McHugh, S.; "Skin tight", The ethnographic conservation newsletter of the Working Group on Ethnographic Materials of the ICOM Committee for Conservation 32 (2011) 8-11
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Introduction:
In 2009 an unusual and complex treatment was carried out at the National Gallery of Australia on a skin covered Janiform (two faced) mask from Nigeria. Now an important part of the National Gallery’s small African collection, the Janiform mask was already in poor condition when it was acquired in 1974. As suggested by the name, it has two faces back to back, thought to be male and female, with raised designs imitating local scarification practices. It is constructed from what is believed to be antelope skin, stretched over a two part hard wood structure, and a loss to one side of the wood had caused movement and subsequent tears and losses to the skin. Testing was carried out to determine the most effective methods and materials for the necessary repairs, based on a literature search for treatments on similar materials. A brief mention in one paper of natural skin condoms caught the conservators’ attention and these eventually turned out to be the most useful material tested and key to the success of the treatment that followed.