Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

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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 86
down drying and prevent warping of the core. After drying, the lacquered wooden trims were fitted. In place on their support cores, the paintings were ready for final adjustments to the toning of the new infills. The aim was to bring the infill to a level slightly lighter than the surrounding original. This proved more difficult in some areas than others, particularly where there was a strong contrast or variation from one side of the infill to the other. In this case, a slight gradation made the transition more visually acceptable. Toning was carried out by building up thin washes of colour, applied with soft brushes. Stick colours and carbon ink sticks were used. Large areas in the dark background of Dragon and Clouds had been painted with a coarse, velvet-like black that was unlike the ink used in other parts of the painting. It may be that this was a type of ink known as kezurizumi, made from shaving dried waste remnants from the production of stick ink and soaking overnight in water. The resulting ink is a thick, rich black that was used for painting paper lanterns and the production of inexpensive printed matter. The stick ink we ground for use in toning the new infills had much finer particles and produced a shinier finish than we required. Alternative carbon black pigments were tested and it was found that peach stone black, cherry stone black, vine black and ivory black produced the required colours and matt finish that we were looking for. Conclusions The progress and degree of toning was constantly monitored and discussed by conservators and curatorial staff. Areas that had been removed were re-assessed and in one case, replaced. Prior discussion and reassessment of what to remove and what to retain was a key factor throughout the treatment of what was a complex mix of original and later imagery. The aim had been to remove obtrusive and distracting repairs whilst retaining repainted portions whose removal would have significantly affected the readability of the overall image. Acknowledgements Thanks go to colleagues who assisted with work on this project; fellow conservators Jacki Elgar, Jing Gao, Yi-Hsia Hsao, John Robbe, Hsin-Chen Tsai, Tatsuya Yamauchi and Sukesaku Wakiya, and curator Anne Nishimura Morse. Captions Fig. 1: Dragon and Clouds. Acquisition photograph of the four left hand sections, taken in 1912. *Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection *Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Fig. 2: Dragon and Clouds. Second section from the right, before and during treatment. Left, before treatment. Note the large repainted infill at lower left, with grass and rocks from the Hawk painting clearly visible. The repainted lower portion of the tail was retained, as was the end of the tail at the right. Right, during treatment. After infilling and relining, before toning of new infills. *Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection *Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Fig. 3: Reviewing extent and degree of toning new infills. *Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection *Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Fig. 4: After treatment. Dragon and Clouds on display at the Tokyo National Museum in the exhibition Japanese Masterpieces at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2012. *Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection *Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Authors Philip Meredith Tanya Uyeda Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 465 Huntington Aveenue Boston MA 02115, USA pmeredith@mfa.org tuyeda@mfa.org ICOM-CC Graphic Documents Working Group Interim Meeting | Vienna 17 – 19 April 2013 87
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Paper Conservation: Decisions & Com
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Content Lieve Watteeuw Introduction
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Michael Wheeler | Nicholas Barnard
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New Trends in Preservation in the D
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and monitoring against adverse envi
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Steve Hobaica, Patrick Loughney, Ma
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The Albums of Duke Charles de Croÿ
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Fig. 4: turning the supporting pape
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Fig. 2: Close-up of some of the los
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manuscript paper, the binding would
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Figure 2 partial sewing: the blue d
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Books in Exhibitions: History and A
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Fig. 4 Museum in London and the pre
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Risk and Safety of Illuminated Manu
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Fig. 2 Atlas, the Crown papers are
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Acknowledgments The authors would l
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Verdigris I: Compromises in Conserv
Page 36 and 37: Verdigris 2: Wet Chemical Treatment
Page 38 and 39: Integrated Modelling: The Demograph
Page 40 and 41: Fig. 3: The consequence of 50 insta
Page 42 and 43: Characterisation of Historical Pape
Page 44 and 45: pling is required, tide-lines are c
Page 46 and 47: Study of Phytate Chelating Treatmen
Page 48 and 49: Evaluation of stochiometric effects
Page 50 and 51: Practice and Progress in the Conser
Page 52 and 53: Fig. 1 Fig. 2 plex picture and prov
Page 54 and 55: Fig. 2: Coloured paper strips place
Page 56 and 57: the fire (on the other hand paper,
Page 58 and 59: inform decisions on conservation tr
Page 60 and 61: This paper summarizes what is known
Page 62 and 63: 2. Methods An interdisciplinary met
Page 64 and 65: Fig. 4: Dyed endpaper pasted at the
Page 66 and 67: Preservation of Architectural Drawi
Page 68 and 69: Notes 1 According Salvador Muñoz V
Page 70 and 71: course of time under the influence
Page 72 and 73: the curators in review of the treat
Page 74 and 75: cellulose powders with cellulose et
Page 76 and 77: Authors Xing Kung Liao Conservator
Page 78 and 79: Fig. 2: Our Railroad Workers and th
Page 80 and 81: The Restoration of Cartoons at the
Page 82 and 83: tation presumes that the works are
Page 84 and 85: To Remove or Retain? - Extensive In
Page 88 and 89: The Migration of Hydroxy Propyl Cel
Page 90: tion issue allowed a visualisation
Page 93 and 94: Ethical Considerations Concerning t
Page 95 and 96: emoved with damp cotton swab. Then
Page 97 and 98: Conservation of a Book of Hours fro
Page 99 and 100: Fig. 4: Pigments movement and conse
Page 101 and 102: Notes 1 Brazilwood lake, lapis lazu
Page 103 and 104: pages, which would easily have torn
Page 105 and 106: The Microflora Inhabiting Leonardo
Page 107 and 108: Acknowledgments The authors would l
Page 109 and 110: Microorganisms in Books - First Res
Page 111 and 112: hyaline white mycelia on and in the
Page 113 and 114: Deconstructing the Reconstruction E
Page 115 and 116: Fig. 3: Poster after 2012 conservat
Page 117 and 118: Conservators’ Investigation of Ch
Page 119 and 120: had been used, may be false-positiv
Page 121 and 122: function will provide a holistic pi
Page 123 and 124: Fig. 2: Patriarchs of Chan Buddhism
Page 125 and 126: ing techniques, which build upon fu
Page 127 and 128: Applications of Image Processing So
Page 129 and 130: Fig. 3 Fig. 4 images in a single wi
Page 131 and 132: Analysing Deterioration Artifacts i
Page 133 and 134: Fig. 3 similarity maps. Similarity
Page 135 and 136: Strategy in the Case of a Wrecked P
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without preliminary consolidation.
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Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscop
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Fig. 3: 18 th century paper seal, i
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Fig. 3 Fig. 4 of responsibilities r
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Characterising the Origin of Carbon
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Fig. 3: Sampling depth for ATR spec
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Fig. 2: Filmoplast® tape attached
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Pluchart, F. 1971. Pop Art Et Cie.
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Fig. 3: The reverse of left screen
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porting the reverse of severe creas
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Paper Conservation: Decisions & Compromises

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