Posted by Andders Rikardson on December 28, 2000 at 03:44:32:
In Reply to: Re: Mylar posted by John Fiorillo on December 26, 2000 at 20:47:06:
Some years ago at a New York auction house I saw the most tragic example of what can happen when you store your prints in Mylar pockets.
Several outstanding ”shin hanga” prints were stored in a binder with mylar pockets.
There was a particular fine example of a pristine large head of a beauty with heavy mica background by Goyo. Even in those days this print was worth a small fortune. It looked fine during the viewing, but when the porter removed the print from the mylar pocket during the auction, to show it to the audience, the entire mica background adhered to the mylar, not a single trace of mica on the print.
This was due to static electrical buildup in the mylar from hundreds of people turning the leafs in binder and their clothed arms brushing against the mylar leafs (remember your physic lesson with the cat skin). The charged mylar pulled all the mica off the print. Also happens with various UV plastics, this false seducer of security. (My friend has his collection framed with uv plastics in his sunny Beverly Hills villa. The prints has at least faded 50% over the years.)
Still I would say if you already have your prints in mylar pockets and you are not handling them often and the prints don't have metal pigments, gofun, mica or other substances which sits on top off the paper rather then dyed into the paper, you are probably very safe with the mylar pockets.
If you are budding collector, considering storage methods, I would suggest a Japanese paper folder with a similar ph to the the print and the colourants used. Papers were usually sized with polysackarids or hide glue (binder glue), myoban (alum) and acid (aceatic). However the recipes for the sizing seems to have varied considerably and can include other components. Some times prints were oversized, specially primitives, which have resulted in a browning and brittleness to the paper. The usual paper folder acquired in Japan is suitable for storage as they seem to have a similar acidity to the requirements of the colourants and the sizing, although some folders might be to acid.
Great care should be taken not to inflict unwanted changes of the ph in the paper and colourants as this seems to render the prints susceptible to changes of the colours. Many times this happens by transfer to or from storage material which can lower as well as rise ph. Also the prints seems to be more sensitive to light fading and fading from reacting with oxygen from ph rises. Particular harmful for the long term survival of the colours is bleaching with hydrogen peroxide, but even a wet water treatment is often enough to rise the ph to start (or accelerate) an immediate and/or a long term colour change.
Western books about paper conservation are written for western materials, the Japanese print (ukiyo-e and shin hanga) is a very different animal. Often more thoughtful advise can be found in books on textile conservation. About storage, one has to remember not to inflict an unwanted change of ph in the paper and the colourants by the storage material. Here mylar seems to be at an advantage as well as it prevents direct handling of the prints. Further it somewhat prevents a free airflow over the print. A slight disadvantage of mylar (also framing) is an impairment of the visual experience of the print. The print is best experienced without a layer of glass or plastic in between the print and the viewer. with a transperent cover one looses the sense for the three dimensionality of the printing as well as the surfaces of the colours, the paper and any embellished printing techniques.
Unfortunately there is very little scientific research into various subjects around the storage of Japanese prints and problems which arise there from. One has to listen to practical experience of long term professionals, who have given the subject careful thought.
I would recommend the interested layman to read Mr. Fiorillos advice on storage. His writing on the subject is very good.
WARNING: Some sites on the web have some disastrous advice on various aspects of Japanese print conservation. Please avoid these.
Anders Rikardson