Art Conservation and Custom Framing

Archival materials arrive at our conservation studio needing anything from a few minor paper repairs to full scale cleaning.  As much as we love the dramatic treatments, it's also nice to see items that just need a little TLC and custom framing in order to appear to their best advantage. 

The large illustrated newspaper sheet in raking light, showing vertical ripples.

This 1918 newspaper sheet from the Montreal Telegraph is a perfect example. The page is a rare item showing North American Polish army recruits training at a camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, in preparation for fighting in WWI. The piece is to be displayed next fall at the Niagara Historical Society Museum's exhibition Kosciuszko Camp: The Polish Army at Niagara Camp, 1917-1919, opening in November 2017.

The page was in fairly good condition, but had a few small tears around the edges and was lightly rippled from being stored folded. The owner also wanted it framed for display in the exhibition, but with an option for long-term flat storage at the Museum after the exhibition ends. 

Repairing a tear in the margin with wheat starch paste and Japanese tissue.

The minor treatment included repairing the small tears in the margins with wheat starch paste and Japanese tissue, and humidifying and flattening the sheet overall to eliminate the rippling.

The piece was then custom framed for display in acid-free materials and behind Conservation Clear® UV filtering glass. An acid-free folder was included in the frame package for safe, flat storage once the piece is removed from the frame. 

Applying a Japanese tissue hinge to the artwork, part of the framing process.

Proper framing is an important consideration for works of art on paper. Poor framing materials and methods are often the cause of serious damage that conservators are tasked with undoing, such as mat burn or discolouration caused by acidic mats and backer boards, or staining and brittleness from poor quality tape hinges attached to the piece.

At BPCS we always use custom Japanese tissue hinges adhered to the artwork with wheat starch paste when framing works on paper. These hinges are stable and reversible and do not cause any damage to artworks, unlike many commercial framing tapes and adhesives. This is the safest method for mounting paper, and ensures that 20 or 100 years from now, when the artwork is next removed from its frame, there will be no unexpected staining or brittleness as we often find in artworks framed throughout the 20th century.

The finished piece, framed for display.

The owner chose a simple black wooden frame from our samples and a black mat to offset and highlight the black and white images. The result is a striking piece which will grab viewers' attention in the exhibition, as well as ensuring the safety of this rare piece. 

If you are in the area, check out the Niagara Historical Society Museum in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and watch for this piece in next fall's exhibition!

Do you have an old newspaper article or other archival items you'd like to display? Contact us to discuss conservation and framing of your piece, or check out our services to see what we offer.

Book and Paper Conservation Services: Interview with The Lazy Historian

The Lazy Historian interviews Jennifer Robertson about the profession of art conservation.

We were recently interviewed by Jill Hamilton of the Lazy Historian blog about the profession of art conservation. Check out the post on her site to learn a little about the training, tasks and thrills of being an art conservator. Her site is a smorgasbord of posts on different topics in history - don't hesitate to go for a browse. Thanks Jill!

Interview: Jennifer Robertson, Art Conservator

Jill and I connected on Instagram, where we both participate in a diverse community of heritage professionals sharing images of their daily work and interests. If you aren't yet following @bookandpaperconservation on Instagram and Facebook, we invite you to do so today! You'll see many more glimpses of interesting projects we're working on here at Book and Paper Conservation Services through our social media accounts.

And of course, don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions regarding conservation or restoration of you works on paper or rare books.

Book Restoration: The Horn Expedition, 4 Volume Set

The Horn Expedition in disrepair - broken joints and ragged endcaps visible. 

The BPCS studio frequently undertakes book repairs and restoration for private book collectors. Poor condition greatly diminishes the value of rare books, as well as rendering them unreadable, and investing in having your antiquarian books restored can increase their value substantially. 

The board joints and endcaps of all 4 volumes were particularly damaged.

Volume 2 had many breaks in the sewing of the text block.

This rare four volume set titled The Horn Expedition, published 1896, describes a scientific expedition to Central Australia; it recently came into the studio for conservation. The books had a variety of typical damages, including broken joints and detached boards, a loose text block in volume 2, and damage to the cloth at endcaps and corners. The set was also ex-library with the usual markings on spines and endpapers.

Endcaps of the 4 volumes were chipped and broken.

These issues are common in late 19th century publishers bindings, where the materials have become brittle and handling has caused them to break in tension spots. Fortunately, they are easily repaired. 

First, the spines were cleaned to remove the brittle animal glue and then lined with Japanese paper and wheat starch paste. The crumbling acidic spine stiffeners inside the cloth publisher's bindings were removed and replaced with new flexible acid-free card stock. 

Removing brittle animal glue and spine lining.

The text block of volume two was resewn on thin linen thread, with Japanese tissue guarding performed on some of pages.  Loose boards on three of the volumes were reattached using the Japanese paper spine lining, and the joints were covered with Japanese paper toned to match the blue cloth of the covers.

Board reattachment using Japanese paper spine lining.

Repairing the break at the joint between spine and front board.

Bumped and exposed board corners were repaired with wheat starch paste and toned Japanese paper.

Repairs were made to the cloth of the spines, rebuilding the damaged endcaps with more blue toned Japanese paper. The gold stamped spine decoration missing where the endcaps were damaged was recreated to disguise loss. Finally, the white library call numbers on the spines were removed mechanically. After treatment, the library markings are still faintly visible, which is intentional in order to preserve the provenance of the book, but the set is more attractive after their removal. 

The four volumes after conservation treatment.

Headcaps are all repaired.

Board corners repaired. 

After treatment, the four volume set is stable and much more attractive. The repaired spines stand straight and clean, the endcaps are smooth and rounded, and the books open easily so the reader can access the text. The restored set is now able to be properly appreciated; with the improved condition, the value is also greatly increased. 

Contact us if you have rare or important volumes that could benefit from conservation treatment. There is no charge for an initial consultation, and we are happy to discuss different treatment options to meet your needs. Or, have a look through the portfolio page at other rare books that have been restored at our studio.