Mounting Papyrus

[Steve Kerman]

This is slightly off-topic, but I'll ask it here because I don't know a better place.

My daughter brought home a painting on papyrus from Egypt.  I would like to mount and frame it, but I don't know how to go about mounting the papyrus to a backing.

Ideally, I would like for the papyrus to be mounted on top of the backing, with no matting covering up the edges.  So that you can see the entire sheet of papyrus, including the edges.

Does anybody know the proper and normal way to do this?

(I note that this doesn't have a lot of monetary value, but it does have significant sentimental worth.)

Thanks!

[larryg]

check out a matting/framing shop.    I would think that an archival adhesive should work fine.

Maybe even dry mount tissue (low temperature) would sufficiently mount to most any surface.

[larryg]

Ok I checked with the ladies at the frame shop.


They generally (partly because papyrus is usually not squared and one side might be different than the other)  do not mount this but use double stick tape (ATG tape) to fasten it to matte board. (usually larger than the piece) they also usually adhere a top matte to cover the edges of the papyrus, this will allow you to frame the piece and keep the glass away from your piece.  If you don't use a top matte the glass/laminate will be in contact with the papyrus and could cause some problems long term.

Hope this has been helpful.

[jule]

I have a similar situation with an art work on a very textured and wobbly, thick rag paper. I wanted to keep the edges visable.

I am not exactly certain about how it is adhered, but I think using a hinging method, but with the hinge recessed under the art work - directly on to a large matt board. Then another thick matt board is cut to make a window - but NOT covering the edges of the art work. My piece is large - 1.5m x 1m, and the distance between the art and the matt is approximately 5 inches.   It looks as if it is sort of floating on the backing matte, with the window matt keeping the glass off the art.

Julie

[larryg]

I have a similar situation with an art work on a very textured and wobbly, thick rag paper. I wanted to keep the edges visable.

I am not exactly certain about how it is adhered, but I think using a hinging method, but with the hinge recessed under the art work - directly on to a large matt board. Then another thick matt board is cut to make a window - but NOT covering the edges of the art work. My piece is large - 1.5m x 1m, and the distance between the art and the matt is approximately 5 inches.   It looks as if it is sort of floating on the backing matte, with the window matt keeping the glass off the art.

Julie
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Now I think that would work   adhere the work with hinge or ATG tape then place a matte on top, but wider than the artwork.  This would give separation between glass and work.

[framah]

It's pretty funny how they are worried about the glass being right against the paper  possibly creating a problem in the future but they have no qualms about sticking it down with ATG!!

Either the piece is handled using the best practices or it isn't. If you are going to just stick it down with ATG tape then you aren't  worried about long term care of the piece and the glass against it won't be a worry either.

If you are asking for the best way to do it then...

 The proper way is to hinge it from behind using a wheat or rice paste and mulberry paper hinges.
A slit is cut thru the acid free board it is to be mounted onto and after the  strips of mulberry paper have been glued to the back of the art... that strip is fed thru the slit and then attached onto the back of the acid free board. This the most noninvasive/reversable way to mount art. Any of the other adhesives will transfer solvents to the art and eventually leave a stain. Remember how old scotch tape leaves a yellow stain after it has been on paper a while? That is the solvents in the adhesive and thus the damage to the art.

Now, if you just want to display it and aren't worried about the long term, then you might as well ATG it down and be done with it.  I always like to see the edges of these pieces as that is part of the charm of it.  I like to give it a floating look by mounting it to a smaller piece of board so it raises it up off the colored background. This accentuates the edges of the paper.  When it is ready for the frame, a spacer is placed between the glass and the colored background mat board which keeps the glass off the art.  The main thing to remember is to make sure the frame you choose is deep enough to actually hold all of this. Nothing worse than picking out a frame only to find the package won't fit into the depth of the rabbet.

For Julies post...

 You have the right idea and my hinging method will work there, also. One of the problems you have is the uneven surface of the art. Is it a watercolor or what?  If it is a watercolor and you want it to lay flatter, you can actually flatten the paper by lightly dampening the back of the paper and put it between blotter paper and weight it down till it dries. It will be flat. Again, I like the unevenness of these things and like to accentuate those features.  After you have mounted the piece, you should build up a spacer of foam core behind the mat so it brings it up above the face of the paper. It creates a "well" effect as well as keeping the glass off the art.
 
To blow my own horn ever so slightly,  I have  a frame shop for the last 13 years and have a Certified Picture Framer title so that is where my suggestions come from.  

[Lisa Nikodym]

Another framing method used for *my* souvenir papyrus from Egypt:
My local frame shop sandwiched it tightly between two sheets of plexiglass (apparently without any "stickum" as far as I could tell) that themselves were clamped together at several places around the edges, and the clamping structure had the framing wire attached to it (hidden behind the papyrus).

Lisa

[Steve Kerman]

Framah and Julie, thanks for the information!  That sounds like the way to do it.

I've identified some Nori wheat starch paste, which comes with Japanese paper for making the mounting strips.  It sounds like these materials should work well for attaching the papyrus.

Lisa, in researching this, I found that sandwiching papyrus between two sheets of glass is the traditional way to mount papyrus, so it sounds like they did a decent job for you.  (Although, there does seem to be some controversy about using plexiglass instead of glass for ancient artifacts that they want to preserve for forever.  That's probably not an issue with a modern souvenir, though.)

[framah]

Nori is the way to go but if you can, grab it now as the company has stopped making it so what is out there is all that's left.

 There are other products to do this but none that are as ready to use as Nori.  The old fashioned way is to actualy cook the stuff sort of like cooking cream of rice for breakfast.