Aspergillus niger is one of the most active cellulolytic fungi. The roll of drawings in the above picture is mainly infested by A. niger and Chaetomium sp. as identified from the cultures isolated from the deteriorating inner-side of the roll. This culture was maintained on potato dextrose agar slants. Following are the digital pictures of…
This black powdery sheet (!) is not burnt paper, but, paper eaten by fungus. Cellulolytic microorganisms are hiding nicely all around us and are much more destructively powerful than we can expect from the tiny spores. Storage enclosures that were designed and created for protection turned out to be actually working with the deteriogens…
In paper conservation literature, there are many ways and materials advised to be used to remove foxing or at least lighten its scars. Here i am not going to suggest what to use, but would like to mention the importance of a thorough knowledge of chemistry and physics too apart from the deep appreciation of…
Team Heritage Preservation Atelier had a challenging task of conservation of a set of books that could not be digitized by a library because of the extremely brittle pages and stuck up and deteriorated condition. We started with making a detailed condition assessment report. After initial documentation, we opened up the worn out and damaged…
The drawing under study is made in 1868 (as evident from the signature) and the watermark mentions the paper manufacturing year to be 1866. ‘Watermarks’ are markings put into paper during its production, by making thinner or thicker layer of pulp when it is still wet. It becomes visible when paper seen with light source…
June 26, 2018 By Manit When we first saw the drawing on site, it appeared to be in a fairly good condition. Once it arrived in our conservation lab and we started a thorough diagnosis, there were a lot many observations and analytical details that were required to be considered before any treatment methodology…
What is sellotape? Sellotape is basically a brand of transparent, polypropylene-based, pressure-sensitive tape. But, this term is also used for any such pressure sensitive tape of any brand. Sellotape is generally used for joining, sealing, attaching and mending. The older version of sellotape has shown some changes in its physical and chemical properties over a…
Last week we were busy tending each and every folio of the highly damaged and acidic books that we are restoring these days. Following pictures of just one of the books might give an idea of the kind of work we are doing these days with the help of our talented young staff.
Two major problems associated with old paper manufactured during mid nineteenth century onward are: Brittleness Yellowing or darkening Breaking of paper due to brittleness (loss of flexibility to bend without breaking) generally occurs in very old paper which was manufactured from wood pulp technology. Other feature found in such old paper getting brittle, is yellowing…
To understand and master paper conservation, one must understand the composition and manufacturing of paper. The composition of paper and raw material in its making has varied since its invention in 105 AD in China. The timeline of paper manufacturing technique and composition as understood from various sources is as follows: The invention of paper…
Interns: Chetna, Subhashini, Keerat and Lovely We have been spending time learning various methods and techniques related to archival conservation in the past few days. Lab work related to archives can be very technical and precise, and requires considerable practice and hands on training. We spent most part of the day practicing the process of…
Internship is a pathway from studentship to professionalism. This month’s archival conservation internship started around mid June. After the first day of simple discussion and brain-storming session, the new team learned the basics of archival conservation while working on the actual old maps starting from simpler procedures to more responsible ones. Students are slowly turning…
This video demonstrates some basic steps of paper conservation