Works on Paper
Seated Figure — Ink & Wash
Modern Indian School · 20th century · Ink & wash on handmade paper
In the studio
Drag the handle to compare the work as received with the work as returned.
The Story
Few things mark a work on paper as cruelly as water. This modern ink-and-wash study — a shaven-headed figure seated against a field of cobalt — had been caught by damp, leaving broad brown tide-lines blooming across the sheet and veiling the drawing beneath.
The work was first freed from the acidic board it had been mounted to, which had begun to darken and embrittle the paper. Cleaning then proceeded in stages, dry before aqueous, with the tide-lines and staining reduced slowly and under close control so as never to disturb the soluble ink and wash.
Flattened and rehoused in archival materials, the sheet recovered its tone, and the artist's confident hatching — and the deep blue ground — read clearly again.
- The Damage
- A modern ink-and-wash drawing on handmade paper, severely disfigured by water — sweeping brown tide-lines and staining across the sheet, ingrained grime, and an acidic backing board that had darkened the paper and threatened the work.
- The Process
- Lifting from the acidic backing, dry and aqueous surface cleaning, controlled reduction of the tide-lines and staining, gentle flattening, and rehousing in archival materials.
- The Outcome
- The staining drew back, the paper tone evened, and the cool blue field and crisp pen-work returned — the contemplative figure legible once more.
Specifications
- Medium
- Ink & wash on handmade paper
- Subject
- Seated contemplative figure
- Condition
- Water tide-lines & staining
- Treatment
- Stain reduction · rehousing
Techniques applied
- Removal from acidic backing
- Tide-line & stain reduction
- Humidification & flattening
- Archival rehousing
Begin
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