Tears fixing / lining

Tears are very common damage. Conservation makes the support whole again, restores the line of the image and limits the risk of further damage when the work is handled. When the paper is too weak, or the tears too many, the sheet can be lined.

The materials

I repair with long-fibred Japanese papers, very thin and very strong, and wheat-starch paste. Both are stable over time and reversible: a conservator could remove them in fifty years without harming the work. That is a basic rule of the profession.

The repair

• The edges of the tear are realigned fibre by fibre, as close to the original line as possible.
• A thin strip of Japanese paper, torn by hand so its fibres blend into the sheet, is applied on the back.
• The repair dries under weight so the sheet stays flat.

Lining

When the whole sheet is fragile, brittle or full of tears, it can be lined: adhered to a Japanese paper that becomes its new support. It is a heavier intervention, which I only suggest when it is needed.