Konsolidering av v?vsp?nda papperstapeter
analys och metodutveckling
Printed and painted wallpaper on a weaved fabric backing was a common way to decorate homes in Sweden during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Not much is written about the craftsmanship in relation to the hanging of these wallpapers and even less about the conservation of the objects. Even so, many wall segments remain in situ and in museums and are more often than not in dire need of conservation such as deacidification and consolidation. These are composite objects, consisting of cellulose materials with different properties along with adhesives and paints. Analysis of the materials is required to ensure safe handling and choice of conservation materials, and to establish a treatment plan which will be executed in several steps.
This thesis aims to identify these steps and develop a method for conserving the wall segments with suitable materials, preferably without altering the source material to any significant degree. The source material consists of printed wallpaper on a fabric backing from the nineteenth century which has been deaccessioned from the Museum of Gothenburg (G?teborgs Stadsmuseum).
A layer of matte paint with low cohesion and high water sensitivity was consolidated with funori through a barrier of Japanese paper. The layer showed increased cohesion with minimal change in colour and gloss after the treatment. Calcium carbonate in water, applied through spray, was used for neutralization of acids in the material when flattening the wallpapers. This minimized the amount of water the wallpapers were exposed to and shortened the treatment time. Methyl cellulose (MC) in three concentrations were tested and evaluated on different parts of the wallpapers to adhere the different layers. MC 2.5% generally showed good adhesion in combination with good flexibility and a minor amount of change in colour on the printed surface but was not always the appropriate choice