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| Exhibitions | exhibitions listing > online exhibitions > portraiture conservation |
Consolidating Pigments and Reinforcing Creases |
  The silk support and paper linings of this detail of the portrait of Daisan are creased and broken. |
As a hanging scroll ages, it dries out and becomes less flexible. Repeated rolling and unrolling causes the mounting structure to crease or crack and eventually break. These creases force the pigments on the painting surface to loosen and separate from the silk support and cause paint losses in the image. The extent of this problem also depends upon the age of the painting, how frequently it was rolled and unrolled, and the quality of the materials and techniques that the artist used. For example, in this portrait of Daisan, a major leader during the early Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the animal glue binder that was mixed with the painting's pigments more than a century ago has lost its holding strength. As a result, the pigments have become powdery and easily fall from the silk surface. |
 A Sackler conservator uses a vacuum table to consolidate pigments of another hanging scroll. |
In this case, the loose (exfoliating) pigments were consolidated, or adhered in place, using a traditional animal glue binder. The solid glue was dissolved in warm water to a 1 percent concentration and applied with a brush or sprayer over the unstable pigments. This process, which takes several hours, was repeated in areas needing better adhesion. Areas where the pigments are coarse or thickly applied were consolidated using a vacuum table (see left). The table's strong suction pulled the animal glue binder through the thick layers of pigments and into contact with the silk support beneath, thus ensuring stable consolidation. |
 The consolidated pigments of Daisan's portrait are now stable, and the crease has been reinforced. |
The stabilized pigments are no longer in danger of coming (cleaving) off the surface of the painting when the portrait is handled and displayed. The creases in the mounting support are now reinforced with strips of paper applied from the back. These paper strips minimize the support's effects and deter further damage to the painting. |
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The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art Exhibition List | Online Exhibitions
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