GILT LEATHER ARTEFACTS

DEVELOPING RESEARCH DIRECTIONS FOR MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION AND IMPROVED CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

Gilt leather was one of the most fashionable and costly types of wall hanging in the western world in the 16th to 18th centuries. It consists of a leather substrate, often embossed with several decorative surface layers composed of animal glue, silver leaf, egg white, and a yellow colored lacquer – creating the golden appearance – one or more paint layers and occasionally a varnish layer. Conservation of gilt leather is a challenge due to the complex nature of the material. Aging processes and earlier conservation treatments using oils and wax have resulted in the silver tarnishing and the degradation of paint and varnish layers, causing a matte and dark appearance that reduces legibility. This project aims to understand the complex characteristics of gilt leather, its material dynamics and interactions with past and present conservation materials. It will do so by using advanced non-destructive testing instrumentation, something that has been done very rarely for this type of material. The results of the project will be used to develop new strategies for the conservation of gilt leather.

PUBLICATIONS

• Posthuma de Boer M, Koldeweij E, Groves RM, ‘Gilt Leather Artifacts; White paper on material characterization and improved conservation strategies within NICAS’, published by TU Delft/NICAS, 2016.
• Groves RM, Papadakis VM, Posthuma de Boer M, Mkhoyan T, Velzen B van, Seymour K, ‘Spectral Imaging of Dutch Gilt Leather for Improved Conservation Strategies’, Proc. Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks, LACONA XI, Krakow, September 2016a.
• Groves RM, Posthuma de Boer M, Koldeweij E, ‘Ein gefährdetes Kulturgut. Neue Perspektiven für die Konservierung von Goldlederin den Niederlanden‘, Restaurato, September 2016b.

NEWS

https://giltleathersociety.org/

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