Help Headstone rubbing

bhaley

True Grumbler
Joined
May 30, 2008
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Louisville, Kentucky
Have a rubbing of a headstone done with pencil on tissue paper (yes, the kind you put in a shirt box!). Can I get some thoughts on mounting, hinging, etc. please. Thanks.
 
I take it you are trying to float it???

If not, just hinge as usual with rice paper hinges and wheat or rice paste, then mat
to cover the hinges.

If trying to float I would consider backing to near full size with a bright white conservation board and do passover hinges with minimal amount of hinge showing
and adhering to the backing board. The bright white board should mostly make the hinge invisible. Take great care in hinging so that you do not crinkle the paper or stain it. Possibly use Lascaux or modeling paste adhesive and let dry then heat set.
 
If the rubbing permits, you might want to make the mat window a bit smaller than you normally would, and cover more of the edges of the rubbing. Something that lightweight might have more of a tendency to billow out through the mat window.
 
Thanks everyone. Very helpful. Was just a little apprehensive about jumping into this because of the super thin paper it's on.
 
use the thinnest japanese hinging paper you can find, and go easy on the moisture content, to avoid cockling.
 
Chose the mounting method above that works best. I does depend on if you are going to float or mat over but the rice paper hing. would probably serve you fine.
You might also suggest adding a photo of the person.
 

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If the piece is very large like some of the brass tomb rubbings from the UK, you will probably find that the paper where rubbed has stretched. The perimeter may not be stretched. You can judge this by laying the piece on a very flat surface and covering with a sheet of glass. If it shows ripples, you're screwed.
On some we cut out the rubbed part (a little larger than the image) drymounted it to drymount tissue, ( 170° F with ColorMount and the wax didn't even melt) trimmed it out perfectly, then mounted it on colored matboard. Now don't you purists scream, the piece was carp and we made it look great.
 
On some we cut out the rubbed part (a little larger than the image) drymounted it to drymount tissue, ( 170° F with ColorMount and the wax didn't even melt) trimmed it out perfectly, then mounted it on colored matboard. Now don't you purists scream, the piece was carp and we made it look great.

YAH........I did one of these....rubbing from Al Capone's headstone....
which is illegal I think.............drymounted the thing...it was the wax kind too.

Looked 100 times better than the wad they brought to me! :D
Perfect mount also works! :kaffeetrinker_2:
 
Here is a tombstone salesman's sample pack, over 100 years old that we did a few years back. Used mylar strips. Probably will not help you but thought I would post.
 

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The last really big one of these I framed was a tomb rubbing which also included the fancy scrollwork around the knight's body. Finished size was around a full oversized sheet of mat card.

I floated it using multiple Japanese tissue hinges and used a 3mm spacer to lift the glass away from it to avoid the rippling problem. It wasn't perfectly flat but it looked acceptable. Cut and float is another way of imparting a little "discipline' to cockled paper while avoiding rippling.
 
I would LOVE to see a picture of that if you have one!! :D
 
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