A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 23. (Veszprém, 2004)

Egervári Márta: Gróf Pejachevich Antal főispáni beiktatására készült zászlajának restaurálása

RESTORATION OF THE FLAG MADE FOR THE INAUGURATION OF GENERAL COUNT ANTAL PEJACHEVICH AS LORD-LIEUTENANT The restoration of a silk flag made up to two sheets, painted on both sides, is presented. Both silk sheets of the object were affected by similar circumstances, but they were damaged in different ways. The warp of the side depicting the shield is horizontal relative to the orientation of the picture, and the paint was applied much more thickly. The stiffer layer of paint has become cracked, and with time has peeled away from the surface. The material has become shoddy, and gaps with frayed edges have formed in places. The warp of the side depicting the military emblems is vertical. The painting is not bulky, but more of a tint-drawing character, so it moves better along with the textile. The materials used for painting, however, have made the silk brittle due to their iron and copper content, so bits have cracked away, leaving holes with sharp contours. Due to the differing forms of damage to the two sheets of the flag, different methods were used both for conservation by sewing, and for retouching. In the first case, the conserving stitches pull in the frayed material and the edges of the flag, but on the other side, they hold together the edges of the original textile with additional material, and fix it to a supporting fabric. When retouching the side depicting the escutcheon, with the very dilapidated paint, only the production of a uniform surface could be attempted. Here the retouching was done on the original silk base for the most part, so we chose to perform a hatched retouch, to fill out the surface. In this way, the unified picture could be held together successfully, but no paler shades of colour remaining on the original were suppressed. When restoring the paint on the side depicting the military emblems, the extended gaps in the base proved a challenge. With the aid of the break-lines formed along the contours and the remaining details, the original composition could be reconstructed. Here the retouching in the original style was done on the additional material. This can be removed and corrected at any time, should we gain access to further information. 200