It All Comes Together

The actual construction of these housings was performed in Neal’s shop and occurred over an extended period of time. Great care was given to each of the 22 mat packages. As Neal explains it, each of the window mat openings were cut to rest 3/16" away from the perimeter of each page of the will.

She used strips of Japanese tissue paper to bridge the gap between the paper and the inner edge of the mat window. (This was the same Japanese tissue Smith used to repair the losses on the will.) These strips were adhered with the same adhesive used for mending the pages during Smith’s repair—freshly made wheat starch paste with methylcellulose.

The tabs were constructed to alternate with each other.

Shown here is the view from the outside of the package.

T-hinges were used to attach the document along the top edge. At bottom right and left, tacking hinges were used. This was hinged to only one of the mats.

The mounting construction took into careful consideration the possibility of the document being jarred and torn from the matboard. The Japanese tissue mentioned above (TOSA tengujo) was chosen for not only its conservation properties, but its lack of weight. Therefore, if jarred, the tissue would rip before the document.

As both Neal and Smith describe it, this project took a good deal of time especially with the collaborations back and forth. They both found it incredibly rewarding, not only because of the item they were protecting, but also because of the research and development that went into the project.

Shown here are the interlocking tabs after completion.

The tabs were each glued to the opposite mat.

The newly housed document was returned to the Fairfax County Courthouse in August of 2002. When Smith recently contacted officials there on the status of the will, they told her they felt very comfortable handling the document for its various displays. The collaboration of framer and conservator was a success. << back to page 1

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