AIC's 46th Annual Meeting

Armenian prayer scrolls are Christian talismans used to protect bearers from harm, to promote healing of illness, and to ensure good fortune. Hmayil, the Armenian name for these scrolls, means “enchantment ” in Old Armenian. Early examples were manuscripts, but printed scrolls became common with the advent of movable type. There are three printed Armenian prayer scrolls in the collections of the Library of Congress. All were printed at about the same date, in the same city. All are illustrated, but the individual palettes used for coloring the woodcuts are very different. This presentation will focus on the recent conservation treatment of a severely damaged hmayil, and will highlight the complicated and precise procedures of the treatment and housing as well as the scientific analysis of the scroll. The hmayil was printed in Constantinople in 1729; the text was printed on European paper with movable type and the illustrations added as woodcuts. It is about 3.5 inches wide, but 15 feet long. When the Library received the scroll, it was broken into fourteen fragments of varying lengths despite evidence of several efforts to restore and repair it. Stains and surface dirt disfigured the paper and obscured the hand-colored illustrations. Given the size of the object and the labor intensive treatment needed, the conservators considered treatment materials and methods to determine a treatment process that would be both efficient and sustainable. In addition, they carefully organized the project to maintain consistency in procedures while retaining flexibility to respond to new challenges that might arise. The treatment employed materials relatively new to conservation and blended Western and Eastern conservation techniques. For example, fragments were washed on layers of non-woven polyester-cellulose cloth (Tekwipe®), chosen for its strong vertical capillary action and reusability. To stabilize fragments and reconstruct the original sequence of the scroll, primary and secondary linings of two different Asian papers were applied using a combination of traditional Asian and Western lining techniques. To dry the linings, conservators used both Japanese materials and methods for tensioned drying, as well as Western papermakers’ felts. Since the strength and flexibility of the paper did not permit returning the scroll into its original format, a Western method of storage and presentation - window mats – was used, but their structure was tailored to meet the special needs of the curator and researchers. The conservators investigated the colorants used in the scroll by non-destructive analytical techniques: multi-spectral imaging and X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The findings will be discussed in the presentation. The characterization also establishes a future direction for research by a multidisplinary team to compare different color palettes from the Library’s hmayils and the reference collection of Armenian pigments available to the Library, with the goal of contributing to the knowledge of historical Armenian artist’s materials.