On Display: Louis XV Dressing Screen

Archived Content

Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.

CCI Newsletter, No. 28, December 2001

On Display: Louis XV Dressing Screen

by James Hay, Senior Conservator, Treatment and Development Division - Furniture and Decorative Arts

This dressing screen from Fulford Place¹ in Brockville, Ontario, consists of three frames hinged together. The upper part of each frame is filled by an embroidered textile stapled over an interior frame, and the lower part is filled with a solid wood panel. These panels are carved, painted, and gilded on the front face, but the reverse face is flat, unpainted, and covered by a patterned velvet.

The screen arrived at CCI in pieces. The centre frame was broken in several places, with some carved details missing. Bare wood showed where gilding had been lost. The silk embroidery on the upper textile panels was deteriorating, torn, and splitting (almost ragged), and the textile on the reverse sides of the panels was very degraded.

After puzzling the pieces together for the 'before' photos, the embroidered upper panels were removed from the frames and sent to textile conservators for treatment. The textile on the reverse sides of the panels was too degraded to be repaired so it was removed and saved. The centre frame and panel were then reassembled and repaired. The losses were replaced by pieces of poplar that were carved to fit and the wood was regilded where necessary.

The centre wood panel had to be flattened before it could be fit into its frame, but conventional methods of controlled moisture and pressure proved to be unsuccessful. The distorted panel was eventually flattened by routing grooves in the reverse side, cutting 6-mm-wide slots one after another, and then fitting in 58 little pieces of poplar the height of the panel. Each piece was a little wider at the back edge than at the front (a 5° taper was possible), and together they served to wedge open the concave reverse side of the panel. Once the curve of the panel matched that of the frame, shallow butterfly dovetails were installed to stop earlier cracks. The final step was to coat the edges and reverse face of the panel with shellac followed by four coats of varnish to act as a moisture barrier for the reverse face. To ensure the panel remains in plane, special clips were made to hold it against the frame yet allow it to expand and contract.

With the frame and wood panels back together, the conserved embroidered textile could be reattached to the upper part of each frame, and new textile applied to the backs of the panels.

As soon as treatment is completed, the dressing screen will be returned to Fulford Place, where it will be on display along with the rest of the original furnishings.

1. Fulford Place is an Edwardian mansion that was built by Senator George Taylor Fulford between 1899 and 1901. His descendants donated the mansion and its contents to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, which opened it to the public as a house museum in June 1993.