British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers (BAPCR)

British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers (BAPCR)
Art Workers Guild
6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR
Tuesday 28 April 2009
7 pm drinks for 7:30 pm start

Refreshments: Cash bar before the meeting

    Thinned Panel Paintings: A Case Study Demonstrating Some Adapted
    Methods of Repair and Support
    Britta New

        The aim of this presentation is to illustrate and explain
        some successfully developed repair and support techniques,
        and to demonstrate the possibilities of adapting established
        techniques when faced with exceptional circumstances. The
        paper will primarily describe the treatment of an early 16th
        century Flemish Triptych from the Fitzwilliam Museum,
        Cambridge, consisting of a central panel depicting The
        Deposition and two wings depicting scenes from the life of
        the Virgin; The Presentation, and the Marriage.

        The paper will briefly discuss the art historical context,
        the materials and techniques used in the three panels, and
        will describe the condition of the central panel and its
        better preserved wings. Both wings had been thinned, (or
        halved) and are now only around 2mm in thickness. Both had
        light softwood cradles, which had seized up. Fortunately
        these were beginning to delaminate, relieving some of the
        stress from the panels, which had relatively minor
        deformations. The central panel, on the other hand, had been
        so drastically thinned that in places it was less than 1mm
        thick. It had a heavy mahogany cradle and exhibited severe
        chequer-board distortions and fractures. These deformations
        had been further exacerbated by subsequent 'blocking-in'
        reinforcements adhered between the cradle members.

        The structural treatments were carried out by Britta New,
        Ray Marchant and the Hamilton Kerr Institute and used
        familiar conservation materials and techniques, but with
        some innovations supported by practical research.

    Experimental Evaluation of Adhesive/Filler Combinations for
    Joining Panel Paintings
    Christina Young

        This seminar presents results and conclusions from an
        experimental evaluation of adhesive/filler combinations for
        joining panel paintings.

        The samples and tests were chosen for the scenario where the
        gap to be rejoined is not suitable for a wood fillet or it
        is too large to join without adding filler to the adhesive.
        In these tests the most mechanically suitable combinations
        from the previous published results have been subject to
        thermal ageing and their properties compared.

        Additionally, new combinations have been tested based on
        materials presently being used by conservators but not
        included in the original tests, and some combinations which
        the authors thought might offer suitable alternatives. The
        effect of priming the wood with a dilute adhesive, and
        simulation of contaminant residues from previous adhesives
        has been investigated. The main criteria chosen to assess
        their suitability were strength of join, mode of join
        failure, workability, and mechanical stability.

Cost: Free for BAPCR members
UKP6 for non members (UKP4 for students)

For more details contact:

    The British Association for Paintings Conservator Restorers
    PO Box 258
    Norwich NR13 4WY
    secretary<-at->bapcr<.>org<.>uk


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:58
                  Distributed: Sunday, April 12, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-22-58-011
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