Darnault Mirror: an Acrylic Emulsion Compensation System

This paper will discuss the evolution of the treatment for a 1751 French boiserie mirror retaining approximately 30% of its original gilding. In the first phase of the treatment, the mirror had been thoroughly analyzed and documented, tests were undertaken and cleaning and compensation method testing had commenced. This philosophical discussion was presented in a paper in the general session last year. Ultimately, the conservators were not pleased with the results. A reevaluation resulting in redesigning of a barrier coat and compensation to the gilding losses were decided upon using different materials than were previously tested. In devising this alternative system, one of the many interesting challenges before us was that the original goals of the project remained constant. Of primary concern to the curators was the interpretation and display of the mirror within the gallery setting in relation to the other gilded objects around it. The conservators’ chief concern was a desire to preserve the physical integrity of the object itself without permanently transforming it should reinterpretation come up in the future. Aware of the strong craft tradition influencing the treatment of European eighteenth century gilded wood objects, we were faced with the choice of introducing nontraditional materials onto this surface. In getting them to compliment the remaining original gilding, we were challenged by the application of the materials. Our curatorial staff required a restored surface, therefore this application needed to satisfy that aesthetic. This paper will give a brief overview of the work done previously and the revised treatment to the Darnault mirror including manipulation of the acrylic emulsion medium, the mica pigments and gold leaf. This technique was inspired by Jonathan Thornton’s work at Buffalo State College and we found it served our purposes very well. Perhaps this system could be useful applied to other gilded objects which have the same requirements. Moyer & Hanlon: Conservation of the Darnault Mirror: An Acrylic Emulsion Compensation System 1995 WAG Postprints–St. Paul, Minnesota layer. By opening the search to materials not considered in the first phase, we were able to devise an alternative cleaning system and surface loss compensation system which achieved the appropriate aesthetic, accomplished with what we’ve come to describe as an acrylic emulsion inpainting mordant system. The second goal was to satisfy the curatorial requirement that the mirror be integrated into the display within a gallery setting with other gilded objects which were in far more preserved and restored condition. An important requirement of the appearance of the mirror frame was to have it harmonize with the other giltwood objects to be displayed in the new Rococo gallery installation at the new Getty Center in West Los Angeles, scheduled to open to the public in 1997. This includes the Contant d’Ivry designed, giltwood, Rococo period console table, circa 1750, which is to be displayed below the Darnault mirror panel ensemble, and the Rococo period Tillard bed, circa 1750, which is water gilded in both lemon and deep colored leaf. Both the console table and bed have dissimilar, but nevertheless restored, surfaces. Though the console table was restored in England, the bed was treated in Paris. There remains a strong emphasis within the European gilding community to restore degraded gilded surfaces with traditional materials. Giltwood pieces of French origin in the Getty collection have been treated in Parisian ateliers for restoration or regilding in the past. The craft tradition there remains strong with many talented gilders in residence and training and apprenticeships in traditional gilding techniques still available, as they have been for centuries. In this paper, we’d like to first describe some of the provenance history concerning the mirror frame’s attribution and provide a physical description of the mirror. The next section is a review of the first phase of the treatment, followed by an overview of the specifics of the second phase, which includes describing the condition of the mirror between the two phases and the continued cleaning and compensation with the materials we tested and ultimately used. The paper ends with conclusions describing the attributes and potential drawbacks, as we see them, of this system. Art Historical and Physical Descriptions The mirror, as purchased, is comprised of three panel elements of a Rococo period boiserie, two of which bear paper labels of the marchand-mercier Francois Charles Darnault, whose shop was on the Rue Grenier St. Lazare in Paris in 1751. From the information on his label we know that he dealt in a variety of “fancy goods”; carved, giltwood and ormolu objects including mirrors of all varieties, decorative items such as lustres and wall lights, and all types of furniture, such as console tables with marble tops, secretaries, gaming tables, writing desks, and screens, some with chinoiserie type decorated surfaces, others with chased, gilded hardware, and even overdoor paintings, much like his father who operated a separate shop on the Rue de la Monnoie. Research continues to be carried out at the Archives Nationales in Paris on the Darnault family and their dealings. Perhaps one day, we will know in what building these boiserie elements would have been installed, but at this time we do not. The boiserie mirror we treated, which is long and narrow (eleven feet tall and only four feet, six and a half inches wide) is thought to have been originally designed for placement over a soubasement panel (rather than a mantel) within the context of an entire panelled room. The Darnault mirror’s two narrow, flanking parclose panels have not yet been treated at the time of this writing. The central panel, which is the focus of this paper, is composed of thirteen separate, water gilded moldings, carved in basswood (or limewood), fastened with brass screws and applied to a white painted, oak, panel and frame constructed back board. One of the paper labels is located in a central floating panel on the backboard facing into the room under the glass plate. The flanking parcloses are also water gilded, carved limewood moldings on a white, painted oak panel. The other paper label is on the reverse of one of these narrow panels. The central panel’s uppermost frame would have originally surrounded a canvas painting, no longer part of the ensemble. The lower frame surrounds the mirror plates. The carving above is characterized by a broad, burnished, scrolled band with a central shell at the crest and styl-