PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Preservation of wallpaper as a part of interiors
difficulty or risk to the artwork. 301 However, in the case of paper
objects hardly any conservation treatment is completely reversible,
since even the simplest standard processes alter, though
often positively, the structure of paper. 302
The general preservation process of a wallpaper preserved
in situ can be divided into two stages: the condition survey and
conservation treatment. 303 The condition survey records the current
condition of the object, the scope and character of damages
and any additional evidence of existing historic wallpapers. The
results of monitoring are very useful in describing the reasons
for deterioration and in indicating possible future treatments.
The survey can offer several options, which will be dictated by
location and future use, as well as environmental conditions
and the nature and condition of the materials used. 304
A conservation process includes different stages of treatment.
The number of stages depends largely on the aims of the
process, and the condition and location of the object. If a wallpaper
is going to be conserved in situ, the stages include monitoring,
documentation, surface cleaning, consolidation, in-filling,
retouching and reconstructing. In the case of a wallpaper which
has been or will be removed from a wall, other treatments,
such as dismounting, packaging, washing, bleaching, lining and
mounting, may be added to the process.
301
Robert Futernick “Conservation of Scenic Wallpapers: Sauvages de la Mer du Pacifique”
in JAIC Online (1981), accessed May 5, 2011, http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/articles/
jaic20-02-012.html.
302
Troschke, “Der Blaue Salon im Schloss Schönbrunn...”, 75.
303
Allyson McDermott, “Wallpapers in the Historic Interior” in The Building Conservation
Directory (2004), accessed December 7, 2012, http://www.buildingconservation.com/
articles/wallpapers/wallpapers.htm.
304
McDermott, “Wallpapers in the Historic Interior”, http://www.buildingconservation.com/
articles/wallpapers/wallpapers.htm.
164