How to handle 1915 Charcoal drawing behind original glass

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Rozmataz

Rozmataz

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Posts
2,773
Loc
Fingerlakes Region of NYS
Customer brought in an original charcoal drawing that is from 1915!! Her grandfather's!! It looks as thought it is in the original frame, untouched by human hands all these years. She wanted to know what to do with it...

There is a backer board that appears to be ready to fall apart if touched or if the brads are removed... with pertinent information to the date, artist, school, etc - very important to retain this for customer.

The drawing is against the glass and appears not have been exposed to moisture but my concern - before I even touch this piece - is what steps to take in case any of the charcoal particles are on the glass and diminish the drawing's appearance when separating them.

How would you handle this, Would you handle this? If it were my own personal piece I would risk removing but wanted to check here before touching it further!!

Thanks,

Roz
 
Roz,

You wanna switch frameshops with me??? :D

You get some really cool and challenging projects in your shop and I would love to have that kind of framing coming in on a regular basis!

I'll bet you'll find that some of the charcoal is indeed stuck to the glass when you eventually open it up. I don't think that there is much to be done with that problem. It was created by somebody else 88 years ago who didn't have nearly the education in framing nor the help of a venue like the Grumble to find out the proper way to frame that piece.

If you don't feel comfortable tearing the piece apart, because of its apparent condition, the attitude of the client about what she wants to do with the piece, or any unknown "surprises" that may be waiting for you inside that package, I would refer her to a conservator. It obviously has strong sentimental value to her and should be handled properly to ensure that any damage in reframing the charcoal is minimal. There is a good chance that additional work may have to be done to the piece after you open the frame.

I couldn't, in good faith, advise you on what to do without inspecting the frame package so I will leave this part of the process to Rebecca or Hugh to give you some sage advice.

If the backing material is that far along in its destructive process, chances are there are some other problems to contend with inside the package.

That's not to say that, after careful inspection, and maybe some advice from others in the conservation field, you shouldn't go ahead with reframing the piece. But, before I started in on something that might be more than I could handle, I would definitely get someone else to look at the frame package and give a qualified opinion on how to proceed.

Framerguy
 
Framerguy - Thanks - and I will be more than happy to trade shops with you - but do you really want to be in western NY in the winter - I would have no problem with your location - so when do we do the switch!?!

Meantime, thanks for the input and I will hope for sage advice from Hugh or Rebecca in the conservation area since that is not a strong point for me, thus seeking knowledge here!!!

There is no dust cover on the old probably handcrafted frame package... is relatively clean so I don't think there will be other surprises - but then, you never know!!

Thanks, Roz
 
As has been noted, this piece is fraught with peril. Items of this vintage are often so degraded
that even the most careful handling can damage
them. Leaving it between glass and ligneous board is not safe, either. You could send it to a conservator for opening and possible treatment, or you could open it, yourself, if your experience with such items is broad enough to make you feel confident. Opening this sort of frame in the presence of the owner may be a good idea. That allow them to see that you did nothing wrong.If you are going to open it, yourself, you could remove the nails with the frame face down and then carefully turn it over on to the work table so that first the frame and then the glass can be lifted off, while the item is fully supported. Ordinarily, it is safest to stand the frame up so that the backing board can come out, then the art. Here, the art may be so weakened, that anything other than full support will cause the paper to crack. If the art paper is brittle, you can take a sheet of thin paper and slide it under one edge of the art and use that to draw it over onto a sheet of good quality board. The thin sheet is gently lifted up so that it supports part of the weight of the art, enough to allow it to be safely moved. This is the classic boobytrap that bad old framing presents and if you have any
qualms about opening it, talk to a paper conservator. Once it comes out, it is likely to
be too weak to go back into a frame and would
be preserved better in a mat in a storage box,
while a copy of it can be put back in the frame.

Hugh
 
I just did a huge one from the 1860s. ( 26"X 36") The paper the pastel was done on had been stretched over strainers. The pastel was spaced from the glass by a gold leafed wood liner.

The paper had deteriorated almost completely were it folded over the strainers. Everything was incredibly brittle.

All we did was take everything apart and clean the liner, the frame, replaced the glass with UV. We re-enforced the paper around the bars with acid free tape our conservator gave us, can't recall what she called it. We put barrier tape around the inside of the frame rabbet, then refitted everything.

The thing that stood out in my mind the most was that an old pastel drawing is a lot tougher than i would have imagined. It held up amazingly well to all the handling it received.

The first thing I did when I took the project in was call our conservator. She came over and worked with us while we opened the old frame package.

Another interesting thing about this was there were over ten layers of dust covers on the back of this frame. It looked like every time the tore the dust cover, they had a new one put over the top of the old one. Real messy getting to the picture.

John
 
Hugh's advice is very good, especially thinking of worst case scenario. JRB's example is also a good example of "do little".

How does the piece actually look? In other words...does it really need to be reframed? There is always the option of leaving it as is, and putting a good quality backing board in place. I'm kind of a softie when it comes to keeping original framing as intact as possible, as long as the piece is relatively stable. I'd keep the original glass too.

Rebecca
 
Rebecca,

I think I feel somewhat the same way... the piece is not beautifully framed unfortunately.

It is reasonably stable but the frame itself is a narrow and shallow plain wood moulding and one corner needs to be redone. The glass is definitely the original (wavy!) glass. The back has only this certain to fall apart board of schoolgrade quality with brads holding it in place.

The whole package has slipped to the bottom of the frame; a corner of the glass has a "??" (I don't know what to call it, but looks like when a bullet hits glass and leaves a little crater)-hasn't actually cracked but has damage. There is some space at the top (nearly 1/4") of the package where you can see thru because it has slipped. No dust cover - probably ever! So to provide future protection it seems like it would make sense to reframe but as Hugh points out the paper the artwork is on could be very delicate. The backer board is part of what the customer wants to "show" - I don't know how since it is in the worst shape... What a challenging project.

Thanks for input so far... it hasn't been decided andthe customer is in no hurry... so any other additions to these thoughts are welcome.

Thank you,

Roz
 
The frame that we were dealing with was a fantastic gold leafed, hand etched frame. It was filthy, the glass was the old wavy glass, badly scratched.

The customer wanted to toss the frame and re-frame the piece.

I would have loved to have that frame, definitely a museum piece. I have been to a frame show at the fine art museum in San Diego, very few frames were of this caliber.

This frame was hand made for the pastel it contained. Replacing this frame would have been a crime as far as I'm concerned. When we finished the project, the customer could not have been happier, everything looked great.

John
 
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