TREATMENTS

Treatments

Mary, Mother of Peace Statue

Originally installed as part of a church, the statue had been removed and was stored out in the elements for many years. DFHCS brought the statue back from its deteriorated state to where it is now installed in the Chapel of the Sisters of the Holy Names in Winnipeg.

Anglican Church Archives, Diocese of Rupertsland

This full vellum binding is a register of burials in St. Andrews, 1870-1884, decorated with metal clasps (broken), marbled endpapers and a gold-tooled title stamped on front cover. The textblock is of handmade paper, sewn on tapes. Entries were made in manuscript ink but the explanatory text and page lines were printed.

The register was in poor condition. The vellum cover was covered with a variety of pressure-sensitive tapes including duct tape, with the original spine still underneath. Large strips of clear self-adhesive packing tape had been used to repair the cover. The front board was missing areas of vellum and was stained considerably darker than the front. The inside front joints were split and the textblock was almost completely free of the cover. The sewing system had broken down and many sections of the book were loose. Several pages were torn, some seriously. Heavy mould was present throughout the volume for the first sixty pages of the textblock, starting at the front endpaper and diminishing towards the middle pages. Many of the text pages were stained, weak and crumbling.

The original intention was to disbind the register, remove mould from the textblock and treat the pages as appropriate to maintain/restore strength according to current preservation standards, in order facilitate copying. Following documentation and testing, it was determined that it was in fact possible to conserve the volume. The various types of adhesive tape were removed mechanically and it was possible to salvage the vellum cover, including the spine.

The pages were dry-cleaned with powdered eraser, except for the first few folios that were too weak from mould damage to be touched. The pages were washed, in order to increase paper strength and remove impurities, beginning at the end of the book and working towards the more damaged front of the textblock. The mould had damaged the paper of the first six folios and they were supported with a very light Japanese tissue applied to one or both sides.

While the sections were together but unbound and ready for copying, it was discovered that the register had already been microfilmed. The sections were resewn on new cloth tapes with new handmade paper endpapers, and the register was rebound in new goat vellum with the old covers mounted on the new. The metal clasps were remounted on the new binding.

The presence of mould, though inactive, required protective equipment throughout the conservation treatment process.   

HOME | ABOUT US | SERVICES | RESOURCES | AFFILIATIONS | CLIENTS | EVENTS | SUPPLIES | PRICE LIST | CONTACT US |