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181908

Conservation of Broken Dry Plate Negatives from Francis Amin’s Private Collection – A Scientific Assessment of Selected Adhesives

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Last updated: 23 Jan 2023

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Abstract

Institutions housing photographs and documents (e.g. archives) usually include large collections of glass plate negatives of significant historical value among their collection. Gelatin dry plates were the most common negative process in the years between 1880s and the 1920s. Gelatin dry plate negatives consist of a layered structure. This structure can be divided into three components: the primary support, glass; the binder layer, gelatin; and the final image material, metallic silver grains. As a result, dry plate negatives have a complex physical and chemical nature that must be taken into consideration if they are to be preserved into the future. One common preservation issue presenting a true challenge to photograph conservators is the treatment of broken glass negatives, mainly caused by improper handling and misuse, but also as a result of disasters (e.g. earthquakes). There are two different approaches for assembling broken glass negative: i) by preparation of a non-adhesive housing mat, and ii) by using an adhesive such as Paraloid B72 and epoxies. This study aims at assessing three different types of adhesives for use in the assembly of broken fragments of dry plate negatives. Tested adhesives were exposed to humid heat artificial ageing at a temperature of 80°C and 65% RH for 5 day. Evaluation was carried out using several techniques including visual inspection, colorimetric measurements, bursting test and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The adhesive with the best results was used for further testing to evaluate its long- term efficiency when used to repair dry glass negatives by means of visual inspection, microscopic inspection, colorimetric measurements, FTIR and burst strength test. The second part of the study includes the treatment of six dry glass plate negatives, from Dr. Francis Amin's private collection, a famous Egyptian photo collector. The negatives mainly suffered from surface dirt, silver mirroring and breakage

DOI

10.21608/ijmsac.2018.181908

Keywords

Gelatin Dry Plate Negatives, Broken, Adhesives, Epoxy, Visual Inspection, Microscopic Inspection, colorimetric measurement, FTIR, Adhesion strength, conservation

Authors

First Name

Adel

Last Name

Al-Husseiny

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

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First Name

Kholoud

Last Name

Hassan

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-

Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

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Orcid

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First Name

Sarah

Last Name

Gomaa

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

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Orcid

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First Name

Maha

Last Name

Ali

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-

Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

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Volume

1

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

26193

Issue Date

2018-12-01

Receive Date

2021-07-05

Publish Date

2018-12-01

Page Start

1

Page End

27

Print ISSN

2735-4407

Online ISSN

2735-4415

Link

https://ijmsac.journals.ekb.eg/article_181908.html

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https://ijmsac.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=181908

Order

181,908

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,993

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Cultural Heritage

Publication Link

https://ijmsac.journals.ekb.eg/

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Article

Created At

23 Jan 2023