Sand on paper

Ute Strehle <ute.strehle [at] aucklandcity__govt__nz> writes

>Has anyone any knowledge or experience in conserving a work that is
>"painted" in sand? The work appears to be late 18th early 19th
>century with artists initials B. Z. and the size is 460 x 600mm.
>Fine grained different coloured sand has been 'adhered' to a paper
>support lined onto board. An old label of a London framer is adhered
>on the verso. ...

What you describe may be known today as a 'sandpaper painting,' a
drawing in charcoal or pastel on a board coated with marble dust.
The practice, introduced to the US in 1835 by B.F. Gandee's Artist,
or Young Ladies Instructor in Ornamental Painting etc., was popular
through the 1860s. Gandee called the technique "Grecian Painting,"
later artists called it "Monochromatic Painting." Recipes for the
support boards were provided in the instructional literature,
although commercially prepared boards were widely available by 1850.

Two articles by Randall and Tanya Holton that discuss the technique
and describe the works are "Sandpaper paintings of American scenes,"
in The Magazine Antiques, Sept. 1996, p. 356-365, and "Excavating
the Past: Prints and Sandpaper Paintings of the Ancient World," in
Imprint, The Journal of the American Historical Print Collectors
Society, Vol.25, No. 1, Spring 2000.

Carol Aiken
Aiken and Ramer
Baltimore, MD


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:50
                   Distributed: Monday, March 3, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-50-002
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