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Before Treatment After Treatment

• Date: September 10, 2007
• PCS Identification number: 08-25
• Owner/Custodian: Alexander Architectural Archive, Nancy Sparrow
• Address: University of Texas at Austin; Austin, TX
• Telephone: 5-4621
• Title/Subject/Description: Ellens Farm
• Creator: Sir Aston Webb/Maurice Everett Webb
• Date of production: 1904
• Place of production: Unknown
• Approximate dimensions (hxw):
  • Metric: 29.1 cm H x 60.7 cm L
  • English: 11.5 in H x 23.9 in L
• Conservator: Suzy Morgan

The undersigned requests and authorizes the Kilgarlin Center University of Texas-Austin, Austin, TX, to undertake conservation treatment of the artifact described in the attached Condition Report according to the procedures outlined in the appended Treatment Proposal.  In the event the Owner/Custodian authorizes the Kilgarlin Center to proceed with the treatment recommended in the proposal such authorization shall be deemed to include acceptance by the depositor of the terms and conditions appearing in the original Authorization for Examination and Treatment.

Dimensions (Primary Support):
English: 11.5 in H x 23.9 in L
Metric:  29.1 cm H x 60.7 cm L

Dimensions (Image Area):
English: 10.4 in H x 22.8 in L
Metric: 26.3 cm H x 58 cm L

General
This is brown ink drawing on Whatman's brand watercolor sketching board. 

Media

• Brown Drawing Ink
  This is a brown drawing ink applied with a nib pen.
  
• Graphite Underdrawing
  A graphite underdrawing appears below the ink image.
• Graphite Inscription
  This is a darker graphite located in the bottom right recto as well as in the top left corner and center verso.
• Brown Ink Stamp
  On the verso there is a brown ink stamp with the "Whatman's" brand label. It is 17 cm wide and 11.9 cm high. It appears upside-down when the support is turned over horizontally from the recto to the verso.

Primary Support
The media have been applied to the recto of a piece of Whatman's "Water Colour Sketching Board", which is an artist's board with a smooth[1], white recto surface and a thickness of about 2 mm.  The core of the board is a pulpboard that has a brownish-orange coloring.  The verso side of the board has a smooth, light blue surface, with darker blue fibers distributed throughout.  There is a brown, paper-backed adhesive tape adhered 0.7 to 0.9 cm on the perimeter of the verso.  Some of this tape has been delaminated and has no overhang, but all edges have some overhanging amount of tape, which is not more than 0.7 cm wide.

Inscriptions
On the verso, there are two graphite inscriptions.  The first is an encircled "1904" that is just to the left of the "Whatman's" stamp.  The second is in the top left corner (when viewing the"Whatman's" stamp right-side up), that reads: "38-23".  On the recto, there is a 0.5 cm high letter "A" in the bottom right corner. 

 

General
The drawing is moderately grimy, but in fairly good condition overall with very little loss or disturbance of the support or media.

Media

• Brown Drawing Ink
  The brown drawing ink is in good condition.
  
• Graphite Underdrawing
  The graphite is very light, but in good condition as it produces only a very faint dry offset.
• Graphite Inscription
  The graphite used for the inscriptions on both the recto and verso is in good condition.
• Brown Ink Stamp
  The brown ink stamp is in good condition.

Primary Support
There is a mild to moderate amount of grime overall.  The brownish-orange color of the board and the presence of lignin indicate that it is acidic.  There are brown foxing spots with dark centers scattered over the entire recto image area, which are more concentrated along the margin areas than the center of the image.  There is also some foxing on the verso.  The bottom left corner of the verso has a 0.36 cm2 region of skinning.  There are pinholes in both top corners.  There are areas of the support that have not experienced the same amount of light-damage as the majority of the image area.  These lighter areas are 4 cm along the right edge, 0.6 cm along the bottom edge, 1.4 cm along the top edge and 0.6 cm along the left edge.  On the verso, there are some raised, dark brown fingerprints.

Before Treatment: Digital images overall and in ninths of the recto and verso, in raking and ambient light. 

TESTING OF BROWN DRAWING INK

Protocol
The brown drawing ink was tested for the presence of iron (III) ions using potassium ferrocyanide.  An offset was produced using a piece of slightly dampened chromatography paper pressed to the ink.  The chromatography paper was allowed to dry, after which a drop of concentrated HCl solution was placed on the pigment offset.  Then a drop of potassium ferrocyanide was placed on the offset, and the pigment was observed for any color changes. 
Results
The ink tested negative for iron (III) ions, indicating that the drawing ink is not an iron gall ink.

TESTING OF SUPPORT

Protocol
A 1 square millimeter fiber sample was removed from the core, placed on a piece of chromatography paper and put in a Petri dish.  A phloroglucinol solution from Talas was applied to determine the presence of lignin.
Results
The sample tested positive for lignin.

1. Lightly dry-clean recto surface using a soot sponge and eraser crumbs if necessary, with the intent to avoid any disturbance of the graphite.
2. Remove the adhesive tape (verso), mechanically assisted by the use of moisture as necessary.
3. Re-house in a sink mat.

Possible Effects of Treatment
The presence of the graphite underdrawing may make it difficult or impossible to dry-clean safely.  The acidic board core could cause further discoloration of the image area over time, but separating the image area from the core could be even more damaging and remove information about the materials used – so the board will be left intact.

1. The recto was first gently dry-cleaned overall with a soot sponge, being very careful not to disturb the graphite underdrawing. The soot sponge was then applied more locally in the grimier areas. (3 Hours)
2. The tape (verso) and residual adhesive was removed using a moisture-assisted mechanical technique. Any overhanging, un-adhered parts of the tape were delaminated using tweezers or cut away. A 2.5% Methyl Cellulose poultice was applied to the remaining tape and allowed to sit until it was determined, via a gentle prodding from a Teflon folder that the tape would respond easily to mechanical removal. A Teflon folder was then used to gently remove the released tape carrier and some of the tape adhesive. After the first application of the Methyl Cellulose poultice, the remaining adhesive was reduced using a second application of Methyl Cellulose and then scraped away with a Teflon folder. If some adhesive residue still remained after the second poultice, a cotton swab moistened with DI water was gently rolled over the residue in order to reduce it. Some of the residue did not respond to either the Methyl Cellulose poultice or the moistened cotton swab, but it was determined that it was not tacky enough to cause future problems. (9 Hours)
3. The object was then rehoused in the same folder, as the addition of a sink mat would add unnecessary bulk without also adding a significant amount of extra support. (5 Minutes)
• Total Treatment Time: 12 Hours, 5 Minutes

1. Lunning, E and Perkinson, R. 1996. The Print Council of America Paper Sample Book. The Print Council of America.

Suzy can be contacted via email at: suzyemail (at) gmail.com | (c) 2007 by Suzy Morgan