the prints are fine, but the backings have faded...

[Barb Pelton]

I've spent the better part of the day redoing several previously framed duck prints and stamps. These have been framed within the past decade with rag mats, and looked nicely done (however plain)...but the designer for the bank wants a new look so we're redoing them. When I opened them up, they were all mounted to the mats with Lineco mounting corners and NO mounting board. The dust jackets for the prints had been cut down and used as a backing behind the prints. (As strange as that is, I've certainly encountered worse...a lot worse) Anyway...
What I noticed while working on these is that the dust jackets/backing material had noticably faded in the center, corresponding with the opening of the matting. However, the prints look fine, with no discoloration at all.
I thought this was interesting to mull over on a quiet work day. I'm inviting you to mull with me.

 

[preservator]

There have been instances in which backing boards
have been observed to have shown light deterioration, where they were behind drawings
with the light coming through. The portion of the
board that was not behind a black part of the art
had suffered most. Something similar might have
happened to the prints that came to you, so that
part of the backing paper has been bleached by
light coming through the print. The fact that
the fading lines up with the window opening
suggests this, but you may be seeing something
else.

Hugh