"The restored photo of my dad's ship arrived yesterday and I gave it to him today.  It looks fantastic and Dad was overcome with emotion when he saw it.  It will hang on his wall for the rest of his life.  My sincere thanks to you and the "magicians" on your team.  What they did to the photo is incredible.  You guys are the best: you know it and now I have an additional (now personal) testimony when I speak with folks about CCC." - Private Client, August, 2007

Treatment Examples:

Pre-treatment, 1921 letter from Helen Keller to Gladys Brownlee

Post treatment

Pretreatment: Portrait of a Man, unsigned, oil on paper (Rollover image for Post treatment)

Japanese Folding Screen

Pretreatment

Post Treatment

Birth Certificate, Historical Document. Pre-treatment (left): Severe adhesive stains, surface derformations, and scattered tears are noted throughout. Post treatment (right): The document was gently cleaned. Folds and creases were flattened, and tears were repaired. Retouching was done only where necessary to minimize adhesive stains as best as possible.

Portrait of a Gentleman, watercolor on paper. Pre-treatment (above): The sheet was mounted to a non-archival secondary board support, and had darkened and became extremely fragile with age. There were selective areas of pigment migration and darkening. There were scattered scratches and abrasions throughout the sheet.

Post treatment (above): Light bleach was used to minimize staining as best as possible. Areas of lifting fibers and surface skinning were consolidated using conservation adhesives. Tears were repaired with Asian paper. The piece was then flattened under weights, then areas of losses, fills and abrasions were retouched as best as possible.

Portrait of Claude by Auguste Renoir. Pre-treatment (left): The surface of the piece was coated with a light particulate file. Foxing was evident throughout and the sheet was acid burned as a result of long term contact with non-archival materials. Tape had been applied on the verso. Post treatment (right): The sheet was carefully removed from secondary support. The piece was surface cleaned to remove film. Both water washing and light bleach were used to minimize staining. To flatten, the piece was dried under weights between cotton blotters.

Winter Yellow Legs by Frank W. Benson. Pre-treatment (above): The sheet was covered in a moderate oily and acidic soot, as well as experiencing acid burn due to long term contact with non-archival housing materials. Foxing was evident throughout. There were paper flaws in the image area, as well as lossed in three of the four corners.

Post treatment (above): After being surface cleaned, the paper was water washed to remove the oily film as best as possible. A light bleach was used to minimize staining. It was then backed to Asian mending paper for added structural support. Finally, the sheet was retouched to integrate areas of fills and paper flaws.

Sketch of Building, Broseur. Pre-treatment (left): As a result of long-term contact with non-archival housing products, the sheet experienced acid burn. There was also foxing and oil stains present. The surface was coated with a heavy oily and acidic soot. Post treatment (right): The print was surface cleaned, water washed, and lightly bleached to minimize staining before being flattened between cotton blotters. To arrest any continued mold growth the piece was treated with an ethanol spray.

This piece, Rembrandt's 1635 Decent from the Cross, was severely soiled. Water washing followed by edge repair has returned the etching to museum standards.

More Treatment Examples:

A good example of repair work and stabilizing a work of art on paper.
Before and after image of an extremely fragile work on paper.