a 12 foot long belt

[ERIC]

Hey everyone! I need some ideas for this one.

A client will be bringing in a fabric belt that is 2 inches wide by 12 feet long and it's really old. He's asking if it could be mounted in a wavy, snakeing kind of way so that you can see some of both sides AND so it doesn't need a 12 1/2 foot long frame :eek:

When I say it's old, I just did five pieces for this client of pre-Mayan fabrics. That's like 2500 to 3000 years old! I could also use some help on the finer points of sewing these things down. He's not very concerned with the highest level of C/P yet because he "hasn't brought in the really good ones yet". When he does I'll have a wider range of issues to deal with. So all I can learn now the better.

This guy is a newbie collector of these type of perishable antiquities, and he is just getting familiar with the standards practiced by that group. Often they don't use glazing at all, called 'naked'. And they use a white denim, stretched like a painting canvas, to mount pieces onto. Does anyone else have a client in this group? What are they having you do?

[Jack Cee]

Tell us more about the belt, what was it used for; is it a belt to hold up trousers of a really big guy; was it a bulk belt supply; was it a belt that was used to drive machinery from a power source; makes a big difference on how I would frame it. Mexican weddings have been known to use a belt to twist around the wedding party (I did one of these once). Help us out and perhaps we can be of some assistance.

Jack Cee

[MiterMan]

This guy is a newbie collector of these type of perishable antiquities, and he is just getting familiar with the standards practiced by that group. Often they don't use glazing at all, called 'naked'. And they use a white denim, stretched like a painting canvas, to mount pieces onto. Does anyone else have a client in this group? What are they having you do?
Why does this smell oddly like the movie poster collectors?

Well anyway, I know that a good way to mount textiles, especially large ones, is to soft couch them. Ok, use strainer bars to build a frame the required dimension, then take fiberglass window screen and stretch over it just like you would a canvas. Then over that stretch a natural, unbleached cotton canvas type material. Then on top of that stitch the belt with cotton thread matched to the weight of the fabric, using as many stitches as you can to hold it in place and to distribute the weight. Try to avoid any drastic twists or turns in the belt.

Use a deep spacer to hold the acrylic glazing away from the art, and you should be fine.

[Lois Bauby]

You can do an acrylic box frame. We have made ones almost that long for snake skins. It does allow you to view the belt from all sides not just the front. You can use moulding with the acrylic frame if you wish to have some less contempory. YES, acrylic does come that long.

[Rebecca]

It does sound a bit like the movie poster group doesn't it? I don't know anything about this group Eric, but I did intern with Pat Reeves at the LA County Museum, who was the grand dame of Peruvian Pre Columbian textile conservation. She learned from Kathryn Scott who still is the grand dame of textile conservation in the US. As far as I know, she still teaches at the NYU Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Conservation, and she knows an awful lot about mounting Pre Columbian textiles.

The white denim may be some "group" thing, but there's not a conservation reason for it. None against it either. It (or whatever) will need to be washed, prior to stretching and stitching. Whether you can make this 3-D so that both sides can be viewed really depends on the condition of the piece. It should be glazed to protect it from UV and air pollutants (not naked). Textiles don't need to breath, they need protection from the outside environment. If the poor thing really is that old, it got that way by by being in the dark in the desert. If humidity is a problem, put in sheet of Artsorb silica gel conditioned to 40% RH in the back and seal the framing package up with Marvelseal.

To give some authority to your recommendations to the client, you can call the NYU Center (212) 992-5800 and ask to speak to someone about mounting Pre-columbian Textiles, or to be referred to somone who mounts a lot of them. They may or may not be familiar with the group, but sometimes what one really needs is the voice of authority to reiterate what you already know. Good luck!

Rebecca

[preservator]

Rebecca, thank you SO much for your comment on
"breathing". Would that we could expunge that
term from framing and ask whether we want urban,
industrial air to be passing through the artifact.
The only things that might actually breath in a
frame are pests and molds.

Again, thanks,

Hugh

[MiterMan]

Lois:

Yes! Thanks for the reminder on the acrylic box. It would make an elegant presentation, wouldn't it?

Rebecca, Hugh:

Amen to that! Wouldn't it also benefit the belt to position the backing so that it was at an angle, to lessen the pull of gravity on the artefact?

[Rebecca]

Hi Miterman-

The angle idea is a good one, especially for larger textiles, but I don't think it would make much difference for a 2" wide one (I'm thinking horizontal display, not vertical).

I'd love to see Lois's snake skin box. My worry about about acrylic for an old textile is static. It would probably be ok for cotton, but some of those old pre Columbian alpaca's are pretty friable, and shed fibers like crazy. Could get messy in there.

Rebecca

[ERIC]

smile.gif Thanks for the input, KEEP IT COMING! smile.gif

The angle idea is great, I’ll use it right now on a fitting I am doing for a wool piece.

The issue of static is one that I had even with UV glass! The stuff is so brittle (dry rotten?) that it was shedding all over the inside of the glass. How do you control/reduce when using glass, let alone acrylic?

I don’t know the whole story about the belt yet – other than you wrap it around you 3-4 times and it is a little wider on the ends – I‘ll ask him more when it comes in.

My gosh! you’re right, this does sound like the ‘movie poster crowd’, I didn’t connect it! He is very aware of how much he spent on each piece and limits the frame expense relative to the value of the art. His long term goal is investment, so he’s worried about not getting back what he spent on the frame. It’s not to say that he is being cheap – he is using $12-18 ft. moulding, fabric mats on some, and UV glass & AF board on everything – he’s averaging $250 each. My biggest concern is the technique’s I’m using and how well they will work for the art. if they start getting too labor intensive then

He has purchased pieces that are ‘professionally’ framed to the collector’s standards. I can’t wait to see this! Maybe I can talk my client into letting me attend one of their shows with him so I can size up the way they work.

Mitre Man – thanks for the tips. When it comes to the frame selection, does it matter what color your (soft) couch is? tongue.gif

Here’s a crazy idea – How about sewing the belt to a 12’ piece of Mylar! I could bend it around, even stand it on its edge. (okay, you can start breathing again!) Imagine that in an acrylic box. Really, if it’s not falling apart and is pretty sound in structure could this be done with out putting the piece in jeopardy?

Rebecca – the client might even want to do the contacting himself since he seems to be on a learning quest. Do you think that’s OK? Let me know if you do. Many thanks for the info.

[MiterMan]

Mitre Man – thanks for the tips. When it comes to the frame selection, does it matter what color your (soft) couch is?
Oh, boo hiss. I was just about to reply seriously to that.

But seriously, it's usually just a natural color so as to unobtrusive as possible in a museum setting. More importantly, undyed cloth elimintates the possibility of dye transfer to the the artefact or offgassing.

[Rebecca]

Eric I think its a great idea if he wants to get in touch with NYU - the more he can educate himself on this the better. The textile conservation department of the Museum of Natural History is also another good resource.

These things really are fragile - think what kind of shape you would be in after all that time! They're funeral artifacts - originally part of a mummy bundle. I do hope they're not illegal(?!) :confused: - grave robbing/illegal export is a growth industry.

You might cover the face of the belt with a matching (washed) Maline tulle net and stitch the tulle to the Mylar - that would reduce stress. The edges of the tulle could be covered with fabric tape or cord or something? This also might help reduce the shedding.

Rebecca