Mounting a brittle leather/skin/hide

Emibub

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Nov 2, 2001
Posts
9,246
Loc
Centennial, CO, USA
I need to mount a piece of leather that is very thin and brittle. I can tear it with no effort so I think sewing it is out. It looks like cowhide although much thinner than regualr cowhide. It could possibly be 100 years old. It is around 32x40 in size, although it isn't uniform in shape. It has what look like burned/tooled designs on the outside edge with a message about mother and love in the middle. Plus, a rose has been painted on it which has shrunk the hide and formed a bit of a bubble.

I'm assuming I need to use some sort of adhesive but am unsure which is best. I'd prefer not to use adhesive if possible. I'm also entertaining the idea of slanting the mount so as to take the weight off of it because I am concerned the weight will make it fall apart from where it is mounted down. Although, at this time I don't know if the frame being used has the required depth to slant mount it.

I am betting the phrase "some things were not meant to be framed" will come up. But, I am not doing it for my store. I'm just gathering information.

Thanks!
 
Mike, I thought about encapsulation but, it does not have straight edges. It is shaped freeform, kind of like the state of Texas is shaped. Also, with the rose painted on it that area doesn't lay flat.

I think brittle is not the correct word. I should have just said fragile. Brittle suggests it might crack or hold it's shape. It is actually very soft and definitely would not stand up by itself.

I'm perplexed on this one.
 
I'm thinking you could start with a board somewhat larger than the piece, cover it with a layer of batting and then a nice-looking non-reactive fabric. Place the piece appropriately on this background, then stretch tulle or some conservator-approved version of it over the whole thing to gently hold the piece in place. If you can do a display case with the board slanted, all the better.
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Rick
 
Mount artwork with Mylar overlay and a special cut mat ... assuming you have a Wizard here is how (abbreviated version) ... shoot digital image of artwork ... import to PathTrace setting appropriate dimensions ... trace, offset 1/4", set bevels etc., then save as cut art ... cut mat.
 
Kathy: take CAframer's advice and then email the total project to wizard. I BELIEVE they do custom work, at least they used to. Check them out but perhaps they could do the CAD work for you
 
Sink mount could be a good option. Could you send me an e-mail photo and dimensions? We might be able to come up with a gentle, non-invasive method.

Rebecca
 
Whether you use a mat or not, I would mount it as Rick suggested. It sounds like it is too delicate for hinging which, to me, means it would probably fall through a sink mat.
 
Tissue and paste hinges will stick to hides, but
whether the surface of the skin is too degraded
to allow this to work is a tricky assesment. The
idea of using a soft, padded backing is quite appealing and combining that with the sink that
Rebecca suggested has promise. Holding the skin
in that structure could be done with Mylar or
tulle, but the safest option would comprise
over matting the edges of the skin with a window
that has its back edges lined with more, soft
padding. Polyester batting, covered with Japanese
tissue, works well in creation of such padding.
The window can be held shut with linen tape
lashing that feeds through slits in the back mat.
(see preservation supplement on edge support,
pictureframingmagazine.com)

Hugh
 
Another alternative might be to use an overlay of almost-invisible fine mesh fabric, such as Stabilitex. The purpose of this technique is to hold very fragile textiles with almost no applied stress. I've never tried this on leather or an item so large, but I think it should work.

What holds the item in place is the pressure between the overlay and the padded mount board. There is almost no stress on the item itself, except that it would tends to flatten creases or wrinkles.

Make a sturdy mount board; perhaps 4-ply or 8-ply aplhacellulose reinforced with 4 mm or 8 mm polyflute. Cut the mount board to roughly the shape of the item, but about 1" larger all around.

Cover the area of mount board under the item with spun polyester filler (aka polyfill, aka quilt batting), making it more lofty in the center. The purpose of this soft, spongy filler is to create a slight spring-tension against the overlay, helping to hold the item in place. Properly done, the mounted item should be slightly convex under the overlay.

Sandwich the item between your padded board and the overlay of Stabilitex, which comes in some colors likely to match your item. Pull the overlay fabric just tightly enough to remove wrinkles and create slight tension against the polyfill under the item. All around the perimeter of the board, fold the overlay fabric to the back and secure it with a suitable adhesive.

Finally, cut a window mat to cover the perimeter of the mount baord and show the edges of the mounted item.

My adhesive preference is to paint the back edges of the board with acrylic medium beforehand, and then activate it as I go around with a tacking iron. No mess, preservation-friendly, easy to activate the adhesive inch-by-inch, fast bonding, long-term stable.

The technique is described in the May, 2005 Picture Framing Magazine; "Remounting Old Needle Art", page 49.
 
Stabilitex! That's the name I was searching for in my description above. Is 51 too young to have a 'senior moment'?
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Rick
 
Wow, lots of good stuff to choose from here. sorry for my delayed response, danged cold won't go away. I breathe like I need to be in a TB ward.......think Darth Vader, or whoever the guy is who breathes funny in Star Wars or Star Trek both of which I have never seen. How's that for a digression?

I have yet to use stabilitex yet. Unfortunately this will be unavailable for the task at hand, as will mylar(although, I could provide that). I am not framing it for my store, otherwise, I would go out and order the stabilitex today. Which I should anyway, it is time to figure it out since I am always bellowing about adhesive abuse.

Here is a photo of the piece, which is being held up by Santa, by the way!
P1010016.JPG


Dang, I thought I zoomed in on it so it was a close up, guess my cold medicated fogged up mind didn't hit the right button.

Is mylar practical with this shape? I'm thinking the shine in mylar will not be good. Obviously, the stabilitex would take care of that but, can you use it on an odd shape? Guess that doesn't matter for this piece because there is no way on earth that they can access it. Oddly enough, I can get all the tulle I want, maybe I will give that a try, although as I said before where the flowers are painted the leather had shrunk and they are kind of "domed.

I took a needle and silk thread and put a stitch in it and it did not break like I thought it would so now I am wondering about stitching and possible hinges and "Nori", which of course I will have to provide since it is not on the approved list......

The piece is not in pristeen condition, I do not know if it is really 100 years old, I do not know what sentimental value it has if any. I just feel like we as well as the AMA need to follow the credo "First do no harm". Or is that the mental health field? Either way, it is a good one to follow.

Sorry for the ramble.....
 
Rather than put holes in it from stitching, why not go with Hugh's padded sink mount idea. Then the shaped window mat - can a CMC do that, or is it a free hand job?. If it's free hand, you could always cover the mat with fabric to hide any sloppy cuts. (It would be sloppy if I did it, not you I'm sure!)

Then stretch Stabiltex, or tulle (the special soft kind, not the hard scratchy kind), or Crepeline across the underside of the window mat - tape it down, it won't be near the leather - and Bob's your uncle. If the piece is too 3-D, you can raise the window mat with foamboard underlay, and tape fabric to underside of the foamboard.

That's what I'd consider doing anyway.

Rebecca
 
My Fletcher F6100 CMC can cut the opening you need, but I would bet any CMC could be configured to do it. If you need help with that, let us know. Actually, it would be really cool to have a double mat -- one to fit about 1/2" beyond the edges of the art and help hold down its overlay, and another mat, cut about 1" larger, to float 1/2" above it.

Hugh and Rebecca have together described a mount very similar to the one I described above. The padded mount board provides a slightly-rounded surface for the artwork, which creates slight spring tension against the Stabilitex overlay & gently helps hold the art in place. Tulle would be more visible than Stabilitex, I think.

Crepeline would work, too, but might anything in the skin react with the silk?
 
Silk and leather are both protein so I don't see any problematic reactions there. It's funny though, I generally find Stabiltex to be more obscuring than tulle, though a lot depends on the detail and color diversity of the object being covered. And then there is tulle and tulle...

Stabiltex is certainly more stable (hahaha) than either silk or nylon though.

Rebecca
 
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