A revealing conservation project

Fixing the Frederick Elliott watercolours

Each year the museum sends items from the National Maritime Collection to other institutions. Before each item leaves the museum, it is prepared by our Conservation Department to make sure it is safe for travel and display. This can take anything from a few hours to hundreds of hours. Conservator Lucilla Ronai details what was involved in preparing one object for loan.

Conservator Lucilla Ronai uses a hand-held microscope with an LED light to closely examine the watercolours. Image Kate Pentecost/ANMM

Our motto is ‘less is more’, so it is rare that we do a major treatment in preparation for a loan

Removing the 27 backings revealed interesting things on the reverse of the watercolours – ink and pencil drawings, inscriptions and more watercolours

01 Examination with transmitted light revealed watermarks.

02 Artworks and inscriptions on the backs of the watercolours. 03 Frederick James Elliott (1864–1949) was born in 1864 in Devon, UK, and migrated to Australia in 1876 with his father. Elliott worked as a lithographic artist for the Queensland Government Printing Office between 1896 and about 1903 and it is likely that this work was done during this period. He specialised in marine watercolour studies, travelling up and down the coast by ship and sketching scenes that he later turned into paintings. Images Lucilla Ronai/ANMM

IN 2019, THE MUSEUM SENT 54 ITEMS for loan to regional galleries and international museums. Among these, eight paper items were sent to the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery for display in its exhibition Sublime Sea: Rapture and Reality.

Analysis When an item comes to the Conservation Laboratory, we assess its condition and ask various questions to determine whether it is safe to go on loan. Is the object physically damaged, unstable or fragile? What materials is it made of? If it’s paper, are there tears, stains or folds? Is it changing on a chemical level?

To find the answers we use magnification, photography and different light sources to look closely at the item. We capture this information and document the item’s current condition.

We determine if we could improve the condition of the object through treatment, then consider packing requirements and display supports. Often we only approve for loan items that are largely stable so that they do not need treatment. We aim to prevent damage rather than rectify it. Our motto is ‘less is more’, so it is rare that we do a major treatment in preparation for a loan.

Some very beautiful works were included in the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery loan. All eight required photography and documentation, but most needed little or no treatment. One, however – a series of watercolours by Frederick Elliott – required major conservation treatment.

Treatment

While Snapshots on the Coast of Queensland (‘Snapshots’) is technically one object, it comprises 27 individual watercolours mounted together in one window mount (little windows cut out of a board to reveal the images beneath). The work was showing every one of its 100 years of life. There was severe discolouration from the materials themselves and from contact with wood (you could see wood knots and grain). This wood could have been part of a previous frame which has since been lost. Additionally, there was surface dirt and fading of the watercolour media, the watercolour images were falling off their window mounts, and a look at the back revealed large amounts of tape. There was no way that ‘Snapshots’ could travel or be displayed safely in its current condition, so the aim of the treatment was to:

• remove all tape and adhesive • clean off the dirt

• remove acidic and non-original components • reattach the watercolours to the window mount safely • frame the whole work for safe display.

Step 1 – separating the watercolours The watercolours were carefully separated from the window mount. This revealed more of the watercolours, inscriptions and extensive adhesive. It seems that whoever assembled all the watercolours with the mount in the past used liberal amounts of animal glue, which had yellowed and become brittle over the past 100 years. The backing boards were found to be slightly larger than the watercolours they were attached to. We inferred that this was probably not done by the artist. This was particularly apparent on the large circular central watercolour, where much more of the artwork was revealed.

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01 The large, central circular watercolour ‘Off Cape Moreton’ before separation from the mount. 02 During treatment: separation from the mount revealed a huge backing board, more of the watercolour and much yellowed animal glue. 03 After removal of the adhesive and backing. Images Lucilla Ronai/ANMM

The conservation treatment occurred gradually over several months and took more than 100 hours

Step 2 – testing We tested all the watercolour media, inks and graphite for solubility to see if they would change or be damaged if we introduced moisture during the treatment. We found the blue watercolour paints – which were on every artwork – were water soluble. Therefore, any treatment using moisture had to be very controlled.

Step 3 – dry cleaning Any loose dirt was carefully brushed away with a soft brush. We then attempted to remove the ingrained dirt with a special conservation sponge. Some of it did not budge, and this is now forever part of the object’s history.

Step 4 – removing adhesive The discoloured animal glue was brittle and starting to crack, disfiguring the watercolour paints and damaging the paper underneath. It was important to remove this to prevent further deterioration and make it easier to reassemble the work. With slow, gentle humidification, moisture was gradually introduced. The adhesive was then scraped off with cotton swabs and a metal spatula.

Step 5 – removing backings In consultation with the curatorial team, we decided to remove each of the highly acidic backing boards. These were unlikely to have been applied by the artist and showed extensive damage. Each watercolour was slowly humidified using a Gore-Tex sandwich over a few hours. (Gore-TexTM was originally created as a raincoat material by DuPont, but we use it for conservation. We borrow a lot of materials, tools and technology from other industries.) The backings were gradually thinned with scalpels and spatulas. The final layer was humidified with a thick jelly-like substance called methylcellulose, which holds moisture to the back surface so as not to affect the watercolour paints. Removing the 27 backings revealed interesting things on the reverse of the watercolours – ink and pencil drawings, inscriptions and more watercolours. I might have been the first person in 100 years to see them. Whether these were practice sketches done by the artist, or early artworks that he started then discarded, it was a wonderful and surprising insight into the artist’s process. After treatment, we re-examined the works to see what else we could discover. We shone light through the paper from below (known as transmitted light) and discovered parts of watermarks. When all put together, ‘J WHATMAN 1886’ was revealed. The watercolour paper had been made by this UKbased paper mill in 1886, then found its way to Australia to be painted by the Australian artist Frederick Elliott in about 1900.

Step 6 – snapping ‘Snapshots’ Before ‘Snapshots’ was reassembled, we had a great opportunity for the entire work to be digitised – including the previously hidden watercolours and drawings on the back as well as the front watercolour image. Each of the watercolours was scanned at extremely high resolution and can now be viewed on the museum’s collection website (see link at end of article).

Step 7 – reassembling and mounting Once they were digitised, it was time to reunite the 27 watercolours with their window mount and attach them to a new conservation-grade backing board. They were secured using reversible Japanese tissue paper hinges and wheat starch paste – the basic materials of the paper conservator. Both are sympathetic materials that are removable should future treatments be needed, and which will not change over time or negatively affect the original artwork.

Step 8 – final framing In consultation with Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, we decided that ‘Snapshots’ would be displayed in a frame on the wall. Frames made from conservation-grade materials are very effective in protecting paper items from dust, insects and changes in temperature and relative humidity. They also prevent direct handling and provide another layer of protection against light damage, especially as the acrylic we used to glaze the work incorporates ultraviolet filters. ‘Snapshots’ was now ready to go.

‘Snapshots’ safe and sound The conservation treatment occurred gradually over several months and took more than 100 hours. It was a complex and challenging process, which only made the final result more satisfying. Preparing ‘Snapshots’ for loan was a wonderful opportunity to find out more about this charming and unique work. It revealed new information and improved the item’s condition so that the watercolours will last for many years to come. We will continue our research into this wonderful collection item.

Link to scans of the watercolours: bit.ly/collectionssnapshots Link to Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Exhibition: mprg.mornpen.vic. gov.au/Exhibitions/Past-exhibitions/Sublime-Sea-Rapture-and-Reality