Workshop on pigments in manuscripts

The Use of Pigments in Manuscripts and their Conservation
At Etherington Conservation Services
7609 Business Park Drive
Greensboro, NC 27409
April 10-13, 2006

Instructor: Cheryl Porter

Registration fee:
    $300 for AIC members
    $350 for non-members

Enrollment limit: 12 participants
Registration deadline: March 10, 2006

Participants are responsible for their own travel, housing and
meals.

No previous experience is necessary. Selection of participants will
be based on the order of receipt of registration. Early registration
is advised.

In a combination of lecture and hands-on sessions, this four-day
course will address the history, geography, chemistry and the actual
techniques of color manufacture, with special reference to
manuscript painting. Using original recipes, each participant will
make and paint out the colors. Participants will become acquainted
with identifying media that will compliment their knowledge and
training. Knowing the possible ingredients of medieval recipes helps
to understand why inherent deterioration may have occurred.
Participants will learn about the conservation of pigments and inks,
about aqueous and solvent treatments and the preparation involved.

Curriculum

Day 1

    Morning: A study of the inorganic colors on the artist's
    palette. Earths, minerals, rocks and stones. The history of
    their use in art, their significance and their chemical
    properties.

    Afternoon: We will make and paint out these pigments.

Day 2

    Morning: A study of the organic colors--those plants and
    animals used to make "lake" pigments. Their history and
    properties and their special challenges to the conservator.

    Afternoon: We will continue to make and paint out the inorganic
    colors.

Day 3

    Morning: A study of the color blue, both organic and inorganic
    forms. Afternoon: We will make and paint out the yellow, green
    and blue organic colors.

Day 4

    Morning: The issues involved and the techniques of conservation
    and consolidation of pigments on parchment. The ethics of
    sampling and how to sample.

We will also look at the most commonly used analytical tools and
examine how to decide which method(s) is appropriate. Afternoon:
Make and paint out the organic reds--plant and animal. Practice how
to take and mount samples and how to consolidate flaking and
powdering paint on parchment.

Cheryl Porter was trained in conservation of books and archives at
Camberwell College of Arts and Crafts, London, England. After
graduating, she worked with the Paintings Analysis Unit at
University College London. There she began her research fellowship
with a Leverhulme-funded project using Laser Raman Spectroscopy to
analyze pigments in manuscripts. For the last fifteen years she has
worked, until recently in conjunction with Dr. Nicholas Hadgraft, as
a freelance conservator. She has published many articles on pigments
and manuscripts and has taught and lectured in the United States,
Australia, England, and throughout Europe.

Since 1988, in conjunction with Nicolas Barker and the local
priests, she has organized and coordinated the restoration of the
Cardinal Barbarigo Seminary Library in Montefiascone.  Montefiascone
is a medieval walled city about ninety miles north of Rome. Each
summer conservators, librarians, art historians, archivist and
others interested in the structure and history of the book, meet to
participate in classes. There Cheryl Porter has taught, "Re-creating
the Medieval Palette." Through illustrated lectures, participants
examine the history of color in medieval times. The course addresses
the history, geography, chemistry, iconographic importance and the
actual techniques of color manufacture, with special reference to
manuscript painting. Using original recipes, each participant makes
and paints out the colors. Cheryl Porter has taught this course at
the Harry Ransom Center (1999), the National Park Service (2000),
the Guild of BookWorkers, New York Chapter (2002), and the Library
of Congress (2003).

Her commitment to learning and developing applications for more
straightforward and non-destructive tests for pigment identification
continues today. She is currently training for three months in the
Forensic Science Department at Cambridge University, learning how to
operate and to interpret data derived from the operation of the
Raman, FTIR and the SEM-EDX analytical equipment.

This workshop is made possible by a FAIC Workshop Development Grant.
Without this founding, the registration fee for this workshop would
be $520.

Workshop Coordinator:

    Sonja Schwoll
    8720 Camille Drive
    Potomac, MD 20854
    336-202-8751
    sophie [at] zedat__fu-berlin__de


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:36
                Distributed: Wednesday, February 8, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-19-36-014
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