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 Yesterday I decided to see if I could repair the broken guard. After reading about repairing ivory and bone I opted to try a European woodglue that I’ve got which combines the organic properties of white glues with a fast drying time. I use it for puppet building normally. Plus, if I was terribly wrong, it could be removed. The guard was broken into three pieces. A thin strip of the filigreed section had broken off and then the whole thing was snapped in two right above where the ribs would have started.
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 I started by regluing filigreed section, which worked surprisingly well. It helps that the entire thing was backed by pasteboard. I actually wanted to replace the pasteboard since it is pretty yellowed but there was no way to get the gold foil off of it.
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 Taking a cue from the original, I decided to back the entire guard with pasteboard to give it some extra support. I wanted archival paper and started to head to the store when I recalled that we still had the “At Home” cards left from our wedding. They were from Crane and Co. Stationers and printed on heavy archival cotton cardstock, which was perfect for my needs. I’d been using them for placecards, but the crease wasn’t going to be near one of the damaged areas so I decided that it wasn’t an issue.
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I traced the fan guard and glued the new backing in place.
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I have to admit that it makes me giggle that our name is now a part of the fan. I glued the whole thing together and set it under a series of hardback books to dry. I wanted to apply pressure, but didn’t want to strain the ivory.
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And behold! A successful repair of the fan guard. It feels very solid and doesn’t have so enough extra thickness to cause a problem when the whole thing folds. The break is visible right where the filigree ends and the ivory become solid.
If I were doing this again, I would have sealed the back of the original cardstock first since I’m fairly sure it is acidic. I’m going to hope that my glue, which isn’t, acts as a barrier between it and the new cardstock. I think the foil is acting as a barrier between the original cardstock and the ivory.
Hmm… is that cut steel trim I see? Quite lovely. You should stop by the shop, and I will show you the salvaged fan guard ornament we have… silver on gold set with tiny rose cut diamonds…
It is, indeed. I’m trying to find steel navette sequins to replace the missing ones on the leaf, but so far am only coming up with silver.
Given how much I’m enjoying repairing this one, I’m not sure I should see a salvage that is just hanging out.
But, um, when are you there again?
Oh, I might have actual cut steel navettes for you. I know I have rounds, but there are bits and parts of just about everything someplace. Bring it with you and we can poke around. I am now there monday, thursday and friday again. Come tomorrow?
Clearly, I need to come to the store sooner rather than later. With any luck, you all can help me figure out how to flatten the more mangled bits of foil.
Try General Bead in San Francisco for the steel sequins; they have an entire stock upstairs of 19th & early 20th century decorative and shaped French celluloid sequins, with all sorts of other stuff stuck on the shelves inbetween. If they don’t have them, they’ll tell you who does.
Sweet! I will give them a try, for sure.
Hm, cardstock is acidic?
Any paper can be, but not all of it is. That’s why you see old pulp paperbacks disintegrating sometimes, because the cheap paper still has acid from the processing in it and it destroys the book. If you get something that is archival, then you know that it is completely stable.
Ah, that’s interesting. So basically those books self-destruct!
I learned something today. =)