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Inside The Conservator's Art
A behind-the-scenes look at conserving Egyptian artifacts at the
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum ofAnthropology
http://conservationblog.hearstmuseum.dreamhosters.com/?p=330
{ 2010 03 16 }
Early r estoration m aterials, 100-year-oldhomework?
PAHMA 6-20116, Greco-Roman cartonnage mask before treatment.
This Greco-Roman cartonnage mask is badly damaged, and at least
two earlier attempts at repair weremade in the twentieth
century.
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Cartonnage is a lightweight composite material used to create
mummy masks, cases and bodydecorations. Three-dimensional
cartonnage mummy coverings were constructed by laying
adhesive-soaked strips of linen or papyrus over a mud/dung/straw
form, building up a laminated core. Multiple typesof textile can be
present in the core, as is the case for 6-20116, along with
non-woven plant material.Gypsum and/or calcite was used to plaster
over the textile or papyrus substrate. Sometimes an
additionalpreparation layer of white ground was applied to the
exterior surface, which was then painted.
I am currently treating the mask to stabilize it and to improve
its appearance by reattaching detachedpieces of cartonnage,
realigning displaced fragments, and consolidating flaking paint and
ground. In orderto do this I must remove some of the old
restoration materials. During removal of early
twentieth-centuryrestoration materials glued to the interior of
mask, a surprise emerged. Two sheets of paper with Arabicscript
were found adhered to the inside of the crown of the head.
Interior of PAHMA 6-20116 during treatment, with Arabic script
visible on partially removed paper backing.
We are working on getting an exact translation, but the lower
sheet of paper contains the same two lineswritten in different
handwriting, suggesting that the paper may have been used by a
student copying theupper line of text.
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Were not sure exactly how the paper ended up inside the
cartonnage mask, but the presence of Arabicwriting confirms that
the first restoration campaign took place in Egypt around 1900.
Posted by Allison on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at 8:38 am. Filed
under Cartonnage, Conservationtreatments, Historical background.
Tagged Cartonnage, Mummy mask. Follow any responses to this
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