AICCM Symposium 2006, Conservation of Paper, Books and Photographic Materials. Post-prints and Posters. 19-21 April 2006, Wellington, New Zealand. p55-68
Abstract
This ongoing study looks at the effect of a specific display lighting system on the fading of iron gall inks on parchments. Light-aging equipment incorporating non-UV tungsten halogen and fluorescent lighting has been developed to create accelerated lighting conditions based on those used in the National Archives of Australia’s Federation Gallery, where items of great importance to Australia’s cultural and political heritage are on permanent display. Handwritten samples taken from English indenture documents of the 19th and 20th centuries are being used, as well as inks prepared to various compositions and traditional recipes. Any fading or colour changes in the ink samples are being monitored by reflectance spectrophotometry. This paper presents the development and theory behind the light-aging experiments and light-aging device construction, and does not report results as the experiments are in progress.