This is the final post of a four-part series.

When a collection of Egyptian mummy bandage fragments at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library was found in an area used to store uncatalogued flat materials, the lab was asked to play a role in providing better stewardship.  

Click the links below to jump to the following posts:

• Research and Examination – Examining the material composition of the objects
• History – Historical information provided about the Egyptian inscriptions
• Treatment – How the materials were treated after learning about their content
• Storage Solutions – Individual solutions for separated fragments as well as storage as a collection

Storage Solutions

Inspired by JAIC and AIC articles such as Storage Containerization: Archaeological Textile Collections by Dennis Piechota and Storage System for Archeological Textile Fragments by Lisa Anderson, Dominiue Cocuzza, Susan Heald and Melinda McPeek a custom matting system was created with the following goals in mind:

• The textiles will remain in the enclosure for both storage and potential display
• The matting system will support the fragments for handling and viewing
• The fragments will not move or slide in the enclosure, yet be stored non-adhesively

Portfolio Matting System

Before constructing the final portfolio, models were created to test functionality. The first prototype was a helpful learning experience that lead to improvements in the final product.

First Portfolio Model

I used the basic construction outlined in Storage System for Archeological Textile Fragments with a few tweaks. Below is the original article’s construction I used as a jumping off point:

In particular, I made one big change: rather than constructing the sink mat portfolio out of corrugated board, I used museum rag mat board. I also added a hinged window mat on top of the pillow. Below the window mat, notes or labels could be discretely added below so the object would be exhibit ready with no handling required.

A few other alterations included using 4-ply mat board for the inset board rather than 2-ply (I used the cut out from the window mat trimmed a bit smaller), and instead of using polyester webbing adhesive, I used Jade 403 PVA along areas where the construction materials did not come into contact with the textile.

The first model had many successful features; however, there were two main failures in its construction. These related to the cloth tie closures and Tyvek lining. Pros and cons in the construction were determined using a mock-up Egyptian textile fragment (made out of linen book cloth colored with acrylic paint and inscribed with Sharpie).

Pros:

• The cover folds behind the backing board which is useful for saving space when on display.
• The cotton/polyester pillow holds the textile in place non-adhesively with Velcro-like surface tension.
• The cover’s inset board applies gentle compression that safely holds the textile in place when closed. The 4-ply board was the appropriate thickness for our thin textile.
• Both the front and back of the fragment can be viewed without excess handling: If the portfolio is opened while laying face-down, the back of the fragment can be safely viewed while resting on the inside of the cover. Then the portfolio can be closed while still laying face down. Once closed, it can be flipped and reopened to the front. (See handling video below.)

Cons:

• The cloth edge ties are cumbersome during handling. Ties showed potential to drape over and catch on textiles, becoming a potential for damage.
• The soft Tyvek lining created such a strong static cling charge that the textile often became stuck to the cover lid when opened, posing a hazard of falling unexpectedly!

Improved Portfolio Model

Improvements to the second model included replacing the cloth ties with rare earth magnets and eliminating the soft Tyvek. A smooth, stiffer Tyvek was used instead. These changes proved highly successful and also felt more elegant!

It was a bit more time consuming to use rare earth magnets because the magnets were inlaid both to the cover and the hinged window. While creating the model, I learned to strategically use a stronger magnetic pull for the window so that when the portfolio was opened, the cover released preferentially. If you’d like to read step by step instructions about its construction, please check out my notes here.

Additional lesson learned: Be sure to double check how the magnets are oriented so they attract each other rather than repel!

Final Portfolio

Cloth Covered Clamshell with Trays and Chemise

Each fragment received a custom matted portfolio that then needed to be grouped appropriately and stored as a collection.

Overall, the collection of six fragments were stored together in a cloth covered clamshell, constructed by Conservation Specialist, Matt McCoy. We designed the enclosure as follows:

• Each matted fragment sits on a custom support tray within the box because many portfolios varied in size and needed to be easily stacked.
• To retain the context of the three fragments that belonged to a priest named Wennofer, these trays were grouped within the box inside a cloth-covered chemise.
• Labels were added to the portfolios and trays for easy replacement into the custom trays.

Curious on how these storage enclosures facilitate handling? Check out the video below for instructions on use.

If you missed the earlier installments, you can jump to the previous posts below:

• Research and Examination – Examining the material composition of the objects
• History – Historical information provided about the Egyptian inscriptions
• Treatment – How the materials were treated after learning about their content
• Storage Solutions – Individual solutions for separated fragments as well as storage as a collection

Acknowledgements

• Katherine Davis, Lecturer in Egyptology in the Department of Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan
• Suzanne Davis, the Associate Curator and Head of Conservation at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan
• Dr. Ann-Katril Gill at the University of Leipzig
• Marieka Kaye, Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation, Head, Conservation & Book Repair, University of Michigan Library
• Obie Linn, Textile Conservator at the Cincinnati Art Museum
• Ann Wuertemberger, Catalog Librarian at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
• Meredith Montague, Textile Conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Ashleigh Ferguson Schieszer – Special Collections Conservator and Co-Lab Manager [CHPL]