Opinions Wanted HELP-Mounting Chinese Silk Scroll

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Okay Folks, I've been framing almost 20 years and have done most everything but have run into a sticky one. A customer has brought in a Silk Embroidery Scroll to be framed. It will be a horizontal mount almost 8 feet long and 16 inches high. It has wooden "Scroll Ends" on each end. My guess is it is quite valuable. The customer received it as a gift after giving a financial presentation in Beijing. I've not done work with silk and am not sure how to go about mounting this piece. It will need to be shadow boxed for the Scroll Ends. The actual framing part of it doesn't concern me, but the mounting concerns me greatly! Any suggestions?
 
Mount the scroll ends using clear melinex straps. You might have to put some vertical straps across the face of the piece in a few places to keep it from billowing out.
 
We get these sometimes and we sew them to the backing board. Usually they have silk borders and we put the threads loosely through the seam between the painting and the silk border. If there's no border, I would go with Paul's method above. Also, the fine mesh fabric method is a possibility. There's a thread about that here somewhere.
 
ok, on rereading, it's an embroidery, not a painting. I would think you could use fine stitches. You wouldn't be doing harm, as an embroidery is already sew through the silk. We use lots of stitches, but don't tie them off so they would pull through under stress without tearing. We tape the threads to the backing board. That can hold really well if the weight of the piece is well distributed over a large surface area.

By the same rationale, you could use the fine fabric attach-ez.

You may all gasp in outrage now.
 
Attach-eze? I think I'll pass on that one but thank you for the Advice.

This piece needs to be mounted on a Matboard Background and will have a 1-3/4" mat 1/2" out from the edges to show complete exposure. I'd planned on Building up the mat with foamcore enough to clear the wooden dowels on each end.

More gasps coming, should I consider drymounting with fusion 4000 and if so, at what temperature?

Thanks for the advice folks, keep it coming!

Scott
 
In examing this piece, it is not an embroidery. It has a backing of one layer of silk, the main image is what looks like a silk fabric print laid on top. It has a 1-3/4" border all the way around with a different silk border on each end that is about a foot wide with the wooden dowels on each end. The silk borders have been laid over the edge of the main image. A smaller 1/4" border is laid on top of the first border around the entire piece. Its very nicely done. If someone will tell me how to post a picture on this site, I will and make it a lot easier to see my concerns. Thanks everyone!

Scott
 
Still sound like a sewer to me. That's sew-er. Not sewer :)

I'd pass on the fusion. Silk doesn't like to drymount. And the waviness of the painting is usually "sewn" in by the overlaying border, so it may crease in the press.
 
It sounds like it is a hand scroll - not intended to be hung, but placed flat on a table and viewed in sections - unrolling on one side and rolling on the other, so that only a single section is in view at any one time. A good way to travel through a landscape, or tell a story.

Normally these would be stored in special boxes and only taken out when the owner wanted to look at it.

It sounds like it is valuable, so you might think about working with the format as intended. Perhaps a tabletop case whose top could be easily removed so that the visible section could be changed from time to time.

Rebecca
 
Sorry to post so much, but I am fascinated by this issue. Rebecca's advice is very sound. We had a call on one of these about two months ago and suggested that very tabletop thing. The guy was too excited about the idea of having the whole fifteen feet laid out on the wall, so he shot the tabletop down. We also suggested a wall mounted item he could roll and unroll with nice dowels strung through the top and bottom of the frame.

He also didn't want glazing, and, actually we couldn't impress on him the need to conserve it. We passed on the job by taking too long to think about it and I heard he figured something else out. Can't say I'm sorry to lose that one, but someday I will build the dowel thing and it will be awesome.

Anybody want to sell me a fifteen foot Chinese scroll?

Cheap?
 
I get inquiries about these periodically, and they almost never get done. Customers want to see the entire 400-foot long scroll, they don't want glass, they want it to hang by magical incantations, and most of all, they don't want to spend more than $99.
 
Rebecca, I believe you are right with the tabletop/Hand scroll. It has come in a very nice, what I would call a presentation box. And looks as you say like it would only come out of the box for viewing. I have it laid out completely on my work table, the image appears just to be a long landscape.

The customer does want it framed behind UV Plexiglass so the conservation part is not an issue. Paul, you are right, they want to see the whole thing. The nice part is, money doesn't seem to be an issue. And yes, it does look expensive!! It does lay, except for the end dowels, perfectly flat.

A few more questions:

Paul, I have never used Melinex. What is it and how is it used, and where do you get it?

Mabsadie, With Sewing, how would you keep the silk from sagging over time remembering this piece is 8' long?

I'm at home now, but, I will bring my camera to work with me tomorrow and figure out how to post pictures.

I've framed many stichery/needlepoint types of artwork during my tenure as a framer. But, I wouldn't call it my strongpoint! This one, with its perceived value, gives me goosebumps!!

Thanks, Everyone for your educational words of wisdom!!

Scott
 
Well, your client may be an educated and experienced art collector, and know exactly what they are doing, in which case - c'est la vie...or, this may be a good opportunity to guide them to a more appropriate display format. e.g. http://12.151.120.44/toah/hd/chhs/hd_chhs.htm

Of course it is theirs and they can do what they like, but it is nice to be able to facilitate solutions that are sensitive to the artifact and gift bestower, as well as to the present owner...

Sometimes part of the "wow" factor of presentation is that it gives the owner an opportunity to educate those who are not in the know about proper presentation and viewing, and the comfort they will have in not making a faux pax in front of those who are in the know...

Just a thought...

Rebecca
 
Melinex, a/k/a mylar, is a clear film. I think you can probably buy a roll from United Mfg. or M&M. And while you're at it, get "Mounting Objects with Clear Film," by Jim Miller, from Columba Publishing.
 
In my opinion, being terrified to touch the piece is most important part of doing it right!

The sewing the border advice is straight out of Vivian Kistler's PPFA guide on framing needlework, which has a section on quilts and textiles. My edition is from 1990, so it may be outdated, which is part of the reason I am so interested in everyone else's technique. But it's the study material I used to take my CPF exam in 2003, so it can't be that outdated :)

To keep it from sagging, I would use lots of stitches at the top, particularly in the middle. Reversible, non-invasive is the objective. Check out this bad boy below.

This is a 4' x 8' 100 year old quilt we framed two years ago. Eight feet of little 3/4" buttons loosely tacked together. We put a stitch in every button for the top six rows. After that, we tacked buttons every few inches. The idea is to spread the weight over a large surface area. The stitches throughout the quilt redistribute the weight so that each stitch is holding just a little bit of weight, instead of all those buttons pulling on the top rows. It's still hanging. You could sew in the seam of the borders around all four sides without touching the painting. Use a thin needle that slides between threads so you don't pierce them, and use more stitches than you think you need to.

Don't ask me about the black on black design. It's still a sore spot with me.
 

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That being said, I still like Rebecca's idea and I really enjoyed that article on scrolls.

It stinks to turn business away, but you could make a customer for life with your expertise.
 
This item will do much better if it is rolled up and stored in the dark, as has been suggested. The fact that silk loses half of its strength in 220 hours of sunlight may help convince your client of the wisdom of treating it as scrolls are handled in Asia.
UV filtration will help, but will not protect it for long.



Hugh
 
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