Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 120
and fibre structure can be applied to the surface that needs completion in a single phase and the fibre structure and touch of the paper resembles European paper. The disadvantage of the method is that one cannot get a uniform thickness. Completion appears to be “cloudy’ in transparency, so it is suitable only for filling in smaller gaps. Since the covering papers were fixed, this cloudy transparency was not disturbing. The paper pulp was prepared from the 1:1:1 mixture of 35 °SR18 bleached hemp,19 35° SR bleached sulphate pine cellulose and 17 °SR bleached shred pine cellulose fibres. Disintegration20 and colouring of the fibres was made in the newspaper restoration workshop of the National Széchényi Library with Zsuzsa Tóth restorer's help. First the dry fibres were disintegrated in water using a disintegrator, then it was coloured with Ciba Pergasol direct industrial paper dye. The development of the necessary hue was defined by the average colour of the covers. The casting of the hand-made paper was made on an exhauster table. I laid a special Vetex21 (not woven polyester net) on the table, and placed the sheet on it. I moistened the surface with filled calcium-hydroxide solution of a pH value of 9, then poured coloured fibre suspension22 in the place of the gaps and fissures with the help of a small spoon. After casting, I switched on the water- trap industrial pump to ensure exhaustion and laid another Vetex on top of the sheet. Drying started with desiccation in fresh air, then in a press together with the Vetex’s between blotting papers. I did not apply glue on the finished covering papers, since the gaps were small and could endure the moistening necessary for glueing without disintegration. The paper cover to reconstruct the wall of the bottom of the case was also made with casting. To reinforce the material, it was covered with 2% solution of Regnal S1 poly(vinyl-butyrate) in alcohol. Completion of the leather To fill in the gaps in the covering leather I used goatskin of vegetal tanning. It was coloured with 50% solution of Ciba Irgaderm metal-complex dye in denaturated alcohol mixing yellow, brown and red colours. The leather was first cleaned of grease with 5% solution of acetic acid, then the dye was applied on the surface with cotton-wool. When the coloured leather dried, I cut out the completions and thinned them at the edges. Completion of the papier maché shell Before composing the paper elements, I had to tell the size of the case from the measurements of the mirror, the covers and the top and bottom boards. The size of the covering leather helped to determine the shape of the incomplete shorter spikes. The length of the handle was determined from the mirror, the rounded termination from the overall shape of the case (no angular line could be found in the side walls). I filled in the gaps of the bottom plate with blotting paper23 and glued them together with wheat starch. (The advantage of blotting paper is that it is free of acid, and the fibres are composed from sulphate cellulose of high quality pine. Glues dissolved in water deeply penetrate in the paper, which has a great absorbing force). I mounted the whole surfaces of both sides of the two paper 120
