Lmst

Before | during | after
paper conservation.

Two pieces of beige brown paper with blue ink. Pieces creased and broken off at corners.

Two pieces of beige brown paper. Pieces creased and broken off at corners. Partial repairs under pieces of blotter held down with weights.

Two pieces of beige brown paper with blue ink. No creased and broken off pieces.

Painstaking work to conserve Ireland’s oldest paper documents begins.

Delicate 650-year-old pages to be preserved are some of the island’s most important historical texts.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/26/painstaking-work-to-conserve-irelands-oldest-paper-documents-begins #paperconservation #Ireland #history

#PaperConservation nightmare during a final field tour and check of the Mastodon #EMF2024 dot matrix machine by @mattgrayyes before departing #EMFCamp2024.

😱

-Creases
-Tears
-Folds
-Separation
-Drink residues...

Blue festival tent.
Wood table.
Black dot matrix printer sitting on left of table.
Remainder of table covered in lengths of paper.

Sometimes #conservation work involves rectifying previous conservation work.

In this case a previous archivist and/or conservator thought "closed" items should be removed from this volume. There is even skimmed paper remaining on some of the guards.

Now that the records are open, I've hinged the material back to their original locations.

We no longer do this, making extensive guard books or removing "closed" items.

Fisher series

#PaperConservation
#OnTheConservationBench
#Archives

Two overlapping horizontal strips of paper, guards, against a piece of manilla, in a scrapbook style volume.

Beneath: A sunlit piece of paper with typewriter text projecting towards the viewer.

Returning to exhibition preparation. As soon as the display cases are locked, we begin (actually, resume) working on the next exhibition.

This letter from 1815 is on beautiful handmade paper with iron gall ink. I've removed the item from a guard book. I'm using flexible sheet magnets (right) to hold the edge flat between release layers and blotter while removing the remnants of the guard (left).

#PaperConservation
#OnTheConservationBench
#Archives

A A5ish size cream paper flat on a surface lined with blotter. Brown/black manuscript across half the page. A brown square located at the right lower corner. A pair of tweezers and micro-spatula arranged to the right.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This can definitely be the case with stabilised archives. Evidence of previous storage conditions show on these two pages including water damage and mould.

Now cleaned, sized and repaired, this item is ready for consultation in the Reading Room.

#PaperConservation
#OnTheConservationBench
#Archives

A4+ size paper, bluish in colour. Discolouration at the centre fold line. A brown/black mottled area at the edge.

@LektoratBachmann
Great question!

They are glass weights used to hold the fragments in place either while the repairs dry or to keep the fragments from wafting around.

#AskAConservator
#PaperConservation

Some lucky paper conservator will get to figure out how to remove light weight oil from tracing paper. Quite the conundrum since oil is used to make tracing paper transparent. Also, big dimensional changes if treated with water.

Please don't store your architecturally significant plans in a basement beneath paint tins and cleaning/mechanical repair supplies (before being accessioned).

#CollectionCare
#PaperConservation
#ConditionSurvey

@histodons

Grey/beige tracing paper with moving oil between layers.

Horror in the archive box

Surveying for a big upcoming project. Came across this which will take a big chunk of time to conserve:
- brittle tracing paper
- pressure sensitive tape removal
-other tape removal
- repairs

#CollectionCare
#PaperConservation
#Surveying
#TapeIsEvil

A3+ size tracing paper. A grid system of pressure sensitive tape. An array of other applied tape.

I am never stapling anything together ever again. Abolish staples. Staples are the WORST FORM of device to hold papers together. Literally anything else (except tape, that’s even worse). Signed, grumpy archiving assistant. #archives #archiving #paperconservation #TalesOfTheArchive

Tracing paper with wax seal plan of #Trimdon #Whitehall after treatment including flattening, infills and repairs. This item is now "fit for production" in our Reading Room.
#Stabilisation
#Preservation
#PaperConservation
#Archives
Lambeth Palace Library CB/813

@histodons

Beige brown tracing paper plan with details drawn in black ink with red highlights. Black stamp in upper corner. Broken black wax seal near upper right corner.

So I'm merrily working through bundles of archive records that require resizing to strengthen the paper structure and straight forward paper repairs when I get to this little challenge.
Land survey on tracing paper with fugitive ink.
#Archives
#PaperConservation
#Histodons
@histodons

A light brown triangular-ish shape of creased and folded tracing paper with red ink, black ink, black sealing wax.

Well this is going to be fun.

Time to warm up the vacuum table.

#PaperConservation
#TeesChart
#DontKeepYourArchivesUnderUsedPaintTins
#Conservation
#Archives
#histodons

A photomechanical copy of an architectural plan with an oil stain covering the lower left quadrant. An additional water stain extends out from the brown/yellow stain.

It is now functional after several paper repairs and replacing the masking tape with Japanese tissue.

#PaperConservation
#TapeIsEvil

Happy Friday from the Conservation studio

A wooden calendar with four upright stanchions. Day/Date/Month rollers.

Getting to work on this wonderful thing. A wooden day/date/month calendar display.

#PaperConservation
#TapeIsEvil
#TapeUsuallyFails

Inside view of wooden calendar display. Three rolls of paper. Top shows days of week. Middle shows torn paper with dates, third roll shows months.

Penultimate day on the tracing paper map.
#Conservation
#PaperConservation
#Archives
#Maps

Yellowed tracing paper with layers of release paper and blotter beneath round glass weights.

Initial condition assessments for an upcoming display long list at #LambethPalaceLibrary

Guess the theme for the April installation?

#CollectionCare
#Exhibitions
#PaperConservation

Beige A5ish size card with test reading Westminster Abbey Coronation

Collection Care are hosting City & Guilds Conservation students for parchment training and collection cleaning.
There are enough of us to fill an entire tea trolley.
#CollectionCare
#Training #PaperConservation

Seven people seated around the bench cleaning archive items in dust trays. Gloves worn to prevent skin irritation.

Two level trolley with all necessaries for tea: cups, carafe, milk X2, mince pies, shortbread...

#Paperhistorians and #paperconservation experts, any idea what caused these distinct spots in the texture of an #18thcentury #laidpaper? I presume it has to be something in the tray, but what? It is of absolutely no consequence but I'd love to know.

#Conservation experts, may I pick your brains? Where would an art collector learn the basics of #PaperConservation, cleaning and repair for works on paper - enough to appraise the damage and have sense of what needed doing. Books, courses, readings, videos: any leads would be welcome. I've always turned to others, but want to know more for myself.

#PaperConservation

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