

To summarize the discussion of construction, retables consisted of a central panel surrounded by additional panels usually in the form of an inverted T-shape that measured anywhere from two to seven meters high.  The panels were in a fixed position and surrounded by framing components that served as pictorial and transitional elements between the scenes.  Review of the fabrication methods showed the panels, most often constructed from poplar or pine, were assembled using butt-joined boards with battens.  Transverse battens were used in combination with either vertical or diagonal battens but the latter were never used together.  All of the retables from the Valencia region examined in Dion’s study had diagonal battens and metal dowels were common additions.  Any flaw in the panels were filled with wooden shims and gesso before painting commenced.  Nonwoven plant fibers and fabric were also used in preparation of the panels.

In my opinion the most interesting part of the construction was during the assembly step that included the framing elements.  The frame components were attached to one of any two adjacent panels and then overlapped the face of the second panel. Raised framing elements were installed during the final assembly.  This construction caused a bare edge and gesso burr on the side of the panel with the attached framing element, while the paint layer extended to the edge of the side that was overalapped.  As a result, individual panels often appeared asymmetrical when retables were disassembled.

The disassembly of retables was often a response to changing aesthetics, demand for profit, and damages.  Individual or smaller panel sections could hold a higher value than an intact retable.  This led to frequent alterations of the panels to improve their appearance as stand-alone works.  Such alterations included but were not limited to repainting, the addition of false elements, and cutting down of the panel edges.  Fortunately, shifts in the methodology of collecting institutions encourage the recognition and appreciation of the historical context of fragmented works.  Panels that were altered for the aforementioned reasons are increasingly the subjects of reversal treatments.  In some cases the alterations are left visible, while in others missing or altered elements are restored to recover evidence of their original appearance.

This is a very abridged overview of Judy Dion’s thorough research and presentation due to my mere mortal status as a note taker.  I encourage anyone interested in this subject to seek out the conference postprints and/or approach Ms. Dion with any questions regarding her study.  She applied her findings to a hypothetical reconstruction of Jaume mateu’s The Birth of the Virgin, from the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  It is an excellent case study and definitely worth a review to gain a greater understanding of this research.

 

 

39th Annual Meeting – Book and Paper Session, Wednesday, June 1, “Practical Applications of Lascaux Acrylic Dispersions in Paper Conservation,” Samantha Sheesley, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts

Due to their stability, reversibility, and working properties, Lascaux 360HV and 498HV adhesives are becoming increasingly popular in book and paper conservation. Samantha Sheesley of the  Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts presented three case studies of treatment applications that take advantage these properties.

The first case study involved treatment of a set of “Sailor Jerry” drawings on transparent paper. Both the presence of water-sensitive media and the reactive nature of the transparent paper meant that Sheesley was looking for a way to mend the drawings without introducing moisture. Lascaux 498HV was brushed in an even film layer onto a sheet of silicone-coated polyester and then quickly dried with a hair drier. Sheesley pointed out that this quick drying is an important step in order to prevent dust from settling into still-tacky adhesive. After drying, a sheet of tengucho mending tissue was placed on top of the 498HV film layer; the adhesive was reactivated with an iron to adhere the paper to the film.  After removing the silicone-coated polyester, the adhesive-coated tengucho was used to create mending strips that were applied to the drawings with heat, resulting in nearly-invisible mends that are easily reversed with either heat or solvent (acetone or toluene).

The second treatment example of was the re-lining of a lithographic poster. A hydrophobic coating on the paper and water-sensitive media required a dry lining method. Lascaux 498HV was applied to a sheet of silicone-coated polyester (a light mist of water under the polyester secured it to the bench) and squeegeed in multiple directions to create a thin, even film – Sheesley emphasized again that it was important to work quickly when applying and drying the film layer in order to avoid dust settling in the adhesive. Lining paper was placed on top of the dry adhesive film and adhered with an iron. Once cooled, the silicone-coated polyester was pulled away from the lining paper. The poster was placed face down on a suction table to keep all pieces in place and then the lining paper was dropped adhesive side down, tacked in place with an iron, removed from suction table and ironed overall.

The third case study – in my opinion, the most ingenious of the applications –  involved the use of a Lascaux mixture as a fill material for a convex photo button with a severe horizontal split. The button was a silver gelatin print with a cellulose nitrate coating on a metal substrate. The tented split created a gap that was both structurally and aesthetically problematic. Sheesley needed a fill material that would be flexible enough to accommodate dimensional changes in the object. She mixed equal parts Lascaux 360HV and 498HV, in order to take advantage of the unique properties of each, and added pigment. As in the first two examples, this mixture was brushed onto silicone-coated polyester and quickly dried. She scored the edge of the pigmented film and removed a small strip which she then rolled into a coil –  the inclusion of Lascaux 360HV in the mixture, which retains it’s tackiness even when dry, meant that there was just enough residual tackiness for the adhesive film to stick to itself. After mending the photo with small strips of Beva (which were inserted in to the crack with very fine-point tweezers) the Lascaux coil was fitted into the gap and tacked in place with an iron. Sheesley then ironed the coil overall through a sheet of silicone film which imparted a shiny texture to the surface of the Lascaux fill, mimicking the surface quality of the cellulose nitrate for better visual integration. The fill was then inpainted with acrylics. The “after treatment” photos of the button were impressive – I hope an appropriate object comes across my bench soon so that I can try out this technique!

Q: Does creating repair tissue using dry adhesive rather than wet adhesive (i.e., brushing diluted Lascaux onto mending tissue) create a less transparent mend?
A: Sheesley tested both methods and found then to be similarly transparent. She also speculated that the the dry film methods would be more easily reversible, since the adhesive doesn’t penetrate into the mending paper fibers as it would in a wet application.

Q: Were any adverse effects of using the hot iron next to the cellulose nitrate?
A: No harmful effects were observed.

Q: Was there any residual tackiness on the coil infill, since it contained 360HV?
A: No, the presence of 498HV in the mixture and the acrylic paints on top of the fill meant that there was no remaining tackiness.

Q: Concerns about reversibility.
A: Sheesley stated that though reversing the treatments could be time consuming, she was able to reverse all of her repairs.

39th Annual Meeting – Paintings Morning Session, Friday June 3 – “An Experimental Study on the Merits of ‘Virtual Cleaning’ of Paintings” by John Delaney

John Delaney discussed the “yellow filter” model for virtual cleaning and compared it to experimental results from measurements of cleaned paintings before and after treatment.  To estimate the result of removing a discolored varnish, conservators sometimes correct the color using imaging software, “subtracting” out the varnish as if it were a yellow filter.  The experimental values were collected using FORS (fiber optic reflectance spectrometry) of specific points and hyperspectral imaging of the entire surface of the paintings.  The specific values for the  “yellow filter”  for a given painting is taken from the absorbance spectrum of the removed varnish and then applied to the rest of the painting.  After examining the spectra before cleaning, after cleaning, and the estimated virtual cleaning, it was clear that the yellow filter model for virtual cleaning was not enough to explain the spectral changes seen after cleaning.  After varnishing the cleaned area, there was no change in color, only an increased brightness indicated by a rise in the near-infrared signal, so that alone did not explain the additional component missing from the yellow filter model.

I was thinking that even if it wasn’t spectrally perfect, could the yellow filter model at least be a good tool for an estimation of results?  The example of the 15th century Tuscan panel convinced me otherwise—while the yellow filter worked well for the blue areas, the model was a poor estimate for the red and brown areas.  One component that is not taken into account with the yellow filter model is the effect of scattering by the varnish.  Aged varnishes don’t just yellow, they also increase the scattering of light.  Even with a scattering model included, the yellow filter model still did not accurately reflect the results of removing a yellowed varnish.

While virtual cleaning with simple “yellow filter” color correction in image processing software such as Photoshop is cheap and can be somewhat informative, it certainly is not a perfect model for varnish removal, even when the yellow filter’s spectrum is taken from the actual discolored varnish.  The study has not considered selective cleaning, grime removal, or other nuances of cleaning paintings, which would only further complicate the spectral correction.

39th Annual Meeting – Joint Paintings/Research and Technical Studies Session, June 3, “Speed, Precision, And A Lighter Load: Metigo MAP 3.0, A Great Advancement In Condition Mapping For Large-Scale Projects” by Emily MacDonald-Korth

Emily MacDonald presented on the usefulness of a new condition mapping program called Metigo MAP 3.0.  She began her presentation with a description of a collaborative project between  the University of Delaware and the Tsinghua University (Beijing) led by Dr. Susan Buck (Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation) and Dr. Liu Chang (Tsinghua University) to examine and document Buddhist murals and polychromy in the Fengguo Temple (Fengguosi), located in Yixian County, Liaoning Province, China.  The four interior walls of the temple are lined with the murals.  The murals were in very poor condition and their contained images were skewed by loss and other damage.

The Metigo Map software allowed the conservation team to map the murals’ condition issues in a short period of time.  The software incorporates mapping, digital imaging, and area measurement tools. The program streamlines the mapping process and is easy to use.  Emily compared the software to known and used techniques of documentation and illustrated the limitations of each.

Metigo Map was created by German company fokus GmbH Leipzig, dedicated to architectural surveying in addition to documentation of large scale conservation projects.

Maps are produced by uploading images into the software.  The images can then be drawn on and annotated.  The program makes the image true to scale and is able to rectify skewed images to proper orientation.  This allows images to be used that were taken from an angle if your subject is not accessible from the front.  By inputting the dimensions of the painting, the software can give exact locations of areas of interest and calculate the surface area of damage.  This feature can also be useful in making time estimates for proposals on big projects.  Image processing setting allows for photo editing to aid mapping.   Mapped images can then be exported as tif. files and opened in other programs.

For the presentation, Emily chose three murals to be representative of the condition issues they noted overall.  The conservators worked as a team, using Metigo Map to document the condition of the murals.  After the murals are mapped, the maps can be compared easily for condition issues.  The software can also be used to map the locations of samples.  Annotations can be made to the maps for future referral.

For large scale projects or projects particularly difficult to photograph, users can use the tiling function of the software to piece together the rectified image.  This allows for seeing the project unobstructed.

Emily also illustrated how Metigo map can be used to document experiments.  She has also used the software while working on a graffitti removal research project at the Getty to document surface changes and areas of treated surfaces.

Emily summed up the talk with an excellent slide comparing the pros and cons of the software.  The pros included:  easy mapping, image processing, rectification, measurement functions, compatibility with other software, and easy interface.  Cons included:  requires initial training, no white balance (but this can be done on photoshop beforehand), and cost (more expensive than adobe creative but less expensive than autocad).

39th Annual Meeting – Paintings Morning Session, Friday June 3 – “A Soluble Problem: Morse’s ‘Gallery of the Louvre,’ Glazing, and Toning” by Lance Mayer

In his talk, Lance Mayer introduced “Gallery of the Louvre” by Samuel F.B. Morse and detailed the treatment and history of the painting.  The main condition problem with “Gallery of the Louvre” was the overall yellowed appearance caused by a discolored varnish and the extensive yellowing and darkening of the artist’s original glazes.  Almost preemptively, Lance discussed (and dismissed) the possibility of simply “thinning” the varnish, the choice of many paintings conservators in this situation—if the varnish cannot be safely removed in total, partial reduction of the coating may be possible without significantly effecting the layers below.  Lance showed examples of several treatments where he had been able to reduce or remove varnish coatings above sensitive paint layers that included wax and bitumen, but this approach was not feasible in this case.  Analysis of “Gallery of the Louvre” revealed mastic and some oil in the glaze layers, but it is not clear if this was due to the use of mastic varnish in the paint or the use of a megilp medium. There was no cleaning system that could distinguish between the overall varnish and the extensive glazing, and there were plenty of examples of previous cleaning tests which either removed glazes entirely or solubilized both the varnish and glaze layers and mixed the two together.  Several of the paintings depicted in the composition had been selectively cleaned previously, leaving the overall tonality of Morse’s painting out of balance with starkly overcleaned pictures hanging in the yellowed room.  In addition, there were areas of discolored retouching and several areas of reworked paint over large, flake losses.  Morse rolled the painting for transport from France and perhaps the painting stuck to itself—the retouching in these areas is thought to be by Morse himself because they are not well-defined and have a distinctly different appearance when compared to other restorations present.

This treatment and the problems presented fall into a grey area for conservators, and the goals for treatment were realigned accordingly—the goal after the thorough examination was not to clean the painting and remove materials, but rather to “undo” previous cleanings and restorations by adding materials to allow it to be read as a harmonious and coherent whole.

An overall grime layer was removed, and the painting was varnished overall with MS2A.  “Bright,” overcleaned areas were toned back, as were abrasions and selected craquelure, particularly in dark areas.  The flake losses thought to be repainted by Morse were not filled, and previous discolored retouchings were toned to blend with the surrounding areas.  The painting, while still yellow overall, is more harmonious after treatment and the compositional space is much easier to read, particularly the hallway that recedes into the background.

Lance concluded with some discussion of Morse’s techniques, citing his contemporaries who said Morse was too fond of process and often glazed paintings until they looked soiled.  Thomas Cole criticized Washingtion Allston, Morse’s teacher, saying “Those pictures which anticipate the beauties of time are pregnant with the seeds of decay,” which was true for Morse’s “Gallery of the Louvre” as well.

39th Annual Meeting – Book and Paper Session, Wednesday, June 1, “How Far Do We Go? Compensation And Mounting Choices In The Treatment Of Japanese Paintings,” Tanya Uyeda, Asian Conservation Studio, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Tanya Uyeda, conservator at the Asian Conservation Studio at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, kicked off the first BPG session of the conference with an interesting and nicely illustrated talk on the treatment decision-making challenges presented by Japanese paintings. Executed on either silk or paper, Japanese paintings are mounted onto folding screens, sliding doors, and scrolls – inherently kinetic formats that pose many conservation challenges.

The preservation of these formats is dependent on periodic remounting of the paintings. The operating assumption for Japanese paintings is that they have been mounted and re-mounted many times before entering Western collections. In order to accommodate the kinetic nature of these paintings, treatments tend to be rather invasive, requiring careful evaluation of when and how to incorporate past repairs into a structurally, aesthetically, and ethically appropriate result. Japanese paintings have often been re-mounted onto different formats; one example Uyeda shared was a pair of paintings that had originally been mounted to sliding doors and were later mounted as scrolls to facilitate exhibition. A painting’s primary support can serve as a clue to it’s original format. In this example, the sliding door paintings were on quite heavy paper, which doesn’t lend itself as well to the scroll format and can lead to structural problems when the paintings are forced to move in new ways. The decision was made to return to these paintings to their original format. Uyeda was quick to point out that changing formats always has consequences; these remounted paintings will now require new storage space.

Problems with previous repairs include mismatched colors, repair materials that are too strong for the original silk, and weak brush strokes that can diminish the aesthetics of the piece. Since curators and clients are attached to what the paintings look like, care is taken to ensure that the new treatments receive ethical treatment that is also sympathetic to the aesthetics of the object. Past mounters would compensate for losses with patches of painting silk attached to the back of the object; this repair silk wears differently than the original silk, causing both structural and aesthetic problems. The MFA currently has a limited stock of painting silk from Japan they use for loss compensation; this silk has been irradiated, which deteriorates it enough to weaken the repair fibers and achieve a better color match. They also have a stock of mounting silk for remounting scrolls. The MFA strives to choose mounting silk that is complementary to the aesthetics and the time period of the original painting. If the current mounting is appropriate, complementary, and usable, they will leave it.

The current Japanese standard for treatment of paintings is that no non-original materials remain, but the MFA takes a different approach, particularly with regard to inpainting. The ethical standard the MFA follows is not to inpaint, but just to tone the areas of loss. However, previous treatments often exhibit extensive inpainting and there are instances when the decision is made to retain these repairs.  Uyeda discussed a few examples of paintings in which the previous inpainting was reused, since to remove it would leave an unacceptable void in the painting. Traditionally, toned paper was sometimes used as a lining in order to affect the final appearance of the paintings. Uyeda showed a lovely example of a painting that, based on evidence that it had originally been lined with blue paper to create a “night sky” effect, was relined with blue toned paper in order to retain the aesthetics.

I appreciated that Uyeda highlighted the fact that the only reason most of these paintings still exist is because they have been regularly remounted and acknowledged the expectation that they will be treated again in the future. Ethical considerations of past repairs was a thread that ran through many of the talks; Uyeda’s served as a good reminder that all of the work we do exists at one point on a continuum of past and future treatments.

Q: Do they include any of this narrative about past repairs and choices about remounting on the exhibit labels?
A: No, MFA practice is to only include tombstone information on labels.

Q: When remounting hanging scrolls, do they change/replace the roller knobs?
A: They occasionally reuse the knobs if they’re in good condition, but since original knobs are often ivory and many of these pieces go out on international loan, it has become the policy of the MFA to remove the knobs prior to loans in order to avoid the difficulty of transporting ivory through customs.

39th Annual Meeting – Joint Paintings/Research and Technical Studies Session, June 3, “Raman Revealed: A Shared Internet Resource for the Cultural Heritage Community” by Suzanne Quillen Lomax

Suzanne Lomax presented on IRUG’s (Infrared and Raman Users Group) latest efforts to distribute data for Raman spectra.  She began the talk with a brief discussion on the history and mission of IRUG and their new initiative to create a Raman spectra database due in large part to a $239,650 two-year IMLS grant awarded to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in partnership with IRUG.    The 118 institutional members will contribute to the database which will be used by individuals, scientists, conservators, and students to study cultural heritage.  The Raman database will be maintained on their website.  IRUG has biennial conferences and their website www.irug.org contains information on grant funding and the conferences.  All of the coauthors for this paper are board members of IRUG.

Suzanne described the model for the database and compared it to the widely used infrared database.  By 2009, the IR database was 100% digitalized, available on CD, and in two print volumes.  The latest edition contains over 2,000 infrared spectra. On the current IRUG website, members are able to search terms and match by keyword resulting in a hit list for searched components.  The resulting spectra provide in their file name link the mode of collection and where it was collected.  The largest represented group in the IR database is organic dyes and pigments followed by mineral pigments.  Raman spectra are currently being collected and added to the database.

Suzanne also stressed the growing use of IR and Raman data use in the field and how this is being reflected in papers at IRUG conferences specifically related to art and archaeology.  She provided examples in which mineral pigments as well as synthetic organic pigments have been identified though used of the database and how Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can be used to overcome the problems of fluorescence by using nanoparticles to magnify the signal.

Objectives of the IRUG database will include a website interface with the ability to upload data by users, software, a translator to transform native data into IRUG standard, a searchable library, an interface for keyword searches, data download, and spectra printing.

Suzanne is chair of the newly formed Raman review committee, which reviews spectra and format.  The format to be used by IRUG is JCAMP-DX (ASCII) files for universal access.  This will also allow batching of spectra for submission.  To learn more about the format refer to the IRUG website.

The first batch of spectra has been pledged but the invitation is open to new contributors.  Interested people should contact Suzanne or Beth Price, the project manager from the PMA.  Currently users cannot upload data but can do searches on the website.

A comment after the talk reminded the audience that it is a free database though users need to contribute 10 spectra to get access to the searchable version.

39th Annual Meeting-Objects Session, June 1st, “An Archaeological Journey: The Excavation, Deterioration, and Treatment of a Painted Glass Miniature from Nimrud” by Ariel O’Connor

In the first session of talks of the Objects Specialty Group, which  focused on archeological materials, Ariel O’Connor gave a presentation on an incredible treatment she did on a painted glass miniature from the site of Nimrud. I found the  treatment incredible for several reasons.  First she worked on one of the earliest examples of painted glass,  and archaeological glass is one of my favorite materials to work on.  The miniature was from Nimrud, and having worked at the Oriental Institute Museum I had become familiar with the amazing finds from the site.  But the main reason it was so incredible was because of the amount of work it must have taken to reconstruct the miniature that was in such a fragile and fragmentary state.  Some of the pieces Ariel reattached were only the size of the tip of a fine brush!

Ariel worked on the miniatures in 2009 during her internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The plaques had been excavated in the 40’s from the site of Nimrud (located in Iraq near Mosul) by the archaeologist Max Mallowan, husband of the author Agatha Christie (who also participated on the excavation cleaning some of the ivories found).  Nimrud was once the capital of the Assyrian Empire and had palaces, temples and an acropolis.  Most of the finds from the site date to the 9-7th c. BCE.

The Met’s miniature was found in a room at Fort Shalmaneser along with several other painted glass miniatures (total of 9).  The room also contained other luxury goods such as ivory plaques and inlays.  The miniatures, which some have suggested could be inlays for ivory, are thought to date to the 9-8 c. BCE.  The plaques are the earliest examples of painted glass in the Near East (and possibly the oldest examples known anywhere).  After the excavations were completed, the finds were split between the Met, the British Museum, the Iraq Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass.  All the plaques were examined by Robert Brill who conducted a technical study of them.

The miniature from the Met is comprised of two fragments which make up the top half of a winged sphinx with a lotus flower. The miniature is rectangular in shape, resembling a plaque, and concave. The piece seemed to be in somewhat good condition when first brought to the museum but by 2002, it seemed to have deteriorated severely and was in about 85 pieces.  Ariel set about to conduct a technical study of the pigments used to paint the decoration and undertook an extensive treatment of the miniature in order to stabilize and reconstruct it.

FTIR and Raman analysis was done in order to identify the materials used to paint the design.  Iron oxide red and Egyptian blue were found.  The black material was analyzed using FTIR but could not be identified.  This is because the plaque had been consolidated in the field with PVA which was affecting the analysis.  In Brill’s earlier study of the plaques, he hypothesized that the black material was bitumen, which was commonly used in the Near East.  Solubility tests of the black showed it was not affected by solvents.

Treatment of the piece proved challenging not only because of the fragile and fragmentary nature of the miniature, but because of the presence of the PVA consolidant.  Ariel had to find a treatment to consolidate lifting areas of the miniature and to reconstruct the fragments, but which would not affect the previously applied PVA.  She decided to use methylcellulose to join the fragments, which would then be supported by Japanese tissue as a single fiber laid across the join.  She used an enlarged image of the miniature that was taken in 1959 to aid in reconstruction. For areas which had separated between the top and bottom surfaces of the miniature, she created an internal support made up of several layers of Japanese tissue.

The final step of the treatment was to fill areas of loss to provide further support to the fragile plaque.  Using Mylar, she cut out small templates of missing areas and then cut Japanese tissue to shape using the template.  The tissue was then placed in the areas of loss.  The edges were also filled, either using one long piece of tissue or smaller pieces only over missing areas, depending on how severe the deterioration was.  The tissue fills were not toned, but left as is.  After treatment she compared the conserved piece to the 1959 photo and noted there were no losses, just cracks.  That was an impressive feat given the number of fragments and how small they were!

Due to deterioration during burial, there had been loss to the original pigments and to the surface.  To better understand what the miniature would have looked like, Ariel made a reconstruction, pictured below. I found the talk really interesting and the treatment results very impressive.  After all that work to reconstruct the numerous small fragments, the plaque is now stable and the decoration is intelligible once again.

 

 

39th Annual Meeting – Photographic Materials Group Luncheon, June 3rd, 2011. “The Hermitage Project”, Paul Messier.

Photographic Materials Specialty Group Luncheon Meeting

 

Q: When is a survey more than a survey?

 

A: When it is fully utilized as a tool to promote fuller understanding of collections, better internal institutional communication and positive changes.

 

Paul Messier explained how a photographic collections survey model, already employed at multiple institutions, was the first step in an exciting collaborative project.  The FAIC, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, (and many others to the tune of three acknowledgement  slides) have joined forces to survey the photographic collections and to take the next steps toward enabling Hermitage staff to better care for and exhibit their prints. The survey could lay the foundation for future grant applications, showing institutional interest in and accurate statistics of their photographic materials.

 

Did I mention the survey program translates between languages?  Maybe I don’t get out much, but I was impressed.

 

The teaching of photograph conservation to a small group of young Hermitage conservators is already underway in the form of workshops at the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard Library and the University of Delaware Department of Art Conservation. The installation of a lab space dedicated to the treatment of photographs is in the planning stages. The Hermitage is a highly esteemed bellwether among Russian Museums. Hopefully this project improves recognition of photographic collections as deserving and needing more care than provided at present.

 

I was already aware of FAIC’s efforts in Haiti, but was extremely impressed when I heard about this project.  The importance of expanding the awareness of the field of conservation cannot be overstated.  More publicity is needed for the important efforts of this organization, here and abroad.

 

The food served at the Photographic Materials Specialty Group luncheon meeting was delicious, as always.