Illustrated parchments from the collection of the Baron Louis-Numa de Salis

• Letters of nobility and naturalization confirming the nobility of Pierre Petit and Claude Calot, among others, by the Duke of Lorraine;
• A patent of knighthood from Saint Louis;
• The recognition of Pierre de Bassey’s ennoblement by Charles V.

Sublime pieces

These documents are remarkable on several levels: in addition to their great value, their aesthetic appeal catches the eye. The drop capitals are meticulously decorated, adorned with crowns and coats of arms in bright colors; the titles are also colorful, both in terms of the writing and, in some cases, the background bands.

Several documents bear seals, either in paper or in wax. The latter are mainly green or red. According to sigillography, the study of seals, these colors have specific meanings: for example, a green wax seal on red and green silk cords, as seen here, indicates a document of perpetual value.

The cords are made of different materials that hold the seals to the documents, known as “pendant seals,” as opposed to seals affixed directly to the parchment. Here, the complex weaves combine several colors.

An alarming condition

Despite the beauty of the watercolored and sealed pieces, they are badly damaged: each one shows stains, fading or even complete loss of color, tears and gaps, as well as creases due to unsuitable storage conditions.

After analysis and the establishment of a protocol adapted to each parchment, our restorer takes charge of their treatment. First, she meticulously cleans the parchments with soft brushes and selectively scrubs the most soiled areas when they are not inked and not fragile. The documents are then placed in a humidification chamber to gradually soften them. During this operation, moisture is added to the skins in a controlled manner so as not to damage the material or the ink. Once sufficiently relaxed, the documents are placed between non-woven fabric and blotting paper and lightly weighted down to flatten them.

Fragile areas (tears and gaps) are consolidated and filled with neutral Japanese paper of a suitable weight and color.

Seals and cords are less damaged than parchments: their condition allows for simple cleaning. Among these sealed items, however, is a seal fixed in a small tin box. The wax, which holds both the seal and the box in place, is attached to the bottom of the box, which has broken the seal: it is the tension caused by the wax that breaks the seal and would ruin any attempt at filling. Although our workshop is able to restore seals (https://www.lareliure.fr/en/passing-on-know-how-expertise-in-seal-restoration/), as a precautionary measure, it has been decided in this specific case not to intervene on the seal once it has been cleaned, and to implement preventive conservation measures: the seal is protected from future and hypothetical alterations through its packaging.

Custom packaging…

Our teams’ work does not stop there: in order to allow the documents to face the passage of time, it is essential to package them in the best possible way once they have been digitized. Here, conservation mountings have been made from museum-grade cardboard and foam board. Each piece of parchment is framed by a piece of clear, neutral cardboard, and the seals are held in custom-made inlaid niches to ensure their protection. This mount is completed by a neutral polyester envelope, which allows the parchments and seals to be viewed without direct contact, making it ideal for items intended for presentations or exhibitions. Finally, the packaging also has a lid hinged on a fine canvas to close the packaging and allow the document to be stored safely.

Individual packaging is essential for the proper preservation of sealed parchments. This type of mounting, composed solely of neutral and stable materials, therefore perfectly meets the recommendations established by the BNF (French National Library) in its Specifications for the conservation and restoration of seals and sigillographic objects in public archives.

… and equally customized digitization

La Reliure du Limousin has its own heritage digitization workshop so that it can digitize your documents at the best moment in the restoration process.

In the case of parchments, this was done once the packaging had been completed, so as to handle them as little as possible.

The digitization was carried out at 300 dpi using a heritage scanner with scanning and calculation of a customized colorimetric profile to ensure perfect color reproduction. Not only were the parchments digitized on the front and back, but the seals were also photographed separately. These required various adjustments in terms of exposure in order to capture the colors and details.

Finally, one last special feature had to be highlighted during the digitization process: one of the parchments had a coat of arms hidden behind its plica, so glass plates had to be used during the photo shoot to reveal it while protecting the parchment.

Our workshop is at your disposal for your restoration, digitization, and packaging projects involving sealed parchment items.

Looking to restore your collection or project? Contact La Reliure today to discuss your restoration needs.