Paper Conservation - Mat Burn, Toning, and Laid Down

Last week I purchased three prints, all from the same sale, and decided that now would be a good time to document their before and after transformation. I'll show some of the most common condition problems with vintage or antique works on paper. The list is as follows:

• Toning - discoloration of the paper due to prolonged (were talking decades) exposure to sunlight. The paper goes from white to yellow or brown.
• Mat burn - the acid from the paper fibers in the mat cause a discoloration to occur where the mat sat on top of the print.
• Laid Down - framers of yesteryear thought nothing of slathering the back of the print (or part of the print with) glue to achieve a perfectly smooth look and the make sure the art would stay where it was placed. This too can damage and discolor the print over time.

All of the prints I purchased had one problem or another. Although they are not especially expensive pieces I decided to clean, re-mat, and re-frame them in an effort to restore their look. This type of undertaking does not always make economic sense. I don't end up making much for my time! It is a measure of my love for old things and restoration.

In the first photo I show the prints submerged in the bath and set out on our front lawn. Not sure how the neighbors feel about this...oh well.

Paper Conservation

This cute print oddly entitled "Self Portrait" is a good example of what mat burn can do to a print. Notice that the center of the print is bright and white, it's the only the margins that are discolored. Also contact with the corrugated cardboard backing has caused a striped pattern to appear on the back, which can also be seen faintly on the front.

mat burn- etching of a cat

The print below dates from the 1920's and suffers from toning. Toning can really rob a print of its "life" and it can even obscure some of the details in the scene. It's titled "Wien Beethovenhaus" and will fit in well with all the other music related prints on the site.

Print with toning or discoloration

I saved the best for last. An antique print with good subject matter and a lovely slightly Japanese style. The framer had glued it down to a backing board and then put glue along the edges to mount the mat. You can faintly see the stains in the margins (especially at the top).

At this stage I had already begin the paper conservation process. I had submerged the print to separate it from the backing. I then manually removed the discolored mat and brittle glue on the front. I hoped that further treatment would lighten or remove the glue stains.

Print that was "laid down"

Here are the after photos and I am basically happy with the results. Now you can actually see Beethoven's House and read the title. The etching of the cat not longer suffers from heavy mat burn, but a slight touch of it can still be seen. In the last photo you can see that the glue stains have disappeared.

Wien Beethovenhaus

"Self Portrait"

Vintage color etching

Here are the original frames. All of them are sound and go well with the artwork. Given the price of framing today I often offer the piece with a frame if I can. The task now is to replace the mats and backing with acid free materials and re-fit the art into the frames. If the mats and baking are not replaced the damage I just fixed can occur all over again.

Currently I do not have the equipment or the knowledge to cut mats and David Gee is the framing wizard who will do this part of the job. He will also touch-up one of the frames making the wear on the sides almost invisible. Below you can see the final results.

I hope you will consider some of prints that I have for sale at affordablevintage4u on Etsy.

The original picture frames

The textured mat offsets the rough paper of the print.
The brown wood frame is in great condition.

No more red mat! Now it's fits in with any decor and compliments
the silver frame.

David Gee touched up the frame's green paint and the gold accents.
He choose an off white mat with a hint of green

The Biography and Images of artist Vaughan Trowbridge

Information and images of the work of American artist Vaughan Trowbridge are scattered over the internet. It certainly took be some time to piece together a cohesive picture of the man and his work. So I thought I'd collect some images of his work from around the net and share a brief biography.

It is a gift of the internet that we can now know this once semi-obscure artist better.

Vaughan Trowbridge -  American - 1869-1945

Etcher, painter, and illustrator, Vaughan Trowbridge was born in Queens, New York, in 1869. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with a degree in banking in 1889 and then went on to work as a clerk for the Susquehanna Railroad. Nine years later he left the work-a-day world behind and went to study art in Paris. He studied with Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. He remained a resident of Paris for the rest of his life and was active through the 1920s.

Venice - fr Curtiss Vintage Prints

Etching of Granada, Spain - fr Albion Prints

Canal, Bruges - fr Annex Gallery

The Ancient Chapel of the Chartreuse, Avignon

Book Illustrated by Vaughan Trowbridge

Illustration fr Paris and the Social Revolution

Limoges, 1912, etching - Plattsburgh State Art Museum

Storm, Champagne Sur Seine

Bassin Du Dracon, Versailles 

In the early part of his artistic career Vaughan Trowbridge did a series of non-color etching of New York City. These etchings are part of the collection of Museum of the City of New York. This part of this artistic output is not to be missed. Please click here to see the 10 works they have posted online.

Riverside Drive - Vaughan Trowbridge

In 2011 This view of the Grand Canal in Venice by Trowbridge done in 1905 was featured in a exhibit called Venetian Views at the Indianapolis Museum of Art:

Grand Canal Venice - Vaughan Trowbridge 1905

Market Square in Quimper, France, 1909 -  Principia College Collection

Street Scene, 1907, St. MaClou Rouen, France - Principia College Collection

The Forge, Limoges 1902 - Collection De Young/Legion of Honor

Ellen Oakford and the Etching Revival

From the early 1800's up until the 1875 the medium of etching was used mostly to reproduce paintings. Long gone were Durer, Rembrant, and Piranesi who along with others produced beautiful original works of art in the medium. However, around 1870 things began to change. Great artists again became interested in the medium and so began what came to be called the Etching Revival in the United States.

This revival period also included a small group of talented women artists. Their work and biographies are documented in the book "American Women of the Etching Revival" by Phyllis Peets. This group of woman artist includes Mary Cassat, Mary Louise McLaughlin, Mary Nemo Moran, Ellen Day Hale, Blanche Dillaye, Eliza Pratt Greatorex, and Ellen Oakford.

Presented here is a small archive of the work of etcher and teacher Ellen Oakford, which was purchased directly from her family. Most of the works are printed on thin tissue-like laid paper. Only scattered examples of her work appear on the internet and I thought more was needed. These works are offered for sale on my Etsy store affordablevintage4U.

Portrait - Etching by Ellen Oakford

Landscape - Etching by Ellen Oakford

Portrait of a Lady - Ellen Oakford - 1887

Lansdcape Etching by Ellen Oakford - Signed with Initials on Verso

Woman in Orchard with Book - Etching by Ellen Oakford

American Women of the Etching Revival - Peet

Wood Engraving - 1930s Illustration by artist Frank Peers

The cover of the 1933 novel The Last Adam contains a paste-down copy of a woodcut by artist Frank Peers. From information on the internet it would seem that Frank Peers worked primarily as a book illustrator, but so far no one had identified this lovely book cover at his. Such a nice wood engraving!