Pagodas Project Part Seven: A fortunate discovery… of unfortunate timing
As described in the last blog entry Pagodas Project Part Six: Reproducing the Missing Ornaments, we were only three months away from the planned install, when we had a big surprise.
Hannah from the project team was conducting a tour of the Pavilion basement store for some volunteers. She was showing the guests the section of the store where historic Pavilion lantern parts are stored when a box caught her eye which had an intriguing label on top. It simply stated “WHERE FROM?”.
To Hannah’s astonishment, when she looked under the label, she immediately recognised the contents as being pagoda ornaments. They were damaged and over-painted but instantly recognisable.
When the contents were examined, we found 203 original fish and bell ornaments: a significant improvement on the 3 original ornaments that we thought we had! Long ago the box must have become disassociated from the pagodas and the contents then mistaken as being ornaments that may have hung from lanterns in the Pavilion. A very fortunate discovery as there are no records of the box or contents in the museum collections database. Sadly there were no lions in the box, and a thorough search of the store failed to find any. At least we had the one original lion and the reproduced lions that we could use, but we now had a race to get the found ornaments cleaned, repaired and fitted before the scheduled install date!
A race against time
First of all the ornaments needed cleaning to remove both soiling and an unsightly oil gilding surface and underpaint from the original fired gilding.
To remove these later surfaces, thickened solvent solutions were tested (acetone and xylene thickened using Carbopol™ EZ2/Ethomeen™), but were found clean unevenly. A xanthan gum thickened pH 10 ammonia solution was more effective but found to tarnish the gilding which likely indicated a high silver content in the lustre gilding.
The most efficient and least damaging method was found to be 2h submersion in a bath of pH10 sodium hydroxide buffered using sodium carbonate, after which the over paint/gilding could be removed using a hog bristle brush, followed by rinsing in tap water.
Above: Brush over-paint removal after pH10 sodium hydroxide bath
Following the cleaning, we sorted the damaged ornaments that needed repair and found that we had:
3 x Detached fish loops to reattach
48 x Missing fish loops to make
2 x Missing fish tail sections to make
13 x Broken bell components to put together
26 x Missing bell canons to make
Once the ornaments had been cleaned, the repairs could be started. The wire loop repairs were removed from the fish and detached loop sections that could be relocated were identified. As with the epoxy repairs on the main tiers, repairs were carried out using Hxtal NY1 epoxy resin. Reconstructed areas were made by bulking the resin with pigments and fumed silica, then modelling the shape of the missing loops by hand.
The repairs were gilded using Kolner 24h oil size and then the gold surface toned to imitate the surrounding original gold patina using Golden™ mica based acrylic paints, colours and Lascaux™ ‘Transparentlack’ matt acrylic varnish.
Fitting the ornaments to the pagodas
The fish/lions both have holes respectively in their mouths/underside that correspond with holes at the tips of each of the pagoda roofs and balustrades. The size and orientation of the holes on the pagoda tips varied slightly, so to ensure the fish were correctly positioned, the rods that secured them needed to be individually trimmed and positioned. Bamboo was chosen as a suitable rod that could be shaped and trimmed and has sufficient strength and flexibility to hold the ornaments. Bamboo skewers were cut to fit each pagoda roof tip hole and left protruding so they fit into the fish/lion hole.
The bamboo rods were glued into the hole of the lions using Lee Valley™ fish glue (a fish protein adhesive that is resoluble/reswollen by immersion in warm water). To enable a secure but reversible fit for the fish, which have a large cavity to fill, the same Lee Valley™ glue was bulked with arbocel cellulose fibres, phenolic microballoons and red oxide pigment to match the colour of the fish mouth. The fish were each first half stuffed with tissue, followed by the putty, then were lowered down on to a rod. Masking tape was used to support the fish so it remained in the correct orientation while the glue in the putty dried.
The chains that hang the bells from the fish were also missing. With limited budget remaining, machine made chain and jump rings were purchased rather than having a chain made to match that of the V&A pagoda. To reduce the rate of tarnishing and future maintenance, a gold-plated chain was chosen and toned with acrylic paints to sit better alongside the aged luster gilding of the ornaments. Jump rings were attached to the loops on two fish that were to be mounted next to one another. The ends of the chain were then attached to these jump rings and the fish put in position on the pagoda tier. Two bells of the corresponding size had semi-closed jump rings applied which could then be offered up on the chain at the suitable height, which was kept consistent, with reference to the other researched pagodas.
Marking positions
The pagoda sections were stacked so that a ‘front’ face could be ascertained. This was judged by both how well the sections fitted each other, with minimal wobble and where necessary supported by thin strips of Plazterzote. The orientation was also determined with a preference for displaying original surfaces at the front, and where possible, any remaining damage or poorer quality restorations away towards the back. Once determined, an interior surface of the tier was labelled ‘Front’ using a black marker on a reversible barrier layer of 20% Paraloid B72 in methoxypropanol (w/v).
Each set of ornaments needed to be labelled because the bamboo rods on the fish and lions varied in size and orientation. Each was labelled again using a fine black marker on discrete locations in the fish mouth and underside of each lion.
The final phase of the project is to undertake the ‘after treatment’ photography and treatment report. The chipped, grey display plinths also need redecoration before the pagodas are finally constructed in the Music Room. This will be covered in the final blog ‘The Grand Finale’ Pagodas Project Part Eight: The pagodas have landed.
