Conservation of the Museum's Basket Collection
From the complete report provided by Fraser Spafford Ricci Art and Archival Conservation
After an initial conservation assessment in the fall of 2004, conservators at Fraser Spafford Ricci Art and Archival Conservation, Inc., (FSR) prepared a proposal for the conservation and stabilization of the baskets in the Pearson Collection. When a grant from the Museum Assistance Program was confirmed in 2005 to research the collection and support the conservation costs of the work, the baskets were picked up by FSR in the fall of 2005 and brought to their conservation lab. As work progressed, the baskets were returned in three different groups, the last one returned in late March 2006.
At the FSR lab, the baskets were examined prior to conservation to ensure that proposed treatment was suitable. The baskets were photographed before and after conservation. A post-conservation condition report was completed as well as a conservation report for the Museum's records.
Conservation treatment began with dry-surface cleaning as most baskets were covered with a layer of loose dust or dirt. This surface cleaning is done with hog-hair brushes and vacuum suction to remove the particulate matter. Other baskets required the removal of grime and accretions with approved conservation methods, and at times with water on swabs. For those baskets with fragile imbrication, the material was strengthened by consolidation with specific resins. Some baskets required adhesion of loose coils or elements. In one case, the torn hide handle was secured to the basket with a thread.
All baskets were placed into storage mounts within custom-made trays or boxes. To easily identify the artefacts in storage, these mounts were provided with a label containing an image of the basket and its accession number. Trays were custom-made with Coroplast with corners held with plastic rivets. Polyethylene foam pads were carved into the appropriate shape to support the baskets. Where this was close to delicate imbrication, the pads were covered with Tyvek against the basket side to provide a smooth surface. Each basket in a tray was further laid onto a thin layer of microfoam padding. Trays were covered with .05 Mylar Type S secured with cotton twill tape. Small baskets were grouped in Coroplast boxes to improve storage efficiency, allowing for stacking in storage. If needed for long-term internal support, soft baskets or deformed baskets were provided with interior pads or supports of carved ethafoam covered with cotton double-knit fabric.
Some examples of treatment
There were 32 baskets that received conservation treatment in this project. For most of them, treatment consisted of surface cleaning, and the removal of accretions, as described above. Two examples are provided here to indicate the scope of the conservator's work.
The first example is 993.21.24 (inv. 04333), an open-weave bowl basket with a small "star" decoration.
| Conservation Treatment for 993.21.24 |
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(from Documentation provided by Fraser-Spafford Ricci, Art & Archival Conservation, Inc.) Condition Report before Treatment
Conservation TreatmentDry surface cleaned with brush/suction to remove loose dust and dirt; Chemsponge used to reduce grime in areas without imbrication; Mars Staedtler eraser used on all dye/ink stained areas; white accretions were reduced with scalpel; dye accretions reduced using 2% Orvus neutral detergent in water on swabs, rinsed with purified water on swabs; consolidation of imbrication at fragile edges treating between 10 and 20 areas with 7% Acryloid B72 in xylene/Acrysol PM applied by brush and excess removed using same solvent; areas surrounding ink stains were re-toned using watercolour pencils in water with gum arabic binder; storage mount prepared - basket is supported with ethafoam pads in a covered tray. Post-Treatment ConditionGenerally in fair condition; grime - moderate to severe; wear -moderate; losses imbrication - moderate; losses basketry - moderate, losses of coil stitches at rim in 9 areas and 5 cm length along open area near top; stains - a few ink or blue stains, reduced in conservation but remain partially visible. |
Fair condition; heavy dust and moderate dirt layer, a few areas of broken loose coils at rim.The second example is 993.21.27 (inv. 04336), a small basket with a lid.
| Conservation Treatment for 993.21.27 |
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(from Documentation provided by Fraser-Spafford Ricci, Art & Archival Conservation, Inc.) Condition report before conservation
Photo Gallery: Conservation Treatment for 993_21_27 will appear here on the public site.
Conservation Treatment
Post-Treatment ConditionFading - moderate, in imbrication; deformations - slight, at imbrication on one side, may be inherent; losses basketry, moderate, many of the worn splits at rim are missing and one small area at the edge of the lid is missing (approximately 5 coils) but this is stable; other - basket is conserved so part of rim is a reconstruction and two tear repairs are visible as cracks in basketry near rim. |
Very poor condition. Basket has flanged recessed from edge that holds lid in place. Basket: dust and dirt; tears / breaks in recessed flange with losses of cedar bark along 2/3 of circumference, flange hangs loose, moderate deformation and sagging of basket. Lid: heavy dirt on lid, tear in edge of lid; lid does not sit safely on basket due to structural damage on basket rim; slight deformation.