SILK PHOTOGRAPH CONSERVATION

[historynut]

Hi all

I have a silk photograph of my grandmother c1905/6 - it was taken from a photograph of her carried by my Uncle when he travelled to the Far east with the Merchant Navy early 1900's.

They somehow printed it on silk and it was beautifully framed in wooden oval frame - still in it - but glass was broken over 40 years ago and never replaced

Obviously the picture would need some cleaning up now I should think -and there is a little tear in the fabric.

I am frightened to touch it myself - and would probably never be able to re-frame it nevermind clean it properly.

If it was like the one of my father when he was about five years of age - it came with a sort of backing cover and rolled up in tube shape.

My sister had that framed and her daughter has it now - but that was done from scratch as it were and a long time ago now.

Any advice on where to go would be most welcome - i have trasured this picture for years and hate to see it get ruined.

Thanks

Rita

[chinakay]

Hi Rita...don't know anything about the subject but PrueM would be the person to talk to. She is a professional conservator and might be able to help. She keeps Australian hours but if she doesn't look in on this thread in a day or two you can pm her.

Cheers,
China

[PrueM]

Hi Rita,
Thanks China for bumping the topic up, I've just signed in and come across it 

Rita, your photo sounds really interesting, I'd love to see a picture of it if you're able to post a photo here - I've never heard of a photograph on silk before! 

In answer to your question about conservation, I would recommend that you take the object to a professional textiles conservator.  If you are in the UK, you can search for one using this facility:
http://www.conservationregister.com/SearchWorkshop2.asp?id=2&accessdenied=%2FSearchWorkshop1%2Easp%3Fid%3D2

If you're not in the UK, let me know and I'll get you the details of conservator listings for your area.

Silk is a very fragile thing when it gets older, and becomes very brittle, so perhaps put the photo in a box with a lid or something, just to protect it until you get it looked at.  Silk tends to 'shatter' which is  an alarming term for the breaking of the threads so you're right to be wary of doing anything to it yourself.

Cheers
Prue