Restoration of the Murals
After the restoration and conversion of the building and assurance through environmental monitoring that the walls were dry, Mansfield Traquair Trust undertook the restoration of the murals.
Methodology
Historic Scotland, through the Scottish Conservation Bureau, runs conservation internships that allow young or newly trained conservators the opportunity of gaining work experience. The Bureau scheme was extended to encompass an innovative partnership between Mansfield Traquair Trust and Historic Scotland whereby a significant training element was incorporated into the restoration of the murals. Two members of the Historic Scotland conservation staff were seconded to the project to manage a training programme consisting of internships for three young conservators finishing their training and shorter work placements for students of relevant UK training courses and other Historic Scotland training programmes. Private-sector, overseas conservators and volunteers were also involved.
The restoration started in September 2003 and was completed in September 2005. Conservation of the murals was divided into two phases of work. The first phase was restricted to the south chapel during which the various methods and materials needed in the conservation of the murals was tested. This allowed an assessment of the most successful methods and provided the information upon which to predict the timetable for the restoration of the rest of the murals which was the second phase.
The philosophy of repair was to respect the original fabric as much as possible. One of the main aims was to use the least toxic materials for any procedure, even if this sometimes took a little longer. Another aim was to use traditional materials as much as possible, not to introduce any material that was completely alien to the original and for new work to be reversible. The aim was to display the interior as close to its original appearance as possible; missing areas would be re-created, but only where there was good earlier photographic evidence. Where there was no, or insufficient, evidence, such as with the spandrel panels, missing areas were not recreated. In-painting used materials and technique that, close-up, is visibly different from the original.
Evidence from the paintings themselves was backed up by research of contemporary accounts, study of historical photographs and laboratory analysis.
Techniques
The conservation of the murals consisted of consolidation of the support (plaster, timber); fixing loose paint, cleaning, first varnish, replacing missing relief work, in-painting and a final varnishing. Trials were carried out to determine the best method to use for each area as Phoebe Anna Traquair varied her technique during the eight years she took to execute the murals.
Initial Dust Removal. Dust and cobwebs were removed by gentle vacuuming.
Securing plaster. Where the plaster support had failed, loose plaster was vacuumed out and fresh lime plaster injected. Wide or deep settlement cracks were filled with lime mortar.
Securing Paint. Loose flakes of paint or areas of blind detachment were reattached using adhesive. Gelatine was used most but Primal AC33 was used for large detached areas and Lascaux Heat Seal 375 was used in areas with degraded support or fine crackle.
Repairs to relief work. Detached or loose relief work was fixed back using gilder’s putty. Replacement relief work was recreated using gilder’s putty, bulked with cotton-wool to match the original. Gilding was cleaned using a dilute solution of tri-ammonium citrate. New gilding was applied where required.
Cleaning and Varnish Removal. The solvent used to remove dirt and varnish varied according to the degree of soiling and the condition of the paint and plaster layers. Surface dirt was removed with warm water and soap liniment, oily dirt was removed by wiping over with white spirit, varnish could be swabbed clean with industrial methylated spirits, more stubborn dirt could only be cleaned with mixtures of industrial methylated spirits, acetone and white spirits, in varying proportions, often as poultices. A thin layer of the previous – possibly original – varnish has been left. This means that the paintings are not as bright as they would have been originally, but leaving a thin layer of varnish ensured the paint layer was not touched.
Filling losses. Paint losses were filled with a mixture of marble powder and lime putty.
In-Painting. The fillings were first painted with water colours, varnished and then and the in-painting was completed over this varnish layer using pigments mixed in varnish. The paint was applied in dots or short strokes so it is easily distinguishable from the original.
Varnishing. The paintings have been given two types of varnish. First a pure dammar (a natural tree resin). Second a varnish of dammar mixed with beeswax to give a satin finish close to the original polished wax paste that Traquair used.
Chancel Ceiling. The chancel ceiling was not by Phoebe Anna Traquair but was executed by the firm of Andrew Hutton (a deacon of the Catholic Apostolic Church) before Traquair started work. The decoration of the chancel ceiling is stencil work with some hand-painted highlights. The ceiling had originally been covered with a coat of size which was difficult to clean and had caused the paint to shrink. The size was cleaned off and replaced with varnish which will protect the paint and be easier for future restorers to remove.
The restoration used
- 300 litres of industrial methylated spirits
- 150 litres of acetone
- 92 litres of white spirit, 60 litres of varnish
- 164 500g rolls of cotton wool
- 500 pairs of latex gloves
Details of the restoration are described in a forthcoming Research Report, written by the chief conservator, Fiona Allardyce, and the techniques are demonstrated in a forthcoming DVD, both to be published by Historic Scotland.
Practitioners
The team of conservators for the restoration of the murals was led by Fiona Allardyce, Senior Conservator with the Historic Scotland Conservation Centre, assisted by Ailsa Murray, Conservator. The three interns appointed through the Historic Scotland Internship Programme were Maeve Woolley Suzanne Ross and Alexia Willox. HS interns who spent any time on the project were Karen Dundas and Amy Crosman.
Fiona Allardyce and Karen Dundas have since set up Scottish Wall Painting Conservators.
Free-lance conservators who worked on the project were Brian McLaughlin, Sally Cheyne, Owen Davison, Gillian Cook and Karen Dundas (after completing her internship) and, from abroad: Anca Nicolaescu from Romania, Marta Skowronska from Poland and Maria Johanssen from Sweden.
Students included James White, Amanda Mitchell, Ibby Lanfaer and Helen Davies. Volunteers included Julian Watson and Shona Fleming and many others who spent short periods on the project
Scaffolding was provided by John Laidlaw & Sons of Jedburgh and had to be carefully designed so it reached 18m without any ties into the stonework.
It is significant that the murals, which took Phoebe Anna Traquair a little over eight years to create (and with a trip to Italy and work on the Mortuary of the Sick Children’s Hospital and large-scale embroideries in that time) took almost double the man- and woman-years to restore.