Deacidification

I am a conservation student currently interning at a municipal
archives. I am doing a research project relating to some works of
art on paper in the collection. I am looking at earlier conservation
practices, namely deacidification and, to some extent, bleaching of
these types of materials. To keep the paper somewhat manageable I am
focusing on watercolour/gouache. The items being considered for the
project are dated late 19th Century.

I'm wondering if any conservators would like to share their thoughts
and experiences on the "effects" of deacidification and/or bleaching
on works of art on paper, especially watercolours, over time
(approximately 30 years).  I have found some literature from the
1970's dealing with conservation practice and treatments at the time
as well as some journal articles re: deacidification and Leslie
Kruth's article on re-evaluating some practices. I've searched the
Cons DistList Archives, but haven't turned up anything on this
topic.

Joanna P. McMann


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:22
                 Distributed: Friday, October 21, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-22-007
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