Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

Fig. 4
repeated applications until the desired degree of
toning was achieved. For the infills in areas with
dark ink-washed background, further applications
of carbon ink colour were used.
Infill papers were of the appropriate tone were
selected by consulting the damage map and the
artwork, matching for colour, then tracing and
cutting roughly to size and marking for placing
in position from the verso. For those previous
infills in the painting that had repainted areas
we wanted to retain, but background elements
we wished to remove, we partially cut along
the outline with scalpels to produce a clean
and clear edge. The paintings were once again
dampened and faced with thin rayon paper and
water, then laid face down on a double layer of
dampened heavy rayon paper to cushion the face
of the artwork and prevent it drying out during
the infilling and re-lining process. The temporary
lining was removed along with unwanted old
infills. Where a part of the old infill with repainting
was to be retained, the partially pre-cut edge
was completely cut through from the back, again
with scalpels and the unwanted portion taken
away. Newly prepared infills were dampened and
put into place, heavy wheat starch paste applied
at the overlap, the excess margins reduced with
tweezers.
With infilling completed, the paintings were
lined with two layers of medium weight Mino
paper, the edges wet cut. The grain of the paper
was horizontal for the first lining, vertical for
the second. Before the application of the second
lining, tears, splits and heavy creases in the artwork
were reinforced with medium weight Mino
paper, wet-cut across the grain in strips approximately
1.5 cm wide. A border of thick Sekishu
paper was added to allow for handling and attaching
the artwork to a drying board.
The relined artworks were placed face up on
large felts and the facing papers removed. When
the surface of the artwork had started to dry,
another felt was placed on top, to slow down the
drying, promote suppleness and prevent distortion.
The following day the relined section was
humidified by spraying with water, brushing
out flat, and attaching by its borders to a drying
board.
For the remounting of the paintings in the
style of sliding doors, wooden lattice cores of
Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and black
lacquered wooden trims were ordered. The cores
received the traditional six linings of eight layers
of paper that are commonly used for folding
screens and sliding doors. The verso of the artworks
were pasted with a thin paste overall and
a heavy paste around the outer edges, then the
prepared cores lowered into place. The backs of
the screens were covered with a plain silk fabric,
pre-lined with dyed paper. Both the painting and
lined silk were put on one immediately after the
other and dried overnight between felts to slow
ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013
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