As part of my continuing professional development with the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Library Project, I have been able to undertake a two week work placement in the conservation department at the Chester Beatty Library, in January 2012. I was given a range of items from the Islamic collection to choose from and decided to work on the loose folios of the Panj Ganj of Jami, from the Mughal-era Indian collection (CBL In 20).
CBL In 20 Manuscript open at folios 1b-4a (folios 2-3 were previously removed from manuscript)
Twenty-one double-sided folios had been detached from the original manuscript during the lifetime of Alfred Chester Beatty and were mounted between glass and displayed individually.
History of the manuscript and single folios
The Panj Ganj (five treasures) of Jami is a compilation of five poems from the Iranian poet Abd al-Rahman Jami (1414-1492). The text in this copy has been signed and dated by the Iranian calligrapher Sultan-Ali Mashhadi (26 November 1520). The text is organised so that two poems are laid out in each folio, one horizontally in the central columns and the other, at an angle on the margins. This results in the creation of three triangular spaces, usually filled by the illustrators. In this case, the triangles were left blank until the manuscript came into Abd al-Rahim’s possession sometime before 1603. He served the Mughal Emperors Akbar and Jahangir as Khankhanan (Commander in Chief of the Mughal army) and was a very literate man who kept an artist’s workshop and a library open to the public. As a sign of regard for the poet and calligrapher, he ordered the artist Mushfiq to embellish the manuscript. The Indian paintings in this manuscript (c. 1603) are generally a wide variety of birds and animals set on coloured backgrounds with the addition of flora and landscape on some of the paintings. Human figures have also been inserted throughout the manuscript, indeed it has been suggested that the illustration of the poet on the first folio could be Jami himself.
At a similar time, the stencilled margins were added to the manuscript. There is no evidence of the illustrator’s identity. The marginal decorations may appear bold and rather different from the delicate illustrations of birds and animals throughout the text but both represent typical aspect of the Mughal artistic taste, such as opulence. Each stencilled margin is composed of highly sized and burnished paper. Brush strokes are visible in the dark cream and rusty coloured margins and the outline of the floral design is over-painted in darker colours (sometimes as many as three) and refined gold illustrations to highlight the overall design.
CBL In 20 f.74b Heavy brush strokes on margin paper
The manuscript was given to Shah Jahangir in 1624 by Abd Ali-Rahim, hoping to win the emperor’s favour. It remained in the Imperial Mughal Library for over a century, when in 1739 Nadir Shah devastated Delhi and the Imperial Library and brought the manuscript back to Persia. The typical Persian eighteenth century lacquered binding was re-backed with red leather possibly when the book was purchased by Chester Beatty. The Seals and many inscriptions on the first folio help trace the history of the manuscript. A beautifully decorated medallion around Shah Jahan’s seal, emperor of the Mughal dynasty from 1628 to 1658, can be seen on the first folio.
CBL In 20 f. 1a Shah Jahan’s seal
Structure and condition
In total, fourteen double-sided folios have been examined (the remaining having been conserved previously by the Conservation Department). They were mounted between glass and protective paper margins, and were removed from their mounts in 2011.
Each folio consists of three different types of paper paste together to form a single leaf. The calligraphy panel forms the centre of the folio, around which are borders of seventeenth century Indian paper which are edged with four narrow strips of cream plain paper, added at a later date. The calligraphy panels and outer margins are decorated with painted lines in a variety of colours.
After careful examination of each paper under magnification and on a light box, it appeared they all have the characteristics of Islamic paper of that period and region (surface sized with starch and highly burnished to create a non-absorbent surface suitable for calligraphy and painting, as well as clear distinction of the laid lines but no visible chain lines).
Over time and handling, the joints between calligraphy panel and the outer margin are not flexing and are breaking the paper and paint layer in some areas. This mechanical damage to most of the folios has led to pigment loss, flaking and paper tears.
Detail of mechanical damage to paper and pigment layers caused by the re-margining.
Some of the tears had previously been repaired with white tissue and had been in-painted. Slight yellowing of the adhesive was visible but it was decided not to remove them as they held well and their function as repairs was preserved. The red decorative line around the calligraphy panel is likely a red lake pigment, painted over silver pigment. Slight tarnishing of the silver is visible in places and has darkened the red layer.
The illustrations were painted in opaque pigments and were most likely bound with a gum arabic binder. The illustrations were then burnished after execution. Some of the paintings in the triangles had been damaged where the paint layer had cracked, leading to pigment flaking, lifting and loss, typical of burnished paintings.
Detail of a cracking paint layer
The green and white pigments were the worst affected pigments but areas of pink, purple and yellow pigments also showed signs of damage. In areas of loss, traces of the artist’s underdrawing are visible. Yellow pigment, possibly orpiment (As2S3 contains arsenic) has reacted with the metallic pigment applied over it and has tarnished the yellow pigment to grey/black.
CBL In 20 f. 61a Tarnishing of metallic pigment caused by reaction with suspected yellow orpiment pigment
The stencilled margins had suffered from insects damages on all folios, some which had been infilled and retouched in the past. Large patches of infilling and retouching were crudely applied on most folios. It is uncertain when those repairs were carried out.
Conservation treatment
The condition of all pigments was checked under magnification and careful recording was carried out. The aim of consolidation of the flaking pigments is to prevent or minimise further detachment of the paint layer from the substrate. After aqueous sensitivity of the paint was tested, Bermocoll E230 FQ, a water-miscible ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (EHEC) was chosen as the consolidant as the refractive index of the paint surface would not be affected by it and minimal surface gloss would be caused on application. Brush application under magnification using a 2% concentration in water was appropriate to consolidate the pigments. Two to three applications were required in places to secure the flaking and moving pigments. When flakes were lifting, a small piece of Bondina® was placed on top and light pressure was applied to create contact with the paper surface.
Brush application of 2% Bermocoll consolidant under magnification
Tears to the painted borders were repaired using a thin re-moistenable roll-Kozo tissue prepared with wheat starch paste and methyl cellulose. Because highly sized papers can distort when in contact with excess moisture, this method was chosen to repair Islamic papers for its control of moisture application on the tissue.
The repair paper was cut into narrow strips (1-2mm) and used to repair small tears and wider mechanical damage. The paper strips were carefully placed over the tear with the adhesive side in contact with the object. To create a bound the tissue was activated with a small amount of water using a thin brush. A small piece of Bondina® was placed on top and light pressure was applied before the repair was left to air dry.
The old paper hinges and protective margins were removed with minimal moisture, tweezers and cotton wool swabs. The paper was locally weighted to reduce the risks of distortion.
Conclusion
The ten days I have spent working on the single folios of the Panj Ganj of Jami went very fast. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to complete the project. The folios remain to be hinged (T-hinges on the left hand side of each folio with Japanese tissue), mounted into conservation window mounts and housed in a Solander box. Although the project is unfinished, the consolidation of the pigments has been carried out and the paintings are now in a stable condition and will to be hinged and mounted at a later date.
In addition to this work, I was also involved in a very interesting project carried out by the conservation team which looked at reproducing the colours of the traditional Islamic palette. I also visited the National Library of Ireland’s conservation studio and had many interesting chats about conservation at the Chester Beatty Library.
I would like to thank the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Library Project as well as the Chester Beatty Library.
