AIC's 47th Annual Meeting

A traditional Japanese screen is constructed of up to ten layers of paper stretched over a supporting lattice. The primary support paper(s) are supported but not adhered to secondary support paper layers. The same layers of paper are mounted over the verso of the lattice. This construction stymies standard paper conservation mending techniques because the verso of the artwork is inaccessible for applying mends. A common response is to stabilize tears by adhering the primary support to the secondary support locally, but this is visually less successful and introduces a point of local tension that did not exist originally. Additionally, because the primary support is held over a lattice frame, local mends cannot be pressed under weighted blotters to dry, so they risk distortion. Non-aqueous adhesives would reduce the risk of warping from drying mends without pressing, but the presence of non-aqueous adhesives could cause serious problems during any future overall relining.

CCAHA conservators recently mended two traditional screens with major tears in the primary supports. The chosen mending technique was based on traditional Japanese conservation techniques, using Japanese paper mending strips attached with wheat starch paste. The mending strips were slid behind the primary support from the recto, did not adhere to the loose secondary support, and dried in plane without weights.

Each mend began with a strip of mulberry paper with trimmed, water-torn edges. Each strip was adhered around the edges with wheat starch paste to a “floating layer” of wheat starch paste laminated mulberry paper. The mending strips were slid under the splits and positioned with a needle and a saxophone reed. Once positioned, a small amount of wheat starch paste was inserted under the tear edges with Melinex and a brush, and the edges were tapped to attach it to the mending strip. The floating layer prevented any wheat starch paste from penetrating to adhere to the secondary support, and also provided a stiffer support to position the mend under the crack. An area around the mend was then misted with deionized water and allowed to air dry, letting the tension of the screen mount pull the mend flat as it dried.

The resulting mends stabilize the screen and the once torn areas lay perfectly flat without adhesion to the secondary support. For this treatment only wheat starch paste and mulberry paper were used. Possible drawbacks that should be considered included the potential mobility of discoloration within the paper and the slight opening of the tears as mends dry under outward tension. All in all, this technique was a remarkably successful solution that can be carried out by conservators who have not specialized in Asian materials. This method could also be explored for the treatment on non-Asian materials where the verso is inaccessible.