Miniatures on ivory

Barbara Appelbaum <aandh<-at->mindspring<.>com> writes

>We have two oval miniatures on ivory that are warped and no longer
>fit into their cases.  They both have heavy paper adhered to the
>reverse.
>
>We have tried raising the relative humidity somewhat, with no
>results that we can detect.  Does any have experience in flattening
>objects like these?

The cause of the warping is the card/glue backing on the ivory.  You
should remove this backing and any residual glue before attempting
to flatten the ivory.  The ivory can then be flattened using
controlled humidity either using a Gore-tex system or a humidity
chamber.  The watercolour paint layer is very very sensitive to
moisture therefore great care must be taken.  Equally the ivory can
be easily cracked so great care must be taken in removing the card
backing.

Alan Derbyshire
Head of Paper Books and Paintings Conservation
Specialist in Portrait Miniatures
V&A Museum
London
London SW7 2RL
+44 20 7942 2113
Fax: +44 20 7942 2092


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:24
                 Distributed: Monday, December 9, 2013
                       Message Id: cdl-27-24-001
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