Humidification and Aesthetic Compensation of Basketry
Instructor: Lara Kaplan, Objects Conservator and Affiliated Associate Professor, WUDPAC
Goals for the seminar:
- Become familiar with various humidification techniques. Use a humidification package to shape and flatten a sample of caning.
- Become familiar with different aesthetic compensation techniques for basketry.
- Test and compare different types of fills and fill materials.
Before Humidification
After Humidification and Flattening
Before Aesthetic Compensation
After Aesthetic Compensation
Central fill is a piece of Tyvek toned with Golden Acrylic paints and woven between to the warps and wefts of the basket. Tension and contact with the warp/weft is holding the fill in place.
A mend with a thin Tengujo and 5% Klucel G was attached on the verso of the bottom left corner. This mend has failed likely due to poor contact with the basket caning.
Sample Card
Tengujo and Kozo papers and Tyvek were toned with acrylic paints. The first sample was folded to make a thicker fill, the Tyvek is a single layer, and the Kozo is a single layer. This card was primarily made to test how the thickness of a fill material affects the final appearance, how compatible certain adhesives are with these fill materials, and how well each fill material reacts to acrylic paint.