The Ermlitz project: Conservation and mounting of 310 square metres of painted wall hangings

Abstract

The Ermlitz manor house near Leipzig includes an enfilade of five parlours, decorated in the 1770s with 310 m² painted, textile wall hangings. The outcomes of the first three years of a long-term conservation project led by the Conservation Department of the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden are reported. The pilot phase ended in 2011 with the remounting of the treated wall hangings of the Red Parlour. Solutions developed for mechanical surface cleaning, the consolidation of the highly water-sensitive paint layers and the mordant gildings, the conservation of the canvases (thread-by-thread tear mending, inserts, and local supporting with BEVA-coated polyester gauze), and the remounting of the wall hangings with a newly-developed mounting-system based on neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets and hook-and-loop fastener are described.

Keywords:

• Eighteenth century
• Textile wall hangings
• Watercolours
• Mechanical cleaning
• Tear-mending
• Magnet
• Hook-and-loop fastener
• Kupferfrass

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the advisory board of the project: Dr Karoline Danz, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt; Prof Volker Schaible, Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart and Prof Dr. Ulrich Schießl, Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden, whom we remember in grief and with gratitude. All scientific analyses were performed by Prof Dr Christoph Herm, Department of Archaeometry and Conservation Science, Academy of Fine Arts Dresden. Environmental monitoring was performed by the Institut für Diagnostik und Konservierung an Denkmalen in Sachsen und Sachsen-Anhalt (IDK Halle).

Suppliers

Staedtler Mars Plastic^®: Staedtler Mars GmbH & Co. (www.staedtler.de).

Methocel^® A4C: Dow Deutschland GmbH (www.dow.com/germany).

Colour shaper^®: Colour Shaper Ltd (www.colourshaper.com).

Tetex^® TR polyester gauze, 13 g/m², white: Franz Eckert (www.franz-eckert.de).

Paraloid^® B 72 color chips: Conservation Support Systems (www.conservationsupportsystems.com).

Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) ring- and disc-magnets: Schallenkammer Magnetsysteme GmbH, (www.magnetssyteme.de) Rimpar, Germany.

Pattex^® Powerknete Repair Express fast-setting two-component putty: Henkel AG & Co. KG (www.henkel.de).

Velour Standard and Pressogrip Standard 20 mm hook-and-loop fastener system: Gottlieb Binder GmbH & Co. KG (www.binder.de).