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246575

INVESTIGATION AND CONSERVATION OF A PRIVATE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION OF ALBUMEN PRINTS, EGYPT

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Last updated: 22 Jan 2023

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Abstract

Albumen prints are the most important photographic prints of the late 19th century. It is basically composed of two layers: the first layer is the paper support (i.e. cellulose), and the second layer is the image layer (i.e. image silver particles embedded in an albumen binder layer). There are several factors threatening the permanence of albumen prints (e.g., fluctuating temperatures and relative humidity, frequent handling, air pollution, light, and improper storage and display). Unlike other paper objects, photographs have special conservation requirements due to their complex and unique nature. A private collection was selected for this study. The collection consists of three albumen prints from Francis Amen's photo collection, which originally belonged to the Elhagar family. Francis Amin is a well-known photo collector in Egypt. The prints date back to 1890. The photographs were characterised and studied by visual inspection, digital microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Microbiological studies were carried out in the microbiology laboratory at the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University. Results revealed that the albumen layer suffers from cracks and chemical degradation, and the secondary supports suffer from both oxidation and hydrolysis. Based on the obtained results, the following conservation procedures were selected and carried out: disinfection, dry cleaning, tear mending and compensating for losses, remounting, retouching, and rehousing.

DOI

10.21608/ejars.2022.246575

Keywords

Albumen prints, Visual Inspection, FTIR, SEM, Microbiological studies, conservation

Authors

First Name

Eldeeb,

Last Name

H.

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Affiliation

Conservation dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Giza, Egypt.

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First Name

Ali,

Last Name

M.

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Conservation dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Giza, Egypt.

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Mansour,

Last Name

M.

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Conservation dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Giza, Egypt.

Email

maisamansour_40@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Ali,

Last Name

M

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Conservation dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Giza, Egypt.

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Volume

12

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

35296

Issue Date

2022-06-01

Receive Date

2021-08-25

Publish Date

2022-06-01

Page Start

41

Page End

52

Print ISSN

2090-4932

Online ISSN

2090-4940

Link

https://ejars.journals.ekb.eg/article_246575.html

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https://ejars.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=246575

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Original Article

Type Code

575

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Archaeological and Restoration Studies

Publication Link

https://ejars.journals.ekb.eg/

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023