Title: Five celebrated clowns attached to Sands, Nathan Co’s Circus

Artist: Unknown

Media: Woodcut print with oil-based inks

Paper: Cream coloured wove paper

 

This project was performed in collaboration with Book Conservation intern Bailey Kinsky, Fellow Paper Conservator Emilie Duncan and under the supervision of Senior Paper Conservator Susan Peckham.

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• Solubility tests were performed on all inks

• Tracing of the areas of the sections edges, major tears, old tape and a few shapes on a sheet of Mylar. It served as a survey for the future alignment of the different sections during the lining step

• Cutting the poster into eight sections (H x W : 102.87 cm x 86.36 cm) to treat each section separately

• Photographic documentation in the photo studio before treatment

• Dry cleaning with powdered vinyl eraser to remove dirt and grime layer

• Removal of old tape carriers with solvent to soften the adhesive and a spatula under extraction “elephant” hood

• Mechanical removal of the canvas backing after cutting lining into strips

• Light humidification with GoreTex and spray and removal of the lining paper and the soft layer of adhesive with a layer of Tek-wipe soaked with enzymatic solution

• Washing on a layer of Tek-wipe to remove soluble acidic degradation products and residual enzyme products

• Deacidification on a layer of Tek-wipe with calcium carbonate and left to dry between Hollytex and felts

• Losses filled with Japanese paper toned with acrylics

• Light humidification and placing fragments and infills

• Lining on Dacron and Japanese paper

• Retouching with watercolour

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