Paintings on copper

I am posting the following for a colleague, Mr. J. Wadum, who does
not have an e-mail address.

    The Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, Arizona is organizing an
    exhibition, Old Master Paintings on Copper, 1550-1750, that will
    open in 1998 and travel to two or three other art museums during
    1998/99. To this end, information is being sought on the
    manufacture of copper plates in the 16th through 18th centuries
    and on the preparation of copper plates for painting during that
    period. In addition to investigating references in treatises,
    the curators of the exhibition and contributors to its catalogue
    are also much interested in first-hand information - observation
    and scientific analysis - on what substances may actually be
    found on painted copper panels. This information is crucial to
    understanding how ground and paint layers were build up and why
    various metal foils (tin/silver/gold) were applied as
    intermediary layers.

    Of special interest also are the makers' marks that are found
    occasionally on copper plates and particularly on plates
    manufactured in the Flemish region. Monograms of various kinds
    are known. "GK", "KW" and others, of whom the best known, Pieter
    Stas, were active in Antwerp. Stas not only monogrammed or
    signed his panels but also often dated them. A chronology of his
    plates is currently being formed, but much more information must
    be compiled in order to gain a comprehensive and detailed
    insight into his working methods.

    We would like to urge our colleagues to forward pertinent
    information on the construction, marking, preparation and
    painting of copper panels to us. Our interests are
    chronologically and geographically broad and not limited to a
    particular period or school of painters. Information on
    experiences with the consolidation or restoration of copper
    panel paintings would also be welcomed by contributors to the
    exhibition catalogue, Jorgen Wadum (Chief Conservator,
    Mauritshuis) and Isabel Horovitz (private paintings conservator,
    London). Please contact

        Jorgen Wadum
        Mauritshuis
        P.O. Box 536
        NL-2501 CM
        The Hague
        The Netherlands
        +31 70 346 92 44
        Fax: +31 70 365 38 19

    or

        Karen C. Hodges,
        Assistant Curator
        Phoenix Art Museum
        1625 North Central Avenue
        Phoenix, AZ 85004-1685
        USA
        +1 602 257 l880
        Fax: +1 602 257 0176

Mikkel Scharff

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:46
                 Distributed: Monday, December 4, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-46-007
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