Delicate ink drawing on tissue tracing paper

Shes lovely ! Pity about the mold,be careful . Id guess shes 1780s-1800 .

 

Thanks luckily there’s nothing on the tissue itself it’s just on the outside blue part

 

And my framer believe that’s the original framing

 

Is there a safe way to remove the mold without damaging the drawing ?

 

The foxing? Probably, but I don't know it.

 

Letting the mat sit in the sun for a few days will kill the mold and may slightly fade the spots. It won't work right now if you are in a colder part of the country. You'll need to wait until the warmer weather when the sun is stronger. Take it out of the frame. If you can't remove the drawing from the mat, cover the drawing to protect it from the UV rays.

I've experimented with old torn prints using some chemicals, however, I didn't have great success. There may be new products that I'm not aware of. You might try contacting a place like Talas and ask if they have anything that removes foxing. If they do, find something else to try it on first.

https://www.talasonline.com/?gclid=...N4fp7zxPoWoiZik6b-7aIieP3z_VYWnYaAkC5EALw_wcB

 

I live in Florida so I can just cover the ink part so the sun only hits.the blue Would it be OK to leave it in the frame let the sun shine through the glass

 

Is this a small drawing? How big is it?
Looks like someone inked the vellum tissue paper over an etching in a book.

Of course it would be ok to sunshine the edges!

 

I would not leave it under the glass.

 

Let it be

 

Good one!

 

In all seriousness, I would leave as is, you don't know what damage you could do by opening.

 

Bit mold here, mold there, so what, shows age

Better than openening up with the chance of ruining it

 

Pretty cool actually

 

Don't leave it alone if you want it to survive. Foxing is a combination of mold and acid damage. Mold and acid will continue to eat away at it. Eventually it will destroy the drawing too. At the very least, you need to put acid free paper between the mat and the drawing and the backing. Search YouTube for "Basic conservation of prints" and watch a few videos. If you aren't comfortable doing it yourself, contact a firm that does paper conservation and ask them how much they would charge to do it for you.

 

When I found it I took it straight to the framer and she’s already put acid free paper and all that behind it

 

I believe it’s a freehand drawing not a tracing

 

In my experience I would definitely replace the matting with acid free material. Trying to kill the mold is time consuming, and lots of time the results are not very good especially if you are doing it yourself. That being said a professional paper conservator can perform wonderous results. However that matting is not acid free. It should be replaced, and museum glass should be used. Very nice piece.

 

I think you want to take it out of the frame. The glass will need to be cleaned (and that might make a big difference in itself) and, at the least, the mat should be dusted (brush lightly outward, away from the image).

Here are some thoughts on surface cleaning (maybe good for a mat).


I wouldn't use a damp anything.