PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Task of conservation. Case studies
shimmer of the wallpaper could best be imitated with acrylic
paint. Although acrylic is considered inappropriate for conservation
treatment, it was used to improve the aesthetic appearance
of the object. To minimize the intervention, the paint was
applied only to in-filled and damaged areas.
After remounting the strips and fragments of wallpaper,
it became clear that there were three larger missing areas,
which could not be retouched satisfactorily enough to hide
the loss and imitate the embossed surface. Thus it was necessary
to find a suitable method of reconstruction. The original
wallpapers had been produced with the aid of either engraved
metal plates, blocks, rollers or pairs of negative and positive
forms. Since less than 1 m 2 of the original wallpaper needed
to be reconstructed, ordering an embossed copy of it was
considered to be financially and temporally unreasonable.
A method of reconstruction was suggested by two painting
conservators, Simona Predescu and Ioan D. Popa, from the
Theodor Aman Museum. A cast reconstruction with the aid
of a sculptors silicone mould was prepared. (Fig. 137) The
mould, covering four pattern repeats, was taken from a wellpreserved
strip of wallpaper, which had been covered with
two layers of gelatine to protect the original. The reconstructions
consisted of two layers, a thin Japanese tissue (9 g/m 2 )
and an adhesive from Henkel 426 mixed with gouache to add
some colour.
Wet tissue was gently tapped into the mould with soft brushes
and covered with a layer of glue. (Fig. 138) After the glue had
dried, the reconstruction was cut to form, following the shape
of the missing areas, and attached to the wall, leaving the surface
covered by the Japanese tissue on top. The reconstructions
were hand-painted with acrylic paint in situ. (Fig. 139)
Besides the wallpaper, a historic oven had been dismantled
and was kept in the cellar of the museum. Since the surface
behind the oven had never been papered, it was decided to cover
the missing area with a paper in a neutral colour to mark the
426
Henkel, Product Categories, Moment Raw Parket Adhesive, accessed February 26, 2013,
http://www.henkel-cee.com/1820_2847_CEE_HTML.htm.
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