26/12/2014
"All that glitters: conservation of a gilt leather chasuble" by Smith (2014)
19/12/2014
"A 15th-century Flemish enclosed garden in cuir bouilli. Production, degradation and conservation issues of a small painting on leather" by Watteeuw & Van Bos (2014)
Watteeuw, L.; Van Bos, M.; "A 15th-century Flemish enclosed garden in cuir bouilli. Production, degradation and conservation issues of a small painting on leather", in J. Bridgland (ed.), ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 15–19 September 2014, art. 0703, Paris, International Council of Museums (2014)
PDF (Lirias)
Abstract:
An early 15th-century figurative cuir bouilli coffret lid, with remains of original polychromy, belonging to the town museum in Nivelles (Belgium), was studied and conserved in 2013. Cuir bouilli is the medieval Norman-French term for ‘boiled leather’. The technique was widespread in Flanders and Paris in the High Middle Ages. The scene depicted is an ‘enclosed garden’ with the Virgin and Child. The cuir bouilli artefact has been severely damaged by environmental conditions and previous restorations. There are large lacunas in the deformed and hardened leather support, as well as in the pictorial layers. This paper explores the historical context of the artefact, the production of the material, its use and conservation history. Results of reflectance topographic imaging (RTI) are followed by physicochemical analyses and the treatment protocol to stabilise and validate the importance of this lost technique of medieval leatherworking.
Abstract:
An early 15th-century figurative cuir bouilli coffret lid, with remains of original polychromy, belonging to the town museum in Nivelles (Belgium), was studied and conserved in 2013. Cuir bouilli is the medieval Norman-French term for ‘boiled leather’. The technique was widespread in Flanders and Paris in the High Middle Ages. The scene depicted is an ‘enclosed garden’ with the Virgin and Child. The cuir bouilli artefact has been severely damaged by environmental conditions and previous restorations. There are large lacunas in the deformed and hardened leather support, as well as in the pictorial layers. This paper explores the historical context of the artefact, the production of the material, its use and conservation history. Results of reflectance topographic imaging (RTI) are followed by physicochemical analyses and the treatment protocol to stabilise and validate the importance of this lost technique of medieval leatherworking.
12/12/2014
“An unusual decorated skin coat from Canada: aspects of conservation and identification” by Cruickshank et al (2013)
Cruickshank, Pippa; Cartwright, Caroline; King, Jonathan C.H.; Simpson, Antony; “An unusual decorated skin coat from Canada: aspects of conservation and identification”, British Museum Technical Research Bulletin 7 (2013) pp. 95–104.
Summary:
A skin coat (Am1949,22.175), which has recently been examined and conserved, belongs to a group of about perhaps 30 surviving within museum collections and made around James Bay and Hudson Bay in northern Canada. They date to around 1760–1860 and were made by the Cree people, with possible additions by the Ojibwe/Anishaabeg in the region of the northern Great Lakes. As this group of coats is poorly understood and the coat stimulated some discussion while undergoing treatment in the conservation studio, further investigation was carried out on the materials of which it is composed. Fibre samples were identified using variable pressure scanning electron microscopy. The coat is thought to be made of moose skin but as it has been de-haired no moose hairs survived for identification. The few hairs remaining in situ on the collar and cuffs were identified as wolverine and river otter respectively. Conservation treatment enabled the cuffs to be gently folded back outside the sleeves. As the coat would originally have looked very different, before almost total loss of hair on the collar and cuffs due to past insect attack, a digital reconstruction was made to give an idea of its original appearance. The epaulettes have been quite roughly attached to the shoulders of the coat with coarse thread, suggesting that they may well have been added later, possibly from an older garment, as evidenced by the very fine but faded loom-woven quillwork and the presence of clear glass beads. The fur collar and cuffs could also have been added to the coat at this time.
05/12/2014
CHEMCH 2014, Vienna (Austria), online posters on parchment and leather
The 3rd International Congress on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage, CHEMCH 2014, that took place last July in Austria, was hosted by the Institute of Science and Technology in Art of the Academy of Fine Arts of Vienna (book of abstracts is available here).
Some of the posters presentations on leather and parchment are available online at the Congress website. The titles, the authors and the posters pdf files are as follows:
P14
"EXAMINATION OF HISTORIC PARCHMENT MANUSCRIPTS BY NON-INVASIVE REFLECTION-FTIR – POSSIBILITIES LIMITATIONS"
W. Vetter, G. Pöllnitz, M. Schreiner
P19
"DETERIORATION OF VEGETABLE-TANNED LEATHER INVESTIGATED BY UNILATERAL NMR: EFFECTS OF HYDROLYSIS AND THERMAL TREATMENTS"
C. Sendrea, E. Badea, H. Iovu P21
"ARTIFICIALLY AGED PARCHMENT INVESTIGATED BY FTIR"
I. Petroviciu, C. Carsote, W. Vetter, L. Miu, M. Schreiner
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