Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 116
The lid was covered with goatskin inside and out on the top and the side walls and ornamented by four paper onlays with pressed silver foils. Protruding shaz leaves and Hatay motifs with lotus flowers were placed on the mandorla- shaped applications.6 The largest octagonal paper onlay was framed by an ornament of pressed silver foil. The peripheries of the lid were also bordered by pressed silver lines. The inside was covered with mould-made paper ornamented with lilac spots. The bottom of the case is coated inside and out with bluish-green coloured mould-made paper. MEASUREMENTS OF THE OBJECT The object was measured before restoration. Asterisk marks the data of the defective object, the cross marks values estimated from the fragments. The data can be different from the original, since the organic material could significantly change in size due to the moisture of the soil that enclosed it for three years. Measurements of the lid: Measurements of the bottom Length 450 mm* Length 405 mm Width at the larger lobe 205 mm Width at the larger lobe 201 mm* Width at the smaller lobe 133 mm Width at the smaller lobe 129 mm Length of the handle 190 mm* Length of the handle 127 mm* Height of the side wall 23 mm+ Height of the side wall 3 mm+ Thickness of the side wall 2 mm Thickness of the side wall 2 mm (based Thickness of the top board 2 mm on thickness of the measurable wall of the lid) Thickness of the bottom board 2 mm MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUE The mould-made paper case was glued together with starch. The side walls were built of 15 layers. The number of the layers of the top and bottom pasteboards could not be observed because of the damages. The paper cover of the bottom of the case was glued with starch. The leather cover on the top and the sides of the lid were glued also with starch. The leather was composed of several segments, which were joined on the side of the case. They could be thinned with scraping.7 This is suggested by the extreme and uniform thinness of the leather sections on the sides. Judged from the leather fragments found under the inner paper cover, leather covered the side walls both inside and out. Mould-made paper decorated with flecked patterns was glued inside the lid with starch. The paper applications were also glued on the top board with starch,8 then the probably metal negative patterns9 were pressed on them creating positive imprints on the paper. Then the silver foil was pressed on the paper probably based with glue or resin dust.10 The pressed linear ornaments decorating the leather were probably also made by silver foils. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONDITION The strongly injured and defective case suffered several damages during the three years it spent in earth. The weight of the soil, moisture, microbes and 116
