Conservation of P. T. Barnum Circus Posters, featuring Jumbo the Elephant

The variety of paper-based objects that come through the Book and Paper Conservation Services studio never ceases to amaze us! This set of P. T. Barnum Circus posters circa 1883 is one of the most unique artifacts we've worked on.

P. T. Barnum Circus posters displayed in the Elgin County Museum, before conservation treatment.

Part of the collections of the Elgin County Museum in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, the posters advertise the P. T. Barnum Circus performance in St. Thomas on July 26, 1883; notably, the posters feature Jumbo the Elephant, the famed pachyderm who would later be killed after another appearance in St. Thomas in 1885.

Anyone familiar with St. Thomas and Elgin County, Ontario, knows Jumbo's importance to the community. The story of the elephant's tragic death in a train collision is one of the greatest legends of the town, and features prominently in the area's tourism. Jumbo has inspired a life-sized monument on Talbot Street, a brand of craft beer, and of course a permanent collection of objects in the Elgin County Museum.

P.T. Barnum Circus posters featuring Jumbo the Elephant, before conservation treatment.

This set of posters was donated by a member of the community after it was found inside the structure of a building undergoing renovation in 1983; the posters were on the underside of the boards, and so were hidden until revealed by construction. The remnants of the posters were still mounted on the boards, originally a fence or barn wall, on which they were first displayed to advertise the circus's visit. However, the fragments had suffered from the ravages of time, pests, mould and dampness since being reused in the floor of the building. 

Biological damage and surface mould on the delicate paper.

The Museum felt that the historical integrity of the artifact was best served by keeping the poster fragments in place on the original boards, recalling the way the posters would have been viewed originally, while also acknowledging the unique circumstances of their preservation and discovery.  

We determined a treatment protocol that would clean and secure the delicate paper in place on the boards, as well as provide some protection from the handling and exposure that the piece will inevitably receive while on display. 

Surface cleaning the poster fragments.

Reinforcing lifted edges.

First, the paper and exposed board surfaces were gently surface cleaned to remove a thick layer of dirt, grime and biological material. The undersides of lifting paper fragments were also cleaned, where large deposits of debris had collected with time. Then, crumbling edges overhanging the edges of individual boards were reinforced with Japanese paper to provide strength and deter further damage. 

Protective coating applied to the delicate paper surface.

The coating also serves to re-saturate the printed colours and paper tone: the top half of AT has been coated, the bottom half has not.

The lifting fragments of paper were secured back down onto the boards with a strong but reversible acid-free adhesive, and the surface of the delicate paper was coated with a cellulose ether solution to strengthen and protect the delicate paper. The coating also served to re-saturate the printed colours and paper tone, bringing back more of the original vibrancy of the image.

Detail of posters before conservation.

Detail of posters after conservation.

Detail of posters before conservation.

Detail of posters after conservation.

Detail of posters before conservation.

Detail of posters after conservation.

You can see in the after treatment details that the posters have been stabilized and rejuvenated on the boards, allowing better appreciation of their historical importance. They can now be safely handled and displayed without risking further damage to the fragile materials.

The posters have been returned to the Elgin County Museum where they will be back on display shortly. 

As a testament to the enduring interest in Jumbo's story, two upcoming television programs will investigate the legend of the famous elephant, perhaps revealing new information about his life and death. David Suzuki's CBC program The Nature of Things will air an episode dedicated to Jumbo sometime in 2018; David Attenborough has also visited St. Thomas to research an upcoming feature about Jumbo.

David Suzuki explores famous elephant's life

Visit the Elgin County Museum this fall to see the restored P. T. Barnum Circus posters featuring Jumbo the Elephant, and stay tuned for the upcoming television specials. The Museum plans to mount another exhibition on Jumbo's life and legacy in St. Thomas to coincide with the renewed interest next spring!

Do you have archival materials - posters, photographs, documents, etc - that you are interested in having restored? Contact Book and Paper Conservation Services today to discuss conservation treatment of your objects, or check out our portfolio section to see other projects we've worked on.

Conservation of an Antique Keepsake Album

Family heirlooms can be works of art in their own right; this charming antique album is a perfect example of an item with great sentimental significance to a family, which also carries interesting artistic merit. The album recently came to Book and Paper Conservation Services for repair and preservation. 

The 19th century album has been personalized with the owner's initials in the bottom right corner.

The album, c. 1905, had been created by an ancestor of the current owner, who was an art student in Edinburgh, Scotland at the time. An inscription on the first page dedicates the album to the girl's sister. Albums like this were popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, manufactured as blank books and intended to be filled with autographs, sketches or collages by the owner and their friends and acquaintances. 

A charming collaged page shows a tribute to Scottish bard Robbie Burns.

Portrait of an artist, by a friend of the book's owner.

The owner of this book had a wide circle of artistic friends, and many of the pages feature skilled drawings by known artists, as well as personal notes and images of Scottish landmarks.

The entries range over a decade or so, and are executed in a variety of media, including pen and ink, watercolour, oil paint, and collage. Some pages have had tissue tipped in between to protect the drawings, but most of them are open and artworks alternate with blank pages interspersed. 

The binding of the album presents damage - the leather is cracked and the interior of the padded front cover is exposed. 

An old repair tape has yellowed and become brittle. 

The album was generally in good condition, but presented some damage to both the binding and text block. It is not uncommon for delicate materials used in the early 20th century to suffer wear and tear after over 100 years, even with gentle handling; however, if not addressed the damages will escalate the more the album is handled and viewed. 

Old repair tape being removed.

Conservation treatment involved several steps. Damage to the front cover of the binding was repaired using Japanese tissue toned to match the original leather colour. An old strip of repair tape on a significant page in the album had become yellowed and brittle, and was removed so as not to cause further staining to the page. A new repair of Japanese tissue was applied in its place. A split in the text block was strengthened with a strip of Japanese paper as well. 

Repair to headcap of the album's leather binding.

Interleaving the pages with acid-free tissue.

Unstable media used in a number of the drawings, including both oil paint and iron-gall ink, had caused "burning" to the paper, some of which transferred to the verso and opposite pages in the book; some graphite drawings had also transferred loose media to the page opposite. The solution, in order to arrest further deterioration, was to interleave the pages with acid-free tissue and sheets of mylar, where necessary. 

The pages are interleaved with acid-free tissue and mylar where necessary.

Conservation treatment at our studio has repaired the damages to the album, stabilizing it against future degradation and allowing it to be handled and viewed safely. The owners plan to digitize each page and make reproduction copies so that the original will not need to be viewed excessively, allowing all the family members to keep a copy of this wonderful heirloom.

The album after conservation treatment.

For more information on the work we do, and to see examples of other treatments, please browse our portfolio sections for rare books and archival materials! Get in touch today if you have a treasured object you are interested in having preserved. 

Conservation of a 19th Century Family Photograph

Antique family photograph before and after conservation treatment.

If you're lucky enough to have mementos and photographs of your ancestors, they are probably treasured family heirlooms. But although your family considers them precious items now, there is a good chance they have seen many years of wear, handling and questionable storage conditions. 

Antique family photograph, with damage to the board and photographic emulsion.

Family photographs come into our studio regularly, exhibiting everything from cracked and broken support boards to stains and surface dirt, to scratches or loss of emulsion. Digital restoration professionals can help you make copies that are touched up by computer, but our studio can restore the original item using safe and reversible treatments, and preserve it for many more generations of your family to appreciate. 

Damaged antique photograph in raking light.

We recently treated this charming 19th century black and white gelatin photograph for a private client. The card support had suffered a break across the lower corner, narrowly missing the mounted photograph, and the photograph itself presented deep scratches and loss of emulsion across the image. Many of these losses were caused by biological damage, the munching of insects on the starch-based gelatin and paper of the object.

The break in the mounting board was repaired with wheat starch paste.

Treatment was begun by first addressing the crack in the board. This was repaired with wheat starch paste and the board then flattened in a press to reduce the planar deformation. Some losses in the board material were filled with paper pulp to even out the surface.

A barrier layer is applied to the damaged areas before inpainting.

Next, the damage to the photograph was addressed. The losses were first covered with a barrier solution in order to consolidate the paper surface and facilitate removal of the inpainting if necessary in the future. Then, the lost information in the image was carefully in-painted using watercolours, a procedure performed under magnification to ensure accuracy. 

Applying watercolour to the lost emulsion of the photograph.

Inpainting set-up for conservation treatment of the photograph.

Finally, cracks and lifting flakes of the emulsion were adhered back down with a photo grade gelatin solution, the same material as the original emulsion. This helps restore a smooth surface to the piece, and reduces the chances of further damage.

After treatment, the visual unity of the image is restored, and the portrait can once again be fully appreciated as a record of a the family's history. Perhaps a family resemblance can be traced to today's descendants of this matriarch?

The photograph after conservation treatment. The inpainting restores the visual unity of the image, and the portrait is whole once again.

Do you have family heirlooms that have suffered damage over the ages? If you're interested in having them conserved, don't hesitate to get in touch with our studio. There is no cost for an estimate. Or, visit our portfolio section to see other examples of conservation of archival materials.