PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Task of conservation. Case studies
of blossoms between their jaws. (Fig. 132) The background of
the paper has a metallic copper-brown shimmer, which makes
the wallpaper look like gilded leather. Since the production of
imitations of a wide variety of materials was a particular feature
of the last quarter of the 19th century, 424 the wallpaper in
the museum can probably be dated to the last three decades of
the century. Embossed wallpapers were considered very suitable
for the decoration of entrance halls, stairways, dining and
drawing rooms, libraries and studies in fashionable middleclass
homes. 425 Commonly they were used in combination with
other decorative elements. The wallpaper was applied above a
dark wooden dado and completed with such applications as a
jagged wooden cornice and flat wooden pillars mounted in the
corners of the room.
5.3.3. Conservation treatment
Preceding the conservation treatment in September 2011, the
wallpaper had been cleaned, lined and retouched by the local
paper conservator, who had dismounted it during the first stage
of the conservation project in 2005. Due to the lack of guidance
and previous experience with historic wallpapers, the objects
were damaged during dismounting, transportation and conservation
treatment. (Fig. 133) For various reasons, such as inadequate
experience, the quality of the work, and the need to limit
expenses, the Bucharest Rotary Club decided to use the services
of Markus Krön and the Institut für Papier Restaurierung from
Vienna.
The aim of the project was to return the dismounted strips
and fragments of wallpaper to their original location, to conserve
them and form an aesthetically appealing unity with other
decorative elements of the room.
As the first step, it was important to remount the pieces
of wallpaper in the original order. (Fig. 134) The signs of various
types of damage (such as discolouration due to light and
humidity, areas of corroding pigments, mechanical damage,
424
Woods, Kosuda Warner and Jacqué, “Proliferation:...”, 158.
425
Ibidem.
248