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.

I have joined the team late last May and therefore have not had a chance to go on a training course yet. In December 2011, my line manager and myself have organised for me to go on work experience at the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

Chester Beatty Library

to familiarise myself with Indian and Persian Miniatures (the technique and conservation needs):

Baysunghur's Shahnameh, 1430 (Persian Miniature)

After we have got our contracts extended in December, we are back working on the collection for another 5 weeks (until further notice), focusing on conservation and therefore I am sad to say that Mary Delargy, our learning and outreach officer, is no longer with the team.

The flooded area

When we arrived on wednesday, the first thing we did was to prioritise what had to be salvaged and what was a priority to work on. It turned out that each student files had to be kept indefinitely by the University and therefore we set to work on those immediately. Depending on their location at the time of the flood, they were affected differently. Some were compacted, with pages rather difficult to separate, ink running throughout the files while others were only slightly wet and had no major information lost.

We were given a study room in the main Library to work through the files (7 boxes) . We had brought blotting paper with us and had plenty of blank newsprint A4 sheets. Fiona (the assistant archivist) had found two air fans that we installed at the end of each table to help in the drying process. And so Alessandro, Fiona and myself started to work through each file, opening a folder on blotting paper, and interleaving each page with newsprint as required, and changing those regularly.

A file opened on blotting paper and interleaved with newsprint

It rapidly turned out to be a very time-consuming business and it became clear we would not have enough time to dry each file before the weekend. Mould growth would follow if nothing was done rapidly so we advised Fiona on getting most of the files dry frozen in individual bags at a temperature of -10 to -20 degrees celsius. That way she would have more time to work through each files 1 at a time. The micro-biological department at the University has said they would be able to find some space in their freezers.

Fiona and Alessandro working away!

Spine - Before treatment

The work I have carried out on that book mainly consisted of repairs to the sewing structure by excavating the old tanned supports (with scalpel blades, tweezers and magnifier) and inserting new seaming twines to pack the existing sewing and replace the old broken supports. Once that was done I had to consolidate the original sewing thread with gelatine adhesive. I pulled through the new supports underneath the original supports still laced into the boards so that the repair was not visible.

New supports not visible underneath original leather supports

The text-book spine was lined with japanese paper and the new leather spine was paired around the head, tail, along the edges and the joints (just a little not to weaken the new repair)! I wanted to try a new technique, something different to the re-backs I had done before using a band-nippers. I saw some of my colleagues in the studio using this old technique (Nicholas Pickwood introduced it to the Derry studio) which consists in placing the book spine up on a board and using a thin cord (seaming twine) tied around the bands to define them as the leather and the adhesive dries. 

First thing to do was to humidify the new leather before the adhesive could be pasted down, let it soak and then paste it again with Canadian wheat starch. My book was placed in a finishing press and my new leather placed on the spine. At this stage I needed to work the leather very well to make sure it would adhere all over the spine, avoiding any air bubbles, and giving good definition to the bands. Once that was done, the book could be removed to allow work on the caps and give it the shape I wanted, always using a teflon folder and teflon spatula to avoid marking the leather.

working the caps

Once the caps where to desired shape I had to wrap the textbook in bandage to keep it firmly closed. I then placed the book, spine up, with addition of a support for the foredge, on the specially designed board, ready for the final touches! The book was then tied up with twine going around the bands to create a recess and shape the leather. Always keep in mind that if the twine needs to be tightened, small pieces of boards can be twisted around to cords.

Spine - After treatment

http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/hb/index.html

I think it is remarkably well done, comprehensive and well documented. It was made after an exhibition was held from November 10, 2002 through April 20, 2003, entitled “Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious“. The photos are definitely a plus and it’s possible to magnify the pictures quite well. I particularly like the page about binding waste, as it relates so well to the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Collection with its many manuscript-wastes re-used in bindings.

Any book-lover would want to spend time on that website and I just wish I was in Princeton while this exhibition was held!

This exhibition marks the culmination of a three-year Heritage Lottery Funded project, supported also by private donors, which aimed to help conserve the Church of Ireland’s Diocesan Library and make it more accessible to the community.

The Chapter House exhibition will highlight the different types of work undertaken by the Project team, both conservation and outreach, and some of the challenges involved in conserving such a historic collection.  

The Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Library Exhibition takes place in the Chapter House Museum from Wednesday December 7 to Monday December 19 ( Opening Times :Monday –Saturday, 9 am until 5 pm.

The work of Karla Black, a Scottish born and one of the shortlisted artist, was particularly interesting to me in relation to the approach a conservator should have regarding her work. Her pieces on cellophane (you can see at the back of the picture below) I found particularly challenging as the paint she has applied on is obviously peeling off and flaking away.

Karla Black's installation @ Baltic for the 2011 Turner Prize

 I would imaging she is aware of the fact and desires this reaction to happen as part of her creating process. But how is this affecting and influencing her artistic ideas? Is she aware of the extent of the degradation of the material she is using? Is it disrupting the visual intentions? Does she intent people to walk on the coloured chalk scattered around her paper sculptures? And what would she want a conservator to do about it?

 In their book “The Challenge of Installation Art” Glenn Wharton and Harvey Molotch say that when working on Contemporary Art a conservator should be aware of the context of the installation, the varying and changing values of the piece and its physical transformations. But all this can evolve quickly and the question is to know which angle is most appropriate for each artwork at a given time. When an Artist is still alive, the question can be put directly to him/her. We must not forget that artists may have answered the question in previous  interview or gave precise guidelines. However, is this always the best way to go about it? Artists, collectors can change their minds, conservation attitude is constantly evolving. Our code of ethic states that if there is a conflict, the conservator should always resolve it in a way that is consistent with his/her respect to the object.

In conclusion, we should always put the art work above, respect the artist’s intents and yet carry out conservation work that is “ethical” to us.

 The turner prize winner will be announced on the 5th of December 2011. Best of luck to all 4 shortlisted artists. And I would like to remind you that Derry might be hosting the 2013 Turner Prize as part of 2013-UK City of Culture. This would be an amazing opportunity to develop the contemporary Art Scene in the region.

G I a 19 front cover

 He probably came into possession of this book in October 1663 when he was  assistant curate to Dr. Spurstow, at Hackney, and later brought it with him to Raphoe when he was nominated Bishop in 1670. This book is just a lovely piece of Bishop Hopkins personal history which also gives us a better understanding of  the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Library.

His suggested method was to use leaf gelatine which you can cut to different sizes and use different dosages of water to obtain the desired strength.