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Catherine
I may be able to offer some advice about the
humidification of the object:
You could make a simple structure out of plastic,
and use some sort of humidifier to slowly increase the humidity level. The
biggest challenge in this process is control, especially as your ambient
temperatures change. Household humidifiers with automatic controls are very
likely to have very large variations in maintained humidity. As well, a
regular humidifier cannot reduce humidity if needed for tight
control.
A simple solution would be to simply buy a
Microclimate Technologies humidity control unit- they come complete with a
humidfying/dehumidifying mechanism, an accurate sensor and effective control
circuitry. That's the easy way, but it assumes that you have a budget that could
justify buying a high tech unit: the units start at about US$3500. (Of
course, they are designed for use on showcases and storage cases, and could be
used to protect the item once conserved.)
If you wish any assistance with setting up
something more temporary, please feel free to contact me.
js
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 5:16
AM
Subject: 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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