naval kite-balloon, car with windscreen

Hello everyone,

I am in my final year in a conservation school in France, and I am working on my Masters thesis. For my subject, I am conserving a car with windscreen (kite balloon) dates from 1920. It is 1m50 high, 1m large and 2m25 deep. These kite balloons were attached to marine ships, during and after WWI, to observe the surroundings, to better aim and to spot submarines and mines. The car is made of basketry and is completely covered with a textile probably to protect the basketry from the wind and humidity.

Tests were done to determine the composition of the textile covering. It is composed of two very fine (50 thread count/cm) plain-weave cotton fabrics (the top fabric is in the ?biais? and the other is straight thread) glued together with a sugar, protein mixture. The top fabric is covered with a very fine paint layer of primarily yellow chromate, carbon black and linseed oil.

Today, the textile is deformed, fragile and extremely brittle. The simple force of gravity is breaking the fragments that are left. So, the main part of the treatment will consist in reshaping the fragments and the deformed pieces and then consolidating them. We will most likely use some type of humidification treatment where I will create a chamber and raise the humidity till the textile is flexible enough to be reshaped, and I will have to find a method to keep it in its original shape (it can not be pinned, the textile will break). I was therefore wondering if any of you have had any experience with humidification treatments for large 3-dimensional objects, know of any articles written on this subject, or have any suggestions?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Best Regards,

Catherine de Bantel

P.S. I have attached a couple images.

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naval kite-balloon, car with windscreen

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