Sturgeon glue and matte paint

Anne Apalnes Ornhoi <anne.ornhoi<-a t->niku< . >no> writes

>At the moment we are interested in making contact with others who
>are using/have been using sturgeon glue in conservation of matte
>paint and any current information regarding experience/problems
>using sturgeon glue.
>
>We would also like to make contact with institutions presently
>researching the use of sturgeon glue on matte paint.

I was very interested to read notes on sturgeon glue in the Cons
DistList and about the quest to find a local material.  I also noted
your interest in hearing from anyone treating matte paint.

Here at Te Papa, the conservators prior to us developed a very nice
treatment for matte paint which I thought might be of interest.  The
treatment was devised to conserve extensive cracking and flaking on
Colin McCahon's Northland panels (1958).  They are not panels as
such, but lengths of unstretched coarsely textured canvas on which
the artist had used a very matte ceiling paint; the paint was very
easily stained by conventional consolidants so securing it was quite
a challenge.  It was found that 1% Jun funori (with a small amount
of 2% iso-propanol added as a surface active agent and biocide)
could be used to consolidate most areas without leaving visible
tidemarks or a saturated surface, but, where it was not strong
enough, a combination of sturgeon glue and jun funori was used
successfully.

If you would like more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me,

Linda Waters
Conservator Paintings
Te Papa Tongawera Museum of New Zealand


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:42
                 Distributed: Wednesday, April 30, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-42-003
                                  ***