Question Has anyone worked with a "vintage canvas mounted drawing" before?

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Nikki

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I had two of these portraits come into the shop yesterday. I waited till after closing to open them.. I was a little confused on first glance because it definitely looks like a pastel on paper drawing, but when you looked on the back you saw stretcher bars. What I found is a pastel drawing on paper mounted to the finest of linen fabrics stretched to bars. The drawings themselves are in good shape considering. The fabric is fraying along the edge of the stretcher bars but otherwise in good shape. The original glass is on the front of both pictures. Both the paper and the fabric it is mounted to is VERY thin and fragile. Has anyone dealt with such a beast before?
 

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Looks to me like it is time to call a conservator.
 
It looks to me like a photograph with accents added in pastel and charcoal. Very very common around the turn of the last century.

I usually cover edge damage with matting and plunk them back into a frame virtually iuntouched (unless there is massive damage (torn paper and mising areas).
 
I did a couple of these a few months ago.

I didn't have a choice.. The customer wanted them in new frames with new matting.. just had to make sure it was deep enough for the wood.

I would have suggested a conservator and take them off the wood... but thats just me.
 
I agree with Mar. Enhanced photo. Either engage the services of a conservator or put them back in their frames. You are absolutely right about their fragility, but this on looks in pretty good shape compared to some I've seen.
 
The female portrait is a photo that is "enhanced", but the gentleman is a drawing. I lined the inside of the frame rabbet with aluminum barrier tape, replaced the glass with museum, replaced the mat with a rag one and backed the stretcher with a 1/8" rag foamcore. The less I do it seems the better on this one.

I can't believe that the materials used are so thin and delicate. Incredible the work they did over a century ago and it's still here!!! I am always amazed!!
 
Thanks for that link, Rebecca - I have based my knowledge on the subject by piecing together snippets of information and conjecture over the years. :thumbsup:
 
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