Art - Cost of paper foxing removal/conservation?

Probably should have put this in art but it is paper.

I just picked up a print that has some yellowing and foxing. In good condition it's probably worth a few hundred the best I can estimate. With foxing and yellowing....no idea. So what I'm wondering is what it actually costs to have paper conserved. I'm sure it varies based on the problem and the actual conservator but I've never looked into it before. Any idea? I'll probably keep it awhile but ultimately sell if I can.

Looking online (probably dangerous) I believe it's probably a woodblock print and by Chiura Obata, about 16" X 20" in what looks like a vintage mat and frame.

 

I'm curious about the cost, too.

Do you have any idea about the age of the piece?

 

Not really and I've only done a little searching but 1950's is mentioned a few places and that would not surprise me based on the overall look. I believe he died in 1975 and I was guessing guess 50's-60's when I picked it up.

 

Hi,
I had a 12X15 inch print from 1807. It was yellowed on the edges and brown foxed all over. This was in 2010. It cost me 60 bucks. I was very happy with the results but was told that it should have been 30-40 dollars. I have done several myself since they were not really valuable. I used strong peroxide from a beauty supply house. My first attempt I rubbed very carefully and ruined the paper. The second attempt I let the peroxide do the work and rinsed very carefully with distilled water. It came out fine as well as the the four others that I attempted.
greg

 

I don't remember seeing that much foxing on prints made on rice paper, so I'm wondering if the paper has another composition? Or the prints are backed with a highly acid paper? My experience with Asian prints is limited, though, so I'm not sure.

 

He was a Japanese American working in Berkeley California at the time of this I think and I don't know exactly what the paper is.

Interesting bio, from Japan he came to the US as a teen, spent time in an internment camp during the war and was a faculty member at the Univ of Calif.

I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to experimenting with this. I currently have a ceramic object soaking in peroxide but I've done that plenty of times and know what to expect. If conservation is under $100 I'd still come out well with this I think (again just guessing based on very little actual knowledge.)

 

Ah, this much foxing does seem more typical of Western prints. What a crummy situation to migrate to another country and then be interned!

 

No kidding! But to then stay and prosper...triumph of the spirit I'd say.

 

This is true!

 

Beats staying, getting conscripted, and dying out on some uninhabited atoll in the Pacific.

 

That is true, too!

 

SIS - It doesn't look totally like a woodblock print to me. If it is a print at all, it appears to have some ink flourishes, they look painted with a brush (such as the mane, the tail, the grays). Don't be too quick to soak this print in a liquid.

You can carefully check by dampening a q-tip with water and lightly touching less noticeable areas. If ink comes up on the end of the q-tip, you'll know it's water soluble.

Best of luck with this, it's very pretty. *hearts*

 

I was thinking the same thing, that it looks like paint or ink applied with a brush.

 

I don't think it looks like a woodblock either but it has been described that way least a place or two of course there are places calling it a watercolor or ink wash too. I'm just going with print for now until I do some research.

I don't think I'll attempt anything myself at least not anytime soon. bawk bawk

http://www.jaodb.com/db/ItemDetail.asp?item=43940

 

SIS, looking at the other copy, at first I thought it must be a print since they looked the same. But looking more closely, there are some differences that I don't think you'd see in two copies of the same print. The end of the tail, in particular, is different, and I saw some other small variations as well.

 

There seem to be quite alot of this horse around so it must be a print of some sort. I'll have to see if I can find out more about it but whatever it is I'm not going to fiddle with it myself. It sure would look better without the spots

 

I doubt I'd try to get rid of the foxing myself, either.

If all the copies you see have slight variations, it could well be that the theme was popular and he was so skilled with a brush that he produced many originals that looked similar.

 

White bread is a good foxing removal tool.

 

Hmm, I'll have to try that. Thanks.

 

Hi,
I use the bread cleaning a lot but never tried on foxing. Looking for something to clean today, like I need to clean the house but it can wait.
greg