Re: naval kite-balloon, car with windscreen

[Joanne Hackett <JHackett@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A few years ago I conserved a straw top hat with a shattered silk lining.  I used magnets to keep the pieces of silk in allignment while they were sewn to silk crepelene.  One very small magnet on the inside of the silk lining, one on the outside of the basketry hat.  You might find that rare earth magnets, which are exceedingly powerful, might have enough magnetic force to hold the textile in place through the basketry of the 'car' while the humidification is working.  You can encase the magnets in cotton cloth or inside a zip-lock bag if you want to keep the metal away from the textile.

Rare earth magnets are available in the United States from "Lee Valley" a hardware and tool company.  A similar company in Frace might be able to supply them. 

 

Joanne Hackett

Associate Textile Conservator

Indianapolis Museum of Art.

>>> c_de_bantel@xxxxxxxxxxx 03/10 5:16 AM >>>

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.