Fine Art Trade Guild international symposium on Tapes & Adhesives Standards
The international symposium on Tapes & Adhesives Standards for Picture Framing, held in London on 8 November 2004, made significant headway in agreeing standards for the tapes and adhesives used in framing. Spearheaded by an excellent paper by Barry Leveton GCF, closely assisted by Mary Evans GCF and contributions from manufacturers, museums and conservators, as well as commercial framers, the delegates focused attention on the use of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes at conservation level.
Self-adhesive tapes are increasingly being used because of their ease of use, and the improved quality of some has led to claims that they are suitable for ‘conservation’ or ‘archival’ work. This is refuted by conservationists, who insist that to be fully reversible, any tape must be both inert of itself, and removable without in any way damaging the artwork. It must not leave any residue, strip off any part of the surface or require the use of solvents that leave residue, nor in any other way harm the artwork, either immediately or over time.
Fine Art Trade Guild framing standards state that no self-adhesive tape is permissible in conservation framing and that this should apply to the framing of limited edition prints of moderate to high value. It is hoped that the green light can be given to superior quality tapes, if hinged properly, but the case rests on whether the claim for at least one solvent, that it leaves no residue and does no harm, can be supported scientifically; tests are underway. Conservators’ concerns focus on repositioning, repair, workshop mishaps, outgassing, staining, pH stability and CaCO3 content.
Guild MD Rosie Sumner, who chaired the symposium, advised, ‘Unless and until we can support scientifically a change to current standards and framing advice, publishers and framers using self-adhesive tapes to attach limited editions to mountboard risk customer complaints or even litigation unless they clearly identify that the process may not be fully reversible. By Guild Standards, this also means not claiming the job to be conservation framing.’
www.fineart.co.uk/FramingStandards.asp

This article appears in January 2005 issue of Art Business Today. For other art & framing news, please click here.