How comfortable do you feel surrounded by skeletal remains and natural mummies? The symposium hosted by the British Museum left no areas unturned, from the excavation, conservation and curation of natural mummies, and allowed participants of the day access to natural mummies from their extensive collection.
Daniel Antoine, curator of physical anthropology at the British museum, kicked the day off by considering the legal aspects and ethics in the curation of human remains. A huge 91% of the British population appears to be on side with the display and retention of human remains by museums for research purposes, but there are obligations. The display of human remains less than 100 years old does not sit well on some peoples’ shoulders and named remains attract a similar apprehension. This seems at odds with the display of Egyptian mummies that often have their names inscribed on their cartonnages, but maybe the longevity of these mummies makes their display more palatable.
Derek Welsby, assistant keeper in archaeology of Sudan and Egyptian Nubia, and Daniel Antoine followed with a description of the problems involved in the excavation of skeletal remains and natural mummies from their resting places, in this instance, the fourth cataract of the Nile Valley, Sudan. Skeletal remains dating back to the Neolithic period were uncovered from various burial sites and natural mummified bodies from the medieval period were excavated from this previously understudied region of The Sudan. Over a 1000 skeletal remains and naturally mummified bodies were donated to the British Museum by SARS, the Sudan Archaeological Research Society via the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan. For the past two years the British Museum have been undertaking research into population genetics and the pathology of these Nilotic human remains. A human remains database has been created by the museum that will open up the research potential of these people, negating the need for physical interaction and reducing the risk of damage to the bodies.
Barbara Wills, conservator of organic artifacts at the British museum had the job of surveying the mummies. She examined, photographed, assessed the needs of each individual and established a strategy for stabilization. Barbara was in the wonderful position of receiving a Clothworkers Conservation Fellowship that allowed her to put all of her time and effort into the development of a passive method of stabilization and display. Barbara has a wonderfully calm demeanor that exudes respect for humanity. I don’t know whether she had this disposition before she started work on the mummies or whether the mummies taught her this respect on her travels with them. A workshop on the second day of the symposium allowed for the exploration of these stabilization and display methods that Barbara developed during her fellowship and shall be discussed later.
The life of the Nilotic people is unraveled not only from research into the human remains but also by analyzing the textiles and leather excavated along side the bodies. Caroline Cartwright, from the department of conservation and scientific research at the British Museum, gave an excellent talk about the problems and pitfalls of trying to identify materials that may have been in close proximity to soft tissues and Anna Harrison, a senior conservator of organic materials at the British Museum, followed with the issues surrounding the conservation of archaeological textiles. Of particular fascination was the discovery of human hair mats that were treated like dry archaeological wool and the revelation that an imprint of a textile may be present on a skin sample even if the textile no longer remains.
A lunch break allowed time for a visit to the temporary exhibition: Ancient Lives, New Discoveries, where a number of the curatorial issues discussed in the morning session could be seen in practice. The use of explanatory and contextual information was well presented and tasteful lighting within display cases offered respect to the mummies.
Nancy Odegaard from the University of Arizona and Arizona State Museum resumed proceedings by discussing the post-excavation deterioration of the Chinchorro mummies of Arica, Northern Chile. The storage facility for the mummies is far too hot and humid and the mummies are acting as the environmental buffer. Deterioration was manifesting itself in the form of a ‘black ooze’ emanating from the bodies. A quick, easy and inexpensive solution to this problem was the introduction of some locally sourced hygroscopic wall coverings that took over the work of attempting to stabilize the environment.
A Sudanese mummy offered Joanna Russell, from the department of conservation and scientific research at the British Museum, the opportunity to use HPLC to investigate the dyes present in colourful textiles adorning the body. All dyes identified, Pseudopurpurin, Purpurin, Alazarin and Indigotin were used in Egyptian dying.
Marie Vandenbeusch, a project curator in the department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, used infrared reflectography on a tattoo found on the upper leg of a naturally preserved female mummy from medieval Sudan. The tattoo represents one of the earliest known surviving examples of a tattoo from this period and region and represents a Christian monogram of the Archangel Michael. (images found at: http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/06/26/tattoos-in-ancient-egypt-and-sudan/) Of particular interest was the fact that it was mainly women that were tattooed and this particular tattoo was hoped to provide protection under Michael, the patron saint of Nubia.
Heather Bonney, a collections manager for human remains and repatriation at the British Museum, discussed the general curation and digitization of the human remains collection at the British Museum. Human remains can be acquired via three different routes. They may have been purchased anatomical specimens, ethnographic collected remains or they may be from an archaeological context and each requires different legal documentation for their storage and display. Osteoware software and the Oracle Word database were then discussed for the digitization of the collection. (The Oracle Word database is really tailored towards a British archaeological context).
Finally but certainly not least Emily Taylor and Simon Prentice, museums assistants at the British Museum, gave a superb talk about the safe packing and transportation of human remains. It is essential that all remains are carefully photographed before travelling so they can be referred to after unpacking and the person unpacking the remains must be able to deconstruct and replicate the packing easily so it must be simple but effective. Cellite honeycomb boards were used instead of the old-fashioned mummy boards but beware, do not use the Aluminium version of the boards if the mummy is to be sent for a CT scan as the Aluminium interferes with the scan.
Barbara Wills lead the second day of the symposium. She gave us an insight into the development of an inexpensive, simple, reversible, reliable and relatively quick way of displaying human remains for display or research using Plastazote LD33 and LD45 (polyethylene foam), PTFE tape and sheets (polytetrafluoroethylene, plumbers tape) and Polyester wadding.
Plastazote LD45 covered in Tyvek (a spun bonded olefin material that is inert and gas permeable) can be placed on a cellite board onto which the mummy can be displayed. Plastazote LD33 can be cut into shape and pinned to the board, offering support or preventing movement.
Fig. 1 Artificial bones being supported or held in place by Plastazote LD33.
There should be at least a 10cm boarder to the outside of the human remains to prevent damage to any delicate parts when being transported. Barbara demonstrated a quick and easy way of cutting the plastazote into shape using only a big sharp knife. (Figure 2)
Fig. 2. Fold the strip of Plastazote LD33 and cut on the outside of the fold. Cut as deeply or as shallow as needed to create the supporting structure.
The wonderful thing about PTFE is that it adheres to itself through static attraction only. There is no adhesive involved! PTFE sheet can be wrapped around Polyester wadding that has been fluffed, to create really soft ‘pillows’. Really soft ‘pillows’! ‘Pillows’ of the size and shape you require. (Figures 3 and 4)
Fig. 3. Barbara Wills demonstrating the construction of a small PTFE and Polyester wadding ‘pillow’ used for the support of a very fragile part of a body.
The PTFE polyester wadding ‘pillow can be pinned directly to the board or supported in a cut piece of Plastazote LD33 to give extra support. This was named ‘The Mushroom’.
Fig 4. Barbara Wills demonstrating the construction of a skull mount using fluffed Polyester wadding wrapped in PTFE sheet. Barbara made a sausage shape that she then curved round and pinned in place. Plastazote LD33 cut into wedge shapes can be pinned at each pole position to offer additional support.
A sheet of PTFE could be pinned to a Plastazote LD33 surround creating a hammock like structure. This could support very fragile parts of a body that would not survive using a conventional support.
PTFE tape can be wrapped directly around a fragile part of a body that needs to be held together and, as there is no adhesive involved it is completely reversible. When the static property of PTFE could potentially be damaging to a fragmented part of a body or where hair is present then the static can be eliminated quickly by shooting a beam of electrons at the material from an antistatic gun. Conventional tying can then be used to hold the PTFE in place.
Barbara Wills was apologetic to those attending the workshop as she considered her ideas simple. However, the simple ideas are sometimes the ones that are overlooked and missed. Barbara has developed a system that can stabilize and display any human remains without the need for chemicals and consolidants. The mummies we observed had been displayed in a manner that negated the need to move them for research purposes. However, if a research project did come along that required the movement of any of the bodies then this could be easily achieved without too much intervention, minimizing any damage that might occur to these priceless human remains.
Author: Julie McBain, MSc student at Cardiff University.
Photographs: Renata Peters, Lecturer, University College London
Category: Textiles Conservation
Job Posting – Two Year position: Assistant Conservator (Textiles/Preventive Conservation), Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT
The Shelburne Museum is seeking a textile conservator with a strong interest in preventive conservation for a two-year full time position.
The conservator will undertake a variety of projects related to the treatment of objects in the floor cover, bed cover, and upholstered artifact collections and ongoing preventive conservation initiatives. For all treatments, the textile conservator will take documentary photographs and write condition reports, treatment proposals and treatment reports. The conservator will train and supervise volunteers to assist with preparation of large textiles for exhibition and other appropriate textile conservation related tasks.The conservator will also participate in ongoing projects related to integrated pest management, the efficient and proper operation of the exhibition and storage area HVAC systems and exhibition lighting systems. The conservator will become familiar with established lab procedures for health and safety and help maintain conservation documentation and treatment files and conservation databases. The conservator will work with the registrars and art handlers to improve exhibition and storage conditions for the collection, conduct practical research that informs conservation treatment as appropriate, and contribute to Shelburne’s public outreach program.
The conservator will be joining a conservation department with two staff conservators: an objects conservator and a preventative conservator/conservation administrator. The lab is equipped with suction discs and a suction table, a Wild binocular microscope, and a Leitz research microscope with polarizing light and UV light attachments.
Qualifications for this position include a Master’s Degree in Conservation or equivalent training with a specialization in textiles and minimum treatment experience of 3 years beyond conservation training.
Candidates for the position should have good communication skills, the ability to work well as a member of a team, and be a member of AIC, IIC, or other appropriate conservation organization. They should be creative problem-solvers, flexible, and adaptable with a positive attitude.
Competitive salary and generous benefits to include medical and dental insurance.
Applications should consist of a letter of interest, CV, and contact information for three references and should be sent to Nancie Ravenel at nravenel[at]shelburnemuseum.org by January 20, 2015.
42nd Annual Meeting – Textile Session, May 30, “Stressed about Pests? A Panel-led Discussion on Integrated Pest Management” Moderators: Bernice Morris, Patricia Silence, Rachael Arenstein.
This session included three presentations on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The first speaker, Bernice Morris, is the IPM coordinator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA.) Bernice said that IPM began in earnest at the PMA in 1990. She has built on this foundation, developing an IPM system consisting of dividing the museum into risk zones, the use of barcoded (numbered) blunder traps (with pheromone lures as needed), and iPhones outfitted with barcode readers. The iPhones scan the bar code on each trap. The pest type and count are entered, and the data is sent to a computer, becoming a row on a spreadsheet. This makes the gathered data accessible for analysis. The number of traps and the frequency of monitoring are dependent on zone type. In addition, all museum staff are now aware of the importance of prevention and vigilance. The staff has a “bug hotline,” and Internet reporting for pest sightings. It is a very low cost system with the exception of the iPhones, and for those with moth problems the pheromone lures are expensive but worth the investment. The textiles in the collection are most vulnerable while moving in and out of the galleries, and the museum. New acquisitions and loans come into the museum wrapped in plastic. They are isolated and examined, and if evidence of infestation is found the objects are treated with low temperature treatment or anoxia treatment to kill all insect life stages of the infestation.
Patricia Silence is the Conservator of Museum Exhibitions and Historic Interiors at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CW). As she said it is “the oldest and largest outdoor living history museum in the United States.” CW had always depended on outside pest management professionals. She and her colleagues developed a vision of what a successful IPM plan would accomplish: “prevent harm to people, collections, and buildings, use minimal pesticides, and foster a sense of ownership of the IPM program in the foundation employees.” Due to the complicated interconnected nature of the collection, architecture, landscaping, livestock, commercial entities, and residences, it was determined that it is would be best to have someone who was on the CW staff to manage the IPM. Ryan Jones was hired as the integrated pest management specialist. The IPM has been so successful the program has expanded to include monitoring and treatment of termites. He and an army of other staff members have certification for pesticide application, but housekeeping, routine trap monitoring, and building inspections and maintenance reduce the need for pesticides. A holding room, and freezing and anoxic treatments are used for objects with infestations. The staff can report pest sightings via intranet; identification sheets with common pests are made available with a pest specific follow-up sheet sent after identification. Patricia has taken a holistic approach.
Rachael Arenstein is currently the conservator at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. However, as a former conservator in private practice she spoke about some of the challenges she noticed with smaller museums that lack IPM plans. She felt that the biggest problem was most often that pest damage is not recognized and is thought to be the natural effects of age or light damage. Rachael pointed out that all museums have some kind of pest problem. Small museum are understaffed, under-resourced, collections are crowded, and if there is an infestation the staff is just “grossed out.” Mistakes are made using inappropriate products and procedures. Rachael is a member of the IPM Working Group, which grew out of colleagues banding together to learn how to deal with infestations. Over the past ten years Rachael and these colleagues have created an invaluable resource, Museumpest.net. It is everything one might want or need to know about IPM: prevention, monitoring, identification, treatment solutions, and implementation of an IPM plan, and more. Through the site you can join the Pestlist, an e-mail distribution list that allows members to ask questions, and receive answers and advice from museum and preservation professionals, entomologists, and other practitioners.
The speakers opened the floor to questions and discussion. The first question was concerned with how to get the staff to “buy into” the importance of protecting the collection. The reply to this was that presentations to staff showing damage, or potential damage were helpful. Unfortunately, it often takes a major infestation to drive home the importance of IPM. Other questions were asked about pheromone traps, how to handle a museum wide dermestid infestation, if there were any lasting effects from the use of Vikane fumigation, and “are crack and crevice” treatments of any use. The answers were helpful, but too lengthy to address here. All roads lead to http://museumpests.net (and housekeeping.)
The speakers have posted their presentations on the Museum Pest web-site:
http://museumpests.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AIC-2014-Stressed-about-Pests-Morris-FINAL.pdf
http://museumpests.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AIC-2014-Stressed-about-Pests-Silence-FINAL.pdf
http://museumpests.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AIC-2014-Stressed-About-Pests-Arenstein-FINAL.pdf
42nd Annual Meeting, Textiles Session, May 30th, “Managing Sustainability of Light Sensitive Collections” by Stefan Michalski
Stefan Michalski began his presentation with a dramatic use of neckties. He held up 2 neckties – 1 with the colors very faded – and spoke about the common concern about potential color change and loss for textile objects on exhibition. He then went on to discuss the assumptions that are made about light levels, exhibition schedules, and gallery rotations. His presentation focused on the complex choices that conservators must make to protect collections from color change and loss, while also making them accessible.
Most of the presentation focused on a dilemma: should we rotate an entire collection or display half the collection and preserve the other half in storage. From which system will the most people gain the most benefit from the collection? The rotation system allows twice as many people to have access to the collection, but leads to irreversible damage to the entire collection over time. The half-and-half system allows fewer people to have access to the collection, but might be considered more sustainable since half the collection would be fully preserved.
He concluded that the practice of rotating objects on display might be considered shortsighted, and to the advantage of living generations of museum visitors. Over the next couple hundred years, this practice could lead to entire collections become equally faded. The museum visitors and scholars in the more distant future would not have any pristine textiles to examine – only faded textiles would be available. He suggested that the newest pieces in a collection might actually be the most fragile from a color damage perspective; a textile with pristine colors might be more likely to experience fading than one that has already had significant exposure and has reached a plateau of fading. His final comment to the audience was that conservators should carefully consider the value of experiencing pristine textiles, and question if we owe this experience to generations in the far future.
42nd Annual Meeting- Textile Group Session, May 30, 2014 "Blown-Up: Collaborative conservation and sustainable treatment for an inflatable dress" by Chandra Obie
Chandra Obie, textile conservator at the Cincinnati Art Museum, presented her work on the conservation of an Issey Miyake pneumatic dress with inflatable puffy sleeve caps. The circa 2000 dress had lost its ability to remain inflated with the failure/deterioration of adhesion on the rubber valve sleeve stoppers. The dress was donated to the museum by Mary Baskett, a collector of Japanese contemporary fashion, who’s costume has been displayed in the 2007 Cincinnati exhibition Where would you wear that? and 2009 at The Textile Museum in DC. This particular dress presented the unique challenge that Mary had full intention on wearing the dress out in public to special events after treatment. Therefore, the treatment methodology combined the collaboration of appeasing a major donor while conserving the original shape of the sleeve.
The dress came with a 4-page care/construction tag displaying that the dress was 42%Nylon, 40%Polyester, and 18%Polyurethane. The photo oxidation of the urethane caused yellowing and deterioration of adhesion around the valves which prevented the sleeves from remaining inflated. Chandra further consulted with scientists and conservators via the Conservation distlist before beginning treatment. Step one involved testing different methods for recreating the inflated sleeve shape. Initial solutions of creating a cage structure inside the sleeve or using a medical plastic balloon failed due to access and stability of materials. The re-adhesion of the vinyl inflation valves was attempted with craft glue, silicone, and BEVA, which all failed adhesion. Step two developed the creation of a sleeve pattern using Stabiltex, a semi-transparent light weight polyester fabric, filled with polystyrene beads and a polyethafoam cap. The Stabiltex edges were finished using a heated spatula to weld the polyester and prevent fraying, and a double layer was used for strength. The sleeve was inserted into the cap and carefully placed along the original pattern, while a funnel was used to fill the cap with polystyrene beads. The inflatable valves were tacked back into place with a few stitches. After treatment, Mary Baskett wore her Miyake dress out for her birthday party, and was very pleased with the return of the inflatable sleeve shape. The only noticeable difference while wearing the garment was the tendency for the sleeves to shift forward on her body.
While the treatment was successful, post-talk discussions with other conservators presented the apprehension of long-term stability of the polystyrene beads.
42nd Annual Meeting – Textiles Session, May 30, “In Consideration of the Thangka” by Denise Migdail
Any talk with the word “thangka” in the title is one I’m sure to attend. I’ve been hooked on these incredible graphic pieces since seeing one entitled “Protectress Riding a Zombie”. Because who couldn’t like an art form that depicts riding a zombie? So I was very happy to hear that Denise Migdail of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum was giving a talk entitled, “In Consideration of the Thangka”. The meat of the presentation revolved around the method the Asian Art Museum has developed to store and display the 154 thangkas in their collection, which, I have to say, is very clever. But more about that later.
Denise began with a quick overview of what a thangka is: a Buddhist image used for meditation and/or teaching. Although most are painted, they can also be appliquéd, embroidered or even woven. Denise’s colleague, Jeff Durham, assistant curator of Himalayan Art, says that “thangka” translates to the highly technical term “flat thingy”. However, any conservator who has worked on one will tell you that’s an unfortunate misnomer.
The idea to revamp the storage system came with the 2000-2003 move of the museum from its former home in Golden Gate Park to its current home in the Civic Center. The museum received an NEH storage grant and decided that they wanted to eschew their previous hanging storage for flat storage because a) low-binder paint b) fragile silks and c) wooden hanging dowels. Although this project started before Denise’s arrival, she has been elemental in its development since she came on staff in 2006. She found from experience that the beautiful glass cases installed in the new museum were incredibly hard to access. Only one pane of glass could be moved at a time, allowing relatively small access points for objects that can get really, really big. The staff realized that the boards the thangkas were stored on would aid significantly in getting them into the case. So hey, why not keep them on the boards during display as well as storage? Many different types of mounting boards were experimented with, including Tycore, (takes up a lot of space and is pretty expensive), Coroplast (sharp edges and flexes a lot) and blue board, (still flexes, especially at large sizes). D-Lite boards were ultimately deemed the best option. Navy velveteen was originally selected as a show fabric for both its tooth and complementary color. The thangkas themselves were variously tied, pinned, or stitched to the boards. Eventually the decision was made to start using standard-sized boards because reusing is a great way to go green, and also to save money. Unfortunately, this meant that piercing the boards by tying the thangkas to them customized them too much. Since other rotations in the Asian’s galleries were currently being mounted with the aid of rare earth magnets, it was decided they would be a good solution for the thangkas too. Kimi Taira, employed at the Asian and writing an entry for the AIC objects wiki at this time (http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Magnet_Mounts), contributed much. The D-Lite boards translated well to magnet mounts, since they were rigid enough to support steel to attract the magnets. And since the gallery display was concurrently being updated, the navy velveteen was replaced with cotton flannel and a show-fabric surround. When a thangka had a bottom dowel, L and U hooks held to the board via magnets offered support.
Denise finished up her presentation by talking about some specific treatments they did on certain thangkas. The one I found most interesting was the recasting of a missing dowel knob. They made a RTV (room temperature vulcanized rubber) mold using the remaining dowel and cast a new one in resin, which was then painted. The end result was quite impressive.
At this time, the Asian Art Museum has three standard board sizes, with minor variations. Many thanks to Denise Migdail for sharing this great green solution with us! Look at this link to the Asian’s website for pictures and a great video clip: http://www.asianart.org/collections/magnet-mounts
42nd Annual Meeting, Textiles Session, May 29th: Analysis of Organic Dyes in Textiles by Direct Analysis in Real Time–Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry by Cathy Selvius-DeRoo, Ruth Ann Armitage
Direct Analysis in Real Time – Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (DART-TOF) was shown to be a viable method of organic dye analysis in the presentation by Cathy Selvius-DeRoo. The beauty of the technique is that it requires only a small fiber sample, and no advanced preparation such as dye extraction, in order to get positive identification for a variety of dyes, both plant and insect based.
The project began with a grant to purchase the equipment. From there, various colorants were tested from a dye sample book, in order to develop the protocol. The sample was put in the ionizing gas airstream (helium) and heated to a temperature of 350 – 500 degrees. The result was fast and accurate identification of several dye classes, such as quinones, tannins and indigoids.
The presenter had a relaxed, personable style and shared some of her tips for success as well as lessons learned, including: better results were achieved with the higher temperature and with the addition of acid hydrolysis, which could be added just prior to putting the sample in the airstream using an eyedropper. The presenter confessed that flavonoids could be difficult to discern because the spectra are very similar for the various components.
After the method proved reliable, the technique was tested on textiles with undocumented dyes. The most satisfying was to substantiate family lore on a Civil War coat. The story was that a mother of a soldier dyed a Union issued coat to resemble a Confederate coat. Analysis revealed that the indigo was overdyed with Walnut (also referred to as Butternut). Cool.
Full disclosure – I signed up for blogging this talk because I’m a bit of a science junkie. I don’t always understand it, and in a small private practice, I certainly don’t have a Mass Spectrometer in the studio, but I appreciate knowing how to solve problems and who to go to for help.
42nd Annual Meeting, Textiles Session, May 29th: A Case Study Using Multi-band and Hyperspectral Imaging for the Identification and Characterization of Materials on Archaeological Andean Painted Textiles by Rebecca Summerour and E. Keats Webb
The paper began by acknowledging a third author who was inadvertently left off the program and abstract booklet, but will appear as a third author in the TSG Postprints. The paper was presented by E. Keats Webb, the digital imaging specialist for the Conservation Institute at the Smithsonian. She showed how by combining a lower resolution spectral camera (Surface Optics Corp SOC710) with a modified DSLR with bandpass filters, the resulting images could be used to identify certain pigments on a painted textile. The project began with four textiles being described as plain weave with color (a limited color palette of browns and blue/blacks) delivered in a paste form without an organic binder, the color remaining on one side – this is important, keep this in the back of your thoughts as you continue, dear Reader!
I live in Silicon Valley, but I am not tech savvy. I am also several years out of school and realize that I my not have the vocabulary to give a precise recall of the methods and analysis described. Having said that, I feel I did learn about a (relatively) low cost technique that would be helpful in characterizing pigments on textiles. Essentially, the technique required several images to be taken at various bandwidths along the visible to near infra-red spectrum. Knowing the reflectance spectra for a given pigment allows the researcher to target the images for analysis. The targeted images are overlayed to get the difference which results in areas that appear to fluoresce for a positive identification.
It was found that indigo was readily identified, whether it was used alone or as a component of other colors. Reds and browns proved a bit more problematic. The success of this technique seems to have been that there was a small color palette, as well as the textiles in question were of known provenance, so they already had an idea of the pigments to look for. Also, the pigments were on one side and in good quantity. They did not achieve good results with dyes or small samples due to background noise interference. Though it was brought up in the question/answer portion that HPLC gives definitive “fingerprint” spectra for positive identification, the imaging technique presented does not require sample-taking (important to the National Museum of the American Indian) as well as allows for the entire textile to be mapped, keeping the pigment identification within context.
I could see this technique as a very useful first step in pigment identification or potentially in identifying areas of restoration and the pigments used. I look forward to reading the paper in the Postprints.
41st Annual Meeting, Textile and Wooden Artifacts Session, June 1. "Treatment of a Suite of Baroque Revival Style Seating Furniture by Genevieve Bienisoek, Biltmore
There’s a growing body of publications which detail the features of well-provenanced period upholstery. Such case studies are extraordinarily important for comparison when one is examining upholstery layers on historic seating furniture. In this presentation, Genivieve Bienisoek walked us through her examination and treatment, working together with Anne Battram and Nancy Rosebrock, of a chair and settee from a suite of 12 chairs and 2 settees.
This was one of a number suites which were purchased or produced to furnish Biltmore, a 250 room house built by George Washington Vanderbilt III, completed 1895, and opened to the public in 1930. The pieces in this group of seating are ornately carved, in the style of Italian sculptor Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732), and covered with an embossed velvet, referred to as gauffrage. This particular fabric has a linen ground with a wool pile, and was fairly coarsely woven. The design in the velvet was created with a hot roller pressed into the nap. Apparently this was a popular pattern which was once quite common and produced in France, Great Britain and the United States by a number of companies. Though the fabric had originally been bright gold in color, it looked grey-green due to fading and color shift. Genivieve took note of a second fabric – an unstamped wool plush which was used in less visible places, such as under the arms. This fabric was also gold in color but had a thicker pile and a tighter weave. Both fabrics appeared to have been used originally on the chair and settee as no extra nail holes were noted during de-upholstery of the seating furniture.
More than half of this suite had been re-upholstered in 1976, according to the records, when they were placed in Biltmore’s Music Room. One chair has been left untreated for future reference and research.The aim of this treatment was to return the chair and settee to return them to a nearly new appearance.
Genevieve also made mention of some other features of the chair and settee. Removable pieces of the chair were held with spring clips and slots and screws. The entire back panel of the settee is removable, held in place with turn buckles. The mortises for the arms were slightly larger than necessary to allow for shimming to adjust the level of the ams, ensuring they were horizontal.
After documenting the various upholstery layers and fasteners, she used chalk to track where nails had been removed, and compared it to the show cover, to ensure there had been no empty nail holes. She filled flight holes and other losses in the frames, and inpainted scratches. Re-using existing tack holes, a new linen layer was applied over the exposed original upholstery layers, to a act as an isolating layer against the new show cover and to act as a sewing base.
To ensure that new holes won’t need to be added in future campaigns, she added staples around the spring clip plate to provide a stronger means of attachment of this linen cover. Future campaigns are sure to happen sooner than they might otherwise since Biltmore has no climate control and it is not uncommon for windows to be opened in the house. Everything gets handled and cleaned regularly.
Polyester batting was added to the front of the seat to re-establish the proper shape.
The reproduction show cover was woven by the French firm Prelle. They had the pattern for the gauffrage in their archive. On seeing the reproduction fabric, Genvienve noted that there are actually three levels of stamping in the fabric, adding detail and depth to the design. These details were also in the original fabric, but were difficult to see because of the dirt.
The show cover was stitched to the linen isolating layer with curved needles. Though the trim was originally applied with hide glue, Genievieve used a hot melt adhesive to adhere the reproduction trim, obtained from Heritage Trimmings in the United Kingdom.
If you’re like me, you’re looking forward to the published version of this presentation, which, I’m sure, will be complete with images of the hardware and schematics of the various upholstery layers.
AIC 41st Annual Meeting – Research and Technical Studies Session, May 31, “Artificial Aging of Paper-Based Cores Wrapped in Various Isolating Layers for use as Archival Storage Supports by Amy Williams and Catherine H. Stephens”
When faced with a budget dilemma for oversize mining maps storage, Amy Williams, project conservator at the University of Pittsburgh, asked herself “the $13,500 question:” Is there a benefit to using an archival 12” diameter storage tube core versus a non-archival 12” core wrapped with an isolating layer?
It would be easy to assume that archival cores were significantly better, well worth the extra $13,500. However, when faced with the substantial cost difference, Williams decided to conduct a scientific research project to determine the most cost-effective and preservation-friendly rolled storage system for the 5’ by 15’ maps of the Consol Energy Mine Map Preservation Project. She and her co-investigator, Dr. Catherine Stephens, presented their results on May 31, 2013 during the Research and Technical Studies Session of the AIC annual meeting.
If Williams and Stephens could prove that there was an acceptable, more affordable alternative to archival tubes, the news would be of great benefit to cultural institutions, collectors, and conservators. I was eager to hear their results.
Williams partnered with Stephens, Senior Research Scientist at the Art Conservation Research Center, Carnegie Mellow University (now at Yale University) for the investigation. They studied four types of tubes and six wrapping options suggested by conservators: no wrapping, polyester film, Tyvek, Marvelseal 360, heavy weight aluminum foil, and tissue paper buffered with 3.5% calcium carbonate. For the cores, they selected two archival tubes with different adhesives (sodium silicate versus a blend of polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl acetate), a non-archival core of kraft paper with an unidentified adhesive, and a Quik-Tube concrete pouring tube composed of recycled paper and a polyvinyl acetate/acrylic adhesive.
In the experiments, the maps were simulated by using Whatman #1 filter paper. The use of Whatman #1 paper versus historic papers was discussed in another 2013 RATS talk by Bill Minter and John Baty, “The Role of Polyester Film Encapsulation—With and Without Prior Deacidification—On Paper Degradation, Studied During Long-Term, Low Temperature Aging.” Minter and Baty chose historic papers for their research. I think it would add to our understanding if Williams and Stephens conducted a second phase of their research using commercially available papers or naturally aged historic papers to compare with the Whatman #1 results.
Their test samples, each consisting of a “map,” an isolating layer (or none), and a core, were aged at 90˚C and 50% relative humidity in an oven for up to 24 weeks.
The researchers’ first discovery was the unexpected impact of the adhesive, which caused staining on the tubes at the seam gaps between the narrow strips of paper comprising the tubes. This staining transferred onto the Whatman paper “maps.”
To prevent this problem, Williams recommended obtaining seamless tubes by asking the manufacturer to skive the edges of the paper. She also emphasized the importance of knowing the composition of both the paper and the glue of the cores.
I wonder how problematic the adhesive would be during a natural aging process or during a lower temperature artificial aging, and hope the researchers will consider exploring this in the future.
Williams and Stephens reported that the linen ties on the samples caused staining during the aging process. They switched to rare earth magnets, which caused no reported problems. Would a lower temperature during testing have prevented or reduced the problem with the linen ties? If this is a significant problem at all temperatures, linen ties may not be appropriate for rolled storage.
The experiment produced more unexpected results. The researchers evaluated the effects of the cores and isolating layers on the “maps” by measuring the chain scission of the cellulose, the yellowness, and the pH of the “maps.” I was surprised to learn that both the Tyvek and the Marvelseal 360 actively promoted degradation, yellowing, and a lower pH.
The aluminum foil, polyester film, and buffered tissue offered varying amounts of protection, depending on the type of core used. The best isolating layer overall was the heavy weight aluminum foil, and the best wrapper for the kraft tube was polyester film.
I wondered if the high temperature during aging might be responsible for the poor performance of the Marvelseal and the Tyvek, and whether the heat caused chemical changes within these two films. How much of the unexpected results overall was caused by the elevated temperature? Would similar results occur during natural aging at room temperature?
The researchers did speak about this issue. Stephens said that they chose the high temperature for artificial aging to ensure detectable changes, and stated that more research was needed lower temperatures.
From what I understood about the test results that Williams and Stephens presented, it seemed that wrapping a non-archival core with heavy weight aluminum foil could give comparable results to using an archival core. I would like to know more the amount of difference they saw, and hope they will offer a detailed discussion of this in their article about the research.
The results of their experiment have caused me to question my own assumptions about the storage materials we use. I hope Williams and Stephens will continue their valuable research, to determine what results are typical at lower temperatures and answer some of the other questions they raised during this first phase of the investigation.