Old Map

Farm Girl

Grumbler
Joined
Mar 19, 2002
Posts
45
Loc
Centreville, Va. 20120
Customer brought in an old school house map from the 1850's found in her grandparents home many years ago. It has significant damage. She looked in to having it restored by a conservator but the $8 to $10 thousand dollars isn't possible. She just wants to display it so her kids can enjoy it. The top is flaking off the backing which is some kind of canvas. Wants me to glue on the pieces. What kind of glue would you use? Again, this is not a preservation piece. Thanks.
 
8-10 thousand dollars!!?? Whooee, I'm moving to Virginia! :D

Seriously, I'd try and find some other estimates before throwing in the towel for conservation. That price sounds a tad high. It might even qualify as a student project at one of the conservation training programs - there's one at the University of Deleware at Winterthur.

Rebecca
 
yeah - ten times to high
 
hey farm girl hope you are well. if you want to talk to some conservators in the DC area let me know and i will get you some names and numbers. that sounds extremely high, unless the whole thing needs to be put back together like a puzzle.

maybe you should see if it can be appraised, to see if the conservators price is worth it? i would not like to glue something that you might find out it is worth a bit. good luck
d
 
As the others have implied, this sort of task
is best referred to a conservator and shopping
around a bit is likely to yeild better pricing.
When paper has been adhered to cloth, the tension
between the two that was originally established
is extremely hard to recreate. This is also true
of Oriental scrolls.

Hugh
 
Thanks for the input. The map is very large, 58" x 58", has water damage, a deteriorating fabric backing, flaking of the map, packing tape repairs by the grandparents many years ago, and generally not in good shape. Customer isn't willing to do the conservator route, (think she got a bad taste from the outrageous price in Alexandria, Va) and just doesn't want to put a ton of effort into this, other than trying to get it on the wall.
 
Try a non-curling vegetable glue such as Yes Paste. You can ably it with a common paste brush.

What are you going to charge her for sitting there gluing this thing back together. How much cheaper are you working than a conservation student would work?

Why does your customer think you are that much cheaper to hire than a paper conservator?

I don't know how long you have been framing, I have found over the years that there always will be "good" customers willing to take advantage of your time, if you allow them.

Ask yourself this, " the time I will spend on this project, vs. how much could I make practicing my craft, doing picture framing."

You may be better off just giving her a jar of Yes Paste and a paste brush and letting her do the " restoration" of this map herself.

If you give your time away, you will always be able to find work. Problem is, you wont be able to pay your bills.

Think about it,

John
 
Sorry Farm Girl, I didn't mean to insult you. Sometimes I'm a little more direct than I would like to be. Diplomacy has never been one of my strong points. You also have to remember that even though an answer on a public forum such as The Grumble, may not pertain to you, it possibly may help someone else.

John
 
I only have one question, if you ruin it, how much will the customer think it was worth? Our you insured properly.
 
I'm also very interested in the responses to this question. I'm working on an 1892 county topographical map that has similar damage. It is about 4' x 7', and is quite heavy. It is mounted on to some sort of wooden dowel, and I'm thinking about incorporating that into the framing because the piece is so heavy. Also, none of my current vendors sell large enough acid free mounting board (foam core, etc), so I'm already having to splice that together.
 
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