Sturgeon glue and matte paint

At the Canadian Conservation Institute 2011 Symposium entitled
Adhesives and Consolidants for Conservation: Research and
Applications, Francoise Michel presented a brilliant paper entitled
"Funori and JunFunori: Two Related Consolidants With Surprising
Properties".  The paper is primarily about inconsistencies in the
quality of traditionally prepared funori and the consequent need for
a more reliable product, but goes on to give considerable space to
the use of funori and JunFunori in combination with sturgeon glue as
a consolidant (fixative) for friable matte casein tempera paint on
wood.  The paper also discusses the use of funori as a cleaning
agent and as a retouching medium.  That paper is available on line
at

    <URL:https://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/symposium/2011/Paper%2016%20-%20Michel%20-%20English.pdf>

In 2012, having an interest in traditional Japanese conservation
methods and materials, Historic Plaster Conservation Services'
Masumi Suzuki, imported and produced funori from raw (unbleached)
Japanese seaweed (Gloiopeltis furcata).  At the Lower East Side
Tenement Museum in New York, working with a team from Jablonski
Building Conservation, Ms Suzuki used this concoction extensively in
combination with sturgeon glue as a fixative for the powdery matte
finish on early 20th century ceiling paper and as an adhesive where
the disintegrating paper was peeling away from its substrate.
Maintaining the matte finish while achieving a much higher degree of
structural stability was among the highest priorities in this
project.

HPCS produces a concentrated unbleached funori product called
TRI-Funori intended for use as an adhesive, mild cleaning agent, and
with sturgeon glue as a fixative for powdery matte paint finishes in
architectural settings. Information about the use of Tri-Funori at
the LESTM is available at

    <URL:http://www.historicplaster.com>

This project has not otherwise been published.

Rod Stewart
Historic Plaster Conservation Services Limited
26 Barrett Street,
Port Hope, Ontario
Canada L1A 1M7
888-624-2854


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:38
                   Distributed: Sunday, April 6, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-38-006
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