Relief map

Can anyone advise on techniques and materials suitable for housing a
badly damaged relief map please?

The map plus frame measure 740mm x 740mm. The wooden frame has no
backing and there's no glazing to the front. The varnished paper
support is torn and embrittled and the heavy plaster reverse is
badly cracked and lost in places. The support is also detached from
the plaster in places.

My great concern is that movement is compounding the existing damage
so I need a housing solution that minimises movement and protects
the object from the shock of impact.

In order to stop movement, I'm contemplating:

    *   placing a barrier sheet of thin melinex on the reverse (to
        prevent snagging of packing material or to contain it,
        depending on what's used)

    *   filling the gap on the reverse to the level of the frame
        with some kind of polyester wadding or something that finds
        its own level such as beads (the reverse is very uneven due
        to the application and partial loss of the plaster and
        wadding might not fill the contours adequately)

    *   then securing an acid free corrugated board to the reverse
        of the frame.

A box lined with foam (e.g plastazoate) could be constructed for
housing with perhaps, the addition of wadding to protect the
contours of the obverse.

Those are my thoughts. I'd welcome suggestions or comments on
suitable techniques and materials for this problem.

Sharon Connell
Conservation Officer
Brotherton Library
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
England
+44 113 233 6375
Fax: +44 113 233 5561


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:48
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 22, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-48-015
                                  ***