Conservation Treatment of a Christmas Nativity Scene

This beautiful 3-dimensional nativity display was treated at Book and Paper Conservation Services nearly a year ago, but it seems appropriate to share it now for the holiday season. The cardboard fold-out die cut chromolitho shows a lushly detailed scene of the Nativity, with Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus, and accompanying shepherds and sheep resting in a bright and peaceful manger. It is a gorgeous example of Victorian art manufacturing ingenuity, and was likely used in a store window display for the Christmas season.

The client who brought it in had fond memories of seeing it set up and displayed during her childhood, after her grandfather brought it home from work one year and it became a centrepiece of the family’s holiday traditions. She recently inherited it from her mother and wanted to display it once again at Christmas. Unfortunately time and usage had taken a toll on the delicate structure, in particular the folding mechanisms, and it was soiled and damaged beyond use.

She contacted Book and Paper Conservation Services about having it restored, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to work on such a unique artifact.

The Nativity Scene partially opened.

Broken joints visible in side view.

The display stands nearly 2 feet high when open, but folds down to a flat and compact package, and the multiple layers of scenery and figures were made to fold and slide to accomplish this. Each layer stands individually, with a wonderful pop-up 3-dimensional effect, and the front facing sides are printed with jewel-like chromolithograph ink. However, the brittle board had snapped along most of the folding joints, many figures had broken off completely, there was brittle old adhesive tape peeling off from previous repairs, and a layer of dust and grime obscured the colours.

Old adhesive tape repairs are peeling off.

Broken joints of the folding mechanisms.

Treatment began with a gentle cleaning to remove dirt from both the front and back of each individual piece; next, broken figures and fragments were reattached using stable and reversible repair methods.

Cleaning dirt and grime off the printed surfaces using distilled water and cotton swab.

The Nativity propped open for repairs.

Colours returned to brilliance with cleaning.

Finally, each folding joint was repaired by replacing the broken board tab with a strip of stiff but flexible material; this enabled the mechanism to once again fold uninhibited but also gave it the strength to stand upright in its opened position. The sections were held in place with clamps and paperclips while they dried.

Once fully repaired, the Nativity was able to be opened safely and stand on its own for display, and the incredible detail could again be appreciated.

We also provided an acid-free, archival storage box for the piece to be kept in during the rest of the year, to protect and preserve it for the future.

The heart of the Nativity scene, with jewel-like colour and 3-dimensional depth.

After conservation treatment the Nativity scene is standing tall and looking brilliant once again.

The stepped layers with folding mechanisms repaired.

The owner was thrilled to have it back, restored to its former glory, and plans to display it during this holiday season. We are so pleased to have helped her restore an important piece of her childhood and bring back a little bit of the magic of Christmas!

If you are interested in having unique family heirlooms of your own conserved or restored, contact us for more information about our services.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!

Conservation Treatment of a Hand-Drawn Map of Sarnia, Ontario, 1848

A watermark from the notable papermaker J Whatman is visible in transmitted light. The map is drawn on hand-made laid rag paper.

Archival materials see some of the hardest use and wear of all paper objects, because their original purpose was usually utilitarian. Sometimes ephemeral, often consulted, maps are no exception. The maps that come in to Book and Paper Conservation Services for treatment show damages typical of handling and haphazard storage, such as tears, breaks, creases, soiling, and evidence of previous restoration as owners have performed DIY repairs in order to return functionality to an item in frequent use.

1848 Map of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Before conservation treatment, the map suffers surface dirt, tears and losses, as well as previous repairs with damaging adhesive tape on the verso.

An 1848 map of the town of Sarnia, Ontario that we conserved last year is a perfect example. The map, now part of the collections of the Lambton County Archives, shows several streets close to the shore of the St. Clair River, with specific lots carefully laid out and numbered and buildings and geological features marked.

The map is an original, and has been hand drawn with pen and ink, with roads and waterways highlighted in watercolour. It’s a utilitarian, yet beautiful object, with elegant penmanship and a green silk ribbon folded and sewn around the perimeter of the paper. It may be a thoughtfully designed piece, but it was meant foremost to convey information, and the handling and use it has seen are evident in the damages it now presents.

Lambton County Archives brought the map in for conservation treatment in order to preserve a delicate piece of Sarnia’s history, and make it safe for researchers to access and study.

Map in raking light, showing severe planar deformation.

The map suffered a variety of condition and damage issues caused by use and age, dating from it’s lifetime before entering the Archives. A heavy layer of surface dirt, tears and losses, and adhesive tape residue on the verso were present and needed to be addressed. After thorough condition reporting and photo-documentation, an essential step in all our conservation projects, the treatment began.

Surface cleaning using a smoke sponge is a slow and tedious process, but one which in this case yielded dramatic results. The time lapse images of the cleaning show the grime coming off section by section, brightening the paper beneath.

Surface cleaning the verso of the map.

Time lapse video showing the process of surface cleaning the map.

Next, the remains of the repair tape applied by a well-intentioned soul was addressed. The tape carrier had long since flaked off, but the adhesive residue remained, brittle and yellowed and crosslinking with the paper fibres on a microscopic level. Some solvent tests revealed a match, and by careful swab application, over suction to draw out the dissolved residue, we were successful in removing the disfiguring material. Luckily there was not much staining left in the paper after this was removed, and more stable repairs could now be applied.

Solvent removal of adhesive tape residue.

In keeping with conservation aims and ethics, a new, stable and reversible repair method was chosen, that of Japanese tissue adhered with wheat starch paste. Wheat starch paste is a clear, strong and flexible adhesive that will not fail, discolour or become brittle with time. It is used by paper conservators to attach thin strips of handmade Japanese tissue to paper objects, to repair tears and breaks. The long-fibred, acid-free tissue holds together the breaks and can be selected to match the colour and thickness of the artifact, being nearly invisible after application so that it won’t disturb the aesthetics of a piece. These repairs were performed on the verso of the map, and fills were added to the losses with a similar process, completing the repair of the mechanical damages on the map.

Japanese tissue repairs applied to the verso of the map, with LED light pad underneath.

After conservation treatment, the map is clean and stable.

After treatment the map is bright and clean, the damages are repaired and damaging materials have been removed so as not to cause further long-term deterioration. Conservation treatment has restored stability and aesthetic integrity to the map.

It was returned to Lambton County Archives as good as new, and is now kept in their newly renovated storage facility, ready to serve researchers interested in Sarnia’s early history. Please visit the Archives in person or online to learn more about their collections and the preservation strategies they undertake for artifacts in their care.

To learn more about archival conservation at Book and Paper Conservation Services, check out our portfolio section or read about our process.

Conservation of a WWI-Era Newspaper

Archival materials are valued for the information they convey, but often poor condition and deterioration hinders access to the text or images on old paper and documents. We frequently conserve these kinds of items for libraries and archives who's primary objective is to preserve and study the history they contain. 

This 1916 newspaper was been creased and soiled when it came in to the studio.

This project recently came to our studio from the Lambton Heritage Museum in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada. The 1916 Sarnia Canadian newspaper was part of their research collection, but had never received proper cataloguing or storage. It was the only known copy of this particular issue, and featured names and profiles of the soldiers in the 149 Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (popularly known as "Lambton's Own") about to depart for battle in World War One. 

Damage prevented access to the text of the newspaper.

A researcher using the Museum's collections wanted to read the content of the articles, but poor condition prevented access. The paper was soiled and creased, with folds obscuring text down the centre of paper, and the brittleness of the acidic newsprint had caused many breaks and losses in the sheet. Even gentle handling caused further deterioration, and conservation treatment was needed in order to restore the pages so they could be used safely.

Surface cleaning the paper to remove grime.

First, the front page was surface cleaned to remove the dirt and grime that was ground into the paper.

The creases gently unfolded, with the aid of moisture.

Next, the creases and folds were humidified with locally applied moisture and carefully unfolded, then flattened with a tacking iron, in order to open the sheets fully.

Tear repairs performed with extremely thin Japanese tissue.

Long tears along the creases and smaller ones radiating from the outer edges were repaired and strengthened with an extremely thin Japanese repair tissue, adhered with wheat starch paste. The thin tissue is almost transparent, a necessity in order for the text to remain readable through the repairs, and the adhesive is stable and reversible and won't become yellow or brittle with age.

The newspaper spread after repair and restoration.

Losses in the margins were filled with a slightly thicker Japanese paper to lend strength to the edges. Finally, the sheets were humidified overall and flattened so the paper is readable once more.

The front page of the conserved paper is now fully accessible.

The newspaper is now stable and able to be safely handled by Museum staff and visitors, and all the information is accessible to researchers. The stories of these brave men from Lambton County will once more be known and appreciated by today's citizens. 

Lambton Heritage Museum plans to exhibit the restored newspaper in an upcoming exhibit telling the story of Lambton County's participation in WWI. It will be held at the Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, Ontario, in fall 2017, and is to run concurrently with the national traveling exhibition Witness: Fields of Battle Through Canadian Eyes, on loan from the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Book and Paper Conservation Services is pleased to have worked on this project and to have contributed to the exhibition in a small way.

If you have historic items you are interested in having preserved, don't hesitate to get in touch with us!