Floor canvas

I'm working on a late 19th century Masonic Lodge in Arrowtown, New
Zealand and we have just uncovered a painted tessellated floor
canvas beneath the later carpet floor covering. This appears to be
handpainted. Having recently arrived here from Ireland this is not
an object that I've come across before, although I understand they
were quite common in America from the mid-18th through to mid-19th
centuries. The canvas is in reasonably good condition but suffers
from cracking as well as areas of paint loss. Any advice about how
best to treat such an item would be very welcome, as would any
details on materials/production methods.

Eimear O'Connell
Conservation Consultant
Jackie Gillies and Associates
Level 5 QRC House
7 Coronation Drive, Queenstown
PO Box 213


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:54
                  Distributed: Friday, April 11, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-54-020
                                  ***