a method of mounting parchment using hair silk

Maney Publishing

A Method of Mounting parchment Using Hair SilkAuthor(s): Margaret LawsonSource: Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Summer, 2004),pp. 175-184Published by: Maney Publishing on behalf of The American Institute for Conservation of Historic &Artistic WorksStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4129652 .

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A METHOD OF MOUNTING PARCHMENT USING HAIR SILK

MARGARET LAWSON

ABSTRACT-A straightforward, secure, nonadhe-

sive method of mounting parchment using hair silk

was devised for the exhibition of Jean Pucelle's

manuscript, The Hours of eanne d'Evreux, from the

Cloisters Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of

Art, New York. Adhesive attachments were not

acceptable because the selected folios, which were to

be rebound, had no former adhesive attachment, the

margins needed to remain pristine for rebinding, and

any application or removal of adhesive would disturb

the vellum. The requirements of the mounting method were to be able to safely support the leaves

in travel and exhibition without abrading pigmented media and to be unobtrusive so as not to obscure or

detract from the incredibly fine design elements. The

materials, experimental methods, and testing that led

to the development of the hair silk mounting system, as well as the three exhibition formats, are described.

Additional suggestions, adaptations, and limitations of

the system are discussed, and sources for materials are

provided.

TITRE-Une methode de montage pour les

parchemins utilisant des fils de soie. RESUME-Une

m&thode de montage pour les parchemins, simple,

sire, sans colle et utilisant des fils de soie, a hth conque

pour l'exposition du manuscrit de Jeanne Pucelle, Les

heures de Jeanne d'Evreux, de la collection des

Cloitres au Metropolitan Museum of Art (mushe

metropolitain d'art) a New York. L'emploi de colle

pour le montage n'htait pas acceptable car les folios

choisis, qui devaient etre rhinthgr6s dans la reliure, ne

presentaient aucun vestige de colle. Les marges

devaient aussi rester en parfait htat pour le remontage, et toute application d'une colle ou son retrait risquait d'affecter le vhlin. Le montage devait non seulement

pouvoir soutenir adequatement les feuilles durant le

transport et l'exposition sans abraser les surfaces

pigmentees, mais aussi etre discret pour ne pas obscurcir ou amoindrir les elements incroyablement fins du dessin. Les mathriaux, les m&thodes

exp6rimentales et les essais qui ont menei au

dhveloppement du systhme de montage avec des fils

de soie sont decrits, ainsi que les trois formats

d'exposition. Des suggestions supplementaires, des

adaptations, et les limitations du systhme sont

presenthes, et les adresses oul se procurer les materiaux

sont fournies.

TITULO-Un mhtodo para montar pergamino utilizando filamentos de seda. RESUMEN-Se

disefi6 un mhtodo simple, seguro y no adhesivo para montar pergamino utilizando filamentos de seda, para la exhibici6n del manuscrito de Jeanne Pucelle "Las

horas de Jeanne d'Evreux," perteneciente a la

colecci6n de los Claustros del Metropolitan Museum of Art (Museo Metropolitano de Arte) de Nueva York.

No era aceptable asegurarlos por medios adhesivos ya

que los folios seleccionados, que iban a ser

encuadernados, no habian sido adheridos nunca y los

mirgenes tenian que permanecer intactos para ser

encuadernados. Cualquier aplicaci6n o remoci6n de

adhesivo hubiera producido dafio en el pergamino. Era indispensable que el mhtodo seleccionado para el

montaje ofreciera suficiente soporte a las hojas durante el transporte y la exhibici6n sin que se

produjera abrasi6n en el medio pigmentado y que fuera casi invisible para no obscurecer ni impedir la

visibilidad de los disefios increiblemente finos. Se

describen los materiales, mhtodos experimentales y

pruebas efectuadas que condujeron al desarrollo del

sistema de montaje con filamento de seda y tres

formatos de exhibici6n. Tambihn se describen

sugerencias adicionales, adaptaciones y las

limitaciones que tiene el sistema y se indican las

fuentes para la consecuci6n de los materiales.

TITULO-Um metodo de montagem de

pergaminho usando fios de seda. RESUMO-Um

metodo simples, seguro e sem adesivo para

montagem de pergaminhos usando fios de seda foi

idealizado para a exposi?Ao do manuscrito de Jeanne

Pucelle, The Hours ofJeanne d'Evreux, pertencente 'a

colegao Cloisters do Metropolitan Museum of Art

(Museu Metropolitanod de Arte) de Nova Iorque.

Fixaq6es com adesivos nao eram aceitiveis uma vez

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176

MARGARET LAWSON

que os f61lios seleciondaods para serem re- encadernados nio foram aderidos anteriormente, as

margens necessitavam permanecer intactas para a re-

encadernaCao e qualquer aplicap-o ou remoCgo de adesivos poderia danificar o velino. Os requisitos do

m&todo de montagen exigiam que as folhas fossem

mantidas em seguranga tanto durante a viagem

quanto durante a exposigio, sem que os pigmentos sofressem abrasdo e que fosse suficientemente discreto para nio obscurecer ou desviar a atenCio dos elementos decorativos indescritivelmente belos. Os

materials, os metodos experimentais e testes realizados para desenvolver o sistema de montagem

corn fios de seda, assim como tambem os tr&s tipos de

exposiW6es sio descritos neste texto. So discutidas

sugest6es adicionais, adapta?6es e limita?6es do sistema empregado e fornecidas rela?6es de materiais utilizados.

1. INTRODUCTION

Jean Pucelle's manuscript, The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux (1320s) from the Cloisters Collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NewYork, presented a

welcome challenge when it was decided to mount

more than 40 conserved leaves in a variety of formats

for the exhibition Prayerbook for a Queen: The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, for loan to the J. Paul Getty Museum

and display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Commissioned by Charles IV, this treasured prayer book was a most precious gift for his cousin, bride, and queen,Jeanne d'Evreux.

The tempera and ink on vellum manuscript, disbound for conservation and facsimile photogra-

phy, is exceedingly small (page size 6.2 x 8.9 cm [31/2 in. x 27/1(, in.]). Composed of more than 200 folios, the manuscript includes 25 extraordinarily fine full-

page miniature paintings in both color and grisaille and abundant, wonderfully fluid and facile depictions of all kinds of characters, animals, and life in the

marginalia of the text and painted pages. The spine folds of the leaves had been flattened

during conservation treatment, and the pages were

planar for matting.

2. OBJECTIVES

Any method of securing the leaves that would cover the marginalia or illuminations was undesirable because of the extremely fine drawings and details. In addition to the appearance, it was important to

consider the highly reactive nature of the very thin

vellum, which would be disturbed by the application and removal of adhesives. As the essence of conserva-

tion is preservation, it was imperative that the

margins of the bifolios not be altered by any attachment or inlay process, but that they remain

untouched as they were to be rebound.

Objects that cannot be hinged are often mounted with corners attached to a backboard and then over-

matted to hold them in place. However, when eanne

d'Evreux manuscript pages were overmatted, the

pages looked cramped, and there was the added

concern that even if the mat board window was

sanded on the inside bevel, the mat contact edge

might abrade covered design areas.Another consider-

ation was that the objects and mounts had to with-

stand vibrations in travel and-as the show opened at the J. Paul Getty Museum-possibly earthquakes.

A number of materials and techniques for

nonadhesive attachment were experimented with

during the decision-making process. Most involved

fashioning supportive corners or narrow "straps" that held the sheet to the back mat or window mat, and all allowed the sheets to be floated in the window

mat, but objections were found to all of them.

Straps made with threads of twisted silk, cotton, or linen were too thick and distracting. "Invisible"

nylon thread was possibly too hard and strong. Under

stress, it is desirable to have the form of attachment

give way rather than causing fractures, cuts, tears, or

imprints in the art. The nylon thread did not give or

break easily and might cut the vellum when tight- ened or tensed. The thread also became visible under

gallery lights and created shadows on the art. Crepe- line (silk gauze) corners or straps tended to fray with

any manipulation after cutting. Introducing a stabiliz-

ing material to the edges might have made them

sharper and abrasive. Stabiltex, a plain woven multi-

filament polyester fabric by Swiss Silk Bolting Cloth

Manufacturing Company, Zurich, was also too visi-

JAIC 43 (2004):175-184



177


ble on the surface of the art for the aesthetics of the curators. Japanese papers made into corners or straps seemed too distracting. Polyethylene strapping and

Mylar polyester film corners were too shiny. Mylar Type D polyethylene terephthalate film encapsula- tion, considered for floating double-sided objects, was not appropriate considering the potential problems of abrasion, static electricity, and surface reflections.

After experimenting with numerous materials and methods of securing the objects, a solution was reached using strands of hair silk. Hair silk is the term

given to the filament of the silk as it comes out of the cocoon. It proved to be visually acceptable (almost invisible), soft enough so it would not cause abrasion of pigments or cut the vellum, and strong enough to

support the objects in presentation. Hair silk was used to mount the Jeanne d'Evreux

leaves in the three different matting formats as pictured in figure 1: figure la as single leaves, figure lb floating in a double-sided mat, and figure 1c in a nested

arrangement in which one bifolio is positioned on top of another bifolio, with the uppermost page turned over to one side so that two facing pages can be seen as

they would appear face-to-face in the manuscript. (A

bifolio is one piece of vellum, folded in half, which forms two leaves or four pages front and back.)

3. HAIR SILK (SILK THREAD)

Commonly known to textile conservators, hair silk is a very fine proteinaceous filament obtained from cocoons of silkworms. Hair silk is sold in a skein (fig. 2). To prevent tangles and numerous short ends over

time, the skein keeps better if it is cut in one place and made into a long braid from which one strand can be easily pulled at a time (fig. 3). Cutting to create the braid might be problematic only if very long threads were required for a project.

To test the suitability of hair silk as a mounting material, a mock-up of the inner frame package for a

single bifolio was created. A piece of repair parchment, as similar to the manuscript vellum as it was

possible to find, was mounted with hair silk in a double step mat. This mat was placed on top of a

piece of conditioned Art-Sorb silica gel sheet mate-

rial, a moisture-sensitive silica material composed of

amorphous silica blended with small amounts of

hygroscopic salts from Fuji Silysia Chemical, with

tape

m ~ 3

Es . . . . . . .I

! ...............-...-...

Sglassine

a 1t

a. Single mount b. Double-sided mount c. Nested mount

Key: Thread location. To hold thread securely on mat

------- = under tape = over

= window mat opening

Fig. 1. Three types of mounts

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MARGARET LAWSON

Plexiglas on the front and back of the package. A moisture barrier, Marvelseal 360, an aluminized polyethylene and nylon barrier film from Tyco, Ludlow Coated Products, was adhered around the edges of this "sandwich" with J-LAR polypropylene clear

tape, Permacel, creating a controlled humidity envi- ronment.

This mock-up was wrapped in bubble wrap and

shipped in a Federal Express box to the J. Paul Getty Museum. It arrived safely. After consultation, the

Getty staff returned it in the same manner. As an additional test, the box with the mock-up was inten-

tionally dropped a few times. No changes were noted

upon opening the unit on return.The framing system described above does not relate to the double-sided

mounts, as these mounts were designed for installation on-site.

Fig. 2. Skein of hair silk

Fig. 3. Hair silk in braid form

Hair silk proved to be visually acceptable. It was almost invisible, soft enough so that it would not abrade design materials or cut the vellum, and strong enough to support the objects in presentation.

4. MATERIALS

Materials needed to accomplish the hair silk mount-

ing procedure include a sewing needle with a strong but small eye, a small soft-headed hammer, linen tape, a burnisher, a pin vise (tiny hand drill, fig. 4), a light box, a loop, a small scalpel, and hair silk (available from Talas in two- and four-strand skeins). (We used double stranded.)

5. METHODS OF MOUNTING

5.1. SINGLE MOUNTS

Single mounts are used to exhibit a single bifolio. The bifolio is stitched through' the pre-existing sewing holes along the spine fold to the four-ply rag backboard.A double-step or eight-ply upper window mat provides protection for the floating object, preventing any natural undulations in the page from

touching the Plexiglas. Please refer to figure la, Single mount (left

diagram), throughout the following description. 1. The object is centered and weighted in place. 2. Holes are marked in the center of the sewing

stations-the pre-existing sewing holes along the

spine fold-with a needle and hammer. Holes for

Fig. 4. Pin vise and drill bits

JAIC 43 (2004):175-184



179


side straps are marked close to the outside edges of

the art but not touching it (fig. 5). The art is

removed, and holes are drilled with a pin vise (fig. 6). 3. The hair silk is threaded through a needle and

knotted. The knot is taped to the middle of the

backboard with self-adhesive linen tape. 4. Working over a light box to match up drilled

holes with sewing stations, the needle is drawn

up the center hole of the mat at position no. 1 in

fig. la and through the middle sewing station of

the bifolio.

5. As shown in figure la, the site of no. 2, the upper middle hole, the needle passes down and under

the backboard (fig. 7). In proceeding, keep in

mind that the hair silk should be neither loose

nor under any tension as the "stitches" or straps are formed. The hair silk simply holds the object

comfortably in place.

Fig. 5. Marking holes with a needle and hammer

Fig. 6. Drilling holes with pin vise

6. At position no. 3, the top hole, the needle comes

up to the front and passes back down at no. 2, the

middle upper hole.

7. The needle and thread continue under the back-

board to the center hole, no. 1, where it comes

back up. 8. The needle and thread pass down to no. 4, and

back up at no. 5, the bottom hole. Passing over

the front the needle goes down one last time at

no. 4 where the end of the thread is wrapped around a piece of self-adhering linen tape and

taped to the back mat to hold the object gently but securely in place.

9. Side straps are attached separately as single stitches

on each side. The thread is taped to the back and

passes up to the front bottom, figure la, at position A and down at position B on the left, where it is

attached to the backboard with linen tape. The

same procedure is followed on the right side.

10. By using a scalpel to push a few disturbed fibers

at the edge of the hole into the hole (fig. 8),

sewing holes can be visually miniimized. All tape on the backboard is burnished to ensure it is

adhered and will hold the hair silk in place.

5.2 DOUBLE-SIDED MOUNTS

Double-sided-mounts permit a bifolio to be

centered and floating inside a double-sided window

mat. The rag board on each side is eight-ply, with one

side designated as the back mat. A series of carefully

angled hair silk loops originating from the midtop and

Fig. 7. Passing needle down upper hole (see fig. la, Single mount, no. 2)

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MARGARET LAWSON

Fig. 8. Scalpel blade pushing fibers into drilled hole

midbottom of the mat, through the top and bottom

sewing holes in the vellum, balance the leaf inside the mat board, effectively floating it in air.Vertical threads are secured from the top of the mat to the bottom on either side, both above and below the object, preventing the edges of the page from flapping loosely or drift-

ing too far backward or forward. All taping of the hair silk is done on the back mat.

Please refer to figure ib, Double-sided mount

(center diagram), throughout the following description. 1. For double-sided mounts, the bifolio is

centered in the mat window on a small piece of glassine to keep the object in plane with the mat during the initial stages of taping and adjusting the hair silk threads. The glassine can be removed midway during the mounting process as the object becomes secured. Glassine was selected as a support because it is

translucent, permitting verification that the object remains centered on the mat below. The slick surface allows for easy removal of the support when it is no

longer needed. 2. The double-sided mount utilizes the kettle

stations at the midtop (head) and midbottom (tail) of the bifolio or manuscript page. (These holes allowed for the binder to link one quire or signature to another in the process of sewing the book.)

The knotted end of the hair silk is taped near the

midtop center of the back window mat, a little to the left. The threaded needle is passed through the top kettle station of the object and pulled slightly to the

right of the midtop, forming a V-shaped stitch that

can be attached with tape near but not on top of the first side of the V-shaped taped thread. The same

procedure is followed midbottom. 3.Thread tension is readjusted as needed by gently

increasing or decreasing the V-shaped angle of the thread at the top and bottom and retaping so the bifo-

lo floats precisely in the desired position within the mat window. It may be necessary to jiggle the arrangement several times and add a second and third thread before it balances perfectly and feels absolutely secure.

4. One hair silk thread is taped on the back mat as a strap under the left side, and one thread is taped on the right back mat as a strap on the right under- side of the bifolio.

5. Similarly one thread is passed over on the left and one on the right topside of the bifolio and taped to the back mat so that the vellum pages are

supported recto and verso, allowing for some natural movement of the page but keeping the edges from

flapping loosely. All taping is carried out on the back window mat. When all the elements are perfectly balanced, the tape is burnished to be certain the tape adhesion to the mat board is strong and the hair silk is held securely.

5.3 NESTED MOUNTS

Nested mounts allow two separate bifolios to be shown together as they would appear in the book. Nested mounts use the same basic mat as the single mounts, but two bifolios are stitched together, through pre-existing sewing holes along the spine fold, to the backboard. The top bifolio is folded over to show the appropriate facing page, and holes are drilled in the backboard for the side straps that pass over the outer edges of the leaves. One strap passes over the single side of one-half of the bottom bifolio, and the other strap covers the folded-over upper bifolio plus the other half of the bottom page (fig. 9).

Please refer to figure 1c, Nested mount (right diagram), throughout the following description. 1. The nested mount is accomplished in the same

manner as single mounts, except the side holes are drilled after the two bifolios have been stitched to the back mount at the spine fold and the top page has been folded over. This procedure is followed

JAIC 43 (2004):175-184



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because the size and shape of the pages vary slightly.

2. Following final taping and burnishing of the tape on the back, the outside holes in the backboard can be diminished in appearance as mentioned previ- ously-by using a scalpel to tweeze a few paper fibers back into the hole.

6. ADAPTATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

The approach outlined was devised for the safe and

aesthetically pleasing display of the very small, precious vellum leaves from the 14th-century manu-

script, The Hours ofJeanne d'Evreux. Since then, hair silk mounts have been used for special exhibitions and loans of larger bifolios, including those from The Belles Heures of Jean of France, Duke of Berry manu-

script by the Limbourg brothers. Some of the bifolios have been framed in mats as described in the single

mount section. Some of the leaves were mounted to

four-ply rag board supports with narrow margins and without window mats. These were installed hanging vertically or on angled decks inside exhibition cases at the Cloisters.

Scrolls (relaxed and flattened) have been considered for mounting with hair silk straps. One narrow scroll about 1.5 meters long was effectively mounted

vertically, hanging in a frame, using a combination of hair silk straps and stitching, but another was found to be too heavy, distorted, and fragile.

Small paperboard cards and irregular parchment cuttings have been displayed using diagonally stitched corners and/or straps of hair silk. Multiple-piece objects-works such as triptychs, diptychs, or unusual

assemblages with elements that need to be united and secured without adhesive may also be easily shown

together, even if only for temporary exhibition.

Fig. 9. Nested mount. Jean Pucelle, Deposition and Presentation, from The Hours ofJeanne d'Evreux, Paris, between 1324 and 1328; grisaille, tempera, and ink on vellum, 6.2 x 8.9 cm. Metropolitan Museum ofArt, Cloisters Collec-

tion, 1954, 54.1.2, fols. 75v-76.

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MARGARET LAWSON

Hair silk has been utilized for mounting leather

artifacts. Smaller or lightweight three-dimensional

objects and ethnographic materials might also be

good candidates.

By design, double-sided mounts are non-load-

bearing, and therefore larger, heavy, or brittle parchment objects would not lend themselves to such

gentle systems in which strands of hair silk hold the vellum leaves without the support of a mat board

backing. The double-sided system proved to be very durable for the exhibition of the Jeanne d'Evreux

leaves, as the experimental and demonstration model continues to be centered and balanced, and intact, now more than five years without the protection of a case or glazing. However, the double-sided mount with hair silk is not recommended for travel in a frame. The amount of buffering material that can be

provided for environmental control in the double- sided frame is limited. For safety, the double-sided mount requires final adjustments and installation on- site. These mounts were specifically designed for installation in freestanding slim cases with drawers for silica gel at the J. Paul Getty Museum. The mount

slipped into fabric-covered Plexiglas windows held in

place by magnetic bars. Upon return to the Metro-

politan Museum of Art, the double-sided mounts were installed in double-sided frames for exhibition in the museum's galleries.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Silk is known to last for centuries, but the long-term aging characteristics of the hair silk used in this context have not been determined.Therefore it is not recommended for long-term storage mounts.Yet, for the duration of exhibits, hair silk provides a soft,

strong, safe, sensitive, reversible method for display of vellum and parchment leaves.

The hair silk has lent itself for mounting use with a variety of shapes and kinds of objects, from very irregular cuttings on parchment, where judiciously placed straps provided a secure system, to a hanging scroll, very small paper items in which corner threads or straps become invisible, leather artifacts, and

temporary groupings of materials that need to be

held together on a support without adhesive. Experi-

ence suggests that a greater range of conservation problems outside of the paper and textile arena could utilize hair silk for mounting, including some three- dimensional and ethnographic objects.

As for everything in conservation, needs must be evaluated case by case. Media must be secure, the support must be in good condition, and thoughtful consideration must be given to the positioning of hair silk straps.The flattening of spine folds, creases, or rolled scrolls is necessary, but flattening parchment does not guarantee that it will stay flat.Variables such as weight, thickness, degree of flexibility or brittleness, and whether the object is to be displayed flat or vertically determine if it may or may not be possible to safely support heavy large-format items with hair silk.

The purpose of the hair silk is not to control the

object or deformations but to permit the parchment to exist comfortably on display, allowing for possible expansion and contraction. This aim explains why mounting holes are drilled slightly away from the edge of the art.

Only pre-existing holes in parchment are used for stitching to a support. If there are no holes or not enough holes in larger objects, hair silk straps may not provide adequate support, and some other system may need to be devised.

Some of the decision-making process is intuitive. It may be necessary to add extra threads for heavier or larger objects and to consider running a gentle thread strap in a vertical direction to reduce the tendency of the interior portion of pages to pull up toward the Plexiglas in a framed mount.

There are many advantages to using passive (nonadhesive) mounting systems. Hair silk is easily reversible, and it can be readily toned. It is not a

perfect material for all objects, but it does provide unique advantages for illuminated manuscript leaves and in situations that require works to be held in a nonadhesive, nonintrusive system of display. It is

hoped that these findings will encourage others to

explore the use of hair silk when it is found to be

appropriate, and to utilize and develop alternative

passive mounting methods and materials when hair silk and other traditional systems do not best serve the object.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincere thanks to many people for their help and

suggestions on this project: Barbara Boehm for

presenting the challenge, and Marjorie Shelley and

colleagues in the Sherman Fairchild Center for Works of Art on Paper and Photograph Conserva- tion: Ann Baldwin, Martin Bansbach, Sarah Bertalan, Mary Jo Carson, Ross Chambers, Lee Ann Daffner, Alison Gilchrest, Akiko Yamazaki-Kleps, Pau Maynes, Rachel Mustalish, andYana Van Dyke. Special thanks are also due to Metropolitan Museum of Art

colleagues: Joe Bamberger, Nancy Britton, Mindell

Dubansky, Christine Giuntini, Chris Paulocik, who introduced me to hair silk, and the Department of Textile Conservation. In addition, I am grateful to Karen Crisalli, who very generously supplied the

piece of repair parchment for mock-up tests; Abigail Quandt; and J. Paul Getty staff: Thomas Kren, Liz

Teviotdale, and Nancy Turner.

SOURCES OF MATERIALS

Pin vise and drill bits: Mascot Precision Tools #H812 pin vise drill set (2 collets) and 6 popular steel drills

For catalog: Mascot Precision Tools Division of Grobet File Company ofAmerica, Inc. 750 Washington Ave.

Carlstadt, N.J. 07072 Purchased from: Pearl Paint 308 Canal St.

NewYork, N.Y. 10013

(212) 431-7932. See additional examples in Micro-Mark catalog.

Linen tape: Neschen Filmoplast SH Neschen Corporation 2201 Brentwood Rd. Suite 114

Raleigh, N.J. 27604

(919) 876-4198 Fax: (919) 876-9484 Ordered from:

United Mfrs. Supplies Inc. 80 Gordon Dr.

Syosset, N.Y. 11971

(800) 645-7260

Silk thread (hair silk) 100% silk thread, imported from France, used in textile repair Same thread as that used to weave Crepeline; natural

color; 100 gm skeins Available in two-strand and four-strand. (We used

two-ply.) Talas 20 W. 20th St. 6th floor New York, N.Y. 10011

(212) 219-0770 Fax: (212) 219-0735

Needles and weights (wonder weights): from a

sewing store or: Clotilde P.O. Box 7500

Big Sandy, Tex. 75755

(800) 772-2891

Marvelseal 360, an aluminized nylon and polyethylene barrier film

Talas 20 W. 20th St. 6th floor

NewYork, N.Y. 10011

(212) 219-0770 Fax: (212) 219-0735

J-LAR Tape Talas 20 W. 20th St. 6th floor

NewYork, N.Y. 10011

(212) 219-0770 Fax: (212) 219-0735

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MARGARET LAWSON

MARGARET LAWSON has been a paper conser- vator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1981. She has a B.A. in studio art and art

history from the College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio, and an M.A. and certificate of advanced study from the State University of New York, College at

Oneonta, New York (Cooperstown Graduate

Program in the Conservation of Historic and Artistic

Works). Address: Sherman Fairchild Center for Works on Paper and Photograph Conservation, Metropoli- tan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., NewYork, N.Y. 10028

Received for review on January 31, 2003. Revised

manuscript received September 2, 2003.Accepted for

publication October 20, 2003.

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a method of mounting parchment using hair silk

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