PICTURES 
 
 AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 By 
 T, R. BEAUFORT 
 
THE GETTY CENTER LIBRA 
 
PICTURES & HOW 
 TO CLEAN THEM 
 
WORKROOM WITH NORTH LIGHT 
 
 From an etching by IVilfrid Huggins 
 
PICTURES & HOW 
 TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED 
 
 NOTES ON THINGS USEFUL 
 IN. RESTORATION WORK 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS RICHARD BEAUFORT 
 
 -FREDERICK A. STOKES 
 COMPANY PUBLISHERS 
 
26 
 
 Printed in Great Britain by Richar 
 > be ace! 
 
 +. . wis 
 4. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Tus little volume will be found to form a 
 striking example of multum in parvo, for its 
 two hundred odd pages reflect the experience 
 gained from a life’s work on picture restora- 
 tion. Yet this experience alone would scarcely 
 have formed a sufficient qualification for the 
 authorship of a work such as this; some know- 
 ledge of the amateur restorer, his methods and 
 the pitfalls to which he is usually subject, is 
 also necessary if the author is to make his book 
 of real service and assistance. Mr. Beaufort is 
 fortunate in this respect. From pre-War days 
 he has advised on inquiries relating to picture 
 restoration—inquiries which were made by 
 Art Trade Fournal readers and which were 
 passed to him. He has therefore enjoyed 
 contact, either personal or epistolary, with art 
 dealers all over the country, and he doubtless 
 has better information as to where the average 
 restorer goes wrong than any man living. 
 Obviously such information is the first essential 
 
 Vv 
 
Vi PREFACE 
 
 to advising on the correct procedure for com- 
 plete success. 
 
 This work is thus the natural outcome of a 
 demand for restoration knowledge that has 
 been expressed at various times and in various 
 ways. ‘The requests for general advice on 
 picture restoration received by the Ari Trade 
 Fournal became so prolific, that in 1917 the 
 Editor arranged with Mr. Beaufort for the 
 publication of an exhaustive series of articles 
 covering the whole subject. The last of these 
 appeared in April this year, and the series, 
 reprinted and collated, now appears in its 
 present form. Quite a number of the articles 
 were extended and elaborated at the special 
 request of readers, and the large amount of 
 correspondence which followed, provided very 
 fitting testimony to Mr. Beaufort’s efforts. 
 Should the following pages contain any pas- 
 sages that are not as clear to the reader as he 
 would like them, the author would be very 
 pleased to clear away any such apparent diffi- 
 culties for him. 
 
 BERNARD DOLMAN. 
 September, 1926. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 List of works to which reference is made, and of other 
 authorities consulted : 
 
 Binyon, Laurence, Catalogue of ‘fapanese and Chinese 
 Prints in the British Museum. (London, 1916.) 
 Church, Sir Arthur H., Chemistry of Paints and Paintings. 
 (London, 1915.) 
 
 Ficke, Arthur Davison, Chats on ‘Fapanese Prints. (Lon- 
 don, 1915.) 
 
 Field, G., Chromatography. (London, 1885.) 
 
 Jametal, Maurice, L’Encre de Chine.’ (Paris, 1882.) 
 
 Laurie, A. P., Pigments and Mediums of the Old Masters. 
 (London, 1914.) 
 
 Lee, Vernon, Genius Loct. 
 
 Merrifield, Mrs., Ancient Practice of Painting. (London, 
 1854.) 
 
 Portal, the Baron Fréderic, Symbolic Colours in Antiquity. 
 
 Pye, John, Patronage of British Art. (1845.) 
 
 Slater, J. W., anual of Colours and Dye Wares. (Lon- 
 don, 1882.) 
 
 vii 
 
o 
 
 Ee 
 
 i, 
 
 ~ 
 
CHAP, 
 
 II. 
 
 VII. 
 VIII. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Tue Workroom AnpD 'Too.s : : 
 Crieanine Picrures . ; : : 
 VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 
 
 CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS : : 
 CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT , 
 Crieaninc WaTER-cOLOUR Drawincs . 
 
 CoLours AND HOW To BLEND THEM . 
 
 .Mounts anp MovunrTInc . : ? 
 
 Acips Usep 1n ReEsToRATION ° . 
 
 ALKALIES : ; tl ok : 
 CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. : 
 SYMBOLISM IN ART . : “ ; 
 
 Inprian Inx: rrs Manuracture, Uses, 
 AND HOW TO CLEAN DRAWINGS MADE 
 WITH IT : ; ‘ : . 
 
 CLEANING JAPANESE Prints i : 
 
 PaRCHMENT AND VELLUM AND SOME 
 MovuntTantTs . ; : / ; 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHING PicTuRES . . , 
 Picture Faxinc ANpD Picture FAKERs . 
 
 PasTELs, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS: 
 Meruops or Cuieaninc THEM : 
 
 ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 102 
 
 IIO 
 
 119 
 130 
 140 
 
 153 
 
CHAP 
 
 XIX. 
 
 XX. 
 XXI. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 New Meruops or ResTorRING: 
 CLEANING AND RESTORATION OF 
 
 Museum Exuisits. 
 
 e 
 
 THE 
 
 Tue Care or Picrures AND DrawiIncs 
 
 Asout Oup PotTtTery 
 
 PAGE 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 To face page 
 
 Worxroom with Nortu Licut . Frontispiece 
 (From an etching by Wilfrid Huggins.) 
 
 Toots: (I), (II), anp (III) . 
 VaRNISHED Print, Harr CLEANED 
 
 Grorciana, Ducuess or Devonsuire. (Specimen 
 of a Varnished Print Cleaned and Restored) 
 
 Francis, SEVENTH Eart or Newsurcu. (Speci- 
 men of a Black Lead Pencil Drawing Cleaned 
 and Restored) : : F 
 
 Saint Ursuta. Saint Lucy . 
 
 Cuozan oF CHOJI-YA, ATTENDED BY HER ‘Two 
 
 Kamuro. (Specimen of Cleaning) 
 (By Kiyonaga, the Japanese theatrical poster artist.) 
 
 Aubert Durer (1471-1528). (Specimen of Re- 
 pairing) eet ves : : 
 
 (He was the first who engraved on wood.) 
 
 Leypen (Lucas Jacoss, called Lucas Van), (1494- 
 1533). (Specimen of Cleaning and Repairing) . 
 
 Franciscvs Snypers (Specimen of Cleaning) 
 
 xi 
 
 10 
 
 34 
 
 36 
 
 54 
 98 
 
 IIo 
 
 142 
 
 144 
 
 152 
 
PICTURES & HOW 
 TO CLEAN THEM 
 
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CHAPTER I 
 THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 
 
 GOOD workroom and good tools go a 
 
 long way towards the production of good 
 work. A skilful workman will, of course, get 
 good results under difficulties, and it follows 
 that bad workmen will do bad work, however 
 good their tools may be, but I hold that those 
 who exercise any art should never have their 
 attention distracted from their work by defect of 
 their tools and appliances. I propose, therefore, 
 in this chapter to give a description of the various 
 tools and appliances that I know from experience 
 offer the greatest advantages for everyday work 
 in restoration. 
 
 Experience has proved that a large well- 
 lighted workroom is the best and a north or 
 north-eastern aspect is preferable. In my work- 
 room I have two windows, one facing north, the 
 other south. When restoring oils or water- 
 colours, I use the north, but for nearly all other 
 
 B 
 
2 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 work the southern aspect. If it is possible to 
 get a top as well as a side light so much the 
 better, but in any case there should be a good 
 light for working without being exposed to the 
 direct rays of the sun. Everything in the room 
 should be within convenient reach, and there 
 should be sufficient space to conduct all opera- 
 tions in comfort. A large-sized deal table is 
 invaluable, especially if it has drawers. ‘The 
 next and most important item is a sheet of thick 
 plate glass, the thicker the better; a useful size 
 is 28 by 42 inches, for apart from its use while 
 manipulating prints it has the further advan- 
 tages of being useful as a pasting board, mount- 
 ing board, water-colour palette, press, and when 
 the day’s task is done work can be stowed away 
 beneath the glass and kept quite flat. For years 
 I have used a series of these plate glasses for all 
 the above-mentioned and many other purposes. 
 Indeed, I know of no item that isso useful. As 
 a pasting board the print or sheet of paper laid 
 upon it can be thoroughly pasted and it will not 
 greatly matter if the paste gets on to the glass 
 because after the pasting is finished the glass can 
 be wiped clean with a wet sponge. Used as a 
 mounting board the glass is perfection, and for 
 this reason. Let us suppose a print is to be 
 
THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 3 
 
 mounted on a sheet of heavy Whatman paper. 
 Having pasted our print as above described, we 
 take another sheet of plate glass, and placing 
 this on the bottom of the bath we flush the bath 
 with water and immerse the sheet of Whatman 
 paper therein, allowing the water to flow over 
 the paper for a few minutes in order that it may 
 become pliant and perfectly stretched. The 
 paper will then be quite flat on the glass and 
 may be lifted from the bath; the superfluous 
 water then being allowed to drain off. Several 
 sheets of blotting-paper are then spread over 
 the paper and gently pressed to remove any 
 excess of moisture. After this has been done 
 carefully the paper will be quite ready to receive 
 the pasted print. ‘The pasted print is then laid 
 on the damp Whatman paper and covered with 
 sheets of blotting-paper, which are gently and 
 firmly pressed over the whole surface. By this 
 time the print and its mount will be ready for 
 the final process as follows: Turn up all round 
 about one inch of the margin of the Whatman 
 paper, then carefully paste this inch thoroughly 
 with strong paste, and to make quite certain that 
 it is thoroughly pasted go over it a second time. 
 The turned-up inch of paper is then pressed down 
 into perfect contact with the glass. The whole 
 
4 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 is then stood to dry slowly, either in an equal 
 temperature or a slight draught. Do not 
 hasten the drying process—by this I mean don’t 
 stand the print near a fire or in the sun, or the 
 print will either leave the glass or dry cockled. 
 Again, if you start drying the print in the open 
 air or slight draught don’t take it into a warm 
 room to finish off, or you will have a similar 
 result to that I have just described. I find it 
 better to mount prints at night and let them 
 stand on a shelf in the workroom till the morn- 
 ing, when they are generally dry. 
 
 Having decided upon the amount of margin, 
 this is measured and marked with pencil and the 
 print is cut from the glass perfectly mounted 
 and quite flat, without a crease or air bubble. 
 
 As a water-colour palette I prefer plate glass. 
 The colours seem to spend more freely upon it, 
 and one gets a better idea of their tone and value 
 if a piece of white paper is placed beneath the 
 glass. And lastly, plate glass makes a splendid 
 press, providing your table is quite flat, for after 
 putting a drawing board on the plate glass you 
 can pile almost any weight upon it, whereas with 
 a wooden press the screw is very liable to go 
 with any extra pressure. Moreover, wooden 
 presses are generally made of beech and so liable 
 
THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 5 
 
 to get the tiny beetle that makes the worm-holes 
 and rots the wood. 
 
 Zinc baths are often recommended for print 
 restoration. They are useful certainly when 
 employing boiling water to soak off prints that 
 have been mounted with hard mountants on 
 millboards, but in all other processes these baths 
 are injurious because the various solutions used 
 act upon the zinc, and an important point to 
 remember is that zinc is affected by alkalies, 
 which will eventually dissolve it if strong 
 enough. 
 
 An ideal bath can be made of plain seasoned 
 wood, for neither water, lime, acids, nor alkalies 
 act very much upon it when they are used in 
 weak solutions. The wooden bath should be 
 made of inch stuff if large work is to be done, 
 and may be constructed as follows: First of all 
 get a large clamped board similar to an archi- 
 tect’s or engineer’s drawing board. ‘This makes 
 a good bottom for a bath. Next screw on with 
 brass screws 2-inch fillets to form the four sides. 
 At one of the corners of the bottom of the bath 
 make a hole and fit a bung or plug and the bath 
 is complete. It may be urged that this is a 
 rather cumbersome affair, but I do not find 
 mine cumbersome, though it is a very large one. 
 
6 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 It is mounted on very strong trestles, and stand- 
 ing over a sink is more or less of a fixture. It 
 has been in use many years, and has never given 
 the slightest trouble or needed repairs. If only 
 used now and then the bath should be damped 
 occasionally or the wood will get too dry and 
 warp. 
 
 There is not much mechanical apparatus 
 necessary in restoration work, but besides the 
 ordinary tools there are a number of things that 
 are more or less necessary. Among others, I 
 find the following of great utility, viz. an 
 engineer’s or architect’s T-square of polished 
 mahogany with bevelled ebony edge, also one 
 or two set-squares for use in adjusting prints 
 squarely on their mounts. A pair of compasses 
 or dividers will be found to be indispensable 
 for measuring margins, etc. A pair of canvas 
 straining pincers and small tack-drawer should 
 likewise be obtained. Several flat hog varnish- 
 ing brushes, 3 or 4 inches wide, in nickel ferrules, 
 will be useful for pasting. ‘These brushes shed 
 a few hairs till they have been in use for a little 
 while. ‘They should not be allowed to stand in 
 paste, but after use should be rinsed out and 
 hung up to dry. 
 
 As regards pastes and mountants, I have 
 
THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 7 
 
 described these at length in Chapter XIV. One 
 or two sponges for wiping the plate glass clean, 
 etc., are also needed. A flat camel-hair brush 
 such as is used for damping the tissue paper 
 of letter copying books is one of the best things 
 for damping the surface of a print, or for lifting 
 off small particles of dust or grit such as are 
 sometimes found adhering to the surface after 
 the final rinsing of prints. ‘This kind of brush 
 is most useful when it is necessary to put broad 
 washes of water-colour or to tint a mount. 
 One or two shoemakers’ knives are preferable to 
 mount cutters for trimming paper and prints. 
 A Turkey oil stone of the best quality should 
 be kept for putting a keen edge on trimming 
 knives. ‘lake care to get a slightly hard stone, 
 and while in use see that it is kept oiled, for the 
 stone improves in quality as the oil soaks in. 
 A good stone may sometimes be picked up 
 second-hand and is, I think, preferable to a new 
 one. Use lubricating oil of good quality for 
 oiling the stone. A small hack-saw is handy 
 for cutting off projecting and rusted screws or 
 nails in old print strainers; also a small punch 
 for driving in these nails or those at the corners. 
 if loose or weak. 
 
 Always keep all steel tools well sharpened and 
 
8 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 polished sothat rust may not collect onthem and 
 then fall upon prints and papers, thereby caus- 
 ing iron mould, which is difficult to remove, 
 even with oxalic acid. Accidents happen in the 
 best-regulated workrooms, notwithstanding one 
 may use every possible caution and foresight ; 
 it is therefore as well to have remedies at hand, 
 for promptness of application is often an im- 
 portant factor in the efficiency of a remedy. 
 Every accessory should have its place, so that it 
 can be used at once without any trouble or loss 
 of time. For smoothing out or rubbing down 
 rough places, scratches or creases in paper or 
 prints a burnisher is generally used. An agate 
 is about the best burnisher, such an one as 
 gilders use for burnishing gold. As the quality 
 of an agate is improved by continual use a 
 second-hand one that has had a good deal of 
 wear is preferable to a new one. 
 
 The palette-knives commonly sold in the 
 shops are generally made of steel and are useful 
 for scraping the palette, but one of ivory is 
 preferable for spreading or mixing colours, since 
 some of the yellows assume a dingy dark-green 
 hue ; many of the greens, too, and other colours 
 experience a change when touched or manipu- 
 lated with iron or steel palette-knives. After 
 
THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS 9 
 
 any oil work is finished the palette should be 
 scraped clean of colours, and well wiped with a 
 rag or pad of cotton wool on which there is 
 a little spirit of turpentine. 
 
 In no particular ought the restorer who 
 wishes to ensure superiority in the execution 
 of his work be more circumspect than in the 
 choice of colours, brushes and pencils. Oil- 
 colour brushes are either round or flat of various 
 sizes and almost always made of hog bristles. 
 Personally I prefer the flat hog brushes. Pencils 
 differ from brushes, in the smallness of their 
 size, and in being made of sable and camel-hair. 
 The smallest are fitted into quills and placed on 
 sticks. In choosing sable pencils a very simple 
 trial will prove whether they are fit for your 
 purpose. You have only to dip them into a glass 
 of water and bring them to a point on a piece 
 of blotting-paper or sponge. ‘Then, if they 
 present a sharp point and are flexible and 
 springy, the pencils are good. ‘The sharpness 
 of the point is of particular consequence in small 
 pencils. With regard to the stick attached to the 
 pencil, it should not be less than 10 or 12 inches 
 for oil-colour, but may be shorter for water- 
 colours. In mounting a pencil choose a round 
 cedar stick that barely fits the quill. The 
 
10 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 pencil should then be dropped into a cup of hot 
 water for a few minutes so that the quill gets 
 quite soft; it should then be wiped dry and 
 pushed softly and firmly on to the stick or 
 holder, and when dry will never slip off again. 
 A mahl stick of bamboo is necessary to steady 
 the hand while painting in oil upon an upright 
 canvas. A rack easel (see illustration) is the 
 most useful form, and if a number of holes are 
 bored as indicated, with a peg to fit them, a long 
 piece of cord tied to peg and attached to the top 
 hole will make the easel more convenient and 
 form a rest for the mahl stick, instead of having 
 to put it on the surface of pictures while working 
 upon them. 
 
 There are other articles and tools which it 
 may be desirable, or even indispensable, for the 
 restorer to have among his apparatus, but which 
 do not require any description of their nature 
 or use, or any directions for their selection. 
 
 In concluding this chapter let me say that all 
 materials should be the best that money can buy ; 
 the best is always good, and any extra money 
 spent in this direction is more than compen- 
 sated for by the saving of time, labour, temper, 
 and bad language. The right thing of best 
 quality will always beat any cheap substitute, 
 
PALE EY KNIVES 
 
 PALETTE 
 
 =: SABLE HAIR BRUSH FOR LINES 
 RACK EASEL | ie AND RIGGING IN SHIPS 
 
 = 
 
 T SQUARE SET SQUARE SWAN 
 
 TOOLS. I 
 
ia i i = HOG HAIR 
 Hi MIE BRUSH FOR 
 i" l Hf — , G 
 iii INIA = = 
 
 i 
 
 CAMEL HAIR 
 FOR WATER 
 
 HOG HAIR BRUSHES 
 FOR 
 
 PAINTING IN 
 
 OIL COLOURS 
 
 RED SABLES 
 FOR 
 PAINTING 
 IN 
 OIL COLOURS 
 
a 
 
 CANVAS STRAINING PINCERS 
 
 HALF-ROUND FILE ABOUT 10 INCHES 
 
 Used sideways to knock out old tacks 
 
 PUNCH 
 
 TWEEZERS 
 
 TOOLS. IIL 
 
THE WORKROOM AND TOOLS II 
 
 notwithstanding the shopkeeper tells us ‘“ we 
 reject the substitute chiefly because it is new, 
 but let it be presented to us sufficiently often so 
 as to rid it of its unusualness and the chief 
 obstacle to acceptance is removed.” But the 
 fact is, we have become so accustomed to an 
 altered condition of affairs by reason of the 
 endless and in some cases senseless restrictions 
 caused by the late war that we had to accept 
 anything we could get in the way of materials 
 and carry on. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 CLEANING PICTURES 
 
 T may be said that the knowledge of every 
 
 picture-cleaner is virtually derived from an 
 experimental process, which he on first under- 
 taking the art has carried out for himself, and 
 that he has formed his judgment upon it, and 
 decided upon his own process of carrying on 
 the operation for himself. If you inquire of two 
 or three picture-cleaners, and they inform you 
 candidly as to the methods they pursue, you 
 will generally find that the method recom- 
 mended by one is condemned by another. 
 There are many methods of working, and 
 results of equal excellence have been produced 
 by each. Some of the most proficient workers 
 adopt one process, others another: each one 
 has his own peculiar mode. Success or failure 
 depends as much upon the agent employed as 
 on the means applied. Restorers differ—so 
 with artists. What would apply to one painter’s 
 
 12 
 
CLEANING PICTURES 13 
 
 work would not to others ; one painter uses as a 
 medium merely oil without varnish, another 
 uses oil and varnish (megilp), another varnish 
 with turpentine ; others will first squeeze their 
 colours from the tube upon blotting-paper to get 
 rid of oil, whilst others will add poppy oil with 
 sugar of lead, and so ad infinitum—no two 
 painters paint their pictures in the same way ; 
 no artist, through the whole course of his life, 
 paints his pictures with the same materials ; he 
 changes his materials, and it is therefore im- 
 possible to lay down a rule which shall be of 
 general application in picture cleaning and 
 restoring. 
 
 Sir T. Sebright, an assiduous amateur re- 
 storer, who practised in Rome, was wont to say 
 that there are no secrets about picture-cleaning, 
 and that the processes generally used were 
 either friction or solvents, such as turpentine, 
 spirits of wine, soap or potash water. As regards 
 soap, potash water or alkalies of any kind, there 
 is not much to be said in their favour, because 
 excellent or satisfactory results cannot be obtained 
 with them; on the contrary, there are many 
 disadvantages in using them, so much so 
 that the writer has frequently had pictures 
 brought to him which had been virtually ruined 
 
14 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 by their use. On one occasion a dealer bringing 
 such a picture was questioned as to its deplor- 
 able state, and it was found that the party had 
 been “‘ monkeying ”’ with, of all things, a soap 
 that won’t wash clothes. 
 
 In the opinion of some it is preferable to put up 
 with any state in which a picture may be found 
 rather than run the risk of cleaning. For this 
 reason many masterpieces look almost valueless, 
 because being so covered with dirt, the features 
 of the pictures are almost entirely obscured, 
 and it is impossible to see their beauties. 
 
 I remember a very dirty panel once being 
 submitted to me with the query “Is it worth 
 cleaning?” It is true at first sight this picture 
 did not look much, and no doubt the dirt and 
 varnish of two hundred years had prevented its 
 value being recognised, but a careful cleansing 
 revealed a delightful Cuyp, steeped in the calm 
 and luminous atmosphere of evening, with all 
 his subtle method of contrasting and blending of 
 adjacent colours in the golden hue and ruddy 
 ray of a sinking sun. 
 
 I mention this particular case because there 
 is very little risk in cleaning Cuyp, thanks to 
 his firm and hard glazing. It is true he some- 
 times scrumbled his warm yellow or saffron 
 
CLEANING PICTURES 15 
 
 grounds in the distance, where the sky ap- 
 proaches the horizon ; but still it is sufficiently 
 hard to enable an experienced hand not to go too 
 low in cleaning. 
 
 Claudes are very difficult pictures to clean, 
 because Claude had a method of scrumbling a 
 film of colour over the whole picture in a very 
 refined way, which produced his peculiar 
 quality of gradation of light and general glow 
 and tone. When cleaning Claudes it is well 
 to bear this fact in mind, otherwise in removing 
 the varnish one is likely to shift the glazing. 
 Again, Paul Veronese had the habit of painting 
 blue draperies for the most part in water-colour, 
 and for this reason there is danger in cleaning 
 his work. ‘Terburg and Metsu are also difficult 
 to clean, because their pictures are generally 
 very delicately painted. 
 
 Perhaps of all pictures those of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds are the most hazardous to clean, be- 
 cause this artist was always experimenting, so 
 much so that he would destroy pictures in order 
 to learn how they were painted. Sir Joshua 
 also made abundant use of copal varnish and 
 bitumen; so did Sir David Wilkie use these 
 two substances, but in a more skilful manner. 
 Haydon is said to have rushed at his canvases 
 
16 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 with brushes brimming with asphaltum; and 
 it is quite possible that Turner got some of his 
 effects by similar methods and by toning and 
 glazing. When Turner was asked what he 
 mixed with his colours he answered, ‘‘ Brains.”’ 
 In cleaning pictures it is necessary to use brains 
 —and plenty. 
 
 From this we see that the care required in 
 picture-cleaning is enormous and meticulous ; 
 and that one can very easily damage a picture 
 through rudimentary methods or lack of the 
 necessary chemical knowledge of the pigments 
 and solvents to be used in the process of 
 solving and restoration. 
 
 In this connection one is inevitably drawn 
 to the question whether a picture sent for reno- 
 vation really emanates not alone from the artist, 
 but even from the period to which it is attri- 
 buted. While the office of the restorer is re- 
 stricted to the work set before him he has for 
 several reasons to verify the pigments used in 
 the original painting. First of all, the pigments 
 used in the original picture may or may not 
 have been ground-in and mixed the ordinary 
 way. When I say the ordinary way I mean that 
 they have been mixed in the grinding for the 
 purpose of obtaining a colour or a tint. Some 
 
CLEANING PICTURES 17 
 
 of these, thanks in a large measure to the varnish 
 rather than the medium, have become compara- 
 tively permanent, but when the restorer has to 
 cover “ bald ” pieces or “ work up ”’ the colour or 
 pigments which are dull, the question arises what 
 pigments may be used with safety and due regard 
 to permanence on the portion to be restored. 
 Chemical affinity and chemical reaction are 
 still problems that puzzle the wisest, and my 
 opinion, borne out by the experience of more 
 than forty years, is that there is practically no 
 chemical test which can be applied that will 
 solve the difficulty. There were pigments, and 
 many of them, used by the older masters, which 
 were practically permanent, for it must be under- 
 stood that no colour is really permanent. But 
 although we take two colours, each of which is 
 permanent in itself, our trouble is that when 
 super-imposed, chemical action sets in and 
 renders one or both of them more or less fugi- 
 tive. This is a phenomenon that no amount of 
 writing could explain, nor can experience ex- 
 plain it, but to the man who has handled 
 thousands of pictures, there comes an additional 
 “sense ” from experience which shows him how 
 to treat them. It may be, and indeed often 
 happens, that one has to make a good many 
 Cc 
 
18 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 experiments with the margins of a picture before 
 dealing with the body of it. Sometimes these 
 experiments for finding what emollients to use 
 can be made with the various solvents, but more ~ 
 often than not a microscopical examination of a 
 section of the pigment is necessary before it is 
 safe to start work. 
 
 Where pictures submitted to me have been 
 experimented upon I invariably discover that 
 they have been tried either in the middle or 
 some prominent part with methylated spirits, 
 soap powder, ammonia or some other strong 
 alkali which has not only removed the varnish 
 but frequently some of the paint. 
 
 Let me now give a hint or two concerning the 
 method of friction, which some consider the 
 safer process, because you lift the varnish by 
 raising it in a palimpsest of white dust, and as 
 long as the dust rises white you are safe. To 
 some extent this is true, but you must be very 
 careful how far you go and you must know 
 where to stop, for if the process is carried too 
 far the paint begins to lift, as you will discover 
 by putting the smallest quantity of the white 
 dust under a microscope. Here is where experi- 
 ence comes in, for a skilful restorer with his eyes 
 shut can tell by the very sensitive tips of his 
 
CLEANING PICTURES | 19 
 
 fingers when he has gone far enough. One 
 grand thing to remember is, don’t “ skin ” your 
 picture ; in other words, don’t remove quite all 
 the varnish if you wish to preserve the glazings 
 and tones or coup de maitre of the artist. Care- 
 fulness in this respect saves much after-work 
 in the matter of retouching. 
 
 In order to clean a picture varnished with 
 mastic the restorer takes a little powdered resin 
 and, dipping the tip of the second and third 
 fingers into the resin dust, so that a very small 
 portion adheres, proceeds to rub gently the top 
 left-hand corner of the picture with a circular 
 movement of the finger-tips. He gradually 
 works right across the picture, then reverses 
 the movement and comes back again to the 
 starting place, continuing the process till the 
 whole surface of the picture has been gone over 
 and all the surface dirt and varnish has been 
 removed. The dust is then brushed off and the 
 picture wiped with turpentine. If the process 
 has been done carefully and thoroughly the 
 picture will be found to be perfectly clean and 
 all that now remains necessary is to revarnish it. 
 
 It may often happen that a picture has suffered 
 by its travels and got scratched, or after we have 
 removed the varnish blemishes appear beneath 
 
20 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 the varnish. In such cases it is impossible to 
 do without a certain amount of retouching, 
 inasmuch as almost every old picture has been 
 more or less injured, and cleaning necessarily 
 renders such injuries apparent. Indeed, it is 
 doubtful if there are many pure pictures in the 
 world by the older masters; that is, pictures 
 that have not undergone some more or less 
 injurious process. Even in the actual lifetime 
 of Paul Veronese (1528-1588), Boschini says 
 some of his pictures had been injured by inju- 
 dicious cleaning. 
 
 Remarkable skill has been shown by some 
 artists at Rome in restoring the touch of the 
 original master so as to deceive the most com- 
 petent judges of art, but on the whole cleaning 
 and restoring abroad is less carefully performed 
 than in England. 
 
 As to the relining of pictures, this is really a 
 craft by itself, and a good English reliner in my 
 humble opinion has no equal; his work is 
 invariably clean, neat, thorough, and above all 
 his charges are moderate, so much so that it is 
 far the better plan to give out any relining work 
 than attempt to do it oneself. I might add that 
 in very bad cases of damage to oil paintings, as 
 for instance their falling from the wall and the 
 
CLEANING PICTURES 21 
 
 back of a chair going right through them, it is 
 well to have them doubly lined. 
 
 After relining and before attempting to lay 
 any colour or retouching upon an oil painting, 
 one must carefully fill up with “ stopping ”’ all 
 flaws, cracks, etc.; for if this be not done the 
 blemishes are bound to show no matter how 
 carefully touched in. Where the injury is a 
 large hole or a piece of the canvas missing, the 
 damage can be made good with a patch of old 
 canvas which should be carefully cut to fit into 
 the damaged part. When these points are 
 accomplished, proceed to prime the “ stoppings,”’ 
 that is roughly match in patches or damage with 
 the colours of the surrounding parts to serve 
 as a groundwork for the succeeding retouching. 
 Sufficient time must be allowed for the “stop- 
 ping,” etc., to dry, according to the state of the 
 weather ; from two to three days will generally 
 be sufficient. The work is then ready for re- 
 touching. As this can seldom be done at one 
 painting, no second retouching of colour ought 
 ever to be applied till the former is perfectly dry. 
 
 For “ stopping ”’ some restorers use whiting 
 and boiled oil, others whiting with patent size, 
 but of all stoppings I prefer one made of about 
 equal quantities of whiting and flake white. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 
 
 N the last chapter the method of removing 
 
 varnish was described; let us in this deal 
 with the method of revarnishing a picture. 
 Before doing so it would be as well to give some 
 account of the various varnishes in use. 
 
 A varnish to be really good, ought to be 
 limpid, brilliant, transparent, and durable. The | 
 durability of a varnish is its greatest and rarest 
 excellence. 
 
 The foundation of all varnishes are gummy 
 and resinous substances ; and the only liquids 
 that can be combined with them, so as to form 
 varnishes, are oils, and spirit of wine. 
 
 The principal gums and resins used for 
 varnishes are copal, shellac, and mastic. The 
 solvents chiefly employed are spirits of wine 
 and spirits of turpentine. | 
 
 Speaking generally spirits of turpentine are 
 always good in proportion to their inflammability 
 
 —that which burns most readily being the best. 
 22 
 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 23 
 
 The smell, too, of the inferior kind is more 
 unpleasant and less powerful than that of the 
 better sort. When doubts are entertained as 
 to its purity, pour about two tablespoonfuls into 
 a saucer, and place it to evaporate in the sun, 
 which it ought to do entirely in the course of 
 two or three hours ; if a greasy sticky residuum 
 is left, it is a proof that the turpentine is adul- 
 terated, or not sufficiently rectified, and ought 
 to be rejected. 
 
 Mastic is a resinous substance, the product 
 of the tree Pistacia Lentiscus, a native of the 
 Levant, and particularly abundant in the island 
 of Chios. It is obtained by making transverse 
 incisions in the trunks and branches of the trees, 
 whence the mastic slowly exudes. The best 
 is in the form of dry, brittle, yellowish, trans- 
 parent tears; it is nearly inodorous, except 
 when heated, and then it has an agreeable 
 odour; chewed it is almost insipid, feeling at 
 first gritty, and ultimately soft; it is used in 
 medicine, but its virtues are trifling. Mastic 
 resin dissolved in boiling alcohol and in spirits 
 of turpentine yields a tender and glossy varnish 
 which is largely used for varnishing oil paintings, 
 but this varnish yellows with age, and becomes 
 cracked and fissured. 
 
24. PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Mastic varnish is usually prepared by dis- 
 solving the mastic resin in spirits of turpentine. 
 In order to prevent the mastic from agglutinat- 
 ing, warm powdered glass, or warm fine white 
 quartz sand, may be added to the resin before 
 it is mixed with the solvent. 
 
 Sir Arthur H. Church, late Professor of 
 Chemistry at the Royal Academy, says the fol- 
 lowing recipe gives a varnish which contains 
 nearly 25 per cent. of its weight of mastic, 
 but the proportion may easily be increased or 
 diminished. 
 
 I4 ozs. of mastic. 
 44 ozs. of spirit of turpentine. 
 6 ozs. of powdered glass, or fine sand. 
 
 When the mastic has dissolved the varnish is 
 allowed to cool, and then poured off into a closed 
 glass vessel, in which it is allowed to rest until 
 perfectly clear. Or it may be cleared by 
 filtering through a plug of dried cotton fitted 
 into a funnel. The funnel should be covered 
 with a glass plate for the purpose of preventing 
 any escape of vapour during the process of 
 filtration. 
 
 The varnish prepared according to the above 
 recipe is nearly colourless, and leaves a brilliant 
 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 25 
 
 glassy surface. But this surface is very brittle, 
 and easily rubbed by gentle friction with the 
 finger ; in fact, it consists of little more than the 
 original mastic resin, the fragility of which is 
 well known. To get over this brittleness, 
 various remedies have been devised. Some- 
 times, Venice turpentine, Canada balsam, or 
 Elemi resin is introduced in small quantities, not 
 exceeding one-seventh in weight of the mastic 
 used. In consequence of such admixture of a 
 natural soft turpentine, the varnish produced 
 dries more slowly, and leaves a less brittle and 
 tougher surface. Ultimately, however, these 
 balsams become brittle like mastic itself. This 
 remedy is, therefore, of a temporary character, 
 but, at the same time, these additions do not 
 interfere with the ease with which the varnish, 
 when old and discoloured, can be removed from 
 a painting by means of solvents or of friction, 
 without injuring the glazing pigments and 
 colours which may be immediately below it; 
 they also render the varnish easier of application. 
 
 Many other substances, such as fixed oils 
 and liquid paraffins, have been recommended 
 to toughen a spirit varnish. In many French 
 mastic varnishes camphor is introduced. The 
 camphor, however, gradually escapes by volatil- 
 
26 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 isation, the varnish losing its lustre, and becom- 
 ing brittle and fissured. It has also been recom- 
 mended to employ oil of spike lavender instead 
 of oil of turpentine in making mastic varnish, 
 but the only advantage is that the varnish thus 
 prepared shows less tendency to ‘‘ bloom ”’ than 
 the ordinary kind. 
 
 Copal, improperly called gum copal, is a 
 singular kind of resin that exudes naturally from 
 different large trees, and is imported partly from 
 America, and partly from the East Indies. The 
 best copal is hard and brittle, in rounded lumps 
 of a moderate size, easily reducible to a fine 
 powder, of a light lemon yellow colour, beauti- 
 fully transparent, but often, like amber, con- 
 taining parts of insects and other small ex- 
 traneous bodies in its substance. It has neither 
 the solubility in water common to gums nor the 
 solubility in alcohol common to resins, at least 
 in any considerable degree. It may be dis- 
 solved by digestion in drying linseed oil and 
 other volatile menstrua. ‘This solution forms a 
 transparent varnish, which, when properly 
 applied, and slowly dried, is very hard and very 
 durable. Much of the copal varnish of com- 
 merce is not made from true copal or animé at 
 all, Cowry, or Kauri-pine resin (Maori name 
 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 27 
 
 for the tree Agathis australis, formerly Dammara 
 australis), which is much easier to dissolve, being 
 employed instead—the product, however, is 
 decidedly inferior. Sir Arthur H. Church tells 
 us that sometimes several resins are mixed 
 together in the preparation of a so-called copal 
 varnish. A guarantee of genuineness, in which 
 the name or names and proportions of the resin 
 or resins employed is inserted, should always be 
 demanded when buying copal varnish. The 
 various copal-like resins employed in varnishes 
 to prevent brittleness and cracking all vary 
 much in composition and properties, although 
 they resemble one another in their solubility. 
 They are, however, on the whole, unsatisfactory 
 resins, and so far as picture varnishing is con- 
 cerned the “best picture mastic ”’ is the proper 
 varnish to use. 
 
 During the late war it was very difficult to 
 procuremany chemicals used in restoration work, 
 and when one did get even small quantities they 
 were very frequently sophisticated, so much so 
 that to render them fit for use one had to resort 
 to various expedients. ‘The following is one 
 to increase the strength of common rectified 
 spirits of wine, so as to make it equal to that of 
 the best. Take a pint of the common spirits 
 
28 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 and put it into a bottle, of which it will only 
 fill about three-quarters. Add to it half an 
 ounce of pearl-ash or salt of tartar, powdered as 
 much as possible. Shake the mixture fre- 
 quently for about half an hour, when a consider- 
 able thick sediment will be separated from the 
 spirits, and will appear along with the undis- 
 solved pearl-ash, or salt, at the bottom of the 
 bottle. Then pour the spirit off into another 
 bottle, being careful to bring none of the sedi- 
 ment or salt along with it. ‘To the quantity just 
 poured off, add half an ounce of pearl-ash, 
 powdered as before, and repeat the same treat- 
 ment. Continue to do this as often as you find 
 necessary, till you perceive little or no sedi- 
 ment: when this is the case, an ounce of alum 
 powdered and made hot, but not burned, must 
 be put into the spirits, and suffered to remain 
 some hours, the bottle being frequently shaken 
 during the time; after which the spirit, when 
 poured off, will be found free from all impuri- 
 ties, and equal to the best rectified spirits of 
 wine. 
 
 In varnishing, the strictest cleanliness is 
 required, and seeing that as a rule sufficient 
 care is not taken where the varnishing of pictures 
 is concerned, a few words may not be out of 
 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 20 
 
 place as to the method of procedure. In the 
 first place, before varnishing, it is well to warm 
 the canvas slightly and then, if the picture is at 
 all loose or slack, tap the wedges of the stretcher 
 so as to make it fairly taut. It also facilitates 
 the process of varnishing if the varnish be 
 slightly warmed, but above all things varnishing 
 should be done in a dry warm room free from 
 dust. | 
 
 The picture should then be gently rubbed or 
 wiped over the entire surface with an old soft 
 silk handkerchief, in order that all dust may be 
 removed. Next, take a saucer or shallow dish 
 —an old sardine tin makes an ideal varnish 
 receptacle if the edges are smoothed, and if a 
 piece of stout wire be soldered across the top 
 about a third from one end. ‘The wire not only 
 makes a standing support for the brush while 
 varnishing pictures, but is very useful for draw- 
 ing the brush across in the event of too much 
 varnish being taken up. 
 
 Before commencing to varnish slightly warm 
 the tin or saucer. Having poured out sufficient 
 varnish, take a perfectly clean brush, and dip 
 it therein sufficiently to make it moderately full. 
 Having laid your picture on a flat surface, com- 
 mence your varnishing at the top left-hand 
 
30 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 corner with a swift flat stroke of your brush 
 from left to right ; then take off your brush and 
 place it just below the point at which you began. 
 With another swift stroke sweep across the 
 picture, and so continue till the whole picture 
 is varnished over. If the operation has been 
 carefully done, a beautifully smooth coat of 
 varnish will be the result. 
 
 A very handy varnish pan may be made of 
 two empty sardine tins. Fill the lower tin with 
 dry silver sand and carefully solder the second 
 tin on top of this. When any varnishing is to 
 be done the pan is stood on the hob for a few 
 minutes to warm the sand. ‘The pan is then ~ 
 removed tothe work table and the varnish poured 
 in, and being kept warm by the sand, flows 
 readily and smoothly from the varnish brush. 
 
 Should the brush drag or not work smoothly, 
 the varnish is probably too thick and needs 
 diluting with a little turpentine. Care, how- 
 ever, should be taken in not adding too much 
 turpentine, or the work will be uneven and 
 streaky. 
 
 If after varnishing the work looks patchy, 
 uneven, or streaky, do not attempt to retouch it 
 with the brush, as it will probably only make 
 matters worse. It is much the better plan to 
 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 31 
 
 lay the picture by till it is thoroughly hard dry, 
 and then friction the varnish off and revarnish. 
 As what has just been said applies more par- 
 ticularly to fairly clean paintings, it may be 
 necessary to add a few words on the cleansing of 
 very dirty pictures. It is not advisable, as I have 
 already stated, to use alkalies on oil paintings, 
 but when the varnish is found to be encrusted 
 with dirt and the dust of ages, lukewarm soap 
 and water may be applied gently with a sponge 
 or chamois leather. Great care should be 
 taken, every time after the sponge or leather has 
 been passed over the varnish, to rinse it in clear 
 warm water, and to squeeze it thoroughly out 
 before it be again dipped into the soap and water. 
 Castile soap, which is made of olive oil, is the 
 best soap to use. 
 - And now as to brushes, in which above all 
 things cleanliness is essential. After either 
 painting or varnishing has been done every brush 
 or pencil should be washed out, thoroughly 
 rinsed in warm water, and shaped before it is 
 laid to dry. Although this involves a consider- 
 able amount of trouble, the advantages resulting 
 therefrom are many. It lengthens the life of 
 the brush and enhances its suppleness, for a 
 good hog-hair brush by frequent washings will 
 
32 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 become almost as soft as sable. Above all, 
 there is the pleasure of working with clean tools, 
 for without these good workmanship is un- 
 attainable. 
 
 Some workmen consider the thorough wash- 
 ing of brushes unnecessary, and often content 
 themselves by rinsing them in turpentine, and — 
 wiping them with a rag. ‘This is most injurious 
 to brushes, for turpentine has the effect of making 
 the bristles of a brush brittle. It is also essen- 
 tial never to let a brush get hard dry with either 
 varnish or paint in it, for it will ruin the 
 brush. 
 
 If by any chance a brush has been put away 
 without having been cleansed, and the paint or 
 varnish has got hard dry, it is not the slightest 
 use trying to remove either the paint or varnish 
 with turpentine or soap. The best method 
 is as follows. Take a fairly large gallipot and 
 put into it enough soap powder and boiling 
 water to make a very strong solution and three 
 parts fill the pot. When cool drop the brushes 
 into the solution and let them stand for two or 
 three days or such time as it takes to soften out 
 the paint or varnish. The brushes are then 
 thoroughly washed with boiling water, and 
 finally well rinsed with cold water. This is 
 
VARNISHES AND VARNISHING 33 
 
 very important, for any trace of soap left in the 
 brush will not allow painting to dry hard. 
 
 As to brushes themselves, some use a flat 
 camel-hair brush similar to those used for damp- 
 ing the paper in letter-copying books, others 
 prefer the hog-hair brush ; but if it can only be 
 obtained, an old Chinese lac brush is the best 
 of all brushes for varnishing. Such a brush 1s 
 costly, but with care will last a lifetime. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 
 
 O as to furnish a concrete example, it may 
 
 be well to describe in detail the process 
 used on the coloured varnished print here repro- 
 duced. The print in question is a portrait 
 bust of Linnzus, the Swedish naturalist. In 
 order that the state of the print may be seen, 
 we will clean one half and leave the other half 
 in statu quo. Let us take a porcelain dish such 
 as is used by photographers, or, better still, an 
 enamelled iron dish. The print being in very 
 dirty condition, both back and front, we first of 
 all take a small piece of new bread or dough and 
 rub over the back of the print in order to remove 
 as much of the dust and dirt as possible. After 
 doing this, we turn over the print and decide to 
 remove the varnish from the right-hand side. 
 Let us now take a damp sponge and wipe the 
 half of the print we have decided to clean. 
 The object of doing this is to remove anything 
 
 34 
 
CLEANED 
 
 VARNISHED PRINT HALF 
 
CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 35 
 
 that may have accumulated on the varnish, such 
 as gum, fly marks, etc. In the event of there 
 being any drops of candle grease, they should 
 be gently scraped off with the finger-nail and 
 the place should be cleaned with a pad of wool 
 dipped in turpentine. We now take our 
 enamelled dish and lay the half side of the print 
 we are to clean on the bottom of the dish, and 
 gently pour over it a small quantity of methy!l- 
 ated spirits, and with a flat broad camel-hair 
 brush (of the type already described) proceed 
 to wash the print ; after a few moments we shall 
 find that the spirit has dissolved part of the 
 varnish and become soiled a deep yellow colour. 
 The spirit should then be poured off and some 
 fresh added, while we proceed as before. After 
 several applications of fresh spirit, we shall find 
 that the varnish has dissolved and left the print, 
 and the paper has become stained with a dirty 
 yellow stain. We now take the print from the 
 bath and lay it on a piece of clean blotting-paper 
 so as to absorb any superfluous methylated 
 spirit and allow it to evaporate. While this is 
 being done, we clean the dish thoroughly, after 
 which we again lay the print in the dish and soak 
 and rinse it very thoroughly with running water. 
 At first the water will be repelled by what. 
 
36 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 remains of the spirit in the print, but after a 
 time we shall find that the running water has 
 cleared*the spirit. Our print is now ready 
 for the bleaching process. ‘Then we decide as 
 to our bleaching solution, and here arises one 
 of the difficulties of print-cleaning. ‘There are 
 many bleaching solutions in use; one called 
 Eau de favelle, or Liquor Potassz Chlorinate, 
 is made by dissolving one part of carbonate of 
 potash in eight or ten parts of water, and 
 passing chlorine gas through it till fully satur- 
 ated. Another is called Labarrague’s Disinfect- 
 ing Solution, or Liquor Sodz Chlorate, liquid 
 chloride or hypochlorite of soda. It is made as 
 follows :—Dissolve carbonate of soda, 12 ozs., 
 in 36 ozs. of distilled water, and put the solu- 
 tion into a glass vessel. Mix black oxide of 
 manganese, 4 ozs., and hydrochloric acid, 15 
 ozs., in a glass flask, with a bent tube attached 
 by means of a cork to its mouth; apply a gentle 
 heat, and with a suitable arrangement cause the 
 gas evolved to pass first through a wash-bottle 
 containing 4 ozs. of water, and then into the 
 solution of carbonate of soda, regulating heat so 
 that the gas shall be slowly but constantly intro- 
 duced. When the disengagement of chlorine 
 has ceased, transfer the solution which has 
 
ONSHIRE 
 
 S OF DE\ 
 
 CHES 
 
 A DU 
 
 GEORGIAN 
 
 zt cleaned and restored 
 
 ished p 
 
 Specimen of a vari 
 
CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 37 
 
 absorbed it to a stoppered bottle, and keep in a 
 cool and dark place. 
 
 I have given the mode of preparing the above 
 solution, but unless one is used to chemical 
 experiments, it is far preferable to obtain it 
 from a chemist, and there is no difficulty in 
 doing this, as the Liquor Sodz Chlorate is 
 used in medicine as a disinfectant, commonly 
 known as chloride of lime. It is also employed 
 as an internal remedy, and for lotions. 
 
 Perhaps the most common bleacher in use is 
 chloride of lime, sold under the name of bleach- 
 ing powder; some say it is troublesome and 
 unsatisfactory to use, but from personal experi- 
 ence I find much of a muchness with all bleach- 
 ing agents. Some prefer one, some another ; 
 care and experience are the main factors in 
 obtaining successful results. But to get back 
 to our print; having rinsed it thoroughly, we 
 will use a solution of chloride of lime, taking a 
 small quantity of this, rather weak to begin with, 
 pour it over the part we wish to clean, and watch 
 the result. The stains will gradually begin to 
 go, and after about five minutes we shall find 
 that they have become considerably lighter. 
 We then pour off the solution and put on some 
 fresh, and continue so doing till we think the 
 
38 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 print clean enough. While we are going 
 through with this process, we should continually 
 note and watch if the solution is taking any effect 
 on, or lowering the colours of, the print. If 
 they appear to be going, we should immediately 
 stop the process by pouring off the solution and 
 flooding the print with water. If the print has 
 been entirely printed in colour, there is not 
 much fear of the colour going, provided that 
 great care is taken in the cleaning process and 
 that too strong a solution is not used. It 
 sometimes happens that colour prints (particu- 
 larly sporting ones) are heightened by water- 
 colours, and when this is the case, the colours 
 are bound to lower and fade somewhat. It is, 
 therefore, always a good plan to make notes of 
 the colours before cleaning, so that when the 
 print is finished, the colours can be retouched. 
 
 Having satisfied ourselves that the print in 
 the bath is clean enough, all that remains 
 necessary is to rinse or wash it till every trace 
 of the bleaching solution has left the print. This 
 is best done by letting the water flow gently 
 over it. We then place a piece of plate glass 
 beneath the print and lifting it out of the bath, 
 allow the water to drain off. Several sheets of 
 clean blotting-paper are then spread over the 
 
CLEANING VARNISHED PRINTS 39 
 
 print, and it is gently pressed on to the plate 
 glass and placed where there is a current of air 
 to dry it gradually. It will then be found to be 
 perfectly clean and ready for sizing, which is 
 necessary if there is any re-colouring or re- 
 touching to be done. 
 
 The best size for prints is made by cutting up 
 into shreds a small piece of either parchment 
 or vellum, and letting them simmer in water 
 in an earthenware pot over a slow fire. A good 
 plan is to fit a gallipot into an ordinary glue-pot 
 in place of the receptacle for glue. If it is 
 necessary to mount the print after cleaning, a 
 good paste or mountant is made by putting a 
 small quantity of fine white flour into a basin, 
 and with a wooden spoon pressing it round the 
 sides of the basin. Into the centre of the mass 
 a sufficient quantity of water is poured, and 
 the whole is stirred to the consistency of cream, 
 and then brought to boiling point while being 
 stirred over aclear fire. ‘The paste is then stood 
 to cool, and if, while cooling, a few drops of oil 
 of cloves are added and thoroughly stirred into 
 the mass, it will keep indefinitely. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 
 
 N the last chapter cleaning a varnished print 
 
 was described. In cleansing an unvarnished 
 print, the process is similar in many respects. 
 Let us take a print that has been unprotected by 
 glass and hanging for years exposed to the 
 atmosphere of a smoking room. On examina- 
 tion, it will be found that the print has 
 become almost black or a very dark brown, and 
 is stained right through with fumes, especially 
 if it has been strained on linen and mounted 
 on a strainer. 
 
 The first proceeding is to insert a sharp 
 penknife between the linen and the strainer 
 at one of the corners and carefully run the 
 blade of the knife all round the margin of 
 the strainer. Be particular not to injure the 
 print by cutting the margin while separating 
 it from the strainer. Having separated the linen 
 from the strainer lay the print face downward 
 
 40 
 
CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 41 
 
 on a sheet of thick plate glass in the bottom of a 
 shallow tray or bath. A jugful of lukewarm 
 water is then poured over the back of the print 
 and allowed to soak just through the linen but 
 not through the print. With the thumb and 
 finger of the right hand, the corner of the linen 
 at the bottom left-hand corner of the print is 
 lifted. Holding the corner of the linen firmly 
 between the thumb and finger we lay it back on 
 the print and while pressing the corner of the 
 print on to the plate glass, we gradually draw the 
 linen from the print. If this operation is done 
 carefully, it will be found that as a rule the 
 linen peels off quite easily, leaving the paste 
 on the back of the print. 
 
 It is necessary and important, as I have said, 
 to allow just sufficient time for the water to soak 
 only through the linen, and not through the 
 print. ‘The reason for this is that if the water 
 soaks through the paste to the print, one is likely 
 to bring part of the print away with the paste. 
 It sometimes happens that the linen will not 
 come away readily ; in such cases it is the better 
 plan to give the print a prolonged soaking until 
 the linen leaves the paper easily. Having got the 
 linen off successfully, the bath is filled with cold 
 water and the print allowed to soak all night. 
 
42 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 In the morning it will be found that the paste 
 is quite soft and easily removed with a soft 
 brush. At the same time much of the stain 
 and dirt in the print will have come away in the 
 water in which the print has laid. 
 
 The print is then thoroughly rinsed and is 
 ready for the bleaching liquor. The bath is then 
 tilted and the bleaching solution poured in at 
 one end and allowed to flow evenly all over the 
 print; after rocking the bath gently backwards 
 and forwards a few times it is allowed to rest 
 for a few minutes, by which time the print will 
 be nearly clean. ‘To make quite sure of this, 
 drain the bleaching solution off and, lifting the 
 plate glass, examine the front of the print. If 
 the stains have not quite disappeared, immerse 
 the print again in the bleaching solution for a 
 short time, and if after this the stains still remain 
 pour off the solution and use a fresh lot. 
 Thorough rinsing is then given the print, as 
 soon as the stains have gone, by frequently 
 changing the water and emptying the bath 
 entirely. A gentle stream of running water is 
 then allowed to run over the back of the print 
 till all traces of paste and lime have been re- 
 moved. A good plan is to have a few feet of 
 rubber piping connected with the water tap. 
 
CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 43 
 
 The pipe is put under the plate glass at the 
 bottom of the bath, and the water then quickly 
 clears the print of allimpurities. It is a mistake 
 to suppose that the quicker the water flows the 
 quicker the print is rinsed. On the contrary, 
 a steady, slowly flowing stream is best. All the 
 applications of water should be gentle, and it is 
 a good method to tie a canvas bag filled with 
 cotton wool over the mouth of the india rubber 
 piping to safeguard any rush of water; in 
 addition to this the canvas bag will filter out 
 any foreign substance which may get into the 
 water at times when the mains are being 
 repaired. 
 
 The print being thoroughly rinsed at the back, 
 a sheet of clean paper is laid over it to enable it 
 to be lifted with safety from the plate glass. 
 The paper, with the print face upwards, is then 
 laid on the plate glass again in the bath and the 
 rinsing finished. After this has been done, the 
 glass with the paper and print upon it is lifted 
 from the bath and stood to drain and dry. If 
 all the various operations are carried out care- 
 fully, the print will when dry look bright and as 
 good as the day it was printed. No after treat- 
 ment will be necessary ; in fact, the need of any 
 after treatment is as a rule proof that some part 
 
44 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 of the process of cleaning has not been done 
 carefully, or that the chemicals used were 
 either not pure or improperly prepared. Practi- 
 cally speaking, all tap water contains some im- 
 purities. It is therefore of importance in making 
 bleaching solutions to use the purest chemicals 
 and distilled water. 
 
 As the process of distilling water on a small 
 scale is tedious, it is best to get a gallon or two 
 at the chemist’s, for the cost is very trifling. 
 It is advisable, too, to use pure chloride of lime. 
 This, when good, is a perfectly dry white 
 powder, with a faint smell of chlorine gas. If 
 kept in a damp place it absorbs moisture, feels 
 clammy to the touch, and smells more strongly, 
 becoming at the same time rapidly deteriorated. 
 It should, when fresh, contain on an average 
 35 per cent. of available chlorine. If badly 
 made, or kept too long, it frequently falls far 
 below this standard. The value of a sample 
 can only be satisfactorily judged by chemical 
 analysis, so-called “practical” tests being 
 fallacious. 
 
 Now as to a question that has often been put 
 me, ‘‘ What should be the percentage of chlorine 
 in a bleaching solution, and how is one to know 
 its strength?’ The following method may be 
 
CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 45 
 
 used :—A standard test-liquor is prepared by 
 dissolving 100 grains of pure arsenious acid 
 at a very gentle heat, in pure hydrochloric acid. 
 When dissolved, distilled water is added, so as 
 to make up a volume of 10 fluid ounces. Each 
 ounce represents, of course, Io grains of 
 arsenious acid. 
 
 To test a sample of bleaching powder, 100 
 grains are fairly taken and rubbed well up in a 
 porcelain mortar with a little distilled water. 
 It is gradually rinsed into a measuring glass, 
 and sufficient water added to make up 2,000 
 grain measures. ‘I'he mixture is well stirred up 
 and a burette, i.e. a graduated glass tube with a 
 small aperture and stop-cock for delivering 
 measured quantities of liquid, filled therewith. 
 Each degree of the burette contains, of course, 
 one-half grain of bleaching powder. A fluid 
 ounce of the arsenic solution is now put into a 
 beaker glass, and coloured distinctly, but not 
 strongly blue, with a little sulphate of indigo. 
 The solution of bleaching powder is now gradu- 
 ally and carefully dropped into the arsenic 
 liquor, with constant stirring, till the blue colour 
 disappears. ‘The number of degrees required 
 for this purpose represents exactly 7-17 of avail- 
 able chlorine, and as each degree contains one- 
 
46 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 half grain of bleaching powder, the amount of 
 chlorine in 100 grains is readily calculated. 
 Thus, suppose 20 degrees of the burette have 
 been consumed, then 20: 100 = 7:17: 35°85, 
 the percentage of available chlorine contained in 
 the sample under examination. 
 
 While on the question of chemicals, I might 
 add a few words concerning acetic acid. ‘This 
 acid is prepared for manufacturing purposes by 
 submitting wood to destructive distillation, 
 whence its other names of pyroligneous acid, 
 wood vinegar, etc. A clever amateur restorer, 
 writing to tell me of three prints he had cleaned, 
 ‘““in the same bath at the same time,” says he 
 found that two of the prints dried in splendid 
 surface, while the other was seriously marred by 
 a floury deposit. While giving acetic acid as a 
 remedy for the evil, my correspondent says that 
 a jug of water poured over the surface of the 
 print completed the operation. He then adds, 
 ‘“ As the acid passes over the affected print a 
 ‘ sissing ’ and ‘ fizzling’ occurs; this is merely 
 the action of the acid driving the lime out of 
 the print.” 3 
 
 A word or two of caution is necessary here. 
 In the first place it is not wise to have more than 
 
CLEANING AN UNVARNISHED PRINT 47 
 
 one print in the bath at a time; the “ floury 
 deposit ”’ shows that the bleaching solution was 
 not properly prepared by the fact of the lime 
 being precipitated on the print. The effer- 
 vescence is the disengagement of gases caused 
 by the precipitate of the lime uniting with the 
 acetic acid. It is therefore absolutely neces- 
 sary to give the print more than a mere jugful 
 of water; indeed it should be rinsed very 
 thoroughly in order that every trace of lime and 
 acetic acid be removed. If this is not done, 
 the print is likely to lose its texture and eventually 
 gorotten. Should the “ floury deposit ”’ appear 
 on an India print, an application of acid would 
 probably bring the India paper away from its 
 mount. So, too, with certain kinds of Japanese 
 paper; the textures would be destroyed. 
 
 Like others, my correspondent assigns the 
 superiority to ‘“‘ liquor sodz chlorate” as a 
 bleacher, but, after all, there is not much differ- 
 ence “ ’twixt tweedledum and tweedledee,”’ for 
 liquor sodz chlorate is merely a solution of 
 chloride of lime and carbonate of soda (wide 
 Chapter IV). | 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 
 
 HE cleaning and restoration of water- 
 
 colour drawings is beset with difficulties, 
 so much so that to those about to undertake it 
 one might offer ‘“‘ Punch’s ”’ advice to those about 
 to marry. I will, however, give a few notes 
 as to the process. 
 
 The mode of procedure is much the same as 
 for coloured prints in so far as preliminaries 
 are concerned ; that is to say,-all surface dirt 
 and dust should be removed with a piece of 
 new bread or dough. Some recommend bottle - 
 india rubber; but either bread or dough is 
 preferable, because the friction caused by pass- 
 ing the rubber over the surface of the paper is 
 apt to leave a slight trace or smudge thereon, 
 and is liable to make the particular part of the 
 paper where it occurs slightly water-proof and 
 impervious to the action of the water we are 
 about to use on it. B the water-colour is 
 
 4 
 
CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 49 
 
 mounted, the first thing to do is to get the 
 drawing off the mount. If on a thick card- 
 board, get a thin paper-knife and work it gently 
 between some of the layers of the cardboard, 
 gradually reducing the thickness of the mount, 
 till it is of only one or two layers, or sheets, 
 as they are called. When this is accomplished, 
 if the drawing has been mounted with any of 
 the numerous pastes, turn it face downwards 
 on a clean sheet of white blotting-paper, and 
 thoroughly damp the back of the cardboard 
 with a sponge; the object of this is to get the 
 water to penetrate the mount somewhat without 
 getting the face of the drawing wet. Next lay 
 the drawing face upwards on a piece of thick 
 plate glass, and place it in the bath, with just 
 sufficient water to soak through the cardboard 
 without wetting the face of the drawing. 
 Should, however, the face of the drawing get 
 wet in this early stage of operations, either 
 soak up the water with a piece of clean blotting- 
 paper or gently flood the drawing with water 
 and lift it out of the bath on the plate glass to 
 drain off nearly dry. After this, immerse the 
 back of the mount again in the bath till the 
 paste yields. In no case force, hasten, or try 
 
 to pull the drawing off before the mount is 
 E 
 
50 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 soaked sufficiently. If at all stubborn, holding 
 the mount against the jet of steam issuing from 
 a kettle of boiling water will sometimes soften 
 the paste and hasten matters. 
 
 When the drawing has been got off the 
 mount, lay it again on a sheet of clean blotting- 
 paper, face downwards, and with a sponge 
 remove all traces of paste, gum, or whatever 
 mountant has been used. The drawing is now 
 ready for the bath, and should be put in face 
 downwards on the plate glass, pressing it into 
 contact with the glass by the aid of the blotting- 
 paper. Then the drawing is gently flooded 
 with running water by a piece of india rubber 
 tubing connected with the tap. After a short 
 time stains and spots will gradually vanish ; 
 this can be seen by taking the water-colour out 
 of the bath and looking at it through the plate 
 glass. 
 
 More often than not, the stains, spots, or 
 blemishes proceed either from impurities in 
 the cardboard or the paste. When these have 
 been removed the stains go with them while 
 washing the back of the drawing with running 
 water. The drawing should then be lifted 
 from the bath, transferred to a clean sheet of 
 white blotting-paper, and allowed to dry quickly 
 
CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 51 
 
 by laying it near a draught of air; it will then 
 be seen if any spots or stains are left. If any 
 remain, the drawing should be again flooded 
 with water as above mentioned, and while it is 
 thoroughly damp the spots should be touched 
 with a brush full of one or the other bleaching 
 solutions mentioned in a previous chapter. If 
 it is a case of ink stain or rust, a saturated solu- 
 tion of oxalic acid may be used; but with your 
 brush only touch the parts stained, and remember 
 that oxalic acid is very powerful and poisonous, 
 and should be used with great care and caution 
 if used at all. Directly it is seen that the 
 stains are disappearing, do not wait until they 
 are quite bleached out, but flush and gently 
 rinse the drawing till all trace of the acid is 
 gone, which you can easily see by dipping a 
 small piece of litmus paper in the water. If 
 the drawing has been carefully washed, it will 
 be found on drying that all traces of stains have 
 disappeared, except, perhaps, that the parts 
 which were spotted are lighter in tone than 
 the surrounding parts, and may need retouching 
 with colour, or what is termed stippling in. 
 Upon this process depends much of the success of 
 the restoration by painstaking endeavour to 
 adjust and restore, so far as possible, any 
 
52 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 missing parts with the touch of the original 
 artist. I fear some restorers regard these 
 things as subordinate to the primary necessity 
 of “ getting the job done.” The mechanical 
 nature of restoration work is tiresome, but one 
 must discipline oneself into a uniformity of 
 routine. Endless stippling may be a regrettable 
 necessity, but it is a necessity because essential 
 to success. 
 
 As I have said, much of the success of 
 restoration depends on stippling. In executing 
 this process, delicacy of touch is required, and 
 one must proceed with the greatest care, with- 
 out growing impatient of the slowness of the 
 process, for it will be easier to repeat touches, 
 however frequent, than to remove the effects 
 of too hasty work. To acquire a correct 
 method of stippling or spotting, there is no 
 better guide than the study of good stipple 
 engravings. ‘The same advantage may be gained 
 for the process of hatching by studying good 
 line engravings; the difference being that 
 instead of spots in the former, in the latter 
 fine lines are used. 
 
 Take care not to place the lines or spots too 
 closely together, but equally apart, repeating 
 the process and filling in any irregularity of 
 
CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 53 
 
 touch as may be necessary; moreover every 
 touch must become perfectly dry before it will 
 bear strengthening by repetition. These re- 
 touchings should be applied with a skilful 
 delicate touch, or a coarse patchy effect will 
 result. In no other way than by this process, 
 when well executed, can the missing parts of 
 a water-colour be made good. Should any 
 part of the hatching appear too prominent it 
 may be softened down with a clean brush 
 dipped in water and wiped out nearly dry on a 
 pad of blotting-paper, and the part touched 
 down to the modified tone needed; for in all 
 stippling or hatching, the brush should be 
 nearly dry of colour. If the strokes, spots, or 
 dots are put on with too full a brush they will 
 dry with a hard and very unsightly edge. 
 As the brilliancy and delicacy of a water- 
 colour more or less depends on the clearness, 
 transparency, and purity of the colours, to this 
 end it is advisable to have a simple palette of 
 reliable colours in tubes. The cake colours 
 made by the good old-fashioned firms are, 
 I think, preferable to colours in tubes; and 
 for this reason, that capsules of colour either 
 dry up or get what is termed livery, whereas 
 the cake colours last a lifetime. It is quite 
 
54 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 unnecessary to get half the colours usually 
 recommended; indeed, the fewer and purer 
 the colours used, the more brilliant as a rule 
 will be the result. 
 
 The following may be mentioned as sufficient 
 for all practical purposes. They have the 
 charm of working well, are for the most part 
 reliable, and moreover possess the inestimable 
 advantages of mixing thoroughly the one with 
 the other. Ivory-black is the richest and most 
 transparent of all the blacks, and is perfectly 
 durable. As, chemically speaking, ivory-black 
 is an animal charcoal, it is better not to bring 
 it in contact with vegetable or mineral pig- 
 ments. I might here mention, as a general 
 rule, that all water-colours should be kept as 
 pure and transparent as possible; brushes 
 should be washed out until they are scrupulously 
 clean. before mixing any tints; let all colours 
 be laid on as clearly as possible, and in washes 
 of colour, should it be necessary to go over 
 the ground again, avoid doing so till the first 
 wash be perfectly dry. 
 
 In mixing colours or tints blue-black and 
 lamp-black should be used, instead of ivory- 
 black. Lamp-black is not quite so intense and 
 
FRANCIS 7TH EARL OF NEWBURGH 
 
 Specimen of a black lead pencil drawing cleaned and restored 
 
CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 55 
 
 transparent as ivory-black. It covers readily 
 every underlay of colour, and works well; but 
 being a dense solid pigment, it should be used 
 sparingly to avoid heaviness. Blue-black is of 
 weaker body than ivory-black or lamp-black, 
 -and consequently better suited for many pur- 
 poses, especially in landscapes, where a black 
 and sooty effect is to be avoided. Black lead 
 or plumbago, which has only in recent years 
 been employed as a pigment in water-colours, 
 and may be effectively used in retouching 
 pencil drawings, has no action on any colour, 
 and is very endurable. As browns are very 
 numerous, and are almost without exception of 
 great durability, one can select according to 
 taste. Brown madder, however, affords the 
 richest description of shadows, and is especially 
 indispensable. It is, like all the madder pig- 
 ments, very permanent, dries well, and works 
 very pleasantly. Burnt umber, a quiet brown, 
 works and washes well, and is perfectly stable. 
 Bistre, a very powerful citrine brown, is useful 
 for architectural subjects. It is perfectly dur- 
 able, but has a tendency to condense the 
 moisture of the atmosphere. It does not wash 
 well—that is to say, succeeding washes disturb 
 each other. Olive green, sometimes called 
 
56 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Dewint’s green, is fairly safe, but, generally 
 speaking, is more beautiful than durable, and 
 turns brown in a moist atmosphere. Cobalt 
 blue, though not possessing the body, depth, 
 and transparency of ultramarine, works better. 
 It resists the action of light, but its beauty 
 deteriorates by time, and is ultimately blackened 
 by impure air. Cobalt does not injure or 
 suffer injury from other pigments. ‘Terre verte, 
 or green earth, is a very useful bluish green, 
 not bright or powerful, but very durable, being 
 unaffected by strong light or impure air, and 
 combines safely with other colours. Raw 
 Sienna has more body and transparency than 
 the ochres, and is not liable to change by the 
 action of either light, time, or impure air. 
 Oxide of chromium affords a sober sage green ; 
 mixed with white, it yields very delicate and 
 pleasing tints. Being deep-toned, it must be 
 employed with care to avoid heaviness, and it 
 does not wash very well. French blue, or 
 French ultramarine, is a safe and generally 
 useful colour. Naples yellow possesses the 
 advantages of being perfectly durable and 
 trustworthy. What is now sold as Naples 
 yellow is a compound pigment, and may be 
 accurately imitated by mixing deep. cadmium 
 
CLEANING WATER-COLOUR DRAWINGS 57 
 
 yellow with white. Ultramarine ash works 
 and washes much better than genuine ultra- 
 marine and gives very delicate tints. 
 
 As a variety of colours is more a matter of 
 choice than of necessity, the above list can be 
 added to, but in doing so it should be borne 
 in mind that the following colours cannot be 
 relied upon to withstand daylight for any 
 length of time, either used alone or in mix- 
 ture, Prussian blue, indigo, gamboge, brown 
 pink, bistre, purple madder, carmine, crimson, 
 olive lake, and scarlet lake. Antwerp blue is 
 paler and less permanent than Prussian. King’s 
 yellow, or orpiment, a bright yellow, zs not 
 durable and, moreover, is a very deadly potson. 
 Pure scarlet is of all pigments the most dazzling 
 and fugitive. As a landscape colour it is of no 
 use, although for some flowers nothing can 
 approach it; but its beauty is almost as elusive 
 as the scarlet pimpernel, and should have no 
 place on the palette. 
 
 In oil-colours vermilion should not be 
 mixed with white lead on account of the 
 sulphur which it contains. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 
 
 HERE are but three primitive colours—that 
 
 is three colours only which cannot be com- 
 pounded of other colours; namely, red, blue 
 and yellow. With these three colours every 
 tint and shade in nature (except white) may be 
 imitated. With red, blue and yellow, the 
 painter can, on a white ground, represent the 
 bloom of health, and the pallor of disease; 
 the verdure and flowers of spring, and the 
 barren landscape of December, when 
 
 ‘“‘ The cherished fields 
 
 Put on their winter robe of purest white.” 
 
 It was formerly supposed that there were 
 seven primitive colours, but Sir David Brewster 
 has proved with regard to the colours of the 
 prism, that three of the other colours are formed 
 by the over-lapping of the three primitives, 
 
 and the seventh by the mixture of darkness or 
 58 | 
 
COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 59 
 
 shade with the blue. In this manner the over- 
 lapping or blending of the red ray with the 
 yellow produces orange, the over-lapping of 
 the yellow ray with the blue produces green, 
 and the over-lapping of the blue ray with the 
 red ray produces violet or purple. ‘This may 
 
 Orange 
 Red. -Yellow 
 ‘Violet a G een. 
 
 Fic. I. 
 
 perhaps be rendered clear by the agra, 
 (Fig. 1.) - 
 
 Let the Per itorerice of the circle be divided 
 into six equal parts, and marked a, b,c, d, e, f. 
 Let the spaces a, b, c, be coloured yellow, 
 c, d, e, blue, and e, f, a, red. It will then be 
 seen that the space a is coloured orange by the 
 over-lapping of the red and yellow, the space c 
 
60 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 is coloured green by the over-lapping of the 
 yellow and blue, and the space e is coloured 
 violet or purple by the over-lapping of blue 
 and red. ‘These three colours, orange, green, 
 and violet or purple, are called secondary colours, 
 because they are each composed of two 
 primitives. 
 
 On looking again at the diagram, it will be 
 seen that the space opposite to each of the 
 primitives is filled by one of the secondaries 
 composed of the other two primitives; red, 
 for instance, is found to be exactly opposite to 
 green, which is composed of blue and yellow ; 
 yellow is opposite to violet, which is composed 
 of red and blue; and blue is opposite to orange, 
 which is composed of red and yellow. 
 
 It appears to be a law in the science of the 
 harmonious contrast of colours, that when the 
 attention of the eye has been directed stead- 
 fastly upon a colour (either primitive or secon- 
 dary) there is a tendency in the organ to see the 
 colour which in the diagram is directly opposite 
 to it, whether it is actually present or not. If, 
 for instance, a red disk is placed on a sheet of 
 white paper, and the eyes are steadily fixed 
 on it for some time, the red disk will appear to 
 be surrounded by a narrow and very pale circle 
 
COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 61 
 
 of green, or if the eyes, after looking attentively 
 at a red disk, be directed to another part of the 
 paper, and the disk withdrawn, a pale green 
 image of the disk will be perceived. Green, 
 therefore, is said to be the complementary 
 colour to red, because the eye, after looking 
 fixedly at the red (one of the primitive colours), 
 sees an image or spectrum composed of the 
 other two primitive colours which together 
 make green. In like manner the spectrum 
 produced by blue is orange, and by yellow is 
 purple. Nor is this phenomenon limited to 
 the primitive colours only, it takes place also 
 with regard to the secondaries, and even to 
 what are called the broken colours; thus red is 
 complementary to green, yellow to purple, 
 and blue to orange. This will be understood 
 by reference to the diagram. The colours 
 thus opposed to each other are called comple- 
 mental or complementary, and sometimes com- 
 pensating colours. In every case, these are the 
 most beautiful and harmonious contrasts of 
 colours. 
 
 It will readily be understood that the grada- 
 tions of colour between each of the primitives 
 may be very numerous, by the mixture of more ~ 
 or less of the neighbouring colours. The 
 
62 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 gradations are, in fact, so numerous, that it 
 is impossible to name them all. Pure yellow, 
 for instance, inclines neither to red nor blue, 
 but if a small portion of red be added to the 
 yellow, we call it orange-yellow; if a little 
 
 Fic. 2. 
 
 blue be added to the yellow, we call it greenish- 
 yellow ; if a little more blue, it will pass into 
 yellow-green; thence to pure green; then to 
 blue green; then greenish blue to which 
 succeeds pure blue, and so on. The colour 
 which contrasts precisely with any one of these 
 
COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 63 
 
 colours will be found exactly opposite to it 
 in the circle (Fig. 2). If for example, it is 
 required to find the complementary colour 
 of orange-yellow (g) we shall find opposite to 
 it blue-purple (/); in the same manner we see 
 that yellow-green (k) is the complementary of 
 purple-red (/), and red-orange (m) of blue- 
 green (vz). By this arrangement an_ exact 
 balance of the three primitives is preserved in 
 all the contrasts, and the result is perfectly 
 harmonious. 
 
 From the mixture in unequal proportions 
 of the three primitives, or of the secondaries 
 with each other, or with the primitives, other 
 colours are formed which are variously termed 
 tertiaries, quartiaries, and semi-neutrals, and to 
 which various specific names are given; such 
 as citrine, which may be composed of orange 
 and green ; olive, composed of purple and green; 
 and russet, composed of orange and purple. 
 To these may be added brown, slate, marrone, 
 straw-colour, salmon-colour, and others of a 
 similar nature, which from the fact that all three 
 of the primitives enter into their composition, 
 may be denominated broken colours. 
 
 Harmony of colour is of several kinds; it 
 will be sufficient for our present purpose to 
 
64 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 allude to two kinds only, namely, harmony of 
 analogy and harmony of contrast. ‘The term 
 harmony of analogy is applied to that arrange- 
 ment in which the colours succeed each other 
 in the order in which they occur in the prism, 
 and the eye is led in progressive steps, as it 
 were, through three or more distinct colours, 
 from yellow, through orange, to scarlet and 
 deep red, or from yellow, through green to 
 blue, dark blue and black, or vice versa. ‘The 
 same term is also applied to the succession of 
 three or more different tints or shades of the 
 same colour. The harmony of contrast is 
 applied to combinations of two or more colours, 
 which are contrasted with each other, according 
 to the laws of which we have spoken. In the 
 first kind of harmony the effects are softer 
 and more mellow, in the second more bold and 
 striking. 
 
 Nature affords us examples of both kinds of 
 harmony, but those of the harmony of analogy 
 are most abundant. Of the more brilliant 
 examples of the last kind of harmony is the 
 beautiful succession of colours in the clouds at 
 sunset or sunrise. Of a more sober kind is 
 that which prevails in landscapes, where the 
 blue colour of the hills in the distance changes 
 
COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 65 
 
 as it advances towards the foreground through 
 olive and every variety of cool and warm green 
 to the sandy bank glowing with yellow, orange, 
 or red ochreous hues at our feet. In both 
 cases force, animation, and variety are given 
 by the occasional introduction of contrasts of 
 colours. In the sky the golden colour is con- 
 trasted with purple; the glowing red, or rose 
 colour, with pale green; the blue sky of the 
 zenith and eastern hemisphere contrasts with 
 the orange-coloured clouds which are floating 
 before it, with the peaks of snowy mountains, 
 or the lofty towers of a cathedral standing out 
 boldly against the clear blue sky, and reflecting 
 on the sunlit crags or pinnacles the golden 
 splendour of the western hemisphere. On the 
 earth the broken and variegated green and russet 
 tints of the trees and herbage are vivified and 
 brought to a focus, sometimes by the bright 
 red garments of a traveller, sometimes by flowers 
 of the same colour scattered over the foreground. 
 
 For the sake of giving a more marked char- 
 acter to experiments on colour, they are generally 
 conducted with primitives and secondaries, 
 which in their pure state are called positive 
 colours. 
 
 Of the three primitive colours, yellow is the 
 F 
 
66 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 lightest, red the most positive, and blue the 
 coldest. Red and yellow, from their connection 
 with light and heat, are considered as warm 
 colours; blue, from its association with the 
 colour of the sky and distant objects, is said to 
 be a cool colour. Of the secondaries orange 
 is the warmest, green the medium, and violet 
 the coldest. The warm colours are also con- 
 sidered as advancing colours because they 
 appear to approach the eye, the cool colours 
 are also called retiring colours from their 
 appearing to recede from the eye. The con- 
 trast of green and red is the medium, and the 
 extreme contrast of hot and cold colours consists 
 of blue, the coldest, with orange, the warmest 
 of all colours. 
 
 Neither black nor white is considered as a 
 colour; black may be formed by the mixture 
 of the three primitives; grey consists of an 
 equal portion of black and white. When 
 black is placed in contact with any colour it 
 ceases to be neutral, and acquires by contrast 
 a tinge of the compensating colour; if, for 
 example, a piece of green silk 1s covered with 
 black lace, the black assumes by contrast 
 a reddish tint, which makes it appear rusty ; 
 for this reason the mixture of black and green 
 
COLOURS AND HOW TO BLEND THEM 67 
 
 is not pleasing. In the same manner small 
 portions of white assume the complementary 
 colour of that to which they are opposed, but 
 the general effect of a large mass of white is 
 to make colours appear more vivid and forcible. 
 
 A knowledge of the fundamental principles 
 of the harmony and contrast of colours is of 
 great use and helpful in many ways, and if any 
 readers wish further information concerning 
 the more extensive relations and philosophy of 
 colours, etc., they are referred to the very 
 excellent and valuable works on colours by 
 M. Chevreul, George Field, the Baron Frédéric 
 Portal and Mrs. Merrifield. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 MOUNTS AND MOUNTING 
 
 iA after either cleaning or restoration of a 
 print or water-colour a mount of some 
 kind is generally necessary, a few words on 
 mounts in general may be useful. A liberal 
 mount sometimes sets off a picture, but in 
 looking at the vast mounts that some artists 
 give to their water-colours, one is reminded of 
 Tom Hood’s dying joke when watching his 
 wife preparing a mustard poultice for his 
 emaciated chest; the prince of punsters said, 
 “Isn't that a lot of mustard for so little 
 meat ?”’ 
 
 Water-colours, when soft and delicate, may 
 be given a liberal amount of margin. The 
 same rule applies to photographs. ‘Those which 
 are large, strong, and decided in character 
 should be framed close up, whilst those which 
 are smaller and more delicate in style are im- 
 proved by a margin. Gold mounts are the 
 
 best possible for water-colours. If real English 
 
 gold is considered too expensive, then a plain 
 68 
 
MOUNTS AND MOUNTING 69 
 
 white surface is preferable to any Dutch metal 
 or bronze mount. 
 
 When mounting water-colours it is not 
 advisable to paste the backs entirely. The 
 better plan is to damp the back and then run 
 the paste brush all round the edges for about 
 halfaninch. The water-colour is then laid upon 
 the mount and covered with sheets of clean 
 blotting-paper, which should be occasionally 
 changed while the water-colour is drying under 
 the pressure of a sheet of plate glass or drawing- 
 board. 
 
 In mounting prints or engravings a thick 
 plate paper is preferable to cardboard, and 
 failing this, a sheet of the heaviest Whatman 
 or some other good make of drawing paper. 
 When the amount of margin to be given is 
 decided upon, the plate paper is laid on the 
 plate glass and the print is put in position, the 
 two top corners slightly marked with pencil on 
 the plate paper. Both print and plate paper 
 are then thoroughly damped with a wet sponge 
 or soft camel-hair brush, so that they may 
 stretch out. The print is then turned face 
 downwards on another sheet of blotting-paper 
 and thoroughly pasted once or twice with a 
 good paste, allowing a few moments to elapse 
 between the first and second pasting, and the 
 
70 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 print will then be ready for its mount. First 
 of all see that your hands are free from paste 
 or dirt by rinsing them in water and drying 
 them with a Turkish bath towel. Then taking 
 hold of the print by the two bottom corners, 
 gently lift it and holding it well above the plate 
 paper, gradually lower the print till the two 
 top corners touch the plate paper at the pencil 
 marks. When this has been done, carefully 
 lower the print so that it gradually lays flat 
 on the plate paper mount without a crease. 
 Next take some clean sheets of white blotting- 
 paper, and laying them over the print, press it 
 into perfect contact with the plate paper 
 mount. ‘This is best done by laying a sheet 
 of cardboard over the blotting-paper and smooth- 
 ing over the whole surface with the hands. 
 After a few moments remove the blotting-paper, 
 which will have absorbed some of the damp 
 from the print and its mount. - Replace the: 
 blotting-paper with fresh, dry sheets, and then 
 lay the sheet of cardboard over the blotting- 
 paper, with a drawing-board over the whole, 
 and some weights on top to act as a press. 
 In about an hour the pressure is taken off, and 
 the blotting-paper removed, the Gs being 
 ready for drying off. 
 
 For colour prints that have beer cut close 
 
MOUNTS AND MOUNTING 71 
 
 or have no margin, either a cut-out Whatman 
 or cream-tinted mount may be laid over them. 
 By using two large angle pieces L 1 of white 
 or cream-tinted cardboard, the effect of the 
 margin can always be seen. ‘These angle pieces 
 are also very useful in photography to decide 
 how much of a photograph should be shown, 
 for it often happens that photographic views 
 show either too much foreground or too much 
 sky, or it may be that the composition would 
 be improved by eliminating something from 
 either side; by laying these angle pieces on the 
 photograph and manipulating them by sliding 
 them one over the other, the best ‘‘ bits’ of a 
 picture are soon found and the suitable opening 
 for a cut-out mount shown. 
 
 Before I quit this subject, it will not be 
 amiss to add a list of the usual sizes of 
 drawing papers, etc., used for mounting and 
 cut-out mounts. 
 
 Inches. 
 Re ee a FO 8 
 TS re yer oy 
 Double Elephant . . . . . . 40—263 
 ee ae pe B4e— 26 
 OP kg ep BARRIS 
 Imperial. .. . We oe ee ee er 
 
 Meee yOWn =. wk 8 30-20 
 
72 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Inches. 
 Elephant . 200). 0.0) 6)) 
 Super Royal’ .). 10h). 2 
 Royal i 
 Medium... 2. 
 Demy. 00 86 00 Oy 
 Large Post...) 2.6. 
 Post.c o  K 
 Foolscap)... 02. 
 
 As regards oil paintings. The mounting of 
 these really comes under the head of relining, 
 and is best given to a professional reliner to do. 
 Still, however, as small rapid sketches in oil 
 are sometimes made on prepared oil sketching 
 paper, it may be necessary to mount these on 
 a small panel. This may be done by giving 
 the panel a coat of hot glue. When the glue 
 has cooled, the sketch should be laid upon the 
 glue. And after rubbing a little olive oil over 
 the painting, it is covered with a thin piece of 
 white paper and a warm flatiron passed gently 
 backwards and forwards over the painting. 
 The paper is then removed and the oil wiped 
 off with a piece of wadding. A fresh piece of 
 paper should then be laid on the panel and a 
 weight put on top in order that the panel 
 may not warp but dry flat. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 
 
 AVING seen it stated that “‘ it is a defect 
 
 in technical books on picture restoration 
 and print cleaning that such volumes rarely or 
 never give the antidote to common disorders 
 liable to trade processes even in the workshop 
 of the practical picture and print restorer,” I 
 purpose in this chapter to give some effective 
 antidotes to the banes of picture and print 
 restorers, together with the methods of use 
 and value of certain chemicals of consider- 
 able importance from an artistic point of view. 
 In describing them more or less in detail, I 
 will endeavour to give their practical applica- 
 tion without confusing my readers by going too 
 much into technicalities, more especially as 
 some correspondents from time to time have 
 given me formule and recipes of chemicals 
 used in art as they say “‘ without entering upon 
 the chemical’reason for the difference in results.”’ 
 
 73 
 
74 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 It may be instructive and useful to give a short 
 description of some of the properties and 
 qualities of these chemicals. Besides, it is as 
 well to know the danger attached to handling in 
 ignorance chemicals which are in everyday use. 
 
 In Chapter VI and throughout this work I 
 have condemned the use of any colours or 
 substances which contain poison, and it cannot 
 be too strongly impressed on the mind of any 
 who use them that mineral poisons of every 
 description are as effectually taken into the 
 system of the body by handling them or in- 
 haling their fumes as by actually swallowing 
 them; and that the consequences, though not © 
 so immediately fatal, are as certainly injurious. 
 Oil of turpentine, and some other substances 
 used in painting and restoring, give out fumes 
 which, though not of a poisonous nature, are 
 apt to occasion a slight feeling of nausea. To 
 remedy this, tobacco in any form is the most 
 powerful check to a substance acting to produce 
 spasms by suspending the muscular action in 
 the stomach. . 
 
 For instance, a few drops of muriatic acid, 
 diluted with a wineglassful of sugared water 
 would be harmless, but szxty drops taken 
 neat would be a fatal dose, although death 
 
ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 75 
 
 might be delayed for some weeks. Again, it 
 is positively dangerous to use this acid in a 
 room in combination with chloride of lime, 
 owing to the fumes given off while the “ siz- 
 zing,’ and “ fizzing”’ or effervescence (see 
 Chapter V) is taking place. It is not only 
 destructive to human but fatal even to plant 
 life. 
 
 This fact was brought home most unpleasantly 
 to a friend of mine who had a very large green- 
 house containing a collection of rare ferns and 
 a climbing rose tree which became infested with 
 aphis (green fly). One evening he thought he 
 would kill the green flies by fumigating them 
 with a small jar of chloride of lime in which 
 he had put some muriatic acid. After watering 
 the ferns he put the jar in the centre of the 
 greenhouse and carefully closed the place for 
 the night. The next morning the green flies 
 were dead and so was every plant in the green- 
 house. The “ sizzing’” and “ fizzing”’ had 
 done its work very thoroughly. ‘Therefore, of 
 this noxious acid one should say as Falstaff 
 said of honour and Macbeth of physic, “ I'll 
 none of it.”’ 
 
 As I have said before, I do not recommend 
 re-agents, and there is no need for them if 
 
76 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 the various bleaching solutions are made up 
 properly and purely in the first instance by a 
 chemist. 
 
 If this and other noxious acids must be used, 
 care should be taken to use them only in the 
 open air, and on no account should the bottles 
 containing them be left about. Nitric acid, 
 or aquafortis, is another dangerous acid, 
 although one of the most useful with which 
 the chemist is acquainted. It is strongly acid 
 and highly corrosive, and is much employed 
 in the arts for etching copper plates for engrav- 
 ing, and combined with muriatic acid it forms 
 aqua regia (nitro muriatic acid), used as a 
 solvent for gold, platina, etc. 
 
 The acids are a numerous and important 
 class of chemical bodies. ‘They are generally 
 sour; usually, but not always, they have a 
 great affinity for water, and are readily soluble 
 in it; they change most vegetable blue colours 
 to red, and they unite readily with most alkalies, 
 and with earthy and metallic oxides. ‘Some are 
 natural, some artificial, and some both; some 
 are gaseous, some liquid, and some solid, at 
 common temperatures ; some are transparent, 
 and others coloured; some inodorous, and 
 others pungent; some volatile, and others 
 
ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 77 
 
 fixed; so that they vary greatly, except in the 
 qualities first named. No simple or elementary 
 substance has the properties of an acid, and 
 consequently all acids are compounds of two 
 or more of them. In almost every case one of 
 these elements is either oxygen or hydrogen, 
 producing the oxacids and the hydracids, the 
 former of which are by far the most numerous. 
 In some instances oxygen gives rise to different 
 acids by combining with the same element in 
 various proportions. 
 
 Acids occur‘in all the kingdoms of nature ; 
 the phosphoric acids which exist in bone are 
 of animal origin; the citric and the oxalic acids 
 are products of vegetation; the chromic and 
 arsenic acids enter into the composition of 
 certain minerals ; and many of the acids which 
 are derivable from two or more of these sources 
 are produced by chemical agency. 
 
 The acids which are of any importance in 
 art are as follow :— 
 
 Oxalic acid. This is one of the powerful 
 and poisonous acids. It is found, combined 
 chiefly with potash, in the juices of plants of 
 the genera Oxalis and Rumex, whence it has 
 been termed salt of sorrel. It is usually pre- 
 pared by the action of nitric acid upon sugar, 
 
78 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 evaporating the solution, after the action has 
 ceased, to the consistence of a syrup, and 
 re-dissolving and re-crystallising the crystals 
 which are thus procured. It forms colourless 
 transparent prismatic crystals, which are in- 
 odorous, intensely and unpleasantly sour, and 
 do not grow moist on exposure. If they 
 become damp, some nitric or sulphuric acid 
 used in their preparation has not been thor- 
 oughly removed. In its external appearance, 
 oxalic acid bears a strong similarity to Epsom 
 salts (sulphate of magnesia), for which unfor-- 
 tunately it has been frequently mistaken. It is 
 instantly distinguished from Epsom salts by 
 placing a small crystal upon the tongue; when 
 its strong acid taste, compared with the nauseous 
 bitter of the sulphate of magnesia, will be 
 quite a sufficient test. Oxalic acid is soluble 
 in its own weight of boiling water, but requires 
 eight times its weight of water at 60° Fahrenheit. 
 
 It is useful in removing ink stains, iron 
 moulds, etc., from linen, leather, and paper, 
 but should not be employed too strong; the 
 best proportions for these purposes are I ounce 
 of the acid to a pint of water. The most 
 delicate test of the presence of oxalic acid is a 
 salt of lime or lime water, with either of which 
 
ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 79 
 
 it forms a white precipitate, insoluble in water, 
 but soluble in acids. 
 
 Sulphurous acid is formed whenever brim- 
 stone is burnt in atmospheric air; it is a 
 suffocating and pungent gas, and dissolves to 
 a considerable extent in water. Sulphurous 
 acid, if exposed to air and moisture, gradually 
 takes up an additional equivalent of oxygen, 
 and is converted into sulphuric acid. 
 
 Sulphurous acid bleaches vegetable colours 
 with great rapidity, and is therefore employed 
 in bleaching wool and silk. The coiours thus 
 bleached are not, however, entirely destroyed, 
 as in bleaching with chloride of lime, but merely 
 masked, and can be made to reappear by means 
 of alkalies, sulphuric acid, etc. 
 
 Tartaric acid is used for the same purposes 
 as citric acid and is much employed in the 
 arts. Although it exists in many kinds of 
 fruit, it is chiefly obtained from the juice 
 of grapes. It is procured from the cream of 
 tartar (bitartrate of potash) by purifying the 
 crust which separates during the fermentation 
 of wines by solution and crystallisation. In a 
 pure state tartaric acid forms large colourless 
 crystals which dissolve readily in water. It is 
 frequently sold in a fine white powder to 
 
80 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 conceal impurities. The chief adulteration met 
 with is by means of bisulphate of potash. 
 
 To prevent any organic matter, such as paste, 
 from undergoing fermentation and putrefac- 
 tion, carbolic acid is the most powerful agent. 
 It is a colourless oily liquid, having no action 
 on litmus paper. ‘To many people the smell 
 of this acid is unbearable; when such is the 
 case, oil of cloves may be substituted, this 
 being equally useful as a preservative for paste. 
 
 Citric acid exists in numerous fruits, par- 
 ticularly those of the orange kind, such as the 
 lemon and lime, either alone or with malic 
 and other acids. It is, however, principally 
 obtained from the lemon (citrus imonum), and 
 is colourless, inodorous, and extremely sour. 
 It is soluble in cold, and still more in warm, 
 water. The impurity to which crystalline citric 
 acid is most liable is tartaric acid. 
 
 If adulterated with sulphuric acid, as some- 
 times occurs, the crystals will be damp, and 
 when dissolved in distilled water, mixed with 
 pure hydrochloric acid, and tested with a 
 solution of the chloride of barium or nitrate of 
 baryta, will give a white precipitate. Besides 
 these impurities, citric acid may be bad owing 
 to its having been made from inferior or 
 
ACIDS USED IN RESTORATION 81 
 
 decayed fruit. It is used as a discharge in 
 calico printing, and is also much employed to 
 decompose alkaline carbonates. 
 
 Carbonic acid occurs very abundantly in 
 nature, combined with lime, magnesia, etc., 
 from which it is easily separated by the addition 
 of nearly any of the other acids. This gaseous 
 acid is also formed in very large quantities 
 during fermentation, the respiration of animals, 
 the combustion of bodies containing carbon, 
 etc. Carbonic acid gas is destructive of animal 
 life and combustion. Although it undoubtedly 
 affects paper, linen, etc., | have not known it 
 to exert any destructive or modifying influence 
 upon the colours of colour prints. In prints 
 where the paper has become almost dark brown 
 with carbonic acid, I have found after cleaning 
 that the colours have come up as bright and 
 fresh as when they were printed. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 ALKALIES 
 AVING described in the last chapter the 
 
 acids useful to the picture restorer, it may 
 be as well to say a word or two on the properties 
 of the alkalies. ‘The distinguishing character- 
 istics of these bodies are a strong, acrid, and 
 powerfully caustic taste; a corrosive action 
 upon all animal matter, destroying its texture 
 with considerable rapidity; exposed to the 
 atmosphere, when in their caustic state, they 
 absorb carbonic acid with great rapidity, and 
 become carbonated. It may be well to remind 
 the reader that the action of alkalies upon 
 vegetable colours is various. Some brighten 
 colours generally, while others change them, 
 and in some instances destroy them. With 
 some, yellow is changed to a red brown, 
 with others, red, blue, violet and many other 
 purple vegetable colours are converted to 
 green. The value of the alkalies being of 
 
 considerable use in the arts, I will in this 
 82 
 
ALKALIES 83 
 
 chapter treat them somewhat in detail. ‘They 
 are four in number, namely, ammonia (or vola- 
 tile alkali), potass (or vegetable alkali), soda 
 (or mineral alkali), and lithia, which last is of 
 little importance. Ammonia is perhaps the 
 most formidable of alkalies, and requires to be 
 used with the greatest caution. It is a limpid, 
 colourless fluid and has a very strong, pungent 
 odour, an extremely acrid taste, and corrodes 
 the skin. It is useful in dissolving many of the 
 metallic oxides, also oils, resins, and many other 
 vegetable principles. Its affinity for carbonic 
 acid is so powerful that it rapidly attracts it 
 from the atmosphere—hence the necessity of 
 preserving it in small glass bottles, fitted with 
 ground stoppers, to prevent the absorption of 
 carbonic acid. 
 
 Potass or vegetable alkali. The original 
 source of this alkali is in the vegetable kingdom. 
 When wood is burnt and the ashes lixiviated 
 with water, boiled, strained, and evaporated to 
 dryness, an intensely alkaline mass is obtained, 
 which is known by the name of potash, from 
 ‘this process being conducted in iron pots. 
 Potass is employed in soap-making, especially 
 for the softer kinds of soap. 
 
 Soaps consist of any of the three alkalies, 
 
84 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 soda, potash, and ammonia, in combination 
 with one or more of the fatty acids. A good 
 soap should be free from impurities and 
 neutral, the alkali and fat being duly balanced. 
 The quality of the fats employed is of the highest 
 importance. For the use of the artist only the 
 following should be employed, singly or in 
 mixture—tallow, palm oil, coconut oil, olive 
 oil, rape seed oil and its congeners. The 
 superiority is generally assigned to tallow. 
 Nevertheless a technological authority of high 
 standing, Mr. J. W. Slater, holds that well- 
 made palm and coconut oil soaps are preferable 
 to any tallow soap. 
 
 Soap powders, generally speaking, consist of 
 common carbonate of soda crystals reduced to 
 a fine powder. This powder differs in nothing 
 from the ordinary crystallised carbonate of 
 soda; it contains equal quantities of carbonic 
 acid and of water. Being, however, in a state 
 of fine division, it is much more rapidly soluble 
 in water. 
 
 Very great care should be taken to secure 
 pure chemicals, and in the preparation of 
 chemical solutions the vessels used should be 
 free from grease or impurities of any kind. 
 The alkalies should never be used in strong 
 
ALKALIES 85 
 
 solutions; indeed, it is a sound rule to use 
 weak solutions. If results do not speedily 
 occur, the solution should be made a little 
 stronger, as it is safer to err on the side of too 
 weak than too strong a solution. ‘The former 
 fault only protracts the process, and is quite 
 remediable, but if the opposite error be com- 
 mitted, as is too generally the case with alkalies, 
 which are all more or less powerfully corrosive, 
 one is likely to destroy the pictures rather than 
 clean them. 
 
 Corrosive sublimate, otherwise perchloride 
 of mercury, is a compound of mercury with 
 chlorine. It is a colourless crystalline body, 
 soluble in water, ether, and alcohol. Anciently 
 it is said to have been used as a mordant for 
 murexide, the Tyrian dye or Roman purple, 
 which was extracted from two little shell-fish 
 entitled Murex and purpura, that were fished 
 for on the coasts of Pheenicia, Northern 
 Africa and Greece, and around all the Medi- 
 terranean Isles. ‘This purple, of a reddish- 
 violet colour, was much valued by the Roman 
 Emperors, who forbade the common use of it, 
 and from this restriction arose the phrase 
 referring to those sovereigns of assuming the 
 purple. 
 
86 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Corrosive sublimate with the iodide of potass- 
 ium yields a beautiful scarlet precipitate, known 
 as “geranium red ’’—the iodide of mercury 
 which is used as a paint. ‘Taxidermists employ 
 this to kill insects and to preserve specimens. 
 The property of coagulating various animal 
 and vegetable matters has led to the employ- 
 ment of corrosive sublimate for preventing the 
 decay of timber, prints, etc. In the process of 
 “* Kyanising ”’ wood (so called from its inventor) 
 a solution of corrosive sublimate is forced into 
 the vessels of the timber under pressure, when 
 the sap is rendered insoluble and putrefaction 
 prevented. It certainly will remove mildew 
 from prints, but, as I have before remarked, I 
 am not in favour of using poisonous substances. 
 I again deprecate their use, particularly in the 
 case of so dangerous a one as corrosive sub- 
 limate, and for the following reasons :—Dan- 
 gerous symptoms have arisen from its use as 
 an antiseptic solution in surgical dressings. 
 External applications in the form of lotion or 
 ointment may even cause death. An exten- 
 sively advertised “ skin tonic’’ was found to 
 contain 1°6 grains of corrosive sublimate, and 
 in a case before the Dublin Law Courts it was 
 shown to have produced symptoms of mercurial 
 
ALKALIES 84 
 
 poisoning. Apart from the danger of touching 
 and handling this substance, there is the danger 
 of inhaling its vapours and getting it into the 
 body by way of the lungs. Suffice to say that 
 even so small a quantity as three grains is a 
 fatal dose. It is best, therefore, not to use so 
 deadly a poison in removing or preventing 
 mildew in prints. 
 
 As a matter of fact there is no way of pre- 
 venting mildew if a print be exposed to a damp 
 wall or be kept in a damp portfolio or cup- 
 board. Slight cases of mildew may be removed 
 by immersing the print in boiling water, after 
 which it should be allowed to drain and then 
 flooded with pure spirits of wine. 
 
 Another method for bad cases is a bath of 
 permanganate of potash and thorough rinsing, 
 followed by a bath of oxalic acid and further 
 rinsing. 
 
 Mildew and mould consist of minute forms 
 of fungi, found on various deceased or decaying 
 substances. ‘These names are generally applied 
 indifferently to a multitude of hyphomycetous, 
 physomycetous, and coniomycetous fungi, but 
 some of the more common ones are especially 
 distinguished. Thus the ordinary “ blue 
 mould” is Aspergillus glaucus, another still 
 
88 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 more common blue or green mould is Pem- 
 cilium glaucum. ‘The harmful results arising 
 from these minute fungi are formidable, and 
 unfortunately they possess most effectual means 
 of increase, for the mycelium creeps into the 
 tissue of the paper and thence spreads gradually 
 throughout the whole surface, practically de- 
 stroying all its texture. At times there may 
 seem to be only a few spots, but it is well to 
 remember that the actual mildew, as it appears 
 to the observer, represents only a fraction of 
 the system, being simply that part which is 
 concerned with the production of spores. To 
 prevent the action of moist atmosphere upon 
 walls a solution should be made as follows :— 
 Dissolve three-quarters of a pound of soap in 
 ten pounds of boiling water. Any walls ex- 
 posed to moisture should then be coated with 
 this solution. ‘Take care in applying the solu- 
 tion with a clean whitewash brush not to form 
 bubbles. A little alcohol assists in dissolving 
 the froth, and causes the solution to penetrate 
 deeper into the wall. This first coat should 
 be left for twenty-four hours or even longer if 
 it is not dry and hard. A second coating 
 should then be given with a solution composed 
 of about half a pound of sulphate of alumina 
 
ALKALIES 89 
 
 in thirty pounds of water. The work should 
 be done in dry weather. 
 
 People who are unfortunate enough to live 
 in damp houses, near undrained land, should 
 have planted near the house laurels and sun- 
 flowers. The laurel gives off plenty of ozone, 
 whilst the sunflower destroys the malarial 
 condition. Few people are aware of the anti- 
 malarial properties of the sunflower. The 
 Helianthus or sunflower is an extensive genus 
 of plants, and in planting them the perennial 
 kinds should be chosen; if given a place to 
 themselves they will increase rapidly and flower 
 beautifully in early autumn. | 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. 
 
 _S it is my aim to furnish in the compass 
 
 of this little work as much information as 
 possible connected with anything appertaining 
 to the art of restoration, I will devote a chapter 
 in explanation of some of the signs generally 
 used in chemistry, together with symbols used 
 in art. 
 
 Most people are aware that the mysterious 
 signs seen on the big starboard light bottles in 
 chemists’ windows are more or less relics and 
 memorials of the chemistry of the middle 
 ages and the peculiar system of alchemy 
 ‘“‘ which was veiled in allegory and illustrated 
 by signs and symbols,” but many may not 
 know the signs and abbreviations used in 
 formula. Formula in chemistry is an expres- 
 sion denoting the composition of a substance, 
 in medicine, a prescription, or directions for 
 making up medicines. For instance, RB means 
 
 go 
 
CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. 91 
 
 recipe or statement of ingredients, formula, 
 prescription, etc. 
 
 F. or ft. In a formula these letters are 
 abbreviations of fiat or fiant, let it or them 
 be made; thus f. solutio, let the substance or 
 substances prescribed be made into a solution 
 or liquor. A capital S. represents signatura 
 or the label to be put on the bottle. 
 
 Some signs, abbreviations, etc., used in 
 formule :— 
 
 C or Cong. Congius. Imperial Gallon. 
 
 O Octarius. Pint, of 20 fluid ounces. 
 
 Ib Libra. Apothecaries’, or Troy Pound. 
 
 3 Uncia. Troy Ounce. | 
 
 £3 Fluiduncia. Fluid Ounce. 
 
 3 Drachma. Drachm (60 grains). 
 
 £4 Fluidrachma. Fluid Drachm (60 minims). 
 
 § Scrupulus. Scruple (20 grains). 
 
 M Minimum. Minim (1-6oth of £3). 
 
 gr. Granum, or grana. Grain, or grains. 
 
 ss. Semis. A half. 
 
 Sesqui. One and a half. 
 
 q.p. Quantum placet. As much as you please. 
 q.s. Quantum sufficit. As much as is sufficient. 
 p.zq. Partes /Equales. Equal parts. 
 
 Aa, Ana, and Sing. Of each ingredient. 
 
92 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 M. Misce. Mix. 
 
 S.A. Secundum Artem. According to art. 
 O.M. Old Wine measure. 
 
 Co. or Comp. Compound. 
 
 Av. Avoirdupois weight. 
 
 Imp. Imperial measure. 
 
 Pulv. or p. Pulvis. Powder. 
 
 Sp. Gr. Specific gravity. 
 
 d. water. Distilled water. 
 
 This chapter is concerned more with signs, 
 symbols, etc., but before going further the 
 following list of the chemical substances used 
 in the arts may as well be given here. 
 
 Common Names. Chemical Names. 
 Aqua Fortis . . Nitric Acid. 
 Aqua Regia . . Nitro-Muriatic Acid. 
 Blue Vitriol. . . Sulphate of Copper. 
 Cream of Tartar . Bitartrate Potassium. 
 Calomel . . . Chloride of Mercury. 
 Chalk . . . . Carbonate Calcium. 
 Salt of Tartar . . Carbonate of Potassa. 
 Caustic Potassa . Hydrate Potassium. 
 Chloroform . . Chloride of Gormyle. 
 Common Salt . . Chloride of Sodium. 
 
 Corrosive Sublimate Bichloride of Mercury. 
 Glucose"... . "Grape Siigar 
 
CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SIGNS, ETC. 93 
 
 Common Names. 
 King’s Yellow . 
 Lime 
 Lunar Caustic . 
 Muriate of Lime 
 Nitre of Saltpetre . 
 Oil of Vitriol 
 Potash . 
 
 Realgar . 
 Sal-ammoniac . 
 Slaked Lime 
 ea 
 Spirits of Paeaarn 
 Spirit of Salt 
 Stucco, or Plaster 
 of Paris 
 Sugar of Lead . 
 Verdigris 
 Vermilion 
 Minegat.. .. 
 Volatile Alkali . 
 Water 
 
 Chemical Names. 
 Sulphide of Arsenic. 
 Oxide of Calcium. 
 Nitrate of Silver. 
 Chloride of Calcium. 
 Nitrate of Potash. 
 Sulphuric Acid. 
 
 Oxide of Potassium. 
 
 Sulphide of Arsenic. 
 
 Chloride of Ammonium. 
 
 Hydrate Calcium. 
 
 Oxide of Sodium. 
 
 Ammonia. 
 
 Hydrochloric or Muriatic 
 Acid. 
 
 Sulphate of Lime. 
 Acetate of Lead. 
 
 Basic Acetate of Copper. 
 Sulphide of Mercury. 
 Acetic Acid (Diluted). 
 Ammonia. 
 
 Oxide of Hydrogen. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 SYMBOLISM IN ART 
 
 SYMBOL is the representation of some 
 
 religious dogma as the Creed, the sum of 
 the Christian belief, a sign to know one by, 
 as the bond of intercommunion and test of 
 fellowship and brotherhood among the elect ; 
 that secret, private, and mystical note by which 
 they recognised each other when it was not as 
 yet committed to writing, and restricted to the 
 initiated. Whereas an emblem is an arbitrary 
 representation of an idea of human invention, 
 and created by the imagination, a symbol may 
 be used as an emblem, but an emblem cannot 
 be employed as a symbol. For instance, a. 
 sword is the symbol of martyrdom, but the 
 peculiar emblem of St. Paul. An anchor may 
 be either a symbol or an emblem. 
 
 The earliest symbols were derived from 
 Scripture: the Good Shepherd, disused be- 
 tween the seventh and ninth centuries; the 
 chased hart desiring the water brooks; the 
 
 94 
 
SYMBOLISM IN ART 95 
 
 anchor of the soul; and, later, the lamb stand- 
 ing on the mountain of God’s house, or, after 
 the sixth century, bearing on its shoulders the 
 cross-banner. ‘The early Christian artists saw 
 the cross prefigured in the outstretched arms 
 of Moses on the hill and in his rod, which they 
 delineated crowned with a T or cross. 
 
 Then hieroglyphs were employed. St. 
 Anthony appears with fire, the emblem of 
 Divine love, a swine at his feet, typical of 
 sensual desire trodden down; and a bell 
 expressive of vigilance, and with the Tau, a 
 form of cross. St. Christopher, by his height, 
 represents loftiness of heart; by his sacred 
 infant-burden, Christ in the soul, by his staff 
 holding to the cross and by wading through 
 a stormy river passage to the better country 
 through martyrdom. St. George, armed as the 
 Christian warrior and on horseback, transfixes 
 with his lance the devil. Constantine pour- 
 trayed in the Palatine, a knight with a cross on 
 his helmet, warring with the dragon of idolatry. 
 
 A knowledge of symbolism is both interesting 
 and instructive, particularly in the study of 
 early Christian art, and by it we may often be 
 able to recognise certain figures in mutilated 
 pictures or ancient monuments, stained glass, 
 
) 96 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 etc., for the use of emblems is as old as the 
 Sphinx and the Pyramids, and the early Chris- 
 tians probably copied or plagiarised many of the 
 Egyptian signs and symbols, under which the 
 truths of Christianity were veiled from the 
 heathen and their use continued to the present 
 day. 
 
 Many particular emblems have been so 
 generally and universally used as to have been 
 interwoven and become almost part and parcel 
 of our daily life. Amongst the most venerable 
 may be mentioned the trine compas (as it is 
 
 called by Chaucer), 
 ‘‘ That of the trine compas Lord and gide is,” 
 
 or a circle inscribed with an equilateral triangle, 
 denoting the co-equality and co-eternity of the 
 three Divine persons. 
 
 The Egyptian Triad was represented by a 
 globe, a serpent, and a wing which appear on 
 the front of all temples. The globe was an 
 emblem of the Great Architect of the Universe, 
 because his centre is everywhere and his cir- 
 cumference immeasurable. 'The serpent desig- 
 nates eternity and likewise wisdom. ‘The wing 
 was the symbol of air, or the spirit. On a 
 monument at Thebes, the globe is coloured 
 
SYMBOLISM IN ART 97 
 
 red, the two serpents are golden, and the wings 
 red and azured; the intervals between the 
 two serpents is filled by a green tint. The red 
 being the symbol of the love divine, the gold 
 or golden yellow indicates the word Revelation ; 
 the azure the air, or divine breath; the green 
 was the last divine sphere, which is again found 
 in the emerald rainbow of the Apocalypse. 
 
 Whatever established prejudices may be, I 
 ought here to repeat the opinion of a savant 
 offered merely as a conjecture, but which here 
 acquires a high degree of certainty: “It is 
 Iso, it is the Saviour of the World and Son of 
 Justice, that the Egyptians figured on all the 
 porchways or entrances of their temples; and 
 the signification of this symbol was therefore 
 that which Malachi has transmitted (ch. iv., 
 verse 2), ‘ Unto you that fear my name shall 
 the sun of Righteousness arise with healing in 
 his wings.’ ” 
 
 This approximation will doubtless appear 
 strange to those who forget that the Messiah 
 is called by the Fathers of the Church the sun 
 and the good serpent; that the Holy Ghost 
 descended on the anointed of the Lord in the 
 form of a dove; and finally, that the globe, 
 
 the serpent, and the wings have precisely the 
 H 
 
98 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 same signification on monuments of the middle 
 ages as on the temples of Thebes. 
 
 On entering Winchester Cathedral the eye 
 wanders along the long-drawn nave to the 
 great window which is still glowing with the 
 richest colouring, notwithstanding the mutila- 
 tion of iconoclastic violence and later restora- 
 tion with painted fragments from other windows. 
 Here are portions of two very mutilated windows 
 in the north aisle of the choir. They are inter- 
 esting as showing how a knowledge of symbolism 
 may be of use. Fig. 1, by carrying a sword, 
 indicates that it is St. Lucy. Now suppose 
 that the top of the sword-blade had disappeared, 
 also the pommel, leaving only the centre of the 
 blade, which might be mistaken for a taper, 
 but this would still indicate St. Lucy; again 
 suppose all the sword had gone except the hilt, 
 which might be taken for a platter. Now the 
 problem then would be, what should be painted - 
 in to make the picture complete and right? If 
 a dish were painted with two eyes on it it would 
 indicate the figure was that of St. Lucy, if'a 
 taper in the outstretched hand or a sword it 
 would still be correct as St. Lucy, for all these 
 things are emblems of her. 
 
 Fig. 2 is known by the arrows to be that of 
 
LUCY 
 
 teyill 
 
SYMBOLISM IN ART 99 
 
 St. Ursula. Ursula was a British princess, 
 and, as the legend says, was going to France 
 with her virgin train, but was driven by adverse 
 winds to Cologne, where she and her com- 
 panions were martyred by the Huns. In her 
 delightful volume “‘ Genius Loci’ Vernon Lee 
 says that “* Cologne, thanks to the great num- 
 bers of St. Ursula’s maids of honour, had the 
 luck of getting very many relics all at once; 
 and particularly one feels it after a visit to the 
 Treasury of St. Ursula’s Church, a vaulted 
 chapel, whose upper part is, very literally, 
 thatched vertically and horizontally with canon- 
 ised bones in elaborate pattern.” 
 
 The emblems on ancient and medizval tombs 
 included badges of sex or profession ; the comb, 
 keys, shears for women; and for men the 
 sword, the horn, the moneyer’s scales, the 
 priest’s chalice and paten. ‘The still earlier 
 emblems were numerous. Heaven was repre- 
 sented by a segment of a circle edged with a 
 rainbow, and to symbolise God with the 
 Creator’s hand issuing from it or a cloud. A 
 deep blue globe stood for the universe; a ring 
 for eternity ; the rose of Sharon for incorrup- 
 tion; a cock for vigilance, a horse for the 
 Christian race; a dolphin for zeal in doing 
 
100 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 good ; the pelican “‘ in its piety ” has a crimson 
 stain on its beak, supposed to be caused by 
 feeding its young with its blood. 
 
 Turning from the sacred to things secular 
 and mundane in the use of emblems it is 
 nevertheless curious to note that “a wine 
 barrel, composed of many staves,” was the sign 
 of Christian union. Athenzus and other Greek 
 and Roman writers present numerous instances 
 of the general use of signs by the tavern keeper ; 
 in accordance with the line in the ancient 
 epigrammist :— 
 
 “ He hung th’ instructive symbol o’er his door.” 
 
 In England, signs appear to have been 
 adopted at a very early period. A discerning 
 eye may discover in many of our signs evident 
 marks of the religion prevalent among us before 
 the Reformation. 
 
 Pepys in his Diary frequently mentions the 
 ‘* Herculés Pillars ” as a tavern to which he and 
 his friends resorted. ‘This sign has nothing to 
 do with the pillars torn asunder by Hercules, 
 but indicates the two brazen pillars set up by 
 Solomon at the entrance of his Temple, which 
 every Freemason knows are the emblems of 
 strength and stability. Publicans were not, 
 
SYMBOLISM IN ART 101 
 
 however, the only persons who indicated their 
 dwellings by signs, for it is shown by every 
 kind of record extant that all other callings and 
 trades adopted similar indications, and that 
 notoriety was obtained by an infinite diversity 
 of pictorial symbols from the artists who dwelt 
 in Harp Alley, Shoe Lane. 
 
 Signs were at length deemed a_ public 
 nuisance, and the law in 1764 caused their 
 removal, and the houses consequently began to 
 be numbered, New Burlington Street being the 
 first to be so distinguished. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 INDIAN INK: ITS MANUFACTURE, USES, AND HOW 
 TO CLEAN DRAWINGS MADE WITH IT 
 
 HE Chinese historians attribute the inven- 
 
 tion of ink to Tien-Tchen, who is supposed 
 to have flourished about 2,600 years B.c. At this 
 time, we are told, the ink used by the Chinese 
 was a kind of lacquer (urushi). Afterwards, 
 some kind of black stone to which water had 
 been added was employed, and finally, about 
 two centuries and a half before the Christian 
 era, in the province of Kiang-Si, they began to 
 make balls of lamp-black, obtained by burning 
 a mixture of lacquer, wood, and size. The new 
 ink was quickly adopted, and not only did poets 
 celebrate the qualities of the ink of Kiang-Si, 
 but the province had the satisfaction of having 
 its industry supervised by an official of the 
 Imperial Court, and of sending an annual 
 tribute of ink for the special use of the emperors 
 of the Tang dynasty. ‘Towards the end of the 
 
 sway of that family lived an inkmaker whose 
 102 
 
INDIAN INK 103 
 
 name, Li-Ting-Kouei, is still remembered after 
 the lapse of so many centuries. He was not 
 only famous for the diverse forms into which 
 he moulded his cakes or sticks of ink, but also 
 for the honesty and excellence of his manu- 
 factures. ‘Ihe indirect services he rendered to 
 literature and learning were acknowledged in 
 an Imperial decree, which added an honorary 
 syllable to his name. Li-Ting-Kouei is the 
 most famous maker of ink, and though many 
 have emulated, it is held that none have sur- 
 passed him. 
 
 For the production of the lamp-black of 
 Indian ink various methods have been employed, 
 but firwood has generally been used in combina- 
 tion with various oily substances. ‘The best 
 ink is very intense in colour, is about as deep a 
 black as it is possible to get, and has an aromatic 
 scent and flavour. It is believed that the Chinese 
 are indebted to the Coreans for the processes 
 now used, and that Corea is the real birthplace 
 of ink manufacture. 
 
 Maurice Jametal in a monograph upon the 
 Indian or rather Chinese ink, in addition to 
 historical data, gives the practical details of the 
 art set out in an elementary treatise by Chen- 
 ki-Souen. ‘This book is one of a kind very rare 
 
104 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 in the literature of China, whose writers as a 
 rule have a profound contempt for all that is 
 practical. 
 
 We need not follow the worthy author 
 through the details. Fortunately, he has not 
 trusted entirely to his own powers of exposition, 
 and the artist whose help he has invoked has, in 
 a series of quaint drawings, given us some 
 interesting glimpses into the industrial life of 
 the Middle Kingdom. 
 
 The Pantheon of China is so well stocked that 
 no surprise need be felt at the presence in it of 
 demigods whose functions are to guard and 
 preserve the various instruments of writing. 
 The God of Ink was known as the “ Prefect 
 of the Black Perfume,” and had precedence 
 over the Spirit of the Pencil, who had, indeed, 
 only the rank of a sub-prefect, and also over the 
 Genius of Paper, who merely ranked as the 
 Chief of a District. One day, says a quaint 
 legend, an Emperor of the ‘Tang dynasty was 
 at work in his study, when suddenly, from a 
 stick of ink that lay upon his table, there stepped 
 forth the figure, no bigger than a fly, of a 
 Taouist priest. ‘‘ I am the Spirit of the Ink,” 
 he said; “‘ my title is the Ambassador of the 
 Black Fir, and I am come to announce that 
 
INDIAN INK 105 
 
 henceforth, whenever one truly endowed with 
 learning or genius writes, there shall be visible 
 the Twelve Divinities of Ink.”’ 
 
 Indian ink is used in China and Japan with a 
 brush, both for writing and for painting. It is 
 used in Europe for designs in black and white, 
 in which it possesses the advantage of affording 
 various depths and gradation of shade according 
 to the degree of dilution with water. 
 
 Black is a very valuable colour in producing 
 effects which please by their surprise, and is 
 most useful in toning down warm colours. 
 _ The ancient Egyptian and Greek artists were 
 particularly alive to the importance of this 
 colour, and composed their blacks from the 
 best charcoal of burnt vine-twigs. 
 
 In more modern times the work of the 
 Japanese particularly calls our attention to the 
 value of this colour in their methods of ringing 
 the changes in black from its deep luminous 
 tones to pleasing and softest tones of grey. 
 
 As occasionally one may be requested to 
 clean and restore a monochrome of Varley or 
 Prout, or an architectural drawing, I will give 
 a few hints in this chapter as to the method of 
 procedure. Architectural drawings are not 
 generally very difficult to clean, because as a 
 
106 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 rule architectural draughtsmen first of all draw 
 their designs in pencil on strong Whatman 
 paper; they are then inked in with a strong 
 deep Indian ink. After this has been done, 
 and before proceeding to colour, the whole 
 drawing is washed with a sponge and clean 
 water. When the drawing is almost dry it 1s 
 tinted with flat washes of colour in the ordinary 
 way; therefore, the whole drawing is first 
 of all rubbed all over with a piece of soft white 
 india rubber to remove the surface dirt to which 
 architectural drawings are very liable from 
 handling while they are being referred to by 
 builders. After the surface dirt has been 
 removed, a weak bath of chloride of lime 
 followed by a thorough rinsing is almost all that 
 is required. Should the colours be lowered or 
 weakened by the bath, they may be strengthened 
 by a slight wash of water-colour before the 
 paper gets quite dry; this will tone the colours 
 into the drawing. 
 
 With a Varley or Prout drawing it is a different 
 matter entirely, and one should proceed very 
 carefully. In the first place some artists do 
 not use Indian ink when making black and white 
 drawings, but prefer ivory-black for its full, 
 silky black, and as this colour has a tendency to 
 
INDIAN INK 107 
 
 brown in its pale washes, some are in the 
 habit of adding other colours to correct this 
 tendency. Now as ivory-black is made by 
 charring ivory it is chemically speaking animal 
 charcoal, and had better not be brought into 
 contact with organic pigments, because of the 
 ' powerful discolourising action of animal char- 
 coal. Gum water is frequently added to retard 
 this action and to strengthen the depth of the 
 black. When this is the case with a drawing, 
 the process of cleaning it is sure to lower the 
 general tone by dissolving the gum that has 
 been mixed with the black. One can nearly 
 always see at a glance if gum has been used, 
 but if there is any doubt a test should be made 
 on one of the bottom corners of the drawing by 
 touching it gently with a large camel-hair or sable 
 brush half full of water. If the black does not 
 yield or come away, one can proceed to clean 
 the drawing in comparative safety. If, how- 
 ever, gum water has been freely used it is better 
 not to take any risk by cleaning. 
 
 Ivory-black is perfectly durable if used by 
 itself, but it must be used entirely by itself from 
 start to finish of a drawing for the latter to stand 
 cleaning and restoration. 
 
 When cleaning a “ black and white” or 
 
108 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 monochrome drawing proceed as follows. If 
 the drawing is mounted on a cardboard of what 
 is termed six-or-eight-sheet, split four or more 
 of these layers off by carefully inserting a paper 
 knife between the layers till there are only 
 one or two layers left. By doing this the 
 work of unmounting the drawings is rendered 
 safer and easier. When this has MAHER): 
 the back of what remains of the mount is then 
 held up close to the spout of a kettle of water 
 kept boiling on a gas ring. Gradually, by going 
 all over the back, the steam will permeate the 
 cardboard and allow the drawing to be pulled 
 off quite easily. Do not use any force. If the 
 drawing does not leave the mount easily con- 
 tinue the steaming process till it does. 
 
 Having removed the drawing, lay it face 
 downwards on a clean sheet of blotting-paper 
 placed on a sheet of plate glass. With a sponge 
 remove all trace of paste, gum, glue, or whatever 
 mountant has been used, and the drawing is then 
 ready for cleaning. Remove the blotting-paper 
 and lay the drawing face downwards on the 
 glass and flood with water, tilting the glass so 
 that the water may drain off. Have a solution 
 of chloride of lime ready, and with a full brush 
 go all over the back of the drawing, taking care 
 
INDIAN INK 109 
 
 not to let the chloride of lime get on to the front 
 of the drawing. About five to ten minutes 
 should be long enough to remove any stains or 
 blemishes. ‘The back of the drawing is then 
 thoroughly rinsed, and while doing this, the 
 drawing should be kept in contact with the glass 
 by the fingers of the left hand. The drawing 
 is then turned face upwards on the glass, 
 gently flushed with water, and after thorough 
 rinsing is allowed to dry flat on the glass, If the 
 process is carried out carefully the drawing will 
 dry bright and clean and without injury. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 
 
 HE question of the condition of a Japanese 
 
 print is one of personal taste. Some 
 prefer their prints to remain in a more or less 
 soiled condition because of a certain kind of 
 tone or softness that has occurred through age 
 or exposure. In the case of a very rare or 
 ancient print this is excusable, and I should 
 certainly advise its being left zm statu quo ; but 
 when ordinary prints become soiled, as so 
 frequently happens, I cannot help thinking that 
 at any rate a slight cleansing is necessary. It 
 is seldom that one sees, except in some noted 
 collection, prints with the colours unchanged 
 and the paper in immaculate condition; on 
 the contrary, as far as my experience goes, the 
 ordinary print that one picks up is generally 
 injured either by fading of the colours, worm- 
 holes, tears, creases, stains, and dirt. 
 
 As regards faded colours and worm-holes, 
 IIO 
 
CHOZAN OF CHOJI-YA, ATTENDED BY HER TWO KAMURO. 
 JAPANESE THEATRICAL POSTER ARTIST 
 
 Spectvien of clearing 
 
 BY 
 
 ESN 
 avail tts 
 
 KIYONAGA 
 
 +h) 
 
 Siu 
 
 Le 
 
 ay 
 
 THE 
 
CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS II! 
 
 not much can be done. In some prints of 
 Harunobu, Hiroshige, and Kiyonaga, the blues, 
 whites, and delicate pinks have changed colour, 
 and in others they have vanished altogether. 
 This is no doubt owing to the fact that many of 
 the colours used by the early artists were most 
 unstable. When the colours have faded from 
 old prints, it is better to leave them and not 
 attempt to colour them in. Later on I will 
 describe how these colours can be slightly 
 improved. 
 
 Worm-holes may be made good in the 
 following manner: Take a fragment of paper 
 which matches as nearly as possible that of the 
 print, and with a pair of scissors cut a neat small 
 patch slightly larger than the worm-hole. Lay 
 the print face downwards on a sheet of clean 
 white blotting-paper, and with a camel-hair 
 or sable brush damp the worm-hole spots, then 
 touch the patch of paper with some good paste 
 (rice or starch is the best) and with tweezers 
 lay it over the worm-hole; after covering the 
 whole with a sheet of blotting-paper, press with 
 a slightly warmed flatiron till dry. 
 
 Tears, if simple, should have the edges 
 moistened with paste and be treated as above 
 described for worm-holes. If the tears are 
 
112 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 awkward and at all complicated, it is best to 
 put a neat patch behind them. Always use 
 blotting-paper, because if it should happen to 
 adhere to the paste while being pressed, it can 
 easily be removed by damping after the repairs 
 have been made. Creases can, if they are small, 
 be got out with a warm iron, but if they are 
 large and bad it is best to damp the whole back 
 of the print and lay it on a wet sheet of glass, 
 then smoothing and pressing over the whole 
 surface of the print with a sheet of blotting- 
 paper till the print is in perfect contact with the 
 glass. ‘The print is then put to dry gradually, 
 when all trace of creases will disappear. As to 
 stains, if these are only slight they will generally 
 yield with a good rinsing. Surface dirt will 
 also go the same way. With deep stains a 
 bleaching is necessary, but it is not advisable 
 to venture upon this process unless one has had 
 considerable experience. A camel-hair brush 
 or mop with some lukewarm water and good 
 yellow soap will generally remove grimed-in 
 dirt. All trace of soap should be thoroughly 
 rinsed away. | 
 
 General cleaning, I find, is best done as 
 follows : Get a white enamel bath, and a sheet 
 of plate glass slightly smaller than the bath, so 
 
CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 113 
 
 that it can be easily lifted from the bottom of 
 the bath. A photographic developing dish, 
 24 by 20in., makes an excellent bath and will 
 take almost all the different sizes of Japanese 
 prints, which are as follows, viz. :— 
 
 Surimono.—A print, generally of small size 
 and on thick, soft paper, intended as a festival 
 greeting or memento of some special occasion. 
 It is sent out at the New Year particularly. 
 
 Uki-ye, or bird’s-eye view pictures, are 94 
 by 14#in. 
 
 Yoko-ye.—The horizontal print, about 10 by 
 15 in.—the normal full-size landscape sheet. 
 
 Chuban.—A vertical print, about 11 by 8 in., 
 is sometimes called the medium-size sheet. 
 
 Koban, another vertical print, is_ slightly 
 smaller than the Chuban. 
 
 Oban is about 15 by 10 in. and is the normal 
 full-size upright sheet. It is often mounted as 
 Kakemono. | 
 
 Hashira-ye is a very tall, narrow print, about 
 28 by 5 in., used to hang on the wooden pillars 
 of a Japanese house. 
 
 Kakemono-ye.—A very tall, wide print, about 
 28 by 1oin. ‘The Kakemono is usually mounted 
 on a margin of brocade, with an elaborate 
 
 roller atthe bottom. It is hung upon the wall at 
 : 
 
114 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 certain seasons, and when not in use is rolled 
 up and put away in a box. Owing to this, and 
 its being stored in what is called the “‘ go-down,”’ 
 it is frequently found very rubbed and mildewed. 
 
 There are many other terms for Japanese 
 prints, as Uchiwa-ye, a print in the shape of a 
 fan, Nishiki-ye or brocade picture—this term 
 was first used to describe the brilliant colour- 
 inventions of Harunobu, but is now loosely 
 applied to all polychrome prints. Diptych, 
 triptych, etc., are compositions consisting of 
 two, three, or more sheets. 
 
 Beni-ye is a print in which ben, a delicate 
 pink, is the chief colour used. The term is 
 generally used to describe two-colour prints 
 which preceded the invention of polychrome 
 printing. 
 
 As the paper used in the old Japanese prints 
 is thick, soft, spongy in texture, and of a creamy 
 ivory tone, it is very necessary to be extremely 
 careful in cleaning it. India rubber should 
 never be used in surface cleaning or for the 
 removal of dust. This is best done with a 
 piece of quite new bread or a piece of dough, 
 or with the two worked up together into a kind 
 of ball; go over the whole surface of the print 
 with this in a series of circles. ‘This process is 
 
- 
 
 CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 115 
 
 absolutely harmless to the most delicate print, 
 so it is not a bad plan to subject a print to it 
 before it goes into the bath, as it will remove 
 slight surface markings that the bath will not. 
 The method of using the bath is as follows : 
 Take the sheet of plate glass and wet it with 
 water, then carefully lay the print fact down- 
 wards on the glass and allow the water to flow 
 over the print. While this is going on, wash 
 the back of the print with a large camel-hair 
 brush. Reverse the print and, if necessary, 
 wash the front very gently in the same manner. 
 After this is done, tilt the glass by resting it on 
 one side of the bath, and while holding the print 
 in its place with the thumb and finger of the 
 left hand, hold the rubber tubing from the water 
 tap with the right hand, and let the water flow 
 gently all over the print forafew minutes. After 
 this has been done, let the print drain for another 
 few minutes. Have ready a sheet of clean 
 blotting-paper on which to lay the print after 
 it has drained off the superfluous water. Wipe 
 dry the plate glass and lay upon it a dry sheet of 
 blotting-paper. On this lay the print face 
 downwards, covered with blotting-paper. A 
 piece of cardboard laid on the blotting-paper 
 and a slight weight or pressure over all com- 
 
116 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 pletes the process. Before the print is quite 
 dry, any injuries in the way of worm-holes or 
 tears should be attended to in the manner above 
 described. 
 
 If the print is badly torn, say in several places, 
 it is better to mount it entirely on a sheet of 
 Japanese paper. Care should be taken in 
 mounting, as Japanese paper stretches consider- 
 ably when wet. To get a smooth result, the 
 print, together with the mounting paper, should 
 be damped and put between blotting-paper till 
 almost dry. The print is then laid face down- 
 wards on a sheet of glass or of blotting-paper 
 and smoothed out quite flat. The mounting 
 paper, after being treated in a similar manner, 
 is pasted smoothly with thin rice or starch 
 paste and laid on the print and pressed with 
 blotting-paper evenly all over by a thick card- 
 board. Weights are then put on the cardboard 
 and the print is left to dry, with an occasional 
 change of blotting-paper, which will absorb the 
 damp. Before final pressing it is as well to see 
 that no paste has got on to either the back or 
 front of the print. If such is the case, it 
 should be wiped off with a soft piece of sponge 
 kept specially for this purpose. 
 
 Japanese prints should never be mounted on 
 
CLEANING JAPANESE PRINTS 117 
 
 cardboard, z.e.stuck down. If they are mounted 
 at all it is usual to tack the top corners with 
 paste and lay them on a cream or slightly tinted 
 card, with a larger margin at the top and bottom 
 than the sides. A glass can then be laid over 
 the whole and bound round with paper. If the 
 paper binding laps over the glass cover about a 
 quarter of an inch—it makes a neat finish; and 
 if a couple of rings, with tape tabs, are glued 
 on the back of the card, the picture can then be 
 hung on the wall even without a frame, and looks 
 quite artistic. ‘The most suitable mouldings for 
 framing Japanese prints are the plain narrow 
 ones. 
 
 In conclusion, I cannot do better than quote 
 from one of the best authorities on Japanese 
 prints, viz. Mr. Arthur Davison Ficke, who, in 
 his ‘‘ Chats on Japanese Prints,” cautions the 
 inexperienced against acts of vandalism. “ 'To 
 cut down, colour, or otherwise mutilate a 
 print, is one of those unforgivable offences 
 which often demonstrate conclusively how easy 
 it is for a fool to destroy in five minutes the 
 achievement of a genius’s lifetime. One well- 
 known collector, now dead, boiled his Harunobus 
 in paraffin to give them lustre ; another painted 
 branches into the pillar prints of Kortusai ; 
 
118 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 another cut down the size of his Hiroshiges, 
 leaving only those portions that particularly 
 pleased him. If the feelings of later collectors 
 have any potency in heaven, these men are now 
 in hell. Not only is any attempt to improve 
 upon the artist’s work a contemptible piece of 
 presumption, but even the mere effort to repair 
 damages inflicted by time may be an unwise 
 venture. Frequently such injuries could be 
 remedied by an expert were it not that some- 
 one, with the best intentions in the world, has, 
 out of sheer inexperience, made the injuries 
 irreparable.” 
 
 If a print comes into the expert’s hands 
 untouched, he can, as a rule, successfully 
 restore it; but if the print has been tampered 
 with by ignorant attempts at restoration, he 
 is very greatly handicapped and almost helpless. 
 Tears, stains, abrasions, and chemical decom- 
 position may yield to skilful treatment; but 
 unless one knows with the utmost exactitude 
 what he expects to accomplish and how he 
 intends to proceed at every step, he had best 
 leave the matter strictly alone, or entrust it to 
 other hands. 
 
 a 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 PARCHMENT AND VELLUM AND SOME 
 MOUNTANTS 
 
 ARCHMENT, which consists of the skins 
 
 of sheep and goats, is used extensively in 
 the printing of etchings, and also in the drawing 
 up of a great variety of deeds and other legal 
 instruments. Parchment is coarser than vellum, 
 which is made from the skins of calves. Vellum 
 is prepared in such a manner as to render it 
 suitable for the writing of illuminated addresses, . 
 the covering of books, and other purposes. 
 The qualities of parchment and vellum differ 
 very widely ; so much so, that the best parch- 
 ment is preferable to inferior or even middling 
 vellum. The goodness of each depends partly 
 on the quality of the skins of which they are 
 made, and partly, and indeed in a very high 
 degree, on the care and skill devoted to their 
 manufacture. When the skin is divested of its 
 hair, or wool, it is placed for some time in a 
 
 lime-pit, and then stretched on a square wooden 
 119 
 
120 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 frame tightened by pegs. While on the frame, 
 the skin is first scraped on the flesh side with 
 a blunt iron instrument, then wetted with a moist 
 rag covered with pounded chalk, and rubbed 
 well with pumice-stone. After a short pause 
 these operations are repeated, but without 
 chalk. ‘The skin is then turned, and scraped 
 on the hair side only. The flesh side is scraped 
 once more, and again rubbed over with chalk. 
 All this is done by the skinner, who allows the 
 skin to dry on the frame, and then sends it to 
 the parchment-maker, who repeats the opera- 
 tions with a sharper tool, but lays the skin on a 
 special pad instead of stretching it on a frame. 
 I have gone into the details of the manufacture 
 in order to show that damping and stretching 
 is quite natural in the treatment of parchment 
 or vellum. 
 
 In mounting a parchment print or etching it 
 is best to immerse it first of allin water. After 
 it has soaked for a few minutes, take it out and 
 lay it straight between two sheets of clean white 
 blotting-paper. When it is almost dry and still 
 supple, lay it on a thick mounting board (the 
 thicker the better) and mark with pencil the 
 four corners thus FT on the mounting board. 
 Then take the parchment and lay it face down- 
 
PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 121 
 
 wards on a sheet of plate glass. Then get a 
 slip of glass and lay the glass on the parchment 
 about half an inch from the edge all round. 
 Take a paste-brush and go carefully two or three 
 times over the edges till you are quite sure that 
 you have enough paste on to stick the parch- 
 ment. Next place the parchment carefully on 
 the mounting board so that the corners tally 
 with those marked in pencil. You can take 
 your time in adjusting the parchment accurately. 
 Now comes one of the most important points 
 in the process, the pressing of the edges 
 thoroughly all round with clean blotting-paper. 
 After this has been done the parchment is laid 
 aside to dry. If, in the various manipulations, 
 the parchment has got finger marks, take a clean 
 sponge and rub them off. While the parch- 
 ment is drying the mount should be held down 
 tightly at the corners; this is best effected by 
 laying on four weights. There chould be two 
 or three pieces of blotting-paper put beneath 
 the weights to prevent any impress. When 
 dry the parchment will be as tight and smooth 
 as a drum. Note—the parchment must not 
 be too damp when it is stuck on the mount, 
 otherwise the pull will be too great and probably 
 tear away the mount. 
 
122 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 As regards the mounting of vellum, the pro- 
 cess is somewhat different. The front must 
 not be damped. It should be laid, the prepared 
 side down, on a sheet of blotting-paper. With 
 a clean sponge, the back of the vellum is damped 
 thoroughly. If the vellum is of a small size 
 it is best to use for a mount a new, cheap draw- 
 ing board, slightly smaller than the vellum. 
 While the vellum is damp it is laid on the draw- 
 ing board and the overlapping sides and top 
 and bottom are tacked with small copper or 
 brass tacks in the way one would tack a canvas 
 for oil painting. Make sure that there are no 
 puckers at the corners. If any occur they 
 should be smoothed out with the blotting- 
 paper before being tacked. Always start tacking 
 from the middle and put one or two drawing 
 pins first of all in the middle of the sides and 
 top and bottom so as to fix the vellum exactly 
 in its place. 
 
 In a former chapter I gave a method for 
 making paste from flour, but it is well to know 
 some of the allies and surrogates of flour and 
 their use as mountants. Let me now revert 
 to mountants generally. Glue is frequently 
 used as a mountant, but for several reasons I do 
 not think its use advisable. In the first place 
 
PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 123 
 
 it is frequently contaminated by carrion flies, 
 hairs, etc., and secondly, if exposed to warmth 
 and moisture, it is liable to mildew, as are also 
 the pictures or prints to which it has been 
 applied. Glue frequently cracks, on account 
 of the dryness of the air, in rooms warmed by 
 stoves. ‘The addition of a little chloride of 
 calcium to the glue will, however, prevent 
 this. 
 
 While on the subject of glue let me call 
 attention to some of its properties. Dry glue 
 steeped in cold water absorbs different quantities 
 of water according to the quality of the glue, 
 while the proportion of the water so absorbed 
 may be used as a test of the quality of the glue. 
 From careful experiments with dry glue im- 
 mersed for twenty-four hours in water at 60° 
 Fahr., and thereby transformed into a jelly, it 
 was found that the finest ordinary glue or that 
 made from white bones absorbs twelve times 
 its weight of water in twenty-four hours; from 
 dark bones the glue absorbs nine times its 
 weight of water; while the ordinary glue made 
 from animal refuse absorbs but from three to 
 five times its weight of water. 
 
 The§best way to make glue is to break it up 
 into small pieces and let them soak for six 
 
124 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 hours in cold water. Cover the pieces with 
 water and when they are thoroughly softened, 
 pour off any water that may not have been soaked 
 up by the glue and then transfer the pieces to the 
 glue-pot, stirring them while they are melting 
 over the fire. When thoroughly dissolved stir 
 in a few drops of oil of cloves, and your glue 
 will be ready for use. While in use glue 
 should always be kept hot by a gas ring on the 
 bench. The hotter the glue is, the thinner the 
 coating needed and the better the joint. A good 
 stiff hog-hair brush should be used for applying 
 the glue as quickly as possible to both surfaces. 
 It is a mistake to put glue away for future use 
 with the brush stuck in it. Continual stewing 
 destroys the quality of the glue and spoils the 
 brush. If there is any glue left over in the pot 
 after a job has been finished, the glue-pot should 
 be filled up to the brim with cold water so that 
 the brush may be kept clean and supple. It is 
 a little more trouble, but freshly made glue is 
 always stronger and works in more cleanly 
 fashion than stale which has been left in the 
 pot. Liquid glues are made in great variety, 
 to save the trouble of heating before use, but 
 none of them is so effective as ordinary fresh- 
 made glue. 
 
PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 125 
 
 For all ordinary mounting work fine white 
 flour paste is undoubtedly the best. Rye flour 
 makes a very tenacious paste, but is only suitable 
 for the very roughest work and should certainly 
 not be used for any fine art work, as it attracts 
 book worms perhaps more than any other paste. 
 It is made in a manner somewhat similar to 
 ordinary paste, but should have more boiling. 
 This is, however, a very messy operation, and if 
 it must be used, far better to obtain it ready 
 made from any dealer in shoemakers’ materials. 
 It will not keep long, as it ferments very 
 rapidly. 
 
 Some people imagine that greater adhesiveness 
 is imparted to a paste by adding foreign matters 
 to it, such, for instance, as caustic alkali to 
 starch. It may be as well to point out in passing 
 that it is not advisable to add anything to a 
 paste (excepting a preservative) as the purer 
 it is kept the better for the print, whether of a 
 photograph, etching, or engraving. 
 
 For many reasons I am inclined to think that 
 the less paste used in mounting of any kind the 
 better, but “ that’s another story,” which I will 
 explain in the proper place. 
 
 Rice makes an excellent paste, indeed I am 
 not sure that it is not superior to all other pastes. 
 
126 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Its adhesive property is rather stronger than 
 flour paste, and it is ever so much better for 
 mounting either a fine India or a Japanese 
 paper. 
 
 Arrowroot, the pith or starch of the root 
 maranta arundinacea, received its common 
 English name from the use to which the American 
 Indians applied the roots of a plant once con- 
 founded with the maranta but now called 
 Alpinia galanga, as an antidote to the effect of 
 poisoned arrows. ‘The powder is prepared from 
 roots of a year old. It is often adulterated with 
 the starch or flour of potatoes. It is therefore 
 best to procure it from a good chemist. A paste 
 of the finest quality may be made from it and 
 the method of preparing it is very similar to 
 that of starch. 
 
 Starch and gelatine form another mixture 
 recommended by the ‘‘ Amateur Photographer.” 
 It combines the strong adhesive properties of 
 gelatine with the convenience of a mountant 
 which can be used cold. An excellent formula 
 is that of Mr. Ethelbert Henry. 
 
 Bermuda arrowroot Oy 3 
 Nelson’s No. 1 gelatine . . 6drams 
 Cold water, .) © (4 °o) a 
 
PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 127 
 
 Mix the arrowroot in about 4 ounces of 
 water and let the gelatine soak inthe rest. When 
 the arrowroot is well mixed, free from lumps, 
 and the gelatine swelled, transfer both to an 
 enamelled iron saucepan and boil over a gas 
 stove for five or six minutes. When cool 
 add :— 
 
 Methylated spirits Po ee ae ae OS 
 Carbolic acid (liquid) . . . 26 minims 
 
 A soft gelatine must be used, or the mountant 
 will be too stiff to use comfortably. 
 
 Another good formula is Gower’s, which 
 runs as follows. Place two ounces of starch in 
 a basin, and mix up with a small quantity of cold 
 water. Dilute to about a pint. Boil over a 
 gentle fire till the liquid gelatinises, stirring all 
 the time with a wooden spoon. While quite 
 hot, add one ounce of glycerine and about six 
 minims or drops of oil of cloves, and then pour 
 the mixture into a jar to cool. When nearly 
 cold, stir in gradually one ounce of methylated 
 spirit, and mix very thoroughly. If made in 
 this way the paste will keep indefinitely. Starch 
 and gum make a very-good mountant, with 
 greater adhesive power than starch alone, and 
 is suitable for mounting photographs on thick 
 
128. PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 papers. A standard formula (Valenta’s) can 
 be recommended :— 
 
 Best gum arabic =. 9...) a ieee 
 Distilled water... > apes eee 
 
 Soak until the gum is thoroughly dissolved and 
 then strain through a very fine muslin to get 
 rid of any grit or impurities in the gum, and add 
 to starch, two parts, previously made into a 
 paste with a little water. Mix well and 
 thoroughly, and heat the mixture by putting 
 the jar into a saucepan of water and retaining 
 it there until it boils or until the starch gela- 
 tinises. When cool, add thymol dissolved in a 
 little alcohol, in the proportion of two grains per 
 ounce weight of the mixture. 
 
 Dextrine is a modification of starch procured 
 by boiling common starch in diluted sulphuric 
 acid and also in some other acids; by this 
 treatment the starch soon loses its consistence 
 and becomes thin and limpid, being converted 
 into dextrine. It is the best mountant for 
 photographs because of its great adhesiveness, 
 and it does not cockle the mount or penetrate 
 the photograph so much as many other mount- 
 ants. Higgins’s “ photo-mounter”’ is said to 
 be a dextrine preparation, made according to 
 
PARCHMENT AND VELLUM 129 
 
 the patent specification (No. 17,337, 1891), 
 by dissolving dextrine quickly in water at 150° 
 to 160° Fahr., in the proportion of five pounds 
 per gallon, cooling quickly to 40° Fahr., filling 
 into jars, and allowing to stand in a cool place 
 for several days or weeks, until the contents 
 assume a white, pasty form. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 
 
 O copy paintings, etc., properly it is first — 
 
 of all necessary to have an absolutely firm, 
 solid, and easily adjusted copying stand. A 
 very handy one can be made by getting two 
 3-in. square lengths of hard wood; these are 
 connected by several battens. Lengths of iron 
 1 pieces are then screwed on to the hard wood 
 so as to form a kind of tramway. ‘Two uprights 
 are then fitted into two runners to form a sort 
 of upright easel. On the bottom of each runner 
 a pair of sash wheels are let in almost flush so 
 that they will run smoothly along the tramway. 
 A carrier is then made in a somewhat similar 
 manner for the camera. This carrier should be 
 just so high that when the camera is on it the 
 lens points to the centre of the board of the 
 upright easel. By this simple apparatus very 
 much time and trouble is saved in focussing ; 
 indeed, without some such arrangement it is 
 130 | 
 
PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 131 
 
 impossible to avoid distortion of the subject 
 by failing to secure parallelism. 
 
 If, however, one only occasionally has copying 
 to do, a ready method of quickly adjusting a 
 picture and the ground-glass screen to parallel- 
 ism is a matter of importance when copying is 
 to be undertaken with ordinary apparatus not 
 specially fitted for ensuring proper adjustment. 
 Against the bottom edge of the board upon 
 which the original is fastened, a magnetic 
 compass is held, the compass being in a square 
 case; the reading having been taken, the com- 
 pass is then similarly placed in relation to the 
 focussing screen, and this latter is shifted until 
 a similar reading is obtained. The horizontal 
 adjustment having been made as described, the 
 plumb line is used to secure the vertical 
 correspondence. 
 
 When the attempt is made to obtain copies of 
 valuable and old oil paintings with ordinary 
 plates the results are generally disappointing, but 
 by using a chromatic plate in conjunction with a 
 colour screen pleasing and satisfactory copies 
 can be made. As regards the lens any good 
 rectilinear is suitable, and F/16 or F/22 are 
 good working apertures. If possible always use 
 a yellow screen in copying oil paintings. ‘The 
 
132 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 main purpose of the yellow screen is to obviate 
 the intense reflections from parts of the varnish. 
 I have always found a better result when a light 
 screen is used than without the same. On the 
 other hand, though there may not be much actual 
 blue in a picture, there may be greens and green- 
 ish blues, which reflect a lot of blue light, and 
 if these are accompanied by deep browns and 
 reds, the screen would dampen the action of 
 the blues and greens, and give the browns and 
 reds more time to act. If it is a very old and 
 dark coloured picture, always use a deep yellow 
 screen, giving a long exposure with it, then 
 remove screen and give a short exposure, which 
 allows any greens and blues to act. 
 
 The larger one makes the image in copying 
 the longer exposure must one give the same stop. 
 To make this clear, let us take an example. 
 A lens is used on a landscape, the stop employed 
 being F/8. ‘The focus of the lens, let us say, is 
 eight inches. ‘The distance of the ground-glass 
 screen from the lens will be about eight inches 
 for all ordinary outdoor work; the nearer 
 the object the greater this distance, it is true, 
 and with some pictures it may be nine, or even 
 ten inches. Still, so far as the exposure is 
 concerned, we may regard it as still being eight — 
 
PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 133 
 
 inches, although in these latter cases we are 
 in reality using the lens at F/g or F/10, and to 
 be strictly accurate we should alter the exposure 
 accordingly. However, as already remarked, 
 it is not material. When we come to copying, 
 however, this difference grows so marked that 
 we are bound to take it into consideration. 
 In copying a print the same size, for example, 
 the distance with the 8-in. lens we have sup- 
 posed to be in use would be sixteen inches 
 (twice its focal length), and its stop marked 
 F/8 is no longer F/8 but F/16. Four times the 
 exposure requisite with a true F/8 is therefore 
 necessary. Similarly, when copying to get an 
 image six times the size of the original (linear), 
 the distance of the focussing screen from the 
 lens is, approximately, fifty-six inches with an 
 8-in. lens, and our stop F/8 has become F/56. 
 As F/56 requires just forty-nine times the 
 exposure that F/8 demands, we should have to 
 give under such circumstances forty-nine times 
 as long as with a true F/8. 
 
 It is important to find the correct exposure, 
 which may be from five to ten seconds under 
 some conditions or from one to sixty minutes 
 under others; so much depends on the light, 
 lens, stop, and the plate used. For instance, 
 
134 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 suppose one wished to copy an engraving by 
 day in a fairly well-lighted room, with a rapid 
 rectilinear lens, using an F/16 stop and a process 
 plate, the exposure necessary would be from 
 seven to ten seconds, with an ordinary plate 
 about five seconds. Again, supposing one was 
 copying an old and yellow engraving illuminated 
 by one incandescent gas light at a distance of 
 twenty inches. Using F/16 stop and, say, an 
 Ilford chromatic plate, the correct exposure 
 would be five minutes. Under the same 
 conditions, but removing the engraving five 
 feet from the gas light, the exposure needed 
 would be thirty minutes. 
 
 As I have just said, to make a copy of an 
 engraving or drawing, the same size as the 
 original, the lens must be double its focal 
 length from the engraving and also from the 
 plate. That is to say, if an 8-in. lens be used, 
 the camera must be racked out to sixteen inches 
 and the print to be copied must be placed 
 sixteen inches in front of the lens. 
 
 When a camera and lens are not available 
 there is another way of making a full-sized 
 copy of an engraving (if a reversed copy is 
 immaterial), that is to expose through the print 
 in contact with a sheet of bromide paper, giving 
 
PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 135 
 
 about 24 times the normal exposure required, 
 and developing up until the image is nearly 
 buried, and reduce the developed image with 
 persulphate of ammonia, subsequently re- 
 developing in daylight, when a reversed positive 
 print results. 
 
 The following is a good developer, and 
 particularly suitable for negatives in black and 
 white :— 
 
 No. 1. 
 Pieatoaumone , . . . .. 80 gf. 
 Peeeionite . kw I OS; 
 Water tomake upto . . . 10028. 
 No. 2. 
 Potassium carbonate . . . 4 OZ. 
 Potasstum bromide . . . Iogr. 
 Watertomake upto . . . I00zs. 
 
 Mix equal parts of Nos. 1 and 2. Negatives 
 so made will yield deep black and pure margins 
 if printed on smooth slow bromide paper. ‘These 
 bromide prints may be developed with the 
 hydroquinone-potash given above for the plates, 
 but diluted with an equal quantity of water. 
 Development should not be continued too long, 
 three or four minutes is usually sufficient to 
 
136 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 obtain all needful contrast ; prolonging develop- 
 ment will only produce harsh results or fog. 
 If the exposure proves to have been too short 
 don’t mess about trying to improve your 
 negative, but save time by taking another 
 photograph. Don’t have too much light when 
 developing, but do with as little as you can 
 where chromatic plates are concerned. You 
 will not improve your negative by looking at it 
 every few seconds to see how it is getting on. 
 If your exposure has been right you can almost 
 develop your negative in complete darkness by 
 using a normal developer and developing for a 
 given time. 
 
 In copying engravings, etc., I generally lay 
 them on a sheet of plate glass, and after 
 thoroughly damping them press with clean 
 blotting-paper into contact with the plate 
 glass; by doing this one gets a perfectly flat 
 surface, and at the same time removes any 
 slight irregularity of surface or creases that may 
 be in the print. The glass is then stood on 
 end for the print to dry, the photograph being 
 taken just before the print is quite dry. When 
 copying lead-pencil drawings it will be found 
 that they will appear brighter in the negative 
 and blacker in the photograph if the drawing 
 
PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 137 
 
 is damped before making the exposure. In 
 cases where it is not possible to damp the print, 
 clamp a sheet of plate glass against the engraving 
 or drawing to keep it flat. Should the paper be 
 thin and show lettering or other dark marking 
 through to the front, this may be minimised 
 by placing a sheet of black paper against the 
 back of the print when copying it. 
 
 When a drawing or print is mounted or has 
 ‘printed matter on the back it may be copied by 
 the method known as Playertype, as follows. 
 Suppose the object to be copied is a pencil 
 drawing mounted on a sheet of cardboard. 
 First lay on the table some solid, firm object 
 having a flat surface, e.g., sheet of metal, 
 drawing board, plate glass. Next comes the 
 mounted drawing card downwards, drawing 
 face upwards. Then a piece of slow bromide 
 paper. This is placed film downwards, so 
 that the film is in contact with the pencil 
 drawing. On the back of the bromide paper is 
 laid a sheet of plate glass, so as to press the 
 bromide paper into good and even contact with 
 the drawing and keep all flat. On the top of 
 the clear glass is placed a sheet of green glass. 
 Now, at a distance of about fifteen inches to 
 eighteen inches over the middle_of the pile, is 
 
138 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 arranged a No. 5 Heron’s gas burner. ‘The 
 exposure is about five to ten minutes. ‘Thus the 
 light from the gas-jet passes through the green 
 glass, the sheet of plate glass, the bromide paper, 
 the film, and on to the surface of the drawing. 
 On development the parts of the sensitive film 
 in contact with white paper of the drawing 
 develop black, while the parts in contact with 
 the black marks of the drawing are left white. 
 Thus from the positive (drawing) we get a 
 contact negative. This is developed, fixed, 
 washed, and dried in the usual way, and from 
 it by contact a copy positive is made. 
 
 The developer used by Mr. Player is as 
 follows :— 
 
 Hydroquinone . .... . 59) eee 
 Soda sulphite .  .. . 9. 9en eee 
 Pot. hydrate... 9: 430 
 Pot. bromide .. . (a eee 
 Water.) a. 1 a 
 
 Copies of pencil drawings and engravings 
 made by this method are particularly fine; 
 the process has not met with the notice and © 
 appreciation that it undoubtedly deserves. 
 
 Framed pictures under glass may be copied 
 without removing the glass, if necessary, but 
 
PHOTOGRAPHING PICTURES 139 
 
 care must be taken to clean the glass first and 
 avoid reflections, which the glass is almost 
 sure to throw. Photographing framed pictures 
 should be done by daylight, and the picture 
 shaded in some way, so as to neutralise reflec- 
 tions. Personally I use collapsible square box- 
 shaped screens, with the four sides covered in 
 tissue paper. In copying any subjects with 
 glossy surfaces one should use a yellow screen, 
 for light reflected from glossy surfaces, though 
 insufficient to be strongly perceptible to the 
 eye, nevertheless exercises a marked effect upon 
 the sensitive photographic plate. A screen is 
 easily adjusted to the lens and the cost is but 
 a trifle. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 PICTURE FAKING AND PICTURE FAKERS 
 
 COPY is a reproduction of a work by 
 
 another hand than the original. If a 
 master copies his own picture we call it a replica, 
 which the French designate by the term 
 doublette. Copies are of three kinds. ‘The 
 most general are those in which the copyist 
 imitates the original with exactitude; in this 
 case the difficulty of copying is but slight. 
 The second kind is where the copyist avoids 
 exact imitation, but renders the original freely 
 in its principal traits. ‘These copies, imitations 
 in style and colouring, are soon seen to be sham 
 or false pictures. ‘The third and most import- 
 ant kind of copy is that in which the picture is 
 imitated with the freedom of a skilful hand, but 
 at the same time with a truthful feeling of the 
 original, and with the inspiration of genius, 
 finding satisfaction, not in copying, but in an 
 
 imitation little short of creation. 
 140 
 
PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 141 
 
 The first kind of copies are those which people 
 of taste going to Italy bring home with them ; 
 they are very often beautiful copies of beautiful 
 originals, and do not assume to be anything 
 but what they are, 2.e. copies of genuine, 
 recognised chefs d’ceuvres. 
 
 The second, being counterfeits or spurious, 
 are generally described by the expressive and 
 comprehensive slang term of fakes. 
 
 While in the third we may class the works of 
 Michel Angelo, Raphael Sanzio, etc. 
 
 On the revival of painting in Italy, Michel 
 Angelo and Raphael in composition and design, 
 Titian and Correggio in colouring and light and 
 shade, unrestricted to the practice and unop- 
 pressed by the reputation of their predecessors, 
 arose to a degree of excellence in which they 
 have never been equalled, although they have 
 been persistently imitated. All small or large 
 oil pictures shown as Michel Angelo’s are 
 copies from his designs, or cartoons, by Marcello 
 Venusti, Giacopo da Pantormo, Battista Franco, 
 and Sebastian of Venice. 
 
 Oh, Germany, how much to thee we owe, 
 As heaven-born Pitt can testify below, 
 Ere cursed confederation made thee France’s 
 
 And only left us thy d d debts and dances ! 
 To Germany, what owe we not besides ? 
 
142 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Byron might have added faking, for Imhoff, a | 
 Nuremberg artist of the sixteenth century, 
 turned out the most extraordinary number of 
 faked drawings ever known in the annals of 
 faking. He maintained a band of copyists, all 
 capable of imitating Albert Diirer to perfection. 
 Thanks to them, posterity possesses at least 
 one duplicate of every picture painted by Direr. 
 As for Diirer’s sketches, the forgeries are 
 innumerable. After Imhoff’s death, his heirs 
 and descendants carried on the business, among 
 the master-fakers employed there being Gartner, 
 Bonnacker, Johann Ruprecht, Johann Fischer, 
 etc. ‘‘ This posthumous school of Diirer,” says 
 his biographer, Herr 'Thausing, “ has no analogy 
 in the history of art. No other old master— 
 not even Raphael—has been exploited by fakers 
 in so persistent a fashion as Diirer.”’ 
 
 There was also a print faker in Hamburg 
 who specialised in tiny prints—some no bigger 
 than a postage stamp—by early engravers, such 
 as Aldegraver, Schongauer, etc. Counterfeits 
 with such a small compass are almost impossible 
 to detect. This Hamburger used to mount his 
 fakes on paper torn from old books, on the back 
 of which he forged the marks of dealers and 
 monograms of collectors through whose hands 
 they were supposed to have passed. 
 
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PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 143 
 
 In France the faked drawings industry is a 
 most flourishing one, the nineteenth-century 
 painters—Prud’hon, Delacroix, Ingres, Corot— 
 being the most favourite victims. 'The fakers 
 make a point of attending the sales held when a 
 great artist dies. Generally, on these occasions, 
 everything is sold, and they buy for a trifling 
 amount sheets of paper on which the artist has 
 made rough sketches or a few pencil marks. 
 These may not show any regular design, but 
 so long as the paper bears a stamp showing the 
 sale or some evidence whence it came, the fakers 
 are satisfied, for they have something authentic 
 to work upon. Photography is largely utilised 
 by fakers incapable of making even a feeble 
 pencil sketch. Things have moved since the 
 day when Daguerre fixed his pictures on a bit of 
 looking-glass. ‘The camera now enables one 
 to photograph any drawing—coloured or not— 
 so accurately that even an expert can hardly 
 distinguish the original from the copy. Aston- 
 ishing results are obtained by employing the 
 carbon, platinotype, and other processes. From 
 one end of Paris to the other one hears the same 
 old story, with variations, of collectors being 
 imposed upon with early impressions of the 
 engravings of Ward and Smith—made in 
 Germany. 
 
144 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 When the Exhibition of Primitives gave a 
 vogue to French painters of the fifteenth century, 
 the armoury of the fakers was enriched with new 
 weapons. ‘They painted upon panels, with a 
 golden background, historical scenes bearing 
 inscriptions in Gothic letters. Fight shy of 
 these Chapters of the Orders of Knighthood, 
 State Entries of Sovereigns, etc. They are 
 too beautiful to be true. The Germans have a 
 way of faking them of such extreme simplicity 
 that one marvels it can deceive anybody. 
 As many of the Flemish Primitives have been 
 chromo-lithographed, these fakers select a 
 chromo of some little-known picture and with 
 weak paste mount it face downwards on a sheet 
 of glass. When dry, the back is rubbed away 
 with pumice powder till there remains of the 
 chromo only a film as thin as tissue paper. 
 This is then soaked off the glass, and while it 
 is still damp is pasted with a strong paste and 
 then mounted on old canvas or panel. A piece 
 of cloth, or several sheets of blotting-paper, are ~ 
 then spread on top of the canvas or panel and 
 put under pressure, and when dry the chromo 
 adheres tightly, showing the grain of the canvas 
 or panel. A coat of size, followed by a coat of 
 thick varnish and a grimy, worm-eaten frame, 
 makes the picture ready for the unwary. 
 
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 PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 145 
 
 As regards counterfeit oil paintings, no painter 
 is more easily imitated than Greuze. A 
 talented painter named Abrier flooded the 
 market with pseudo-Greuze under the Second 
 Empire. M. Paul Eudel, the erudite student of 
 counterfeit art, says that although Abrier’s 
 original work was held in high esteem, yet he 
 painted little heads 4 la Greuze on old canvases 
 and mellowed them with the aid of stains, 
 yellow varnishes, and prolonged exposure to 
 the sun. ‘Then he would hang one up in his 
 studio amid his own paintings and wait for the 
 dealer or collector to drop in. 
 
 “Hullo! You’ve got a Greuze ? ”’ the victim 
 would say. 
 
 ‘““T don’t know whether it is or not.” 
 
 “Oh yes, it’s a Greuze. How much?” 
 
 Abrier would name a big figure. 
 
 “* At a price like that it must be a Greuze.” 
 
 “I’m not so sure. I put a fancy price on 
 the picture because I don’t want to part with 
 it. That’s all.” 
 
 Then the victim would depart with the canvas, 
 and Abrier would take another ravishing head 
 by Greuze from a secret cupboard. 
 
 At the present time some of the founders of 
 the French modern school are extensively 
 copied and faked—Daubigny, who loved the 
 
 L 
 
146 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Oise and her charming banks; Diaz, the forest 
 painter ; Corot the poetic, the mysterious, le 
 Pére, the father of them all. 
 
 James Webb, the marine painter, spoilt his 
 reputation by copying Constable. 
 
 Another famous copyist was Jan Griffer, a 
 landscape and genre painter, who was born at 
 Amsterdam in 1645 and died in London, 1718. 
 Griffier was remarkable for his imitations of 
 Ruysdael, Sachtleven, Rembrandt, ‘Teniers, 
 Elsheimer, Berchem, Lingelbach, Poelenburgh, 
 Wouwerman, Salvator Rosa, and others. Many 
 of these imitations are said to have been pur- 
 chased as originals even in Griffier’s own 
 time, particularly those painted in imitation of 
 Teniers. 
 
 The following anecdote of the eighteenth- 
 century picture fakers is recorded by Mr. Noel 
 Desenfans, whose collection is now in the 
 Dulwich Gallery. ‘‘ Many pictures,” says Mr. 
 Desenfans, ‘‘ have been made to acquire the 
 appearance of age, even to a complete decep- 
 tion; and I remember, at the commencement 
 of my collecting, having purchased some: they 
 were offered at a price which induced me to 
 buy ; and as the very canvas on which they were 
 lined, to prevent their falling into decay, 
 
PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 147 
 
 appeared old, whatever uncertainty I might 
 have been in as to their originality, I had not the 
 least doubt as to their antiquity. 
 
 “I sent for a picture cleaner, who made use 
 of spirits of wine, and in a moment that which 
 he worked upon was totally ruined, which made 
 the cleaner say, that the pictures had been in the 
 Westminster oven. 
 
 “He then informed me that there was in 
 Westminster a manufactory where several per- 
 sons were employed making copies, which, after 
 having been soiled with dirt and varnish, were 
 thrown into an oven built on purpose, and 
 moderately warmed, where in the course of an 
 hour or two they became cracked and acquired 
 the appearance of age and a certain stoicity 
 the pictures I had bought did not possess, which 
 made me conclude they had not been baked 
 enough. 
 
 “‘T will venture to assert that many of our 
 superficial connoisseurs have been caught, as 
 I have been, with this snare, and have preferred 
 to the best modern productions those of the 
 Westminster oven.” 
 
 Since Mr. Desenfans’ time, fakers have 
 invented no new methods—the same old canvas 
 on which they make a copy, or better still a 
 
148 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 medley, an arm from one picture, a face from 
 another. When dry, they give it a mellow tone 
 with some dark, common varnish or a fine 
 varnish coloured with a suitable glazing colour, 
 The grime of age is simulated by the aid of 
 liquorice juice, and then the picture is baked 
 in the sun or, if speed be necessary, in an oven. 
 Cracks are made with the point of a needle. 
 Some put a metal plate on the canvas and strike 
 it with a hammer. ‘The varnish then becomes 
 covered with stars. 
 
 Transformation is another trick of their trade. 
 It consists in substituting a pretty girl’s face 
 for that of a wrinkled old woman. Portraits of 
 old ladies are, as a rule, unsaleable and can be 
 picked up cheap in the auction room by the 
 faker. It sometimes happens these old portraits 
 are well painted. ‘The faker’s job is then easy : 
 he lowers the high-necked dress, wipes out the 
 wrinkles in the face and hand, and cribs some 
 portrait of Gainsborough, Romney, Kneller, 
 or Lely. Apart from the faker, these painters 
 have herds of copyists, not only in their own 
 time, but at the present day. It is remarkable, 
 but portraits have ever been a favourable subject 
 for the faker as well as the legitimate copyist ; 
 indeed, Hogarth has recorded that portrait 
 
PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 149 
 
 painting was almost the only branch of art that 
 enabled a painter to procure a tolerable living. 
 
 Kneller, the German who was adopted by the 
 English, painted nothing but portraits. His 
 practice was to paint the heads and hands of his 
 pictures only; the draperies, ornaments, and 
 backgrounds were put in by English, Dutch, 
 and Flemish artists.. It was Sir Godfrey Kneller 
 who established in England this practice of 
 manufacturing portraits, which enabled him 
 and other artists of his time to complete the 
 quantity of portraits that, had they relied on 
 themselves alone, they could not have accom- 
 plished. 
 
 [ have not been able to find a list of Hen names 
 of Kneller’s assistants, but he seems to have 
 been keen in his search for struggling artists, 
 for according to Pilkington, Kneller, on seeing 
 one of William Gandy’s portraits and hearing 
 of his obscurity in Exeter, would willingly have 
 patronised him in London; but Gandy’s 
 pride was as great as his talents, and he died in a 
 state of poverty. 
 
 While Kneller was painting King Charles’s 
 starry gentlemen, his rival Lely, another German 
 who had painted a portrait of Charles I., seemed 
 to have turned cat in pan, for after the execution 
 
150 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 of Charles he was called to paint that of the 
 Protector, Cromwell, who said to him, ‘* Mr. 
 Lely, I desire you will use all your skill to paint 
 my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at 
 all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, 
 warts, and everything as you see me, otherwise 
 I will never pay you a farthing for it.” After 
 the Restoration, Lely was appointed State 
 painter to Charles II., who also conferred on 
 him the honour of Knighthood. 
 
 Sir Peter Lely’s pupils or assistants were as 
 follows, viz. :— 
 
 John Greenhill, Henry Tilson, William Wise- 
 ing, Prosper Henry Lankrink, John Baptist 
 Gaspars, John Cauder Eyden, Joseph Buck- 
 shorn, John Dixon, and Davenport. Pilkington 
 tells us that “‘ Lely’s only disciples were Green- 
 hill and Buckshorn ; but he appeared so jealous 
 of having a rival in either of them, that he would 
 not permit them to see in what manner he mixed 
 or laid on his colours, nor how he marked and 
 distributed them with his pencil; though each 
 of them copied the works of their master to 
 great perfection.” 
 
 When we find that such artists had the 
 nobility for their patrons, and, to crown the 
 whole, were appointed painters to the king, it 
 
PICTURE FAKING AND FAKERS 151 
 
 is not surprising that greater artists turned 
 their attention to copying and portrait painting. 
 
 Thomas Gainsborough was from 1760 to 
 1768 in the flower of his life and professional 
 excellence, and during that period painted a 
 series of his very finest pictures ; but they were 
 then so under-valued and so rarely purchased, 
 even at prices which little more than paid for 
 brushes, colours, and canvas, that he would have 
 spent his whole life in neglect and indigence, had 
 he not made his timely escape from painting 
 landscapes and rustic figures and found employ- 
 ment in portrait painting. 
 
 Of Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds said 
 that he could copy Vandyck so exquisitely that 
 at a certain distance he could not distinguish the 
 copy from the original, or the difference between 
 them. 
 
 Of Vandyck’s imitators and copyists, the 
 following are considered among the best: 
 George Jamesone, styled the Vandyck of 
 Scotland, who studied in the school of Rubens 
 at the same time as Vandyck; Adrian Hanne- 
 man, whose copies have been mistaken for 
 originals ; James Gandy, a disciple of Vandyck, 
 whom he imitated with success, so much so 
 that several of his copies of that great master, 
 
152 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 which were in the Duke of Ormond’s collection, © 
 were actually sold as original paintings of 
 Vandyck ; and, lastly, John Petitot, who painted 
 several portraits after Vandyck, in which he was 
 guided by the personal instructions of that great 
 master. Vandyck sometimes amused himself 
 with engraving, and etched several plates, 
 consisting mostly of portraits. Some of these 
 have been counterfeited. 
 
Specinren of cleaning 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS : METHODS OF 
 CLEANING THEM 
 
 ASTEL is the French name for coloured 
 
 crayons, but there is almost as much 
 difference between crayons and pastels as there 
 is between chalk and cheese; indeed, to a 
 certain extent there is a sort of similarity or 
 resemblance to cheese in a really good old 
 French pastel because of its soft, unctuous feel. 
 These old French pastels do not seem to be 
 made now, for some of the modern versions 
 are far from satisfactory in certain ways. I 
 once had the good fortune to pick up a collection 
 of old French pastels. It was contained in a 
 chest of drawers and consisted of some hundreds 
 of colours ranging from the deepest tints to the 
 lowest tones. ‘There was no hardness or gritti- 
 ness in these pastels ; they were just of the right 
 softness to spend and yield freely without 
 breaking or crumbling, rubbing on and adhering 
 
 perfectly to the paper. 
 T53 
 
154 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Chalk is an earthy form of carbonate of lime, 
 of an opaque white colour. The application of 
 the microscope to the examination of chalk 
 brings to light the interesting fact that this 
 substance has not had its origin in chemical 
 precipitation, since it contains abundance of 
 the inorganic remains of marine animals and 
 plants, principally the former. 
 
 The chief microscopic constituents of chalk 
 are the remains of shells of Foraminifera, 
 spicules of sponges, the valves of the diatomacez, 
 and peculiar bodies called crystalloids. The 
 last-named minute and remarkable bodies form 
 the cementing material of chalk. ‘The Fora- 
 minifera and similar minute organisms com- 
 prised under this title form mountains in the 
 Mediterranean regions, and are so abundant 
 in fossil deposits that not only all chalk cliffs, 
 but even the eternal Pyramids of Egypt may be 
 said to be built of them. 
 
 Drawing chalk was originally restricted in its 
 colour to white, black, and red. Latterly 
 drawing chalks of every colour have come into 
 use and are known by the name of crayons. 
 Creta Levis is a form of crayon mounted in 
 wood. It is said to be clearer than chalk and 
 have more softness and delicacy. Work done 
 
PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 155 
 
 with either of the above-mentioned crayons 
 has certainly a soft effect, but such softness is as 
 a rule tame and flat. It can hardly be other- 
 wise, seeing that for the most part crayons are 
 made of soft white clay, coloured with various 
 pigments. Although drawings made with 
 crayons are usually termed chalk drawings, 
 that term is not quite correct, because the chalk 
 drawings proper are, strictly speaking, those 
 made in the red substance coloured with the 
 oxide of iron, as used by Bartolozzi, Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence, Watteau, and others, the high lights 
 being put in with white chalk. Lord Leighton, 
 Whistler, and Walter Greaves, the last of whom 
 still survives, used white chalk on brown paper 
 for many of theirstudies and sketches for pictures, 
 while Daubigny made large and small drawings 
 in chalk and charcoal directly from nature. 
 
 Alfred George Stevens, painter, sculptor, and 
 designer, the pupil of Thorwaldsen, and the 
 most thoroughly educated artist the country 
 has seen, made composite studies in red chalk, 
 lead pencil, and water-colours. W. F. Settle, 
 marine painter to the Royal Scottish Yacht 
 Club, made drawings in crayon and water- 
 colours combined. 
 
 The French artists have been more successful 
 
156 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 in their mode of using pastels than those of any 
 other nation. Some years ago the “‘ Burlington 
 Magazine”? gave a particularly interesting 
 account of Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, the pastel- 
 list, and examples of his pictures which “ will 
 secure his recognition for all time as one of the 
 most eminent masters and the most surprising 
 colourists of the eighteenth century and even 
 of the whole French school.” 
 
 Many people imagine it is not possible to 
 clean a pastel drawing. It is, I confess, a 
 difficult operation, but by no means impossible. 
 Many years ago I purchased some old and 
 damaged pastel drawings for experimental 
 purposes. ‘They were badly stained by water 
 and had evidently been hanging on a damp wall. 
 As they were poor specimens and undoubtedly 
 copies, they were, comparatively speaking, 
 worthless. ‘The colours were damaged by 
 rubbing and had become very grubby through 
 not having been protected by a glass covering. 
 I had, therefore, no fear of spoiling them. ‘They 
 were drawn on a kind of fine brown sugar 
 paper with a rather rough surface. I don’t 
 think they had ever been fixed; at least, I 
 found no trace of a fixative. 
 
 The method adopted for cleaning was as 
 
PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 157 
 
 follows. ‘Taking a sheet of strong drawing 
 paper, I laid it on the bottom of an enamelled 
 bath, and almost filling the bath with tepid 
 water, the pastel drawing was then laid on the 
 surface of the water. The reason for doing 
 this was, first of all, to get creases out of the 
 pastel drawing. As soon as the creases had 
 disappeared, the drawing paper at the bottom 
 of the bath was lifted gently in such a way that 
 the pastel drawing adhered. This should be 
 done very carefully in order to prevent the 
 face of the pastel from getting wet. In doing 
 this the tyro will have some difficulty, but it can 
 be surmounted by pinning to the edges of the 
 pastel with drawing pins four thin, narrow 
 strips of cork. The drawing paper, with the 
 pastel still adhering, is then laid on one side 
 while a bath of weak bleaching solution is made 
 up. When this is quite ready, the drawing 
 paper with the pastel is laid on top of the 
 bleaching solution, as above described, still 
 taking care that the face of the pastel does not 
 get wet. A few minutes are allowed to elapse 
 for the bleaching solution to permeate the draw- 
 ing paper and pastel, after which they are lifted 
 from the bleaching solution. This should be 
 thrown away and the bath quickly filled with 
 
158 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 clear water, upon which the drawing paper and 
 pastel are again laid. ‘The drawing-paper sup- 
 port is then gently disengaged from the pastel 
 and allowed to sink to the bottom of the bath. 
 A piece of rubber tubing from the water tap is 
 then inserted beneath the pastel, and water is 
 allowed to flow very gently in at one end of the 
 bath and out at the other till any froth or scum 
 of the bleaching solution has been removed 
 from the bottom of the pastel. When this has 
 been done, the pastel is lifted from the bath 
 and laid on a sheet of plate glass. The back 
 of the pastel is then examined to see that all 
 stains have been removed, after which the pastel 
 is again put on the top of the water for the 
 final rinsing. When this is completed, the bath 
 is tilted so that the water can run away and 
 leave the pastel on the drawing-paper support. 
 Now comes one of the most difficult and impor- 
 tant items of the whole process. Hitherto the 
 water has not been allowed to pass over the face 
 of the pastel, but as it is lays flat on the bottom 
 of the bath, water is allowed to flow over or 
 flood the pastel very gently for a few seconds. 
 The pastel is then lifted by its support and laid 
 on the work table. In the “ drying off ” and 
 indeed throughout the whole process of cleaning 
 
PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 159 
 
 it is advisable that the front surface of the pastel 
 drawing be not touched by the fingers or blotting- 
 paper. Sheets of clean white blotting-paper 
 are spread out and the pastel finally laid upon 
 them to dry, when it will be ready for any 
 retouching that may be necessary. In re- 
 touching, don’t attempt to match certain tints 
 by mingling several colours together; it is 
 much the better plan to get the exact tint. To 
 do this it is necessary to procure a colour chart 
 from a pastel maker. By comparing the colour 
 chart with the pastel, the tints needed are 
 easily recognised and their numbers noted. 
 By selecting colours in this way a good working 
 collection is got together and the eye is trained 
 in matching. | 
 Pastel pictures are often said to have too 
 - soft and mealy a look, and to be likely to fade 
 as time elapses or moulder by the natural 
 disintegration of the chalk. Part of this state- 
 ment is perhaps true as regards a slight fading 
 of some of the colours. The mealy look is 
 generally due either to the drawing having 
 been rubbed or to its not having been properly 
 fixed. As regards the fading by time, any 
 fading that may occur is almost an added 
 charm and gives, more or less, a certain mellow- 
 
160 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 ness of age, for thus all precious things are 
 dimmed by the years, but nevertheless there is 
 still a lasting loveliness which is always pleasing 
 to the eye. The great, and one might almost 
 say the only, enemy of pastel drawings is damp 
 and mildew, for pastels seem naturally sus- 
 ceptible to damp; but if care is taken to keep 
 them in a dry position in a well-ventilated room, 
 out of the direct rays of sunlight, little or no 
 harm can happen to them, and there is no need 
 to fix them. 
 
 I am inclined to think that, in some cases at 
 any rate, where mildew has occurred in pastels 
 it is owing to the fact that before making a 
 crayon or pastel drawing some artists give the 
 paper two or three coats of size, and when dry 
 make the drawing. After the drawing is made 
 it is held a slight distance from the spout of a 
 kettle of boiling water, whereupon the size and 
 crayon (or pastel) combine, fixing the drawing. 
 This is not the best method of fixing, for several 
 reasons. In the first place, unless done very 
 carefully, the work will look patchy; and, 
 secondly, if damp gets into the picture, it will 
 act upon the size and start mildew. 
 
 There are many fixatives for pastels sold by 
 artists’ colourmen. One of the best I have 
 
PASTELS, CRAYONS, AND CHALKS 161 
 
 found is of French preparation, but it has to be 
 applied very carefully with a sprayer or vapori- 
 ser. It is not much use attempting the fixing 
 process with the sprayer fitted with a mouth- 
 piece whereby the fixative is blown over the 
 _ surface of the pastel. Like the kettle process 
 above described, the result is generally patchy. 
 The best method I have found is to procure a 
 barber’s sprayer or vaporiser, fitted with a kind 
 of bag-like rubber bellows. With this apparatus 
 a fine and continuous spray can be played all 
 over the pastel. The bottle containing the 
 fixative is held in the left hand, and the rubber 
 bellows manipulated with the right hand, while 
 the pastel stands on the easel. It is very 
 important that the vaporiser be kept quite 
 clean, and directly after use it should be 
 thoroughly cleaned with methylated spirits and 
 a piece of wadding or cotton wool. 
 
 At the beginning of this chapter I mentioned 
 that the exceedingly minute shells of the 
 Foraminifera, diatoms, etc., are composed 
 principally of carbonate of lime, and, in conse- 
 quence, effervesce copiously when a dilute 
 acid is added to them. Under no circumstances, 
 therefore, should acid be put upon or allowed 
 
 to come near a pastel drawing, or it will be ruined. 
 M 
 
162 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 I mention this fact because acid is sometimes: 
 recommended to take out certain stains. 
 
 Pastel paper is frequently pasted upon linen 
 before the drawing is made. ‘This is not only 
 unnecessary, but harmful. A good strong 
 suitable paper with a “tooth” or surface to 
 take the pastels is best stretched or drummed 
 on a light wood strainer. When the drawing 
 is finished and fixed it should be covered with 
 patent plate glass bound to the wooden strainer 
 with strips of waterproof paper in the manner 
 of a passe partout. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 NEW METHODS OF RESTORING: THE CLEANING 
 AND RESTORATION OF MUSEUM EXHIBITS 
 
 UCH has been said from time to time 
 4 in the public press concerning the manner 
 in which science can help in the restoration and 
 preservation of prints exhibited in such places 
 as the British Museum, but in the report by 
 Dr. Alexander Scott on new methods of treat- 
 ment which have been worked out, there is not 
 much that is new. 
 In this report, issued by His Majesty’s 
 Stationery Office, we are told :— 
 * (a) “ The appearance of brown or other 
 coloured spots all over the paper on which 
 drawings have been made is a constant source 
 of anxiety to those who have the custody of 
 drawings and prints. ‘This anxiety is naturally 
 increased when these have been coloured in 
 any way, especially when the pigments employed 
 are unknown. 
 
 (5) “ In the case of engravings and etchings 
 163 
 
164 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 in which the basis of the picture is printers’ ink 
 or carbon in some form or other, retained in its 
 place by a medium of an oily or greasy nature, 
 the judicious use of bleaching agents which 
 owe their action to oxidising or reducing the 
 colouring matters and stains, may restore the 
 paper to its original tint or render it even whiter 
 than it was originally. To avoid weakening 
 or destruction of the paper the solutions used 
 should be very dilute—say from 4 to 1 per cent. 
 If bleaching powder and hydrochloric acid are 
 used one fluid ounce of the concentrated acid 
 in a quart of water is ample for all ordinary 
 cases, and from a quarter to half an ounce of 
 good bleaching powder to the same quantity 
 of water ; the mixture of bleaching powder and 
 water need not be filtered. 
 
 (c) ‘‘ The best procedure is to immerse the 
 prints in the hydrochloric acid for 10 to 20 
 minutes, and, without washing, place them at 
 once in the bleaching-powder solution for an 
 equal length of time; again transfer to the 
 hydrochloric acid without washing. If not 
 thoroughly bleached, repeat until no further 
 improvement is observed, when the prints must — 
 be thoroughly washed in ordinary water for 
 some hours. 
 
NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 165 
 
 “A small quantity of sodium sulphite may 
 with advantage be added to the water before 
 finishing the washing to remove every trace of 
 free chlorine. 
 
 (d) “Instead of bleaching powder the so- 
 called ‘ solution of chlorinated soda’ may be 
 used. ‘This is sometimes too alkaline, and, if 
 so, may render the paper dangerously soft and 
 tender from the solution of the sizein the paper.”’ 
 
 All the methods recommended in the above 
 report are fully treated and explained earlier 
 in this work. There objection is raised to 
 the use of hydrochloric acid, as daily experience 
 teaches us that there are dangers attached to its 
 use. ‘To take only one instance, for example, 
 the pouring of hydrochloric acid upon an India 
 paper print and then transferring it to the 
 bleaching-powder solution. In doing this the 
 India paper would be almost certain to leave 
 the plate paper, and even if it did not do so the 
 whole surface would be more or less covered 
 with blisters. 
 
 The report adds that: (e) “the coloured 
 spots are almost invariably due to the growth 
 of mildew and moulds, or similar organisms, 
 the spores of which have been in the paper from 
 the time of its manufacture or which have 
 
166 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 settled on the paper from the atmosphere. 
 They germinate and grow, deriving their nutri- 
 ment chiefly from the materials used as size, 
 such as gelatine and albuminous substances. 
 For this germination and growth of such moulds 
 and bacteria, a high content of water vapour 
 in the atmosphere seems to be an essential 
 condition. Hence it is that drawing papers 
 which have been taken ‘to seaside places or 
 which have been stored in underground railways 
 have shown such marked deterioration. A 
 return to a dry atmosphere in the majority of 
 cases seems enough to arrest the various 
 growths, but until means have been found to 
 kill the spores and the various growths the 
 prints cannot be considered safe. Observations 
 are being made with various preservative and 
 antiseptic agents by means of which it is hoped 
 to destroy the spores and growths, and so 
 preserve the paper and the pictures on it from 
 further injury. Needless to say that solutions 
 of such agents as corrosive sublimate are 
 inadmissible, as being of too dangerous a 
 character for use with delicate colours, but 
 thymol and similar substances, aided by a 
 gentle rise in temperature, seem to promise 
 good results. Formaldehyde (‘ formalin ’) 
 
NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 167 
 
 would no doubt act, but, from its constitution 
 and chemical activity, can hardly come under 
 the category of undoubtedly ‘ safe’ re-agents 
 for this purpose until it has been very carefully 
 tested. From the purely chemical point of 
 view it may easily pass to formic acid, the 
 presence of which may prove dangerous to 
 many colours.” 
 
 The treatment and removal of mildew, moulds, 
 etc., was gone into at length in a former chapter, 
 but I might note in passing that a bath of dis- 
 tilled water, followed by a weak bath of formalin, 
 after which a thorough washing, would in 
 the case of a print or black lead-pencil drawing, 
 remove all trace of mildew and do no harm; 
 on the contrary it would tend to strengthen and 
 restore the texture of the paper and allow of its 
 being pressed with a fairly hot iron. As black 
 lead, plumbago, or graphite, is a species of 
 carbon, and contains traces of iron, silica, and 
 alumina, it is impervious to water, and by sub- 
 mitting it to the action of a hot iron it would 
 acquire greater firmness, and a more brilliant 
 colour or lustre. 
 
 The report further states that : (f) ‘‘ In many 
 drawings and coloured pictures of all kinds the 
 white portions are rendered or intensified by 
 
168 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 means of white lead or lead carbonate (ceruse). 
 In an ordinary city atmosphere, although it 
 may contain at any one time only minute 
 quantities of sulphuretted hydrogen, these 
 whitened parts will in time become discoloured 
 and finally quite black, owing to the conversion 
 of the white carbonate into black sulphide of 
 lead. It has long been known that by means 
 of a solution of hydrogen peroxide the black 
 sulphide may be oxidised into the white sul- 
 phate of lead and the original whiteness restored. 
 To apply such a solution to the great majority 
 of drawings or water-colour paintings would 
 almost certainly have disastrous results, even 
 if the solution contained no other substances. 
 Solutions of hydrogen peroxide are liable to 
 contain sulphuric and phosphoric acids and 
 also salts of barium. All these may be regarded 
 as most objectionable impurities when con- 
 sidering the treatment of prints. By preparing 
 a flat block of stucco, by casting plaster of 
 Paris in a simple mould and then drying the 
 block, we have a means of applying hydrogen 
 peroxide in vapour, and therefore free from 
 the impurities with which its solution may be 
 contaminated. By distributing as uniformly 
 as possible over the surface of the block a small 
 
NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 169 
 
 quantity of a concentrated solution of hydrogen 
 peroxide an active surface is obtained. On 
 placing a blackened print face downwards at a 
 distance of an eighth of an inch or so, the hydro- 
 gen peroxide which comes off will restore the 
 whiteness almost to its pristine purity in the 
 course of a few hours (see Fig. 1 in the report). 
 This treatment is also applicable to many of the 
 mouldy spots (‘ foxiness ’), as it tends to bleach 
 their colour and render them much less apparent 
 and disfiguring. ‘This requires a much longer 
 time than the whitening of lead sulphide 
 (see Fig. 2 in the report). 
 
 The method above recommended might be 
 all very well for a postage stamp or a print of 
 philatelic proportions, but hardly seems suitable 
 for such prints as, for instance, Landseer’s 
 ““ Laying Down the Law ” or “ Bolton Abbey.” 
 An inordinate amount of labour would be 
 entailed in making a waste mould and the cast 
 of plaster of Paris, to say nothing of the cost of 
 best plaster (“‘ super super, I think is what the 
 Italians of Hatton Garden call it ”’). 
 
 The report still further states that: (g) 
 ‘Drawings and prints not infrequently are 
 stained and disfigured by oils and varnishes 
 which have accidentally been spilt upon them, 
 
170 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 and these stains, although originally transparent 
 and colourless, in time acquire a brown tint 
 more or less dark. Such stains do not yield 
 to any of the ordinary bleaching agents or even 
 to any of the usual paint-removing solvents. 
 As the coloured material might be in the main 
 oxidised oils, and therefore probably of a more 
 or less acidic nature, it was resolved to try a 
 strong anhydrous base, pyridine. This was 
 applied by means of a brush of silky glass fibre, 
 and the liquid after a short time was removed 
 by pure white blotting-paper. After several 
 applications of the pyridine and the blotting- 
 paper, large stains were so greatly weakened 
 that their presence would not be detected by a 
 casual observer, although if sought for could be 
 found without much difficulty. The drawing 
 treated was by Watteau, and the stains probably 
 dated from the time of the drawing (1710-1720). 
 The removal of the stain, which was about 
 an inch in diameter, revealed some rough 
 sketches on the back of the paper which had 
 previously been hidden by the stain. 
 
 “The pyridine (which must be colourless 
 and dry) very rapidly evaporates and leaves 
 the paper undamaged in toughness. When the 
 paper is free from the smell of the pyridine it 
 
NEW METHODS OF RESTORING 171 
 
 may safely be concluded that all has evaporated.” 
 And so ends the report. 
 
 In examining the specimens given in Dr. 
 Scott’s report I cansee no striking improvement ; 
 on the contrary, so far as one can judge from 
 the process—block illustrations—the drawings 
 treated seem to have lost some of their original 
 details. | 
 
 As regards the pyridine recommended, I 
 suppose it is the volatile liquid alkaloid obtained 
 from dry distillation of bone-oil, and used in 
 _ medicine for asthma, but having no knowledge 
 of this alkali, I am not qualified to comment 
 on its action with drawings and prints. Suffice 
 to say that after experience of more than forty- 
 five years I am still content with old methods 
 which I have set out in this work, and as they 
 seldom fail they 
 
 ‘Make us rather bear those ills we have 
 Than fly to others that we know not of.” 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 THE CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 
 
 IRST and foremost in the care of oil 
 
 paintings, the question of covering them 
 with glass is one on which there is much 
 difference of opinion. Many are unfavourable 
 to glazing, partly as interfering with the view 
 of pictures, partly as tending to impede the 
 circulation of air essential to their preservation. 
 Be this as it may, one thing is perfectly certain— 
 that wherever glass is used in public galleries 
 for protecting oil paintings from noxious 
 deposits I have invariably found that pictures 
 so protected were in far finer condition than~ 
 unprotected ones. Indeed, one might say that 
 if some masterpieces which have mouldered 
 away into oblivion had been protected by glass 
 we should have had them now, more or less in 
 their pristine beauty, showing blue hills and the 
 delicate pomp of summer skies with their golden 
 moods and purple splendours, a little dimmed 
 by the years, but still of very lasting loveliness. 
 
 172 
 
CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 173 
 
 Many pictures in certain collections are little 
 more than blank spaces of darkness except for 
 an occasional high light which looms through 
 the surrounding gloom. It is folly to imagine 
 that these examples, for instance, of Italian 
 painters were ever originally so produced. 
 On the contrary, light, which has so much 
 force in pictures that therein consists almost 
 the whole grace thereof, was a great feature with 
 the Italians. As examples of the art of exquisite 
 effects of light together with the colours we 
 may take almost any piece by Raphael, Da 
 Vinci, Correggio, or Titian. It is said of the 
 last named that to make known his art in 
 lights and shadows he would express the lightest 
 part of the body by adding a little too much 
 white, making it much lighter than his model, 
 and in the obscure parts, where the light fell 
 by reflection, a little too much shadow, in 
 resemblance of the falling off of the light in that 
 part of the body. Consequently, Titian’s work 
 has the appearance of being much raised, and 
 deceives the sight. 
 
 Others have painted their principal figure 
 in bold relief against a marble column, while 
 its chromatic value is enhanced by the opposi- 
 tion of a dull crimson tunic worn by a negro 
 
174 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 boy. Again, the liberal use of white in the 
 architectural features of pictures of the 
 fifteenth- and sixteenth-century masters con- 
 tributes very largely to their success and forms 
 an admirable foil for the rich colours used in 
 Venetian costumes. 
 
 If, therefore, the masters who produced these 
 superb pictures were so particular in their 
 production, we who inherit them ought certainly 
 to be careful as to the best means of preserving 
 such priceless objects from deterioration or 
 decay. A few notes regarding the care and 
 cleansing of pictures may be of interest. 
 
 The term “ picture cleaning,” in its more 
 familiar sense, indicates the removal, by various 
 chemical processes, of the old varnishes or 
 incrustations by which a painting may be 
 obscured. There are, however, other opera- 
 tions connected with picture-cleaning which 
 consist in the mere wiping, dusting, or other- 
 wise slightly cleansing of the surface of a picture. 
 These, though they do not require any very 
 great skill, nor entail any risk, are nevertheless 
 important, inasmuch as due attention to them 
 tends to the preservation of pictures, and may 
 obviate the necessity of cleaning in the larger 
 sense of the word. 
 
CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 175 
 
 As regards the mere wiping or dusting to 
 remove any dust and dirt lying on the surface 
 of a picture, this may be done with a 3-inch or 
 4-inch broad varnish brush or old silk hand- 
 kerchief. For the removal of chill or bloom, 
 as it is technically called, which arises from 
 varnish, particularly from pure mastic varnish, 
 and gives a dull, filmy look to the surface of a 
 picture, various methods have been from time 
 to time recommended. Those commonly in 
 use are friction with a silk handkerchief or wash 
 leather, and the application of a damp sponge 
 or a moistened pad of cotton wool, after which 
 the picture is wiped with a soft cloth, and 
 subsequently when dry, rubbed to a polish 
 with a silk handkerchief. 
 
 It appears, from the Report of the National 
 Gallery, that “ with regard to the application 
 of water to the surface of a picture, various 
 opinions have been expressed. When a picture 
 is painted on wood, with a tendency to chip, 
 water, it is said, cannot safely be used, because 
 subsequent rubbing might tear up some of the 
 particles which are disposed to chip off. Again, 
 in cases where the surface of a picture offers 
 any fissures in the varnish, into which the water 
 can penetrate, it may, if incautiously applied, 
 
176 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 occasion blistering, and lay the foundation of 
 future decay. Where the painting is on an 
 absorbent ground, the risk of such mischief is 
 increased. It has also been stated that some 
 painters occasionally used water-colours in 
 finishing their pictures, and, consequently, any 
 cracks in the varnish would here render water 
 destructive.” 
 
 From experience I must say that the applica- 
 tion of water in any case is injudicious and 
 hazardous. 
 
 One of the best methods for the removal of 
 “chill” or “bloom” and _ restoring the 
 brilliancy of varnish is to take a piece of new 
 flannel and, carefully folding it so as to form a 
 soft pad, proceed to rub softly over the whole 
 surface of the painting with a circular motion. 
 After the chill or bloom is removed, finish by 
 polishing with an old silk handkerchief. 
 
 Besides attending to the fronts of pictures, 
 some means should be adopted to preserve the 
 backs from the accumulation of dust and other 
 impurities continually deposited on them. It 
 is extraordinary what these accumulations some- 
 times consist of. I have found cards, private 
 memoranda, holly and mistletoe berries, various 
 insects and verminous deposits of filth which 
 
CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 177 
 
 were injuring the pictures. To obviate this 
 state of things the backs of pictures should be 
 protected, or should at least once a year be 
 relieved of the dust or impurities which they 
 may have contracted. 
 
 Pictures should not be tilted forward, but 
 hung upright against the wall, so that dust may 
 not accumulate upon their backs. 
 
 It is a good plan to have a small piece of cork 
 at the four corners of a picture frame so as to 
 allow for ventilation and prevent any injury 
 to the picture in the case of damp walls. 
 Another good plan is to cover the backs of oil 
 paintings with water-proof brown paper. Apply 
 as follows: Cut a piece of water-proof paper 
 slightly smaller than the outside size of the 
 picture frame. Slightly damp the brown paper 
 on the plain side. Paste all round about an 
 inch of the margin of the water-proof side and 
 then stick it on to the picture frame so that the 
 water-proof side is next to the painting. ‘The 
 paper will then dry taut and protect the painting 
 from the accumulation of dirt, etc. 
 
 While on this subject I may point out that 
 before framing up a picture, the moulding 
 can be given a coat of sulphate of copper. If 
 
 this is done the copper penetrates the pores 
 N 
 
178 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 of the wood and is retained by the resinous 
 matter present, and thereby the attacks of 
 insects are prevented. 
 
 The stretchers of canvases should be looked 
 to from time to time. Should any wedges be 
 missing, new ones should be supplied and 
 gently tapped so as to keep the canvas taut. 
 
 A few words are necessary as to the mounting 
 of water-colour drawings. ‘The back of the 
 paper on which a drawing is made should not 
 come into contact with anything but a best 
 quality mounting board; even then it should 
 only be laid upon it and fixed by a small 
 quantity of fine paste run round the margins. 
 
 Glue or gum should never be used on either 
 the back or front of a water-colour. Gum 
 water is frequently used to heighten the 
 colours, but this is a bad plan and will ruin them 
 in time. However pure gum may be, the light, 
 heat, or moisture will act upon it in time, causing 
 one or other of the following defects, viz. a kind 
 of bronzy sheen, cracking or peeling of the gum, 
 mildew, or else fading of the colours. 
 
 When the glass of a water-colour drawing 
 becomes cracked it should be replaced immedi- 
 ately with a new one, or the fumes of the sulphur 
 contained in coal smoke or gas fumes will 
 
CARE OF PICTURES AND DRAWINGS 179 
 
 penetrate the crack and leave a mark which 
 is very difficult to remove. ‘To clean a water- 
 colour a piece of new bread or dough is far 
 better than india rubber. 
 
 As pastels contain only a little binding 
 material, drawings made with them are durable 
 _and the colours do not fade, but they must be 
 protected by glass and not exposed to damp, 
 otherwise the paper will mildew and the painting 
 become spotted with various coloured mould. 
 Fixing is often recommended for pastels, but 
 whatever fixative is used and however carefully 
 it may be sprayed upon the pastel, experience 
 proves that the delicacy and bloom of the 
 colours is lowered in tone. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 ABOUT OLD POTTERY 
 
 F the vestiges of the primeval tribes by 
 
 which Britain was occupied we have very 
 few beyond flint arrow-heads, celts, and scrapers. 
 Little or no pottery, for 
 
 ‘“‘ Geological evidence goes 
 To prove he had never a pan, 
 But shaved with a shell when he chose, 
 ’*Twas the manner of Primitive Man ! 
 
 He worshipp’d the rain and the breeze, 
 He worshipped the river that flows, 
 
 And the Dawn, and the Moon, and the trees, 
 And bogies, and serpents, and crows; 
 
 He buried his dead with their toes 
 Tucked up, an original plan, 
 
 Till their knees came right under their nose, 
 *Twas the manner of Primitive Man!” 
 
 In the primitive mode of sepulture alluded 
 to by Andrew Lang in the above ballad, the 
 hands were raised to support the head, the palm 
 of each hand resting against the lower part of 
 
 the face. This mode of burial is supposed to 
 180 
 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY 181 
 
 have been adopted by our warlike ancestors 
 because of an idea prevalent even long after 
 the Christian era that it was unworthy of a chief 
 or warrior to die in his bed. 
 
 Although most of the urns of the pre-historic 
 period are of the coarsest manufacture, in shape 
 far from classical, and with no pretension to 
 decoration beyond a profusion of scratchings 
 without method or design, it is quite possible 
 that the Britz, or Britons, got their first idea of 
 making pottery from the Greeks, who made 
 trading voyages here long before the birth of 
 Christ, and improved their designs when the 
 Romans came to stay. 
 
 Although Julius Czsar made no conquest of 
 Britain, the Romans under Claudius obtained a 
 footing which the Britons were unable to 
 resist; and from this time onward several of 
 the Emperors were themselves in Britain, 
 notably Severus and Constantius Chlorus, who 
 died: at York. The Roman occupation con- 
 tinued till the time of Honorius, when the 
 inroad of Alaric and the Vandals into Italy 
 caused the recall of the Roman legions in 
 Britain, never to return. 
 
 For many things we have to thank the armed 
 legions of Rome who first trod our island as 
 
182 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 invaders; they came not alone as conquerors, 
 but fulfilled in reality and fact a far higher and 
 nobler mission. They brought to the derra 
 incognita of Britain, “‘ to the isle surrounded by 
 sea, beyond Gaul,” and to its painted denizens, 
 not alone the arms, but the arts of civilisation. 
 Surrounded by the all-sufficient force of dis- 
 cipline, they were the still more powerful 
 possessors of knowledge, and opposed to the 
 naked bodies of the Britons, the fierce valour 
 of our forefathers only availed to render the 
 slaughter of the English warriors more general 
 and complete. But subjugation of the land 
 was yet a greater gain to the conquered than 
 to the conquerors. From sunny Italy they 
 brought the arts of peace. Roads soon 
 stretched across the breadth and along the 
 length of the land, teaching ¢:.e power of con- 
 centrated exertion, and bestowing the advantages 
 of internal traffic and communication. Houses, 
 fortifications, and streets were constructed with 
 such powers of durability that even to our day 
 may portions here and there be traced out 
 owing their firm foundations to the Roman era. 
 The Romans derived the potter’s art in the 
 first place from the Etruscans, and afterwards 
 from the Greeks, but cannot be said to have 
 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY 183 
 
 greatly excelled in the plastic art, for, being a 
 ruling people, their martial propensities made 
 them consider the culture of the arts as a 
 profession worthy only of slaves, freed men, 
 or of strangers whom they had subdued. But 
 when the Romans became acquainted with 
 the beautiful works of Greece and Asia, a taste 
 for them was developed, and excited the emula- 
 tion of the Roman artists, and they succeeded 
 in producing some very beautiful works. The 
 Greeks evinced a predilection for the nude, 
 but the Romans exhibited a decided taste for 
 draped figures. This requirement of Roman 
 _ taste was very unfavourable to the development 
 of the beauty of art. The figures seldom 
 trespass against the rules of design, but they are 
 deficient in elegance; they seldom bespeak 
 either genius or elevation of mind in the artist. 
 The ideal which is the soul of Greek composition, 
 is never perceived in that of the Romans; and 
 art began gradually to decline from the time of 
 Septimus Severus. 
 
 Whatever doubts may exist as to the Romano- 
 British manufacture of Samian ware, there can 
 be no question that coarser kinds of pottery 
 were produced on a large scale in this country 
 during the Roman occupation. 
 
184 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 Anyone who has sailed up the Medway will 
 have observed that the left bank of the river, 
 a little above Sheerness, consists of low, flat 
 ground, cut by the water into innumerable 
 little creeks, and at high water almost buried 
 by the sea. This is called the Halstow and 
 Upchurch marshes. In the time of the Romans 
 the channel of the river appears to have been 
 here much narrower, and the “ marshes ” 
 had not been encroached upon by the sea as 
 they are now. If we go up the little creeks in 
 the Upchurch marshes at low water, and observe 
 the sides of the banks, we shall soon discover, 
 at the depth of about three feet, more or less, 
 a stratum, often a foot thick, of broken pottery. 
 This is especially observable in what is called 
 Otterham Creek, and also in Lower Halstow 
 Creek, where it may be traced continuously 
 in the banks, and may be brought up by hand- 
 fuls from the clay in the bed of the creek. ‘This 
 immense layer of broken pottery has been 
 traced at intervals through an extent of six or 
 seven miles in length, and two or three in 
 breadth, and there cannot be the least doubt 
 that it is the refuse of very extensive potteries, 
 which probably existed during nearly the whole 
 period of the Roman occupation of Britain. 
 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY 185 
 
 Large quantities of Roman and medieval 
 antiquities were discovered in the excavations 
 for the General Post Office in St. Martins-le- 
 Grand, Temple Bar, Tower Hill, and numerous 
 other parts of London. They consisted mostly 
 of Samian and Early English pottery, together 
 with coins, glass, and other objects, recovered 
 from depths varying from ten to twenty feet 
 from the surface level. In these and other 
 discoveries made on Roman sites and stations 
 in this country red and black pottery is among 
 the most frequent of the objects found. 
 
 Between the middle of the seventeenth 
 century and its close commenced the manu- 
 facture of the fine earthenware, which, without 
 attaining the excellence of porcelain, constituted 
 a great improvement on the previous products 
 of this industry. 
 
 The establishment of the Potteries in Stafford- 
 shire originated from the circumstance of a 
 strata of good plastic clay being found there in 
 immediate juxtaposition with the coal necessary 
 for its conversion into the fabricated article. 
 
 Before the commencement of Wedgwood’s 
 labours the English pottery produced wares 
 flimsy in their materials, grotesque in their 
 forms, and utterly destitute of correct taste in 
 
186 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 their ornamentation, being miserable copies of 
 the Chinese porcelain. Owing to the influence 
 of the enterprise and genius of Wedgwood, the 
 style and character of the ceramic manufacture 
 of the country was thoroughly reformed, so 
 that not only have the productions of Stafford- 
 shire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire, London, and 
 other places where this industry has been 
 established, superseded foreign goods in the 
 home market, but they have spread over the 
 whole civilised world. 
 
 Until the Paris Exhibition of 1867 very little 
 was known of Japanese art. As the articles 
 at this Exhibition were for sale, and passed into 
 the hands of collectors all over Europe at 
 comparatively small prices, it will always remain 
 a matter for regret that no descriptive catalogue 
 was prepared of this superb collection, and as 
 no one appears to have visited Japan for the 
 express purpose of investigating the arts and art 
 thoughts of its inhabitants, it is very likely 
 that at no very distant date, owing to the great 
 changes which modern civilisation, modern 
 intercourse, earthquakes, and wars have lately 
 made and are making every day, but little will 
 be found remaining of the art works of ‘ Old 
 Japan,” the 
 
 ~~ 
 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY 187 
 
 “ Land that mused while the world was striving ! 
 Land that dreamed while the nations fought !”’ 
 
 Yet thou hast risen and conquered, 
 
 Thou dost stand, armed as a modern People 
 
 In the front rank—and yet I say alas! 
 
 Who could have wished, in waking thou shouldst spurn 
 The wondrous rightness of thy sheltered past ? 
 
 To be as others are thou seem’st to yearn, 
 
 And for mere useful ugliness dost cast 
 
 For ever from thee beauties unsurpassed. 
 
 Dr. Kempfer, one of the oldest and best 
 authorities on Japan, writing at the close of the 
 seventeenth century, says, “as to all sorts of 
 handicrafts, the Japanese are wanting neither 
 proper materials nor industry and application, 
 and so far is it that they should have any 
 occasion to send for masters abroad, that they 
 rather exceed all other nations in ingenuity 
 and neatness of workmanship.” : 
 
 The Chinese have always been too conserva- 
 tive to change or learn from others, while the 
 Japanese, ever ready to benefit from the superior 
 knowledge of those with whom they were 
 brought in contact, readily adopted what little 
 the Chinese or Coreans could teach them and 
 put upon the borrowed ideas their own impress. 
 In most instances of ornamental art the Japanese 
 are superior to the Chinese, and their taste is 
 
188 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 more correct and refined than that displayed 
 by the artists of the Celestial Empire; never- 
 theless, the wares of China are more fashionable 
 now and fetch very high prices, but I cannot 
 help thinking that a time will come when the 
 old wares of Japan, which at the present time 
 may often be picked up for a song, will command 
 high prices too. Apart from this it should 
 be remembered that rooms, large, lofty, or even 
 small-proportioned ones, are dignified by art 
 treasures whether Chinese or slender Japanese 
 pieces; and arranged with taste never fail to 
 give almost any room an appearance of dignified © 
 calm. | 
 
 The Japanese generally repair their art 
 pottery with a gold lacquer, but this does not 
 look so neat as repairs made with one of the 
 many cements sold for the purpose. The first 
 thing to be done is to clear all the edges of dust 
 and dirt. They should then be brushed over 
 with a solution of patent size to stop suction. 
 As soon as this is dry the fragments are ready 
 for the cement, which should be applied thinly 
 with a camel-hair brush and the pieces pressed 
 tightly together. They should then be laid 
 by in a warm place to dry. If there are a large 
 number of pieces, do not try to join up too 
 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY 189 
 
 many at one time, because in pressing one part 
 another may become dislocated. If there are 
 any fragments missing these may be made good 
 with superfine plaster of Paris. A sixpenny bag 
 procured at one of the plaster shops in or about 
 Leather Lane, Holborn, will repair dozens of 
 pieces. Plaster of Paris should be kept in a tin 
 canister and stored in a dry place. When 
 making any repairs proceed as follows: With 
 a hog-hair brush damp round the edges of the 
 parts to be made good. ‘Then take a small 
 quantity of the plaster of Paris and put it into 
 a tea-cup and mix with water till about the 
 consistency of thick batter. With an old 
 teaspoon or a bone mustard spoon take up 
 a small quantity of the wet plaster and build or 
 model in the missing parts roughly. In a few 
 minutes the plaster will set and harden some- 
 what. While in this condition it can be pared 
 and cut away to the shape of the repaired article. 
 If not smooth enough, it can be further smoothed 
 with a piece of wet sand-paper and then put 
 by for a day or two to get quite hard dry, when 
 it will be ready for any decoration. Before 
 doing any decoration the parts that have been 
 made good should be painted with boiled oil, 
 and when this has dried in the missing parts 
 
190 PICTURES AND HOW TO CLEAN THEM 
 
 may be matched and touched in with oil-colours 
 and varnished. An excellent varnish may be 
 made for this purpose by putting an ounce of 
 copal of an amber colour, finely powdered, 
 into a glass flask containing four ounces of 
 ether ; corking the mixture with a glass stopper, 
 and shaking it for half an hour; then allowing 
 it to rest till the liquor becomes clear. 
 
 The great volatility of ether, and its very 
 high price, do not allow the use of this varnish 
 for ordinary purposes. It has some admirable 
 properties which belong to no other varnish. 
 It presents great resistance to the friction of 
 hard bodies, possesses remarkable solidity, 
 has a peculiar drying quality, and a very 
 fragrant odour. 
 
 Another finish for repaired china and pottery 
 is soluble glass—a thick syrupy liquid made by 
 melting together sodium carbonate and siliceous 
 sand. It may be mixed with water, and if 
 painted over repairs is decomposed by the 
 action of the carbon dioxide in the air, a film 
 of silica or silicate being left, forming a hard 
 protective surface or enamel on the china. 
 
 Formerly broken china and porcelain was 
 repaired with rivets. They were of little use 
 as regards strengthening the plate and withal 
 
ABOUT OLD POTTERY IQI 
 
 very unsightly. By far the best method is to 
 join the broken parts with a strong cement, 
 and if the joint is properly made there is not 
 the slightest fear of its coming apart. 
 
 _ A good cement for broken china or glass. Soak 
 isinglass in water till it is soft, then dissolve 
 It in the smallest possible quantity of proof 
 spirit, by aid of a gentle heat. In 2 ounces of 
 this mixture dissolve 10 grains of ammoniacum, 
 and whilst in a liquid state add half a drachm 
 of mastic, dissolved in 3 drachms of rectified 
 spirits; stir well together and put into small 
 bottles. 
 
 Liquefy the cement by standing the bottle in 
 hot water, using it directly on the edges of 
 the broken article. ‘The great point is to press 
 the parts very tightly together; after this has 
 been done it is not a bad idea to wind some fine 
 twine round the broken parts where it is 
 possible till the joint-is hard dry. Another 
 useful thing when repairing valuable china is 
 a linen bag, filled with dry sand. This when 
 placed on an ornament or vase which needs 
 even pressure can be easily adjusted to the 
 contour of the article by applying. slight 
 pressure to the bag 
 
INDEX 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS, signs, 
 used in formule, 91 
 Abrier (talented French artist) 
 
 forged Greuze, 145 
 Acid, acetic, 46, 47 
 arsenious, 45 
 —— carbolic, 80, 127 
 —— chromic, 77 
 — hydrochloric, 36, 45 
 —— muriatic, 74 
 
 etc., 
 
 oxalic, 51 
 
 phosphoric, 77 
 
 pyroligneous, 46 
 
 sulphuric, 80 
 
 Acids, their use in restoration, 
 73; properties of, 76. (For 
 details of various acids see 
 
 ’ Chap. IX.) 
 
 Agate, 8 
 
 Agathis australis, the tree, 27 
 
 Alaric, 181 
 
 Alcohol, dissolves mastic resin, 
 23; does not dissolve copal 
 resin readily, 26; corrosive 
 sublimate soluble in, 85. 
 See also Soap, 88 
 
 Aldegraver (early engraver), 
 142 
 
 Alkalies, 5, 13, 18, 31, 79 
 
 Alkalies, the properties of, 
 82; action upon vegetable 
 colours, 82; never to be 
 used in strong solutions, 84. 
 (For details of their value in 
 the arts see Chap. X.) 
 
 Alpinia galanga. See Arrow- 
 root. 
 
 Oo PICTURES 
 
 193 
 
 Alum, 28 
 
 Alumina, sulphate of, 88 
 
 Amateur Photographer, 126 
 
 Amber, 26 
 
 America, 26 
 
 Ammonia (or volatile alkali), 
 18; its affinity for carbonic 
 acid, 83. See also Chap. X. 
 
 persulphate of, 135 
 
 Ammoniacum, I9I 
 
 Angelo, Michel, 141 
 
 Animé, a W. Indian resin used 
 in the manufacture of 
 varnish, 26 
 
 Antwerp blue, 57 
 
 Apocalypse, emerald rainbow 
 of the, 97 
 
 Apparatus, 6 
 
 Aqua fortis (nitric acid), 76, 92 
 
 Aqua regia (nitro muriatic 
 acid), 76, 92 
 
 Architectural drawings, 
 thods of cleaning, 105 
 
 Arrowroot (Mavanta arundt- 
 nacea) makes a paste of the 
 finest quality, 126 
 
 Bermuda, 126 
 
 Aspergillus glaucus 
 mould ’’), 87 
 
 Asphaltum 16 
 
 Athenzus, 100 
 
 me- 
 
 (‘‘ blue 
 
 Balsam, Canada, 25 
 Barium, chloride of, 80 
 Bartolozzi, 155 
 Baryta, nitrate of, 80 
 
104 
 
 Bath, the, 38, 41, 47, 49, 59, 
 12%, 115 
 
 wooden, 5, 6 
 
 zinc, 5 
 
 Battista, Franco, 141 
 
 Beni-ye (Japanese print), 114 
 
 Bermuda arrowroot, 126 
 
 Bistre, 55, 57 
 
 Bisulphate of potash, 80 
 
 Bitartrate of potash (cream of 
 tartar), 79 
 
 Black, a valuable pigment, 105 
 
 lead or plumbago, 55 
 
 oxide of manganese, 36 
 
 Bleaches for wood and silk, 79 
 
 Bleaching powder, 37, 45 
 
 process, 36 
 
 solutions, 42, 44, 51, 76 
 
 Blemishes beneath varnish, 19 
 
 ~ Bloom *" BF “chin” Yn 
 varnish, 26, 176 
 
 Blotting-paper, 3, 13, 35, 38, 
 49, 50, 53, 69, 108, 115, 121, 
 136 
 
 Blue, 58 
 
 Blue-black, 54 
 
 Blue, cobalt, 56 
 
 Blue complementary to orange, 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 Blue vitrol (sulphate of copper), 
 92 
 
 Boiled oil, 21 
 
 Boiling water to soften paste, 
 50 
 
 Bonnacker, Albert 
 Dirers, 142 
 
 Boschini, 20 
 
 Bread or dough for removing 
 surface markings on old 
 prints, 114, 179 
 
 Brewster, Sir David, 58 
 
 Britain, 181, 182 
 
 British Museum, 163 
 
 Bromide paper, 137 
 
 potassium, 135, 138 
 
 Brown, madder, 55 
 
 pink, 57 
 
 Browns, the, 55 
 
 forged 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Brushes, 9, 29, 31, 33, 42, 54 
 
 Buckshorn, Joseph idiseipia of 
 Lely’s), 150 
 
 Burette, i.e. a graduated glass 
 tube, 45 
 
 Burlington Magazine, 156 
 
 Burnisher, a, 8 
 
 Burnt umber, 55 
 
 Byron, Lord, 142 
 
 Cadmium, deep, 56 
 
 Cesar, Julius, 181 
 
 Cake water-colours, 53 
 Calcium, chloride of, 123 
 Calomel (chloride of mercury), 
 
 92 
 
 Camel-hair brushes, 7, 35, 69 
 
 Camphor, 25 
 
 Canada balsam, 25 
 
 Canvas bag, use of, 43 
 
 Carbolic acid, 80, 127 
 
 Carbonate of soda, 36, 47 
 
 Carbonic acid, 81 
 
 Care of pictures and drawings, 
 Chap. XX. 
 
 Carmine, 57 
 
 Castile soap, 31 
 
 Caustic potassa (hydrate potas- 
 sium), 92 
 
 Cement for broken china or 
 glass, Ig! 
 
 Citric acid, 79; 
 of, 80 
 
 Citrine, 63 
 
 Chalk (carbonate calcium), 92. 
 See also Carbonate of lime, 
 
 adulteration 
 
 154 
 Chalk, drawing, 154 
 Chamois leather, 31 
 Charles I., 149 
 Charles II., 150 
 Chaucer, 96 
 Chemical affinity, 17 
 knowledge, 16 
 reaction, 17 
 substances, signs, etc., 90 
 Chemicals, 44, 46, 73; import- 
 ance of using pure, 84 
 
INDEX , 
 
 Chen-ki-Souen, 103 
 
 Chevreul, Mons., 67 
 
 China, Pantheon of, 104; wares 
 of, 188 
 
 Chinese, the, 187, 188 
 
 Chinese lac brush, 33 
 
 Chios, 23 
 
 Chloride of barium, 80 
 
 Chloride of lime, 37, 44, 47, 75, 
 79, 108 
 
 Chloride, liquid, 36 
 
 Chlorine, 36, 45, 165 
 
 Chlorine gas, 44 
 
 Chloroform (chloride of gor- 
 myle), 92 
 
 Chromic acid, 77 
 
 Chromium, oxide of, 56 
 
 Chuban, Japanese vertical 
 print 113 
 
 Church, Sir Arthur H., 24 
 
 Citric acid, 77 
 
 Citrine brown, 55 
 
 Claude’s pictures, 14 
 
 Claudius, 181 
 
 Cleaning a “‘ black and white ”’ 
 or monochrome drawing, 
 107, 108 
 
 pastel drawings, 156 
 
 and restoration of Mu- 
 
 seum exhibits, 163 
 
 an unvarnished print, 4o 
 
 varnished prints, 34 
 
 water-colour drawings, 48 
 
 Cloves, oil of, 39, 80, 124, 127 
 
 Cobalt blue, 56 
 
 Coconut oil, 84 
 
 Colour prints, 70, 81 
 
 Colours, 9 
 
 Colours and how to blend them, 
 58; complementary, 61; for 
 use, 54; mixing, 54; second- 
 ary, 60 
 
 Compasses, 6 
 
 Constable copies, 146 
 
 Constantine, 95 
 
 Constantius, Flavius Valerius 
 Chlorus, 181 
 
 Copal, 22, 26, 27, 190 
 
 195 
 
 Copper, sulphate of, 177 
 
 Corea the birthplace of ink 
 manufacture, 103 
 
 Coreans, the, 187 
 
 Corot the poetic painter, 143, 
 146 
 
 Correggio, 141, 173 
 
 Corrosive sublimate (bichloride 
 of mercury), 82, 85, 86, 166 
 
 Cotton wool, 43 
 
 Cowry, or Kauri-pine resin, 26 
 
 Cream of tartar (bitartrate of 
 potash), 79, 92 
 
 Creases in prints, 112 
 
 Creta L@vis, 154 
 
 Crimson, 57 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 150 
 
 Cut-out mounts, 71 
 
 Cuyp’s pictures, 14 
 
 Daguerre, Louis Jacques 
 Maude (French artist), 143 
 
 Dammara australis, 27 
 
 Daubigny, 146, 155 
 
 Davenport (pupil of Lely’s), 
 150 
 
 Da Vinci, 173 
 
 Delacroix, 143 
 
 Desenfans, Mr. Noel, 146 
 
 Developers, photographic, 135, 
 138 
 
 Dewint’s green, 56 
 
 Dextrine, 128 
 
 Diaz, the forest painter, 146 
 
 Disinfecting solution, Labar- 
 rague’s, 36 
 
 Distilled water, 36, 44, 45 
 
 Dixon, John, 150 ~ 
 
 Drawing papers, the sizes of, 
 71 
 
 Drawings, their removal from 
 cardboard mounts by steam, 
 108 ; 
 
 method of cleaning, 108, 
 
 109 
 Dublin Law Courts, 86 
 Dulwich Gallery, 146 
 Diirer, Albert, 142 
 
196 
 
 East Indies, 26 
 
 Eau de Javelle, 36 
 
 Egypt, Pyramids of, 154 
 
 Egyptian artists alive to the 
 importance of colour, 105 
 
 signs and symbols, 96 
 
 Triad, 96 
 
 Elemi resin, 25 
 
 Emblems, 94 
 
 Emollients, 18 
 
 England, 20 
 
 Epsom salts (sulphate of mag- 
 nesia), its similarity to 
 oxalic acid, 78 
 
 Ether, 85, 190 
 
 Etruscans, the, 182 
 
 Eudel, M. Paul (student of 
 counterfeit art), 145 
 
 Exeter, 149 
 
 Eyden, John Cauder, 150 
 
 Ficke, Mr. Arthur Davison, 
 117; his book on Japanese 
 prints, 118 
 
 Field, George, his valuable 
 works on colours, 67 
 
 Filtration, 24 
 
 Fischer, Johann, 142 
 
 Fixatives for pastels, 179 
 
 Flake white, 21 
 
 Foraminifera, 154 
 
 Formaldehyde (‘‘ formalin ’’), 
 167 
 
 Formula in chemistry, 90 
 
 Franco, Battista, 141 
 
 French blue, 56 
 
 ultramarine, 56 
 
 Friction, method of, 18, 31, 48 
 
 Fungi, 87 
 
 Gainsborough, Thomas (copied 
 Vandyck exquisitely), 148, 
 I5I 
 
 Gamboge, 57 
 
 Gandy, James (a disciple of 
 Vandyck), 151 
 
 William, 149 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Gartner, forged Albert Diirers, 
 142 
 
 Gaspars, John Baptist, 150 
 
 Gelatine, 126 
 
 ** Genius Loci,”’ 99 
 
 Geranium red, 86 
 
 Germany, 141, 143 
 
 Giacopo de Pantormo, 141 
 
 Glass, plate, 2, 4 
 
 powdered, 24 
 
 Glucose (grape sugar), 92 
 
 Glue, 72, 108, 178 
 
 Glue, not advisable to use as a 
 mountant, 122; frequently 
 cracks, 123; how made, 124 
 
 Glue-pot, 39 
 
 Glycerine, 127 
 
 Gold mounts, 68 
 
 solvent for, 76 
 
 Gowers’ formula for a mount- 
 ant, 127 
 
 Great Architect of the Uni- 
 verse, an emblem of, 96 
 
 Greek artists, composed their 
 blacks from the charcoal of 
 burnt vine-twigs, 105 
 
 Greeks, the, 182, 183 
 
 Green, Dewint’s, 56 
 
 —— earth, 56 
 
 olive, 55 
 
 Greenhill, John 
 Lely), 150 
 
 Greuze, 145 
 
 Griffier, Jan, remarkable for his 
 imitations of Ruysdael,. 
 Sachtleven, Rembrandt, 
 Teniers, Elsheimer, Berchem, 
 Lingelbach, Poelenburgh, 
 Wouwerman, Salvator Rosa, 
 and others, 146 
 
 Grinding colours, 16 
 
 Gum, 35, 50, 108, 127, 178 
 
 water, 107; injurious to 
 
 water-colours, 178 
 
 copal, 26 
 
 (disciple of 
 
 Hack-saw, 7 
 Halstow, 184 
 
INDEX 
 
 Hamburg, 142 
 
 Hanneman, Adrian, 151 
 
 Harmonious contrasts of 
 colours, 61 
 
 Harmony of analogy, 64 
 
 of colour, 63 
 
 Harp Alley, Shoe Lane, the 
 residence of artists, 101 
 
 Harunobu (Japanese artist), 
 his prints, III, 117 
 
 Hashiva-ye, Japanese print, 
 very tall and narrow, 113 
 
 Hatching, 52 
 
 Hatton Garden, 169 
 
 Haydon, the artist, 15 
 
 Helianthus or sunflower, 89 
 
 Henry, Mr. Ethelbert, 126 
 
 “ Herculés Pillars,’’? a tavern 
 sign, 100 
 
 Heron’s gas burner, 138 
 
 Higgin’s “ photo-mounter,”’ 
 128 
 
 Hiroshige (Japanese artist), his 
 prints, 111, 118 
 
 Hogarth, 148 
 
 Hog-hair brushes, 31 
 
 Honorius, Augustus Flavius, 
 181 
 
 Hydrate of potassium, 138 
 
 Hydrochloric acid, 45, 80, 164 
 
 Hydrogen, 77 
 
 peroxide, 168 
 
 Hydroquinone, 135, 138 
 
 Hypochlorite of soda, 36 
 
 Imhoff, a Nuremberg artist 
 who forged Albert Diirer’s 
 drawings, 142 
 
 India paper, 47 
 
 print, 47 
 
 rubber, 114 
 
 Indian or Chinese ink, 103; its 
 manufacture, 102; its use by 
 architectural draughtsmen, 
 106; how to clean drawings 
 made with it, 102 
 
 Indigo, 57 
 
 sulphate of, 45 
 
 Ao7 
 
 Ingres, 143 
 
 Ink stains, 51; removal of, 78 
 
 Iodide of potassium, 86 
 
 Iron mould, 8; removal of, 78 
 
 Tsinglass, 191 
 
 Iso, 97 
 
 Italy, 141, 181, 182 
 
 Ivory-black, 54, 55; its ten- 
 dency to brown in pale 
 washes, 107; perfectly dur- 
 able if used by itself, 107 
 
 Ivory palette knife, 8 
 
 Jamesone, George, styled the 
 Vandyck of Scotland, 151 
 
 Jametal, Maurice, 103 
 
 Japan, Old, 186; old wares 
 of, 188 
 
 Japanese, the 187; _ their 
 methods of using black from 
 its deep luminous tones to 
 the softest grey, 105 
 
 prints; 117; 
 
 them, 110 
 
 paper, 47; care should be 
 taken in mounting, 116 
 
 Javelle, Eau de, 36 
 
 Julius Cesar, 181 
 
 cleaning 
 
 Kempfer, Dr., old authority 
 on Japan, 187 
 
 Kakemono-ye, Japanese print, 
 very tall and wide, 113 
 
 Kauri-pine resin, 26 
 
 Kiang-Si, the province of, 102 
 
 King’s yellow, or orpiment 
 (sulphide of aysenic), 57; a 
 deadly poison, 93 
 
 Kiyonaga (Japanese artist), his 
 prints, 111 
 
 Kneller, Sir Godfrey, the Ger- 
 man who established in 
 England the practice of 
 manufacturing portraits,148, 
 149 
 
 Koban, Japanese vertical print 
 smaller than the Chuban, 
 113 
 
198 
 
 Koriusai (Japanese 
 pillar prints of, 117 
 “* Kyanising,’’ 86 
 
 artist) 
 
 Labarrague’s Disinfecting so- 
 lution, 36 
 
 Lac brush, 33 
 
 Lamp-black, 54, 103 
 
 Lang, Andrew, 180 
 
 Lankrink, Prosper Henry, 150 
 
 Laurel, the, 89 
 
 Lavender, oil of spike, 26 
 
 Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 155 
 
 Lead, sugar of (acetate of lead), 
 13, 93 
 
 Leather, chamois, 31 
 
 Leather Lane, Holborn, 189 
 
 Lee, Vernon, 99 
 
 Leighton, Lord, 155 
 
 Lely, Sir Peter, 148, 150 
 
 Levant, 23 
 
 Lime (oxide of calcium), 81, 93 
 
 slaked (hydrate calcium), 
 
 93 
 Lime, chloride of, 37, 108 
 muriate of (chloride of 
 calcium), 93 
 sulphate of. See Stucco. 
 water, test for the pres- 
 ence of oxalic acid, 78 
 Linseed oil, 26 
 Liquid chloride, 36 
 Liquor potasse chlorinate, 36 
 Liquor sodz chlorate, 36, 47 
 Lithia, 83 
 Li-Ting-Kouei, ancient Chinese 
 inkmaker, 103 
 Litmus paper, 51, 80 
 Lubricating oil, 7 
 Lunar caustic (nitrate of silver), 
 93 
 
 Madder brown, 55 
 purple, 57 
 Magnesia, 81 
 sulphate of (Epsom salts), 
 8 
 
 7 
 Mahl stick, ro 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Manganese, black oxide of, 36 
 
 Maori, 26 
 
 Mavranta arundinacea. See 
 Arrowroot. 
 
 Marcello Venusti, 141 
 
 Marrone, 63 
 
 Masters, the old, 20 
 
 Mastic varnish, 19, 22, 24, I91 
 
 Mediums, 13 
 
 Medway, the, 184 
 
 Megilp, 13 
 
 Mercury, perchloride of (other- 
 wise corrosive sublimate), 85 
 
 Merrifield, Mrs., 67 
 
 Metallic oxides, 83 
 
 Methylated spirits, 35, 127. 
 (See also Alcohol, Rectified 
 spirits, Spirits of wine, etc.) 
 
 Metsu, 15 
 
 Michel Angelo, 141 
 
 Mildew, mould, etc., 
 See Chap. X. 
 
 Mineral alkali (soda), 83 
 
 poisons, the danger of, 74 
 
 Mixing colours, 54 
 
 Mount cutters, 7 
 
 Mountants _ generally. 
 Chap. XV 
 
 Mounting board, 2, 121 
 
 prints, 4 
 
 Mounts and mounting. 
 Chap. VIII. 
 
 Murex and purpura, two little 
 shell-fish, 85 
 
 Murexide, the Tyrian dye or 
 Roman purple, 85 
 
 Muriate of lime (chloride of 
 calcium), 93 
 
 Muriatic acid, 74 
 
 in prints. 
 
 See 
 
 See 
 
 Naples yellow, 56 
 
 Nelson’s No. 1 gelatine, 126 
 
 New Burlington Street, the 
 first street distinguished by 
 numbers, 101 
 
 Nishiki-ye, Japanese brocade 
 picture, 114 
 
 Nitrate of baryta, 80 
 
INDEX 
 
 Nitre of saltpetre (nitvate of 
 potash), 93 
 
 Nitric acid. See Aqua fortis. 
 
 Nitro muriatic acid. See Aqua 
 regia. 
 
 Nuremberg, 142 
 
 Oban, Japanese print full-size 
 upright sheet. Often 
 mounted as Kakemono, 113 
 
 Ochres, 56 
 
 Oil, boiled, 21 
 
 linseed, 26 
 
 of cloves, 39, 80 
 
 of spike lavender, 26 
 
 of turpentine, 74 
 
 of vitriol (sulphuric acid), 
 
 93 
 Oil paintings, 72; varnishing, 
 2 
 
 3 
 stone, Turkey, 7 
 Oils, 22 
 Olive green, 55 
 lake, 57 
 oil, 31, 72, 84 
 Ormond, Duke of, 152 
 Otterham Creek, 184 
 Oxalic acid, 8, 51. 
 Chap. IX. 
 Oxalis, 77 
 Oxide of chromium, 56 
 
 Oxygen, 77 
 Ozone, 89 
 
 See also 
 
 Palette, the, 8 
 
 water-colour, 2, 4 
 Palette-knives, 8 
 
 Palm oil, 84 
 
 Pan, varnish, 30 
 
 Pantormo, Giacopo da, 141 
 Paper, India, 47 
 
 Japanese, 47 
 
 Paraffin, 117 
 
 Parchment, 39, 119, 121 
 Paris, 143 
 
 Exhibition of 1867, 186 
 plaster of, 189. See also 
 Stucco. 
 
 199 
 
 Paste, 3, 39, 41, 108. See also 
 Chap. XV. 
 
 Paste, impurities of, 50; made 
 of the finest flour is best, 125 
 
 Pastels, crayons, and chalks. 
 See Chap. XVII. 
 
 Pasting board, 2 
 
 Patent size, 21 
 
 Pearl-ash, 28 
 
 Pencil, 31 
 
 drawings, 55 
 
 Pencils, method of mounting, 
 
 9 
 
 Penicillium glaucum, 88 
 
 Pepys, frequent mention of the 
 ** Herculés Pillars,’’ 100 
 
 Perchloride of mercury, 85 
 
 Permanganate of potash, 87 
 
 Perronneau, Jean-Baptiste (the 
 pastellist), 156 
 
 Persulphate of ammonia, 135 
 
 Phosphoric acids, 77 
 
 Photographing pictures. See 
 Chap. XVI. 
 
 Picture cleaners, 12, 31 
 
 faking and picture fakers. 
 See Chap. XVII. 
 
 Picture mastic, 27 
 
 Pigments, 16, 17, 54; glazing, 
 
 25 
 Pilkington, 149 
 Pincers for straining canvas, 6 
 Pistacia Lentiscus, the tree, 23 
 Plate glass, 41, 42, 49, 50, 136 
 Platina, solvent for, 76 
 Player, Mr., 138 
 Playertype method of photo- 
 graphing prints, 137 
 Plumbago or black lead, 55 
 Poisonous acids, 77 
 colours, 74 
 Poisonous substances, 86 
 Poppy oil, 13 
 Porcelain mortar, 45 
 Portal, the Baron Frédéric, 67 
 Positive colours, 65 
 Potash (oxide of potassium), 93 
 carbonate of, 36 
 
200 
 
 Potash, nitrate of, 93 
 
 permanganate of, 87 
 
 water, I 
 
 Potass (or vegetable alkali), 83 
 
 Potasse chlorinate, liquor, 36 
 
 Potassium bromide, 135, 138 
 
 carbonate, 135 
 
 hydrate, 138 
 
 Potteries in Staffordshire, 185 
 
 Pottery, Early English, 185 
 
 Press, a, 2, 4 
 
 Primitive colours, 58, 63 
 
 man, 180 
 
 Primitives, Exhibition of, 144 
 
 Prism, the, 58 
 
 Properties of various acids, 76 
 
 Prout’s monochromes, 105, 106 
 
 Prud’hou, 143 
 
 Prussian blue, 57 
 
 Punch, a, 7 
 
 Purple madder, 57 ~- 
 
 valued by the Roman 
 Emperors, 85 
 
 Purpura and murex, two little 
 shell-fish, 85 
 
 Pyridine, 170, 171 
 
 Pyroligneous acid, 46 
 
 Rack easel, 10 
 
 Rape seed oil, 84 
 
 Raphael Sanzio, 141, 173 
 
 Raw sienna, 56 
 
 Realgar (sulphide of arsenic), 93 
 
 Red, 58; complementary colour 
 to green, 61 
 
 Relining, 20, 21 
 
 Report issued by His Majesty’s 
 Stationery Office on new 
 methods of restoring, Chap. 
 XIX. 
 
 Report of the National Gallery 
 “with regard to the applica- 
 tion of water to the surface 
 of a picture,” 175 
 
 Resin, 19, 22, 26; Elemi, 25; 
 Cowry or Kauri-pine, 26 
 
 Restoration work, 52; carefully 
 performed in England, 20 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Restorers, 12, 21 
 
 Retouching, 19, 20, 21 
 
 Revarnishing, 22 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 15, 151 
 
 Rice makes an excellent paste, 
 125 
 
 Rinsing prints, 42 
 
 Roman Emperors, purple 
 colour valued by them, 85 
 
 Romans, the, 181, 182, 185 
 
 Rome, 13, 20 
 
 Romney, 148 
 
 Royal Scottish Yacht Club, 
 
 155 
 Rubber piping, 42 
 Rubens, the school of, 151 
 Rumex, 77 
 Ruprecht, Johann, 142 
 Russet, 63 
 Rust, 8, 51 
 Rye flour paste, 125 
 
 Sage green, 56 
 
 St. Anthony, 95 
 
 St. Christopher, 95 
 
 St. George, 95 
 
 St. Lucy, 98 
 
 St. Paul, 94 
 
 St. Ursula, 99 
 
 St. Ursula’s Church, treasury 
 of, 99 
 
 Sal-ammoniac (chloride of 
 ammonium), 93 
 
 Salt, common (chloride of 
 sodium), 92 
 
 Salt of sorrel, 77 
 
 Salt of tartar (carbonate of 
 potassa), 28, 92 
 
 Samian ware, 183, 185 
 
 Sand, 24, I9I 
 
 Sanzio, Raphael, 141 
 
 Scarlet lake, 57 
 
 —— pimpernel, 57 
 
 pure, 57 
 
 Schongauer (early engraver), 
 
 142 
 Scott, Dr. Alexander, 163 
 Sebastian of Venice, 141 
 
INDEX 
 
 Sebright, Sir T., an amateur 
 restorer, 13 
 
 Secondary colours, 60 
 
 Settle, W. F. (marine painter), 
 155 
 
 Severus, Lucius Septimius, 
 emperor of Rome, 181, 183 
 
 Sharon, rose of, 99 
 
 Sheerness, 184 
 
 Shellac, 22 
 
 Shoemaker’s knives useful, 7 
 
 Sienna, raw, 56 
 
 Signs, abbreviations, etc., used 
 in formule, 91 
 
 Silica, 190 
 
 Siliceous sand, 190 
 
 Size, patent, 21; sizing, 39 
 
 Sizes of various drawing papers, 
 
 71 
 Slater, Mr. J. W., 84 
 Smith, engravings of, 143 
 Soaking prints, 41 
 
 Soap, 13, 31, 32 See also 
 Chap. X. 
 powder, 18 
 Soda (oxide of sodium), 
 
 mineral alkali, 93 
 
 carbonate of, 36, 190 
 
 —— hypochlorite, 36 
 
 sulphite, 135, 138 
 
 Sode chlorate, liquor, 36 
 
 Solvents, 16, 18, 23,25) da 
 
 Sorrel, salt of, 77 
 
 Spectrum, the, 61 
 
 Spirits of hartshorn. See 
 undey Ammonia, Chap. X. 
 
 Spirits of salt. See Hydro- 
 chloric or Muriatic acid, 
 Chap. IX. 
 
 Spirits of wine, 22, 27 
 
 rectified, 191 
 
 methylated, 18, 35, 127. 
 
 See also Alcohol. 
 
 of turpentine, 22, 24 
 
 Sponge, 2, 7, 31, 34, 49, 108 
 
 Sporting prints, 38 
 
 Stains in prints, 112 
 
 _water-colour drawings, 51 
 
 201 
 
 Standard test-liquor, 45 
 
 Starch, 126, 127 
 
 Steel tools, 7 
 
 Stevens, Alfred George (painter 
 and sculptor), 155 
 
 Stipple engravings, the study 
 of, 52 
 
 Stippling, 52, 53 
 
 Stopping, 21 
 
 Stretchers of canvases, 178 
 
 Stucco or plaster of Paris 
 (sulphate of lime), 93, 168 
 
 Sugar of lead (acetate of lead), 93 
 
 Sulphate of alumina, 88 
 
 of indigo, 45 
 
 of magnesia (Epsom salis), 
 
 78 
 Sulphur, 57 
 Sulphuric acid, 128. 
 Chap. IX. 
 Sunflower, the, 89 
 Surimono, a Japanese print of 
 small size, 113 
 Symbolism in art, 94; instruc- 
 tive in the study of Early 
 Christian art, 95 
 
 See also 
 
 Tack drawer, 6 
 
 Tacks, brass, 122 
 
 copper, 122 
 
 Tallow, 84 
 
 Tang dynasty, Emperors of, 
 102; interesting legend, 104, 
 105 
 
 Tartar, salt of. See Pearl-ash. 
 
 Tartaric acid, 79; the adultera- 
 tion of, 80 
 
 Tau, a form of cross, 95 
 
 Taxidermists, their use of 
 corrosive sublimate, 86 
 
 Tears in prints, 111 
 
 Temple Bar, 185 
 
 Teniers, imitated by Jan 
 Griffier, 146 
 
 Terburg, 15 
 
 Terre verte or green earth, 56 
 
 Thausing, Herr (biographer of 
 Albert Diirer), 142 
 
202 
 
 Thebes, monument at, 97, 98 
 Thorwaldsen, 155 
 
 Thymol, 166 
 
 Tilson, Henry, 150 
 
 Titian, 141, 173 
 
 Tobacco, use of, 74 
 
 Tools, 1, 10 
 
 Tower Hill, 185 
 
 Turner, the artist, 16 
 Turpentine, 13, 19, 30, 32, 35 
 spirit of, 9, 24 
 
 Venice, 25 
 
 Tyrian dye, 85 
 
 Uchiwa-ye, Japanese print in 
 the shape of a fan, 114 
 
 Uhki-ye, Japanese _bird’s-eye 
 view print, 113 
 
 Ultramarine, 56 
 
 ash, 57 
 
 Umber, burnt, 55 
 
 Upchurch, 184 
 
 Valenta’s mountant, 128 
 
 Vandals, the, 181 
 
 Vandyck’s imitators and copy- 
 ists, 151; his etchings, 152 
 
 Varley’s monochromes, 105, 
 106 
 
 Varnish, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24, 27, 
 29, 39, 31, 35, 190; brittleness 
 of, 25; various remedies 
 devised for brittleness, 25; 
 “chill” 6r ™bibom."* 48; 
 176 
 
 Varnishes and varnishing, 22, 
 28, 30 
 
 Varnishing oil paintings, 23, 29 
 
 Vegetable alkali. See Potass, 
 
 Vellum, 39, 119 
 
 Venetian costumes, their rich 
 colours, 174 
 
 Venice turpentine, 25 
 
 Venusti, Marcello, 141 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Verdigris (basic 
 copper), 93 
 Vermilion (sulphide of mercury), 
 
 acetate of 
 
 not to be mixed with 
 white lead, 57 
 Veronese, Paul, 15, 20 
 
 Vinegar, wood. See Acetic 
 acid. 
 
 Violet or purple, 59 
 
 Volatile alkali. See Ammonia. 
 
 menstrua, 26 
 
 Ward, engravings of, 143 
 
 Water-colour drawing, 48 
 
 Water-colours, 54 
 
 Watteau, 155, 170 
 
 Webb, James (marine painter), 
 spoilt his reputation by 
 imitating Constable, 146 
 
 Wedgwood, 185, 186 
 
 Westminster oven, 147 
 
 Whatman paper, 3 
 
 Whistler, 155 
 
 Whiting, its use, 21 
 
 Wilkie, Sir David, 15 
 
 Winchester Cathedral, 98 
 
 Wine, spirits of, 13, 22, 27. 
 See also under Alcohol, Recti- 
 fied and Methylated spirits. 
 
 Wiseing, William, 150 
 
 Wood vinegar. For details of 
 wood vinegar see undery Acetic 
 and Pyroligneous acid. 
 
 Workroom, the, 1 
 
 Worm-holes, 5; in prints, 110, 
 III, 116 
 
 Yellow, 58, 59; the comple- 
 mentary colour to purple, 61 
 
 Yoko-ye, Japanese horizontal 
 print, 113 
 
 York, 181 
 
 Zinc bath, 5 
 
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