Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 27. (Budapest, 2009)

Emese PÁSZTOR - Márta TÓTH - Anikó PATAKI - Andrea VÁRFALVI: Turkish Cases from the Esterházy Treasury

press taken off, the parchment edging was soft enough for me to remove it from the edges of the artefact. On the basis of an examination of the remains of the parchment strips, we decided that I would not sew them back on after completion of the conservation work. I therefore decided to make a new leather edging. In the next phase of the dismantling, I undid the large running stitches connecting the two sides of the case, after which I separated the front panel from the back. It was then that it emerged that over a long period of time corrosion from the ironheaded arrows stored in the artefact had caused serious damage to the layers of leather used as lining (fig. 1/7). In the next stages of the dismantling, I attempted to separate the velvet and the thick leather back panel from the thin layers of leather stuck to them as lining. As a result of cautious and slight pulling, I managed to separate the leather layers of the back panel relatively easily; there was no need to moisten them. The separation of the velvet from its leather lining succeeded with more difficulty, as on the wrong side of the textile a thick layer of animal glue adhered strongly to the mesh of silk threads used to hold down the metal-wire embroidery. After slight moistening in places, proceeding slowly and cautiously, I eventually separated the layers of this part also (the front panel). On the leather employed to line the velvet, not only marks made by the arrows showed clearly, but also shapes from the thick relief embroidery. It became clear that rust had not only permeated the leather in places, but, after disintegration of the leather, had also spread through to the back of the velvet in small patches. 2. Cleaning and conservation As a first step, I degreased the metal-wire embroidery embellishing the velvet by treating its surfaces with ethyl alcohol. Moistening the wrong side of the velvet, I softened up the remains of the thick layer of animal glue, which thus became removable by mechanical means. Finally, I cleaned the em1/7. The case dismantled 85