Emily Smoothing Out Tracing Paper During Humidification
Behind the scenes

Working on the Turkey Red archive

Find out how Emily Shepherd, a student placed with Paper Conservation, approached caring for a pattern book sheet c.1891 from the Turkey Red archive.

Project focus

Emily Shepherd is studying for an MA in Conservation of Fine Art at Northumbria University and has completed a placement with our Paper Conservation team at the National Museums Collection Centre.

Emily’s project focused on working a pattern book sheet c.1891 from the Turkey Red archive. The pattern book sheet has multiple paper components, including a folded sheet of tracing paper adhered to the reverse.

Step 1

Precise cleaning of the sheet to make sure the graphite or gouache remained intact.

Image gallery

Step 2

Gently unfolding the tracing paper.

A piece of tracing paper is used to protect the paper during conservation
The tracing paper folded on the reverse of the sheet before treatment.

Step 3

Relaxing the tracing paper by humidification in the moisture chamber.

A piece of yellow-toned paper is placed within a chamber on a steel-grey table
The tracing paper unfolded before humidification.
The same piece of paper is laid out on a white sheet after undergoing treatment
The tracing paper after unfolding and humidification.

Step 4

Smoothing out the relaxed tracing paper to remove the hard creases.

Step 5

To strengthen the sheet the tears were repaired. The end result is a more stable sheet and thorough cleaning has it back to it's former glory.

I feel more prepared for the next year of my MA after this placement, practicing and learning new skills.

Emily Shepherd

Emily Smoothing Out Tracing Paper During Humidification
Emily Smoothing Out Tracing Paper During Humidification