restorationandpreservationofwater-damaged...

Restoration and Preservation of Water-damaged

Painting and Calligraphy

Yeh HungyiNational Palace Museum & Bureau of Archives Administration

Yeh Chihcheng

Ph.D student, Dept. Chemical Eng. & Materials Science, Yuan Ze U.

IntroductionIn recent years, climate warming influenced Taiwan. The weather was volatile

and rainy all the time, and extreme typhoons and rainstorms occurred frequently, such

as Typhoon Sudi in 2015, it caused 12 deaths and 185 injuries in total. Typhoon Sudi

invaded Taiwan on 8thAugust in 2015, resulting power outages of more than 4 million

households, which broke the blackout record caused by Typhoon; serious flooding

happened in many places, typhoon Morakot in 2009 broke the record for maximum

rainfall per day of all the meteorological station in Taiwan. Typhoon Toraji heavily hit

Taiwan in 2001, and 921 earthquake led to large-scale debris flow disaster of soft rock.

According to these events, the rainfall patterns in Taiwan have changed and the

intensity of rainfall has been concentrated and intensified, leading to more floods in

the river. This has impacted the drainage function of river drainage facilities in cities

at all levels in Taiwan, resulting in severe flooding in low-lying areas, negative

influence on people's lives and serious hit and loss of painting and calligraphy.

Climate change is bound to impact flooding disaster in Taiwan.

According to my work experience in the restoration field, it is much more

difficult to deal with the water-damaged painting and calligraphy than others. The

proportion of painting and calligraphy takes a large part to the collections in museum,

and they are easy to be damaged, such as water damage, getting yellowish, breakage,

embrittlement, acidification and damaged by worms and mold, etc., all were caused

by poor environment or changes in the mounting material and those factors interacted

with one another. All of these will affect the management and use of painting and

calligraphy. Since the industrial revolution, anthropogenic activities such as emissions

from factories and motor vehicles significantly increased the concentration of

greenhouse gases, which will cause a serious threat to low-lying coastal areas and the

islands. Moreover, the greenhouse effect will also cause far-reaching and unknowable

http://dict.youdao.com/w/meteorological%20station/

influence on the entire ecological environment, global climate and water-damaged

paper.

Chinese painting and calligraphy are collected in many museums, art galleries

and folklore museum and civil collection. The protection of these precious arts is

always an important work for management and maintenance of museum and restorer.

The spirit of preserving painting and calligraphy is integrating various resources,

handing on the original painting and calligraphy to the descendant. However, the

preservation of painting and calligraphy often faces a variety of challenges, and many

factors in preservation environment affect the physical and chemical properties of

cultural relics themselves, such as temperature, relative humidity, light, air pollution,

and mold, insects, rodents and other pests; moreover, emergency disasters, such as

water, fires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions etc. and human error in holding,

packaging, transportation, and theft, may directly result in significant loss of cultural

relics.

Keywords: Painting and calligraphy, restoration, water damage, mold,

preservation

Part one Causes of Water-damaged Painting and CalligraphyTaiwan is an island. The rainy days in May and June and typhoons from June to

October often bring excessive rainfall. The great intensity of rainfall per hour is the

main cause of water damage. Rainstorms and other adverse natural conditions, such as

huge amount of sediment and small river, and many human factors, always increase

the severity of the disaster. Thus, floods are often the result of "natural disasters" plus

"man-made disasters" rather than a single factor. 1

Ⅰ Fire:

1. When the fire occurs, water is directly sprayed to the relevant equipment.

Ⅱ Typhoons, floods and other natural disasters:

1. Drains around storehouse are clogged, and the restoration room is leaking. When

the storehouse is leaking or flooding, the leakage or water has not been drained

immediately and damaged painting and calligraphy have not been removed on time.

http://dict.youdao.com/w/descendant/

Ⅲ Man-made sabotage

1. Man-made water damage to the roof or the wall of storehouse, water pipe leakage

by accident, and burst of air conditioning system.

Ⅳ other disasters:

1. Other accidents such as an explosion or a major construction disaster.

Part two Situation of Water DamageWater in water-damaged painting and calligraphy can be further divided into free

water and bound water. The formation reasons of these two types are as following:

Free water: attached to the painting and calligraphy, it can be easily removed by

centrifugation, filtration or general drying temperature. Free water is the main cause

of corruption of dried materials, since microorganism could use it.

Bound water: Ingredients that formed with hydrogen bonds in the painting and

calligraphy, such as water in protein or carbohydrate. Because of its close integration

with the material, bound water is difficult to be separated by general methods or be

used by microorganism.2

In the course of paper making process, steaming and boiling raw materials firstly,

mashing and evenly dispersing disintegrated fibers in the water to make pulp; and

then, mixing the pulp with water well, and letting it go through the bamboo web to

filter extra water. Pressing and drying the materials, and making the materials for

painting and calligraphy according to paper quality; however, water vapor in the air is

also one of the factors leading to hydrolysis and degradation of paper. Paper is

interconnected by hydrogen bonding. The paper fiber set up the water bridge when it

meets water, which results in the loss of original hydrogen bond between the fibers; so

wet paper is less strong than dry paper. Water bridge is broken after the paper dried,

and hydrogen bonding connects the fibers again, the strength of paper increases.

Therefore, the water can be described as double-edged sword, which cannot be

underestimated, since it can support the preservation of painting and calligraphy, but

also upset the conservation. Rice paper is combined and interwoven by paper fiber. As

the paper fiber looks like capillary, and capillary is also different due to paper

materials.

____________________

1 Research center for climate, weather and disaster, the characteristics of floods in

Taiwan.

http://www.wcdr.ntu.edu.tw/28153277002879723475332873845028797.html2. Li Pengzhi, pharmacy by Lyophilization and application of biography technologyand science. http://www.ceci.org.tw/book/56/ch56_6.htm

Ⅰ Rescue

If water-damaged painting and calligraphy are of many vertical axis, they can be

packaged by plastic zipper bag, and registered in bag individually, in order to support

the freezer or the storehouse for freezing the soaking painting, rescuing flooding

framed painting. One of the principles of rescue process is to remove the frame, and

stand the painting frame against the wall. When the lens is removed, the laying a

clean absorbent paper and putting damped upside of work up and restoring within 48

hours. Inhibit mold treatment should be considered if the time is over 48 hours.

1. Record → firstly, dry and record, package each piece with adhesive tape properly.

2. Put into the box → putting paintings into the box, labeling, specifying the source,

such as the museum name, the original location. →putting into the frozen truck→

sending to the cold room.

3. Frozen → minus 25℃ frozen.

4. Low-voltage → expose plastic bags, depressurize to 4 ~ 6mbar in vacuum.

5. Drying →drying be heating needs 5 to 6 days or so, drying only by ventilation

needs 8 to 12 days. Rare painting of painting and calligraphy must be treated

individually.

6. Finishing → flattening, restoration, restoring 8 to 10% moisture in the paper by

self-regulation in natural environment. If necessary, add mold removal process.

7. Return 3

http://www.wcdr.ntu.edu.tw/28153277002879723475332873845028797.html

Picture 1. Wood frame damaged by water

________________

3 Hua Haiyan, The Hai Yen Institute for Conservation of Works of Art. Rescuing

Water-damaged Painting and Calligraphy

Picture 2. Mold stain in preliminary stage

Picture 3. Quick separating drying of water-damaged paintings

Picture 4. Quick separating drying of water-damaged paintings

Picture 5. Pigment halo and surface sludge of water-damaged paintings

Picture 6. Sludge on the surface of water-damaged paintings

Picture 7. Sludge and stains on the surface of water-damaged paintings

Picture 8. Sludge on the surface of water-damaged paintings

Ⅱ Drying method of improving the environment to prevent mold in painting and

calligraphy

The drying methods include air-drying method, aspiration and dehumidification

method, frozen and ambient pressure drying method, vacuum drying method, vacuum

frozen-drying method, etc. First, drying the paintings and calligraphy by reducing the

temperature, humidity, and ventilation, etc., if the power is not off, you can open the

air-conditioning to reduce the temperature and open Dehumidifier to bring the

humidity down.

Each operation method is limited by its specific operating conditions, such as the

characteristics of painting and calligraphy, manpower, space, climate, time, equipment,

funds, operating experience and so on, managers should be adjusted by the

organizational capacity of the organization and the actual damage situation.

(Ⅰ) Classification of water-damaged painting

1. Air-drying method: good natural drying.

2. Aspitation and Dehumidification method: part water-damaged blowing drying,

water absorption water.

3. Frozen and ambient pressure drying method: completely water-damaged

dehumidification drying at low temperature, vacuum frozen-drying.

Grattan and Michalski divided the change of temperature and relative humidity

changes into five control levels:

AA, A, B, C, D. The control range and the influence to the stability of cultural relics

are shown in Table 1

_________________

4Data resource: http://web2.nmns.edu.tw/PubLib/Library/quaterly/201210_183.pdf

Table 1 the control levels of standard of temperature and humidity change and its

influence to culture relics.

Ⅲ Treatment to water-damaged

Vertical axis will be expanded after soaking in water, and deformed by absorbing

200% water. Paper will curl, and will not automatically restore to the original state.

Paper fiber accelerates aging and decay. If opening the painting by rotating it, paper is

usually easy to be sticky, broken, floated, or the color is shaded. The paper will be

tore or wrinkle in the course of emergent treatment. If rescue the soaking painting on

time, the water will not penetrate into the paper; the internal part will remain clean

even if the whole painting is wet, and the sediment on the surface can easily be

removed by cleaning. The paintings’ dry are always swelling and form stains due to

uneven moisture. The Soaking painting is easy to smudge and sticky together if it is

drawn by heavy color or vegetable pigment, and it easy to smudge if it is smoke ink.

The calligraphy with more gel is difficult to smudge. If the paper stacks for a long

time, humidity and moisture in the paper are going to increase, which accelerate the

hydrolysis process of cellulose in the paper, resulting in reducing paper’s strength.

The cover paper of soaking painting and calligraphy will be moldy, and then penetrate

to the surface. If the painting is closed, the internal ink is usually faded, shaded and

destroyed, but mold shows slowly.

After drying the water- damaged paper, the paper is prone to be yellow, because

the paper contains high lignin, and wood that contained more lignin is easier to

change color. The products resulted by water decomposition is easy to react with the

ion in white water and generated sediment, which is the cause of fiber pollution.

When the water in the paper is more than 70%, the water becomes favorable

conditions for the pest’s living in painting and calligraphy. Once the indoor conditions

are favorable for its breeding, especially in the wet place, and the humidity of paper

reaches more than 75%, which is the critical point for breeding mold. The

microorganism will end its dormancy immediately, and begin to germinate, grow and

reproduce, showing a common mycelium, and then produce and release a large

number of spores in the environment waiting for an opportunity to reproduce,

secreting enzymes and using the matrix in living place to survive. Once the mycelium

appears, it will be very difficult to remove, for the root of mycelium in the painting

and calligraphy is exactly the same as the root of the plant deep into the soil. With the

growth of mycelium, acid and non-ferrous material substances will be produced.

Mold distributes by mold spores, and spores are not easy to see by the naked eye, but

they can easily float into the room, and are free to fall on the food, clothing,

appliances, desktop, bookshelves, carpets, and wallpaper and wall joints. 5

Mold spores continuously flows to anywhere with the floating air in the museum,

outside the museum, and even between the exhibition and collection rooms. In the

interior place, it will cause a number of effects on preservation of painting and

calligraphy. Therefore, although we can not avoid the flowing of mold in the

restoration room, especially in the confined space of the storehouse, but we can avoid

breeding mold to achieve the purpose of mold control.

Harmful gases in the air, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides etc., will

produce acidic substances after combining with water. It accelerates the hydrolysis of

paper cellulose; Dust meet water will show acidity or alkalinity, and produce sticky

material, which is unfavorable for preserving painting and calligraphy. Restoring the

moldy painting and calligraphy should be very careful. Mold is an allergen that can

irritate the eyes, nose and skin and cause allergic reactions such as runny nose,

sneezing, skin irritation, fever or wheezing and other health problems.

Most mold will produce pigment in the course of metabolic process, and different

species of bacteria will produce different colors, such as red, yellow, brown, green,

blue, purple and black pigment, and most of these pigments do not dissolve in water,

and different mycete causes diverse levels of strains, such as Eg Alternaria solani

produces black stains, Penicillium notatum produces yellow-green stains, Fusarium

oxysporum produces purple stains, Chaetomium globisum produces yellow grayish

brown stains. Special pigment produced by mycete cannot be restored, which affects

the value and view of painting and calligraphy. 6

Some molds on painting and calligraphy damaged by water will not decompose

paper fiber and starch; the growth of mold mainly weakens the binding force of paper

fiber and lead to the fragility of paper. Additives in paper fiber and paste can be

nutrition for breeding mold. Cellulose in the paper is not easy to be digested by mold,

and many molds are often growing in the pulp and gel of paper, and then slowly

spread to the other. As the acid plays a catalyst role in the process of paper

degradation, it often accelerates the deterioration of paper relics. Paper relics turn into

powder, and no longer have fiber properties. The biggest culprit affecting the

durability of paper is acid.

Ⅳ Equipment for removing mycete

Equipment for removing mycete includes personal safety and equipment for mold

removal. Personal safety equipment items are anti-mildew masks, plastic gloves,

scarves, goggles and plastic aprons or overalls.

(Ⅰ) Masks

In the course of operation of removing mold, the mold spores can be inhaled with

man’s breath. The increase of mold spores will affect human’s health. The ordinary

mask cannot filter mold spores, since it cannot prevent inhaling mold spores, but the

mold spores are very easy to stuck in the fiber, which will lead to the accumulation of

mold on the mask fibers. Therefore, wearing this type of mask cannot protect man’s

health. Man should select mask with filter, which could filter mold spores; in addition,

the size of the mask should also be consistent with man’s face. Only the mask with

enough air density could prevent inhalation of mold spores. If it is impossible to use

the mask recommended above during work, changing the mask time to time to avoid

physical discomfort caused by the accumulation of toxins.

(Ⅱ) plastic gloves

________________

5 Li Huiyin，Mold Management in Library, Buddhist Library Publications (43) 1995.6

6. Idem Note 5

Wearing plastic gloves can avoid allergic phenomena led by long-term exposure

to dirt and mold, but sometimes the hand feeling is lost while wearing it, which

affects the progress and acuity of the operation, wastes the rescue time and results in

damage of paintings and other phenomena. If it is necessary to remove gloves due to

work need, it is recommended to wash hands frequently to keep hands clean during

work.

(Ⅲ) Goggles

Trying to use a full-face goggle to protect your eyes.

(Ⅳ) Aprons or overalls

Protecting clothes, and cleaning aprons and overalls regularly.

(Ⅴ) Dustproof headscarf

The main function is to fix long and short hair and avoid the allergic phenomenon

to hair caused by dustiness in the course of dust-exposed work, cleaning, and

pollution control work. Besides using headscarf or hat, you can also use the hairpin or

hair bond to fix hair. In addition, hair, scarves or hats, hair bond and other fixtures

should be cleaned frequently after the mold removing work to keep them clean.

Ⅴ Classification of identification paper processing methods during restoration

(Ⅰ) Raw paper

"Raw paper" is the raw material that is directly processed by the paper mill

without any processing; "Raw paper" is strong in water absorption and ink is easy to

penetrate paper, while is writing in light ink. Writing with strong ink is relatively easy,

you need to master the ink shades while creating the painting and calligraphy.

(Ⅱ)Treated paper

"Treated paper" is processing by adding glue alum and dyeing. Treated paper is

weak in water absorption, making the ink not easy to spread, therefore treated paper is

fit for painting due to its characteristics.

(Ⅲ) Observation and determination of fiber

The silk used in the restoration of painting and calligraphy includes Juan, Ling,

Luo, Qi, Sha, Jing silk and so on. Their textures are silk, and they are only different in

weave structure, patterns, warp and weft density. Juan is white and plain-weaved silk

fabric without any pattern, and it is widely used in Chinese painting and calligraphy.

Although the paper fiber can be observed and identified through the microscope, the

variability of the same fiber is very large. It is not easy to identify the same fiber, let

alone the paper composed of a variety of fiber. Natural aging, reprocessing by painter

and calligrapher and other factors often lead to the broken of fiber shape of antique

paper artifacts. It is totally different from the newly finished paintings and calligraphy,

since it is not the original completed fiber, when you are repairing precious cultural

relics with patterns, samples usually are small debris, which increased the difficulty of

evaluating fiber, and most evaluation depends upon the characteristics and width of

fiber morphology. However, the actual judgments and accurate decision often require

experts with sufficient practical experience and assistant of equipment.

Part three Restoration processⅠ Viewing and evaluating painting and calligraphy

Evaluating the number and damage degree of paintings and calligraphy, arranging the

temporary preservation for those cannot be restored immediately, and arranging

follow up treatment for those could be restored.

Picture 9. Stains after water damage

Picture 10. Stains and sludge on the back after Water damage

Picture 11. Back of paper frame, Fusarium Monascus purpureus and white mold

Picture 12. Wet back of paper frame

Picture 13. Black mold on the back of paper frame

Picture 14. Purple mold on the back of paper frame

Picture 15. Inside and outside frame fixed with copper nails

Picture 16. Aerugo on Japanese-style hooks

Picture 17. Removing the frame and glass

Picture 18. Painting stuck on the glass

Picture 19. Mold

Ⅱ Fixation

Dropping a drop of water on the filter paper or cotton swab, and putting the filter

paper or cotton swab on the paper where is no obvious handwriting and pressing

lightly, if there is no ink or paint on the filter paper or cotton swab, it proves that the

ink or pigment material will not be blended.

1. View the work firstly, and use raw paper to test if the color will be blended with

water, use the glue to fix the color if ink will fade.

2. Put four pieces of the 3000 glue (around 4 cm per piece) and pure water into a

small steel cup, and then place them into a large pot, heat the pot with water to melt

the glue, and adjust the concentration of glue to 10%.

3. Dilute the gel to 2.5%. Dip proper glue with a small writing brush made by wool

when the glue is warm, and apply the glue onto the ink, and repeat brushing after the

ink is fixed.

4. When you are fixing the color, do not repeat brushing the glue on the same place

before the glue dried, since the glue may brush way the ink. Make sure the glue on the

ink dried, and brush the second layer of glue.

5. If too much glue is brushed, use absorbent paper to absorb excessive glue,

otherwise the small light will be shown on the place where brushed glue.

Picture 20. Deer gum, three thousand glue, grain glue.

Picture 21. Melt the glue by Water-jacket heating mode

Picture 22. Reinforcing the ink

Picture 23. Reinforcing the ink

Ⅲ PH test

Viewing the pH degree of water-damaged painting and calligraphy. PH:

Hydrogen ion concentration, the index of the water ion concentration of hydrogen can

be expressed in pH, pH is the logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of

hydrogen ions as shown in Picture 24.

Picture 24. PH graph

Increasing of Acidity PH Increasing of alkalinity

1 ← 2 ← 3 ← 4 ← 5 ← 6 7 8 → 9 → 10 → 11 → 12→ 13 → 14

As for the water in the water-damaged paper, these water is the untreated water in

the nature, which often contain a variety of micro-organisms, organics, metal

elements and soluble inorganic salts, etc., such as well water, river water, streams, and

they are disadvantage to preserve antique painting and calligraphy.

Paper deterioration is accelerated in acidic environment, and the acidification of

the paper is mainly due to the use of acidic glue method, and natural deterioration by

oxidation. The particle diameter of paper is over 10μm, and surface porosity and

surface area is relatively large, thus, the paper is prone to absorb moisture in the air,

and the acid-base and oxidizing - reducing chemical pollutants generated by the

chemical reaction. Such as sulfate generated by direct reaction of sulfur dioxide. All

of the reasons above will lead to acidification, deterioration and destruction of paper

relics. 7 For cleaning the collections, distilled water or reverse osmosis pure water

should be used to protect the substrate and the surface of painting and calligraphy as

shown in Picture 25. Therefore, if paper’s PH is under 5, there will be a negative

impact for the future preservation of painting and calligraphy. Paper Deacidification

and neutralization mainly use a variety of neutralization agents such as: barium

hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, magnesium

acetate and so on. In 1982, Mr. Smith from Chicago added methanol into Magnesium

methoxide, and mixed the mixture of chlorinated solvents with carbon dioxide gas to

form acidification agent, and obtained a patent called WeiTo method; moreover, in

1976, Diethyl Zinc method (D.E.Z.Method), as shown in Picture 26, invented by the

researchers in the Library Congress of United States is also very famous. Using

distilled water or reverse osmosis pure water is more conservative, they can weaken

the acidic substances. For people who are lack of experience, using chemicals

incautiously will make raw paper over-white, hydrolysis of paper and the loss of the

necessary tension, resulting in serious consequences.

Picture 25. Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of restoration water 9

________________________________

7Xia Cangqi, Crisis and Acid Treatment of Books and Archives Acidification

8 Xia Cangqi, "Research on the Degradation and Restoration of Books", (Master's

Thesis, Institute of Forest Science, National Chung Hsing University, 1991), pp. 2-3;

Steven R. Middleton et al., & Quot; A Method for De-acidification of Papers and

Books & quot ;, Tappi 79 (11) (1996)

P.

9Data source: http://www.watertec.com/crod-001.htm2016/11/24

Picture 26. Overview of large-scale deacidification of paper relics

Ⅳ painting and painting of the cleanup and finishing

(Ⅰ)Removing dirt method

Removing dirt method includes mechanical dust removal, it is the use of a certain

external force to separate dust or sludge in the paper fiber, and it is a method to

remove the dust from the surface of the painting by physical vibration. Moreover,

other dirt removal methods also include picking and scraping dirt by blade, rubbing

by soft rubber eraser made by plant or rubber soft eraser made by fine powder,

tweezers folder, dipping clean water with cotton swabs, vacuum cleaner, hand

pressure ear washing bulb, sweeping by wool brush and other actions. Wiping the

surface and edge of the work with a sponge (if necessary, patting softly), and cleaning

the stubborn sludge until the drying treatment. Pressing the work lightly with the

clean hands after the work is reinforcement, (do not give heavy pressure, for fear of

damaging paper structure or pressing ash into paper.

__________________

10 Ibid. Note 7

(Ⅱ) Equipment for removing mold

Equipment for removing mold includes the dust removal cabinet and vacuum

cleaners, soft wool brush, watercolor brush and other tools. Vacuum cleaner should be

equipped with filter mold, which can be used to filter and inhale mold spores, and to

prevent the respreads of mold spores in the air again. Fittings or hose of vacuum

cleaner should always be cleaned after removing mold, and 75% alcohol solution can

be used for cleaning and disinfection. Soft brush and watercolor brush are mainly

used to remove mold spores, and brush made of soft material should be used to

protect works. Different-sized brushes should be prepared to replace during mold

removal process, in order to deal with different situations. Vacuum cleaner can be

used to clean the dirty brush, and brushes should be cleaned and disinfected by using

75 % alcohol and dry every day.

1. What should be noticed when you use the tools to restore moldy painting and

calligraphy damaged by water?

(1) Avoid the vacuum hose touching painting and calligraphy.

(2) Wrap suction outlet of vacuum by silk or gauze fastened with rubber band, to

prevent inhalation of debris.

(3) Seriously deteriorated vertical axis should avoid contacting the painting or

calligraphy, you can use a thick cardboard to dig the painting, fill the fine screen to

fasten the work, lay and press the moldy part of the work, and suction outlet of

vacuum will prevent debris from being inhaled.

(4) 75% alcohol can be used in a small area of moldy work to test reaction, please

notice if it will cause fading by using alcohol as solvent.

(5) Choose chemical disinfectant with characters such as good permeability,

long-acting effect, low toxicity, no offensive smell, or non-corrosive etc.

Picture 27. Vacuum cleaners for cultural relics

Picture 28. Wind speed control of vacuum cleaners for cultural relics

Picture 29. The seal of vacuum cleaners for Cultural relics is with a small screen to

trap, to prevent inhalation of fragile debris

Picture 30. Cleaning of cultural relics

Picture 31. Purple mold and black mold on the back of paper frame

Picture 32. Back of paper frame is wet, remove the wooden frame

Picture 33. Fix gauze and left back of hose, and prevent the contact with painting, and

slow down the wind to decrease damage by inhalation

Picture 34. Damaged work fastened by card paper and removed mold by fine gauze

Picture 35. Removing the mold on the front of work by wool brush

Picture 36. Removing the mold on the front of work by wool brush and Vacuum

Cleaner

Picture 37. Removing the mold on back of work

Picture 38. Removing the mold on back of work

Ⅴ Cleaning by water

Stains removal method: Generally, the work needs to be washed or soaked in

water, because water can dissolve many substances, and it is the most important

solvent. Not only can it soften the paste, but also remove dust and stains on the

surface of painting and calligraphy due to age. Placing the painting or calligraphy on

worktable or in a large sink, and putting the work in room-temperature water. Firstly,

using tilting plate and pure water to shower the work, and wool brush to brush stains

on the work slowly. Then, placing absorbent paper under the work, and holding it

carefully, since it is pone to produce creases, to be tore and breached. When 80%

water has dried, put absorbent paper on the surface of the works and pressure the

paper to dry the work. The absorbent paper should be replaced for several times. The

front side of the paper should be put on the top and spray the water on it, rolling the

towel to cylindrical roller, squeeze the towel from the center to the four sides to dry

the water, repeated watering until the work has been cleaned up. Absorbent paper can

accelerate the speed of absorbing moisture and removing stain. Chemicals and 75%

alcohol can be used to remove the stubborn and serious mold.

Picture 39. Water damage stains

Picture 40. Water-damaged scroll work by Ren Xun

Picture 41. Floated work after water damage

Picture 42. Floated back of the work after water damage

Picture 43. Drying by squeezing Towel

Picture 44. Sewage

Ⅵ peeling off paper

(Ⅰ) restoration process:

1. Remove frame, and try to take off moldy, inks stained glass.

2. Place the cotton paper or chemical fiber paper under the middle of painting when

peeling off the work. Spraying water to wet the work, and try to peel the work from

sides, and then peel the back paper and small paper.

Picture 45. Front side of work sticks to the glasses

Picture 46. Glass-stuck work

Picture 47. Peeling off the back paper



Picture 50.peeling off the front paper

Picture 51. Mold on the back of the painting center

Picture 52. Mold on the front side of the painting center

Picture 53. Wetting by spraying water

Picture 54. Brushing



Ⅶ Adhesive (paste)

(Ⅰ) Mechanical principle of adhesive

Paste and fiber are affected by pure mechanical inset and inlay between sticky

materials. Any object surface looks very smooth by naked eyes, actually, it is rough

and uneven after zooming in to see details, since some surfaces are but multiparous.

In the paste process, numerous tiny "pins" were formed to stick and connect two

fibers together. According to this theory, the strength of the paste only depends on the

adhesive concentration and cohesive strength of adhered.

(Ⅱ) Basic principles of preparing wheat starch paste

1. Wetting the dry starch completely with cold water or warm water less than 30 ℃

before boiling the starch, the following, and making sure that there is no clump in the

paste.

2. Low temperature, short time boiling and uneven mixing will negatively influence

the viscosity, adhesive strength and color.

3. Gelatinization temperature. Heating the starch in water, and the particle will absorb

water and be swelled after heating, and the cross will disappear, which lead to the

increasing of adhesive strength, and this process is known as gelatinization

temperature, and the temperature is around 60-70 °C.

4. Test must be done before using the new materials to measure the best ration of

starch and water, boiling temperature and time, as well as the stirring degree.(Ⅲ) Example of preparing wheat starch pasteProcess of preparing wheat starch paste in restoration room:1. Weigh 500 Cheng powder, and pouring 500ml water into power and stirring2. Filling 1500 ml / g water into a double pan pot and heating the water to at least

100 ° C. Then, pouring the hot water slowly into the starch slurry, stirring rapidly until

the gelatinization completely mixed.

3. Cover the lid. Boiling the pot for about 30 minutes, and stirring every ten minutes.

The range of wheat starch gelatinization temperature is 60 ~ 70 ℃. When the starch

suspension is heated to a critical temperature, the hydrogen bonds of particles begin to

be destroyed, so that the particle volume will expand to several times. This

phenomenon is known as starch gelatinization. Gelatinization degree of the starch

during heating depends on the starch variety, temperature and water quantity. If the

temperature is lower than the gelatinization starting temperature, the starch will not

gelatinize. If the temperature is between the paste starting temperature and the

completion temperature, part of the starch will not be gelatinized, no matter how long

the heating time is. The starch could be completely gelatinized in a short time, if

temperature is above gelatinization completion temperature.

The property of starch gelatinization property is shown after the starch heated to a

certain temperature with excess water. Starch undergoes the disintegration of the

starch crystallization area and loose expansion of the granular structure, and the

increasing of mobility of amylose molecule, resulting in the loss of rigidity of the

starch molecule, and becoming flexible. At the same time, the double-helix structure

of amylose is opened and separated from the particles by the difference of

concentration of amylose molecules inside starch granule and certain heat energy,

which exists in starch paste system in an amorphous structure. Amylopectin is fully

expanded or even rupture, resulting in starch paste.

4. Cooling the paste before use. The hardness of the paste increases as time advanced,

which due to the aggregation between the molecular chains, i.e. retrogradation (aging)

phenomenon. Starch molecules form hard colloid due to strength bonding between

hydrogen bonding, and they increased interaction and generated crystallization as the

time advance. Starch crystallization is of three steps: (1) generation of crystal

nucleation; (2) crystal growth; (3) mature. So the crystallization of starch is the

rod-like growth of crystal after generation of crystal nucleation. Amylose is the first

dissolution after gelatinization and forms as the network structure, therefore,

crystallization formed in short time is mainly amylose-based; and the crystallization

of amylopectin is slow. After paste has formed a semisolid mass, filtering it by

passing through a sieve and crushing Unqualified by the using an electric pulper.

5. Store the paste in the refrigerator, and paste viscosity decreased as the time passes.

Paste can be maintained for about one week.

Picture 59. 500 grams Cheng powder

Picture 60. 500㏄ pure water

Picture 61. Room temperature, mix 500 ㏄ pure water into the Cheng powder

Picture 62. Pouring 1500㏄ boiling water into the pot and stirring

Picture 63. Paste

Picture 64. Paste steamed and boiled by double-boiler

Picture 65. Sticky filament

Picture 66. To be cooled

VIII, Paper

(Ⅰ) Tools and materials

Brown brush, gluten wheat starch (paste), thin pure mulberry paper, paste pots,

wooden feet, water jug, paste brush, water, tweezers, 274 tissue paper, etc.

(Ⅱ) the restoration process:

1 prepare hand-made paste the day before restoration

2. Prepare pad, 274 tissue, spray the paper, and brush

3. Put the front of work down, spray to the paper, brush.

4. Hongxing Xuan paper, brush the paste, and brush the back of paint.

5. Use Xuan paper and thin pure mulberry parchment to repair the holes and torn

edge.

6. Dry the paper by suspending, spray the paper and, put the painting on the board.

Picture 67. Spray and wet the pad paper

Picture 68. Brush small Tu Chu parchment by Sticky brush

Picture 69. Brushing raw paper

Picture 70. Holding the cover

Picture 71. Overlay

Picture 72. Brushing

IX Mounting

(Ⅰ) tools and materials

Brown brush, no gluten wheat starch (paste), 3 × 6 feet Red Star single paper + Chupi

Paper, paste basin, wooden feet, water jug, paste brush, water, cutting knife, cutting

board, plastic partitions, paper town, Ling cloth, bamboo Kai child, awl.

(Ⅱ) Mounting process

Steps:

1. Remove the paper form the board after it dried completely

2. Measure, and cut square works.

3. Matching works insert.

4. Dig and stick the insert wait to be dry.

5. Prepare pad and 274 tissue, spray paper, then brush

6. Put the front of work down, spray paper, then brush

7. Red Star Xuan paper, brush paste, and the back of paint

8. Cover paper - three layers of raw paper, a layer of Chupi paper in total

9. To be dry, take off the board, wax, calendered, square cut, paste neutral board,

acrylic and screen separated, fitted manual box.

Picture 73. Bamboo after drying the lower board side cut works

Picture 74. Square cut cloth

Picture 75. Square cut heart of drawing

Picture 76. Works with a cone punching mark

Picture 77. Brush paste

Picture 78. Stick Agama

Picture 79. Aya digging

Picture 80. Inset and stick

Picture 81. Inset and stick

Picture 82. Brush paste on the back of paper

Picture 83. Finish brushing

Picture 84. Release paper

Picture 85. Dry the upper layer

Picture 86. Hand-dried Chinese bamboo frame

Picture 87. Chinese hand-inserted bamboo frame

Picture 88. Cutting neutral plate

Picture 89. Rub Sichuan wax on the back of board

Picture 90. Press

Picture 91. Back of frame

Picture 92. Front side

Picture 93. Separate acrylic and screen

X, Comparison of works before and after restoration

Picture 94. Before restoration Picture 95. After restoration

Picture 96. Moisture Condition of Backboard Picture 97. Modifying to Neutral

board



Part Four Storage and DisplayⅠ Preservation Method

Paper fabric of painting and calligraphy lens are fragile, since they are folded,

opened, exhibited, read many times. They should support by flat storage cabinet or

neutral round paper columnar, or held by polyester film roll columnar. Improving

small shaft diameter of the lens paper axial, and the shaft diameter of acid-free

polyester film curl cylindrical should be increased to about 7 to 10 cm, adding

acid-free chemical fiber cotton, increase the sense of solid, and solid cabinet space are

needed to store these painting and calligraphy.

Picture 132. Vertical axis and neatly stacked lens 11

Picture 133. Vertical axis and neatly stacked lens 12

Picture 134. Collection of lens volume 13

Picture 135. Collection of lens volume 14

Picture 136. Small Shaft Diameter of Large Lens on the Wall15

Picture 137. Placement Method of Small Shaft Diameter of Large Lens 16

Picture 138. Placing the Lens Bracket of Medium Shaft Diameter 17

Picture 139. Placing the Sponge Bracket

_________________________

11 Sources of Pictures:

Http://www.ccaha.org/uploads/media_items/housing-recommendations-for-architectur

al-records-the-sacred-and-the-profane.original.pdf

12 Ibid Note 11

13 Ibid Note 11

14 Ibid Note 11

15Sources of Pictures

http://www.rackline.com/product/individual-rolled-material-storage/

16 Ibid Note 11

Picture 140. Protect the flat larger surface with a cloth covered 19

Picture 141. Protect the flat plot without acid 20

Picture 142. Protect Lens fixed by rolling 21

_________________

17 Ibid Note 15

18 Ibid Note 15

19 Pictures Source:

https://bruynzeel-storage.com/wp-content/uploads/TheKeep_05.jpg 2016/09/05

20 Pictures Source:

Http://www.placer.ca.gov/~/media/fac/fac%20%20%20museums%20division/images/

collections_textiles.jpg?h=533&la=en&mh=533&mw=800&w=800&hash=0AB4AB

E74F41C82FCEB05716551597C0044E6B84 2016/09 / 05

Picture 143. Small Wood Frame Shelf 22

Picture 144. Large wood frame storage frame with acid-free cotton cord fixed 23

Picture 145. Large wooden frame storage drawing rack 24

______________________________

21 Ibid Note 11

22 Ibid Note 11

23 Ibid Note 11

24 Ibid Note 11

Ⅱ, Display environment

1. Painting is displayed by suspension after mounting, and it will experience daily

temperature and humidity changes in the natural environment. Painting and

calligraphy paper, silk, paste will be relaxed after being damped and concentrated

after dried. The expansion rate of paper, Ling, silk and paste are not exactly the

same in these processes. Common results of repeated stretching of paper fibers

lead to gradual irregularity of the original vertical axis painting and calligraphy

with the passing of time.

2. Showing space should be away from windows to avoid rain, slight water damage

such as rising moisture and dew in buildings, water leakage and even flooding,

since the water disaster often accompanies the occurrence of mold.

3. Environmental temperature and humidity. The standard of paper archives

collection in Taiwan is RH 45 ± 5%, Temp 21 ± 1 ℃, and it is very easy for the

occurrence of mold when the relative humidity is more than 65%. In addition,

change of temperature will also cause changes in relative humidity. The

temperature of the organic material caused by the expansion of the size, making

the composite material shrinkage due to different expansion. Moreover, the high

temperature is also easy to breed worms. It is necessary to maintain a stable

temperature and humidity for protecting painting and calligraphy.

4. Display illumination should below 50LUX, and adopt anti-UV lighting.

Temperature also effects on the material, according to Arrhenius theory: the

temperature increased by 10 ℃, the chemical reaction rate doubled. Light is an

electromagnetic wave with a variety of electromagnetic waves of different

wavelengths, and ultraviolet is the visible light. Because of its radiation energy

could promote photochemical effect and thermal effect for organic materials,

organic material will decrease its strength, change its color. As shown in Table 2

Table 2 Effect of shelter on UV

Light Source ShelterIllumination value of

visible light (Lux)Intensity value of UV

Natural Light

None 100 475

Glass (1.9 mm) 90 458

PMMA(1.85 mm) 95 260

UV Polyester Film

(0.06mm)90 1

Fluorescent Lamp

None 100 188

Glass (1.9 mm) 93 180

PMMA (1.85 mm) 97 105

UV Tube Set

(1.0mm)97 0

UV Polyester Film, 2mil and UV Tube Set are import from the US

5 Being away from pollution, e.g. air pollution types includes solid, liquid, gaseous

pollutions.

(1) Solid pollutants are dust in the air, the particle sizes are different, and their

composition varies by region. Dust particles react chemical effects with materials of

painting and calligraphy, and even become nutrients for the microorganism in the air.

(2) Liquid pollutants are from wooden cabinets and boxes of collections, due to

released essential oils and pollution material from the uncompleted process.

(3) Gaseous pollutants include nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ozone and

formaldehyde from the three-layer plywood. These gases are easy to have chemical

effect with materials of painting and calligraphy and lead to discoloration.

6. Keep away from pests, including rats, insects, mold and so on. Pests eat the organic

material of the painting and calligraphy as food, so that paintings suffer brokerage,

pollution, decaying, mold and so on.

7. Paintings and calligraphy should be stored in acid-free protection box or acid-free

cabinet when they are on the show. It should be carefully considered to choose cabinet,

acid-free isolation paper, film and use of protection box, since controlling the

micro-environment can also effect the preservation in some aspect. As shown in Table

3.

8. Vertical shaft hanging should pay attention to lace elastic, with or without breakage

and loosening, both sides of the shaft stick bracket, to reduce the weight of the frame.

_____________________________________

25 Recognizing Books Paper and Paper Heritage Preservation Professor Emeritus,

National Chung Hsing University Zhang Fengji

Http://www.ntl.edu.tw/public/Attachment/43101412097.pdf2016/09/08

9. Collections in the museum are usually rotated between showrooms and storage

rooms. It should be noted that the heat transfer from the outside wall and switching

light could change the surface temperature of the collections, evaporate water and

damage the structure of collection even if collections are in a temperature and

humidity controlled environment. Moreover, when the collection moves from the

lower temperature storage room to the higher temperature display room, surface

temperature of the work will gradually increase, then the internal humidity will

gradually float and condense water on the surface, and result in moisture transfer

phenomenon. This phenomenon will accelerate the aging of collection.

Table 3 Suggestions for Choosing Paper 26

TypeApplicable

archive typeAdvantages Disadvantages Note

Alkalinedocumentbox forverticalstorage

Permanent

Archives

1. Shelter light,

temperature and

humidity outside

2. Archives are fixed,

which avoid

damage

3. Protect by hard box,

avoid squeeze

1.expensive and

time-consuming

2. Heavy

3.cannot read

directly

4.Tags should be

put on the box

Alkalineprint boxfor flatstorage

Permanent

Archives

1. Shelter light,

temperature and

humidity

outside

2. Archives are

fixed, which

avoid damage

3. Protect by hard box,

avoid squeeze

1.expensive and

time-consuming

2. Heavy

3.cannot read

directly

4.Tags should be

put on the box

Polyesterfilm

pockets

1. Archives

made of

non-carbo

n power

1. High

transparency

2. Avoid

contacting

1. Bad

Permeability,

it is not

applicable to

Absorbent

paper could

be used to

test

2. Archives

protected

periodical

ly

archives directly

3. Easy to take

acid materials,

for it may

accelerate the

acidity in the

archives

2. Easy to

produce

electrostatic,

and lead to

falling off of

power

archives. If

the archives

shows the

black stain,

it is not

applicable

to be

preserved in

Polyester

film

pockets

Polyesterfilm Lweld

1.Archives

made of

non-carbon

power

2.Archives

protected

periodically

1.High transparency

2.Avoid contacting

archives directly

3.Easy to take

1. Bad

Permeabili

ty, it is not

applicable

to acid

materials,

for it may

accelerate

the acidity

in the

archives

2. Easy to produce

electrostatic, and

lead to falling off

of power

Absorbent

paper could

be used to

test

archives. If

the archives

shows the

black stain,

it is not

applicable

to be

preserved in

Polyester

film L weld

Acid-freefolder) Any types of

Archives

1.simple structure

2.convient to take

1. Files are not

fixed, so it is easy

to be scattered

Acid-freePaper) Any types of

Archives

1. Light

3.simple structure

2.convient to take

1. Files are not

fixed, so it is easy

to be scattered

Ⅴ Conclusion

We have the obligation to preserve and pass the integrity and essence of painting

and calligraphy to the next generation, since painting and calligraphy are historical

and artistic culture relics with scientific value left by the human social activities.

For understanding the problems faced by preservation of painting and calligraphy,

Stefan Michalski, from Canadian Conservation Institute, proposed the five measures

for culture relics preservation, namely:

1. Avoid the occurrence of deterioration (Avoid)

2. Block the impact of deterioration. (Block)

3. Detect the deterioration phenomena. (Detect)

4. Respond mode of deterioration reaction (Respond)

5. Recover the damaged environment and Treat the cultural relics (Recover / Treat),

such as stabilizing the status of cultural relics or restoring it. 27

The Restorer is required to deal with painting and calligraphy by professional

process: Usually, collecting the basic data of painting and calligraphy before

restoration is the first step, and then, viewing the status of painting and calligraphy,

then taking photos of and making a restoration plan, and then communicating

restoration concept with the collector before carrying out restoration process, then

taking photos after finishing restoration and writing a restoration report. Therefore,

the modern restorer of painting and calligraphy have to study relevant physical,

chemical, biological courses in school, in order to have a comprehensive

understanding of the characteristics, function and principle of every materials and

technology used during restoration. The cross-boundary study is for the understanding

scientific principles of materials and technology used, but note just for promoting the

advancement of science. If using the traditional materials with expected

characteristics or functions, and preserving environment, it can still be selected to use

the object, or careful manual processing of more expensive modern technology, the

effect of the machine is good, is still feasible. 28

Restorer should strictly adhere to the basic principles of restoration (to maintain

the original object, the minimum intervention, reversibility and the principle of

similarity); use the proper materials and methods with the spirit and methods of

science. Thus, restoration work on painting and calligraphy can be perfect "To

maximize the life of painting and calligraphy." Only to understand its feasibility, you

can understand the infeasible restoration time and occasions. Painting and calligraphy

can be used as the important evidence for historical research, repair works, and

planning and design of reuse, as well as be a wider range of applications in the world.

Restoration and preventive protection calligraphy are complementary; because

painting and calligraphy will still be destroyed by the poor environment or improper

storage, if they are without proper follow-up protection work after restoration, and

restoration work of painting and calligraphy will be meaningless.

_____________________

26Management Guidebook of National Archives, p10-3, July,27 By Stefan Michalski The Ideal Climate, Risk Management, the ASHRAE Chapter,Proofed Fluctuations,and Toward a Full Risk Analysis Modelhttp://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/climate/paper_michalski.pdf2016/11/1828 Yan Sufen, The boundary and cross-boundary of Relics Preservation. Museum and

Culture (3), p 65-84, 2012.6

References

1. Zhang Lin, Discussion on the Trend of Conservation of Temperature and

Humidity for Cultural Relics, Museology, 26(4):183-196, National Museum of

Natural Science 2012.10

2. Cai Yulin & Zhang Shanrong & Luo Hongwen, Discussion on Emergency

Treatment and Drying Operation of Flooded Books, Journal of Cultural Asset

Preservation, 2012(20), p103-106

3. Peng Yuanxing & Xu Jianguo, Decorative painting and calligraphy materials and

color matching, Taiwan Musuem Journal 68(1):1-18, 2015

DOI:10.6532/JNTM.2015.68(1).01

4. Peng Yuanxing & Xu Jianguo, Observation and judgment of Paper Fiber, Taiwan

Musuem Journal 67(1):1-12, 2014

5. Wu Zherui, Discussion on Acidification of Paper Archives, 98.09.27

6. Xu Jianguo, Common preservation and treatment of painting and calligraphy, Art

of Painting and Calligraphy (15)

7. Qian Jingxing, Discussing on wrinkling of paper, Taiwan Forestry, 1998.12

8. Archives Administration of the State Development Commission, Management

Guidebook of National Archives

9. Chapter one, Introduction to Air Conditioning Humidification Technology,

http://www.bestav.com.tw/www/ele-00.pdf

10. Yan Sufen, The boundary and cross-boundary of Relics Preservation. Museum and

Culture (3), p 65-84, 2012.6

11. Lai Wenxin, A Collection of Cultural Relics – Taking Museum of Fu Jen Catholic

University as an Example, 2008.10.25

12. Crystal maitland, Microscopy for Paper Conservation: Comparing Various

Adhesives and Examining Wheat Starch Paste Preparation Methods

13. Li Pengzhi, pharmacy by Lyophilization and application of biography technology

and science. http://www.ceci.org.tw/book/56/ch56_6.htm

http://www.bestav.com.tw/www/ele-00.pdf

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