Refurbishing an old art piece

I (Mark) have an old watercolor art from my grandfather. It was framed in Japan, I’m guessing, about 20 years ago. After bringing home another art piece where I used Museum Glass, I felt that this really needed a glass upgrade.

When I took it down and examined the glass, I noticed there was a small crack in it, so at this point there was no question that I would need to replace it. And it would be a chance to examine how the piece was framed.

As I’ve worked on older pieces that customers have brought it from time to time, I’ve found it interesting and educational to learn how they were framed. And now I was about to do it with one of my own pieces.

I begin with before and after photos comparing how Museum Glass almost entirely eliminates reflections. And then I have a series of photos during the refurbishing process and some brief notes about my observations.

Before, with regular glass and a distracting amount of reflections

After, with museum glass

Standard glass – don’t think it was UV blocking

Hanging hardware was cotton twine

Art fit into the plastic pieces, “mat” was cloth on wood

The “fillet” as actually just the plastic

There was indeed UV caused fading (next photo might show it better)

All the parts, disassembled

Reassembled, with museum glass

Dust blocking paper on the back, and new hanging hardware

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