Műtárgyvédelem, 2008 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Mijátovits Krisztina: Eszter-tekercs restaurálása: egy valódi pergamenpapír kiegészítési lehetőségei
Conservation of the Esther scroll - completion possibilities of an authentic paper parchment Krisztina Mijátovits The Esther scroll printed in the 1920’s is in the possession of the Mazsihisz Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives, and it is kept in the Applied Art Collection. The object is a scroll book printed on paper parchment. The paper scroll was fixed on a wooden roll with bone knob terminals. Both the text and the illustrations were printed with offset technology. Esther’s book can be read in Hebrew and in Hungarian. The coloured pictures with bilingual captions illustrate the story. Although the scroll is printed, no other copy can be found in Hungarian public collections, as far as we know, so it was especially important to improve its condition to be exhibited. The scroll appeared to be a worn book, which had often been handled, later inexpertly repaired and inappropriately stored. Yet the degree of damages, the dryness, brittleness and deformation of the paper suggested that factors coming from the production technology of the paper stood at the root of the deterioration process. Injuries caused by handling, generally crumpling, tears and missing areas, were significant mainly in the first sheet. The paper of the scroll had already been repaired a few times. It seemed likely already after visual observation that the paper of the Esther scroll was real paper parchment. This was supported by the fact that this paper type was generally used to replace or imitate real parchment. The mechanic cleaning of the paper had to be carried out very carefully with a brush and a Latex sponge1 with respect to the shiny, closed surface and the deformed, rigid shape. Before softening, the paper was removed from the wooden roll, and then the moisture content was gradually increased. A stabile moisture content of 75% controlled with salt solution proved to be ideal. The paper could safely be opened out, and it did not start cockling even in a dryer environment. The few remaining glue spots could easily be removed from the paper with a scalpel and slightly moistened paper wadding. In the planning stage of the conservation, it seemed plausible to repair the paper with in advance produced paper because of the water sensitivity of the paper parchment. Yet we thought worth trying to apply manual leaf-casting as it promised a more aesthetic result. Leaf-casting was planned with the combination of traditional leaf-casting and casting experiences of test strips. The paper pulp was made from pine sulphite cellulose of 90 SR°. The finest dense wire was placed on the sucking table. The casting place was tightly masked so that sucking could be as concentrated as possible. After casting, the sheet was brushed, as usual, with the thin watery solution of 2:1 mixture of wheat starch and Glutofix 600. The superfluous water was blotted from the sheet across Bondina, then it was put into a press until complete drying between the Bondinas and the millboards. It was found out that the first two most damaged sheets were worth completing with manual leaf-casting in a wet condition. ' Natural caoutchouc without softener, used in photo conservation. 85
