Water and fire damaged paintings

Re the question of water- and fire-damaged paintings.  For
water-damaged paintings on canvas, we have successfully used the
"burnt-finger technique" invented, I believe, by Caroline Keck and
published in an AIC Preprint volume many years ago by Inge-Lise
Eckmann.  An area of tenting is stabilized on the front with a
starch paste and paper facing, a wax-resin mixture is put on the
back.  With the painting held vertically, the canvas is pushed into
the tent from the back with a tacking iron while the conservator's
fingers support the tenting on the front. (Thus the burnt fingers.)
After all the tenting is treated in this manner, the painting is put
on the vacuum hot-table. My guess is that we have treated a half
dozen paintings using this technique.

B. Appelbaum

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:54
               Distributed: Wednesday, December 17, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-54-001
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