Art Conservation: Original Sketch by London Artist "Ting"

Conservation of original art on paper is one of our specialties at Book and Paper Conservation Services. This piece, a charcoal sketch by London artist Ting (Merle Tingley, b. 1921) of his trademark character Luke Worm, recently came to our studio for treatment.

Luke Worm sketch by Merle Tingley, before conservation.

Luke Worm sketch in raking light, showing creases.

The sketch dates to the 1960s, and was a gift by the artist to the owner, who met him while touring the London Free Press as a student.

Executed in charcoal on a thin, wood pulp paper, the loosely drawn lines give a lively and charming quality to the character of the worm.

The paper had been stored folded into multiple panels for many years; creases disfigured the page, and the charcoal media had transferred to the bare paper opposite the design.

Ting sketch after surface cleaning.

The paper was surface cleaned to remove the transferred charcoal media, with care taken not to disturb any of the original media. It was then humidified to relax the creases and flattened under weight. Finally, several small tears were repaired with Japanese tissue.

Luke Worm by Merle Tingley, after conservation treatment. The work was framed in acid-free materials and UV filtering glass. 

The sketch was framed for display in acid-free materials, with UV filtering glass. It is now safely preserved, and will be enjoyed for many years to come.

Check out our other treatments of fine art on paper, or get in touch if you have questions about having works of art conserved.

Book Conservation: Atlas de L'Europe Militaire, 1880

One of the challenges of rare book conservation is that books are composite items that can contain many materials, including paper, cloth, thread, board, leather, and various media. The combination of materials and the mechanical action necessary to use a book create problems and damages; a conservator skilled in the conservation of both paper and bound volumes is uniquely qualified to repair and restore rare books.

This delicate item, Atlas de L'Europe Militaire, 1880, recently came through our studio needing repairs to both the binding and the fold-out maps inside. Maps in books are quite often found in disrepair; due to the nature of folding and unfolding tears are very common, as well extra creases and soiling along folds and edges. Rough handling of the oversize volume had also caused some damage to the cloth spine.

Large fold-out map with tears and breaks.

Repairs to the maps involved lining up and repairing the tears with Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste. Fills were also made to replace lost areas of paper.

Preparing to repair tears with Japanese tissue. 

Fold-out map torn along creases.

The map is repaired and properly folded.

Next, repairs to the cloth spine were performed using Japanese paper toned to match the colour of the original binding material. Repairs were executed on the spine and both endcaps where the cloth had frayed and torn, stabilizing the back of the book.

Damaged cloth spine.

The spine of the book is repaired.

The finished atlas.

These repairs have brought a ragged rare book back to a tidy and stable condition, allowing the binding and maps to be safely handled and enjoyed.  If you have similar rare or antiquarian books you are interested in having restored, get in touch with us today.

Conservation of a WWI-Era Newspaper

Archival materials are valued for the information they convey, but often poor condition and deterioration hinders access to the text or images on old paper and documents. We frequently conserve these kinds of items for libraries and archives who's primary objective is to preserve and study the history they contain. 

This 1916 newspaper was been creased and soiled when it came in to the studio.

This project recently came to our studio from the Lambton Heritage Museum in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada. The 1916 Sarnia Canadian newspaper was part of their research collection, but had never received proper cataloguing or storage. It was the only known copy of this particular issue, and featured names and profiles of the soldiers in the 149 Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (popularly known as "Lambton's Own") about to depart for battle in World War One. 

Damage prevented access to the text of the newspaper.

A researcher using the Museum's collections wanted to read the content of the articles, but poor condition prevented access. The paper was soiled and creased, with folds obscuring text down the centre of paper, and the brittleness of the acidic newsprint had caused many breaks and losses in the sheet. Even gentle handling caused further deterioration, and conservation treatment was needed in order to restore the pages so they could be used safely.

Surface cleaning the paper to remove grime.

First, the front page was surface cleaned to remove the dirt and grime that was ground into the paper.

The creases gently unfolded, with the aid of moisture.

Next, the creases and folds were humidified with locally applied moisture and carefully unfolded, then flattened with a tacking iron, in order to open the sheets fully.

Tear repairs performed with extremely thin Japanese tissue.

Long tears along the creases and smaller ones radiating from the outer edges were repaired and strengthened with an extremely thin Japanese repair tissue, adhered with wheat starch paste. The thin tissue is almost transparent, a necessity in order for the text to remain readable through the repairs, and the adhesive is stable and reversible and won't become yellow or brittle with age.

The newspaper spread after repair and restoration.

Losses in the margins were filled with a slightly thicker Japanese paper to lend strength to the edges. Finally, the sheets were humidified overall and flattened so the paper is readable once more.

The front page of the conserved paper is now fully accessible.

The newspaper is now stable and able to be safely handled by Museum staff and visitors, and all the information is accessible to researchers. The stories of these brave men from Lambton County will once more be known and appreciated by today's citizens. 

Lambton Heritage Museum plans to exhibit the restored newspaper in an upcoming exhibit telling the story of Lambton County's participation in WWI. It will be held at the Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, Ontario, in fall 2017, and is to run concurrently with the national traveling exhibition Witness: Fields of Battle Through Canadian Eyes, on loan from the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Book and Paper Conservation Services is pleased to have worked on this project and to have contributed to the exhibition in a small way.

If you have historic items you are interested in having preserved, don't hesitate to get in touch with us!