Hello there
I hope you are considering a form of conservation that does not entail
a complete restoration. There has been a change of heart within the
archaeological/textile conservation community during the past several
years. At one time full reconstruction was the norm, today scholars
and collectors may prefer to see the piece in its current condition.
That way they know what exists of the original workmanship. Faded
color, flaws, loosened pigments, and other blemishes are acceptable
and even welcome evidence of antiquity. Another reason to use extreme
caution is that repairing a damaged textile by poor or incorrect work
may effect the fabric's long term preservation. This can be avoided
in a museum type situation where the item is needed only for display
in controlled conditions. But if the thanka will suffer much
handling, then some compromise is needed. I don't know how you go
about taking care of such items within your Theravada tradition, but I
am Jodo Shinsu and within our practice, sooner or later, the kids get
their hands on just about everything in the temple.
Forgive me if I sound as though I'm starting this at a very basic
level, but since I don't have any real idea as to what you already
know other than what you have mentioned in the question, it is
probably safer.
The care of antique textiles has three main features or phases -
cleaning, restoration and conservation. The cleaning of antique
textiles is a very complex process. If the dyes are safe, the textile
may be washed in de-ionised water. Otherwise, chemicals similar to
those used in the dry cleaning process can be used. But there is
something else to consider when making your decision as to whether to
clean the thanka or not. Signs of wear and dirt may offer crucial
clues to the historic use of a textile, and act as a vital witness to
its authenticity. This last feature may be of critical importance if
you are considering having the thanka insured. Bits of pollen and
other debris found in the layer of "gentle dirt" which can be
identified with specific locations and seasons will go far in
establishing value and history. If you do decide to go ahead and
clean the piece, try to preserve some of this dirt and dust in case it
is needed for future study.
Here is a full treatment for the cleaning and conservation of a silk
painting which has delamination problems. To do it properly, you
will need to find a facility which has a vacuum table you may use. If
you cannot find a vacuum table, you can still do the pigment
consolidation I describe using a highly absorbant material such as
layers of linen beneath the silk, though the work is much more
exacting. I have worked with a vacuum table and absorbant padding
both in the process of cleaning ancient painted fabrics.
Remove the painting from its board mounting.
Clean the surface of the painting with a very soft brush to remove
loose dirt then place painting face up on the vacuum table.
Roll lightly moistened cotton swabs very gently over the painting to
loosen and remove soil. When doing this to an area of the painting
where the pigment is loose, exert a straight down, but gentle pressure
rather than a side to side movement. With a little practice, this can
be done while still giving the swab a 'rolling' motion. Take great
care was taken not to disturb pigments on the surface. A vacuum table
draws excess water through the silk without damaging the delicate silk
fiber. This process removes the stains and dirt but does not endanger
the pigments.
This process takes many hours of careful cleaning, the pigments will
appear brighter and the surface of the painting looks better in
general.
Next, you will want to consolidate those loose pigments. It seems as
though that in one of your main concerns.
Use a traditional animal glue binder. Dissolve the glue in warm water
to a 1 percent solution and apply with a brush. In similar work I
have done with painted Egyptian linen (from the Coptic Period) I did
away with the soft brush and used an air brush to lightly spray the
glue. I would recommend this for your application. This process
takes quite some time and needs to be repeated in areas needing better
adhesion. The vacuum table's suction will pull the animal glue binder
through the layer of pigments and into contact with the silk support
beneath, ensuring stable consolidation and the pigments are no longer
in any danger of coming off the surface when the thanka is handled.
I stress the importance of taking a lot of time to do the job right.
At this website from the Smithsonian points out - "A 14th-century
Buddhist silk wall hanging with a royal blue background lies facedown
on a worktable, where an expert using tweezers will take an entire day
to remove one deteriorated square inch of the painting." - (
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues01/nov01/mall.html
) - scroll about half way down to page. I am not including this
because there is any additional information about preserving silk
paintings, but to give emphatic reminder of the need for care.
For some additional information about maintaining silk paintings
"Maintenance of East Asian Painting" - (
http://aic.stanford.edu/conspec/bpg/annual/v12/bp12-09.html )
Covers both silk and paper conservation.
Search was Google but most of the answer from personal experience and
training.
Key words - archaeological fabric conservation, conserving silk
paintings, silk restoration
and it was amazing how little there was to find
My best advice is to do nothing unless the painting is so bad it
cannot be seen or is terribly discolored.
If you need further clarification or additional information, please
let me know.
Namu Amida Butsu
digsalot |
Request for Answer Clarification by
louisvanloon-ga
on
06 Aug 2002 04:02 PDT
Dear Friend of Thankas,
Many, many thanks for your insightful comments and recommendations!
Your love for this type of work shows in the way you make your
suggestions! I will follow your advise and keep the restoration to a
minimum. I agree that a fine, aged painting like that needs to show
its age - like people growing older!
I just want to do enough to preserve its aged beauty for as long as
possible. Please tell me a little more about the "traditional animal
glue binder". Living as I do in South Africa, what do I ask for? I
remember, when I lived as a child in Holland, that my father used a
glue made of [ I think] horses' hooves [!] to mend wood items and even
shoes. We melted the stuff on a gas flame and mixed it with water [?]
Is this what you mean? What is the modern equivalent? Will Casein
glue do? I presume the glue needs to be totally transparent? If I
cannot find a vacuum table to help me [we live simple lives here.....]
can I use gentle pressure with a damp cloth to ease back the lifting
slivers of pigment onto the backing? I promise I will take time to
do the repairs - mindfully! Looking forward to your reply! Thank you
again for your interest!
Louis
|
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
06 Aug 2002 07:51 PDT
Hi again - You have hit it right on the head. The hoof glue is the
"traditional animal binder." I don't know why I just didn't call it
that to start with. Casein is a remarkable modern product but not for
what you want to do. While it dries clear, it has a tendency to
absorb stain from impurities in the air, especially smoke. The only
time I have known casein to be used in conservation projects is as an
injectable fluid for the preservation of fresco. The restorations of
the Sistine Chapel used casein injection techniques to stabelize the
plaster base the pigment was worked into. If you want to use it with
fabric, that would involve a dessication chamber, vacuum pumps, and a
lot of other paraphanalia far beyond a simple vacuum table.
If you do not have access to a vacuum table, lay the silk on top of
several alternating layers of linen or cotton (best) cloth which are
alternated with thin layers of cotton batting. Build this to a
thickness of less than a half inch. When you spray on the glue
mixture (don't use a brush at all in this case), gravity will pull the
fluid downward through the silk into the absorbant material binding
the pigment to the silk.. It will take a little longer and you will
need to use more of the glue mixture to make sure the dampness reaches
through to the absorbant material underneath in order to begin the
capillary absorbtion process which draws the fluid downward.
Also as an additional bit of information, try to keep the thanka away
from incense smoke. At our Shin Buiddhist temple here in Ohio, we
have given up the burning of incense because so many in the
congregation are allergic to it. Instead, some of the more artistic
members of the congregation take the colorful incense sticks and
manufacture sculpted offerings. Last month we had a half size peacock
made up entirely if bits of incense stick as an altar offering. We
later burn them when we have an outdoor service and the smoke can
disperse. That way we can keep those members of the congregation
happy who somehow feel that "combustion" is a necessity to proper
worship while keeping the inside of the temple smoke free.
When you get the project underway, please feel free to come back and
ask step by step if needed. I'll be here. Because of your tight
finances, if you do come back for more information, use the answer
clarification feature of this question for the exchange and avoid
having to pay for a new question. I might get some flack for that
suggestion, but I can live with it.
You also have some excellent archaeological consultancy companies and
schools in SA. If you approach them, you might - just might, find one
of them who would take on the restoration probono.
Namu Amida Butsu
digsalot
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
louisvanloon-ga
on
12 Aug 2002 02:31 PDT
Hi again, Thanka friend!
I was away helping to run a Korean Zen retreat at our Retreat Centre
over the last four days - that is why you have not heard from me!
Many thanks for the further clarification in your latest missive to
me. You really are of wonderful help!
I have now received the thanka in our office and have therefore been
able to have a closer look at it. My first impression that it was
painted on silk is wrong. It is a paper scroll that seems to have been
expertly mounted by a previously restorer on a backing board I have ot
seen before. It is a type of plaster board, very dense and hard but
light, white and approx 5 mm thick. The paperadheres very firmly to
this board, but has pulled away in a few small places. The worst
damage was done by the previous owner who, in an efort to give tthe
painting some lustre, sprayed an area aprox 70 cm wide by 20 cm high
with fixative...... This area, right in the middle of the picture,
has many small slivers of paper pulling away the backing board. This
is our main problem: how to reattach these slivers. Do I still use
your suggestion of the animal glue, diluted to a 1% solution in warm
water? Do I get this right: 1 part glue to 100 parts of water?
I tried to clean a very small portion of the painting, but it is not
worth it. The result is minimal and, I am sure, too potentially
damaging to the paper. So I will not do any cleaning. Even so, is
there a way to give the colours some more lustre? Or will the glue
solution do this? Is there anything else that can be done the deepen
the colours? [Apart from spraying on more fixative .........!!!]
We are all very impressed with the trouble you are taking to help us!
I now have taken a picture of the thanka and would like to e-mail it
to you but do not know how to do this via this google service. Should
I send it to your own e-mail? Please let me know!
Many thanks again With kind regards,
Louis
|
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
12 Aug 2002 07:37 PDT
Hi there - for now please don't do anything. It is no longer the same
situation. While I do have experience with paper restoration, it was
a simpler job than the one you propose. I will be at the Cleveland
Museum of Art the during the first week of Sept. working on the
conservation of a cartonnage burial mask from Roman Egypt. (similar,
but not close enough). If you are willing to wait that long, I will
come back with an answer from the Department of Oriental art. What
you want to know is their specialty.
As for emailing me a photo, there are times required anonymity can get
in the way. But as part of this service, we are pretty much pledged
to it. Perhaps some day there might be a way to get messages to
researchers other than this. But for now it must remain our only open
form of communication. Believe me, I am quite sorry about that in
this case.
Namu Amida Butsu
digsalot
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
louisvanloon-ga
on
12 Aug 2002 08:02 PDT
This is not so much an answer clarification as a huge thank you
[again!] for the thoroughness, promptness and friendliness of your
responses! I will do nothing until I hear from you!
Travel safely!
Louis
|
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
12 Aug 2002 08:14 PDT
Thank you
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
louisvanloon-ga
on
27 Aug 2002 09:09 PDT
To Digsalot-ga:
Just to let you know that I will be overseas from September 4 - 23 so
if I do not answer any message from you it is because I am
ex-communicado during this period. Looking forward to your news on
paper thanka restauration!
Louis
|
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
27 Aug 2002 11:58 PDT
I am leaving for the museum on the 4th and will be back 10th or 11th.
Your answer will be waiting when you return.
In ghasso
Namu Amida Butsu
|
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
18 Sep 2002 10:54 PDT
Hello there
We spent an afternoon going over your restoration problem. I had
printed out the material you provided with this question and the
advice from the staff at the museum was unanimous - - - do nothing to
it except rehouse it. By that I mean reframed behind glass - non
glare for best results. If you deal the back of the frame, do so only
with paper. You do not want to make the housing air tight. It does
need to breathe. If you make it airtight, slow oxidation eventually
removes enough oxygen from the trapped air to permit the growth of
anerobic bacteria with all their associated stains and destruction.
That problem is avoided by the museum because they have the facilities
to introduce 'inert' gasses to the frame housing before they seal
thngs up.
Repairing shredding paper is a little different than repairing
shredding silk would have been. Using a glue mixture as a spray could
very well dissolve water based pigments. In this case, repair has a
good chance of causing irreversible harm to the very thing you want to
preserve. The previous application of "fixative" was enough of a
trauma to the paper.
So, after all of this, the best recommendation I can make comes from
the art museum experts. Don't do anything except frame it under
glass. I'm sorry there is no magic bullet in this case.
In ghasso
Namu Amida Butsu
digsalot
|
