antique map c 1700

hrrm I want that map, it's brilliant. the problem with Civitatus Orbis Terrarum is it tends to be touched up and that color is so brilliant and having shown thru the back makes me a bit wary. It is beautiful though. hold on

 

there we are. This is not a Hogenburg, but a Johannes Blaeu from 1649 of Nijmegen. Note the description on the back regarding the fortress.

 

Beautiful. And a Blaeu is not to be sneezed at.

Nice. Too small to read, unfortunately. It was the fortress near Lent, on the opposite bank of the Waal. Very important during the 80 yrs war.
The fortress is no longer there, but excavations were done on the site about ten years ago, when the river was expanded to avoid flooding.

 

this site has size limitations of images. The text on the back gives a description of the reconstruction of the fort by a prince in 1590 or 1591. I framed it this way so as to be able to view the front and back (obviously) because, well, I think it is a crime not to see the other side of a page.

 

Float mounts directly to glass are never recommended for art you want to survive. Ambient moisture causes art to stick to the glass and it is impossible to remove without serious damage. I have seen it many, many times in different places... Including last week.

If you want to mount like this it is strongly recommended that you have a spacer of some sort to keep art off glass. Either matted with two mats with cut outs, or float mount to one side of the mat (with spacers to keep it away from the glass, with hole cut to reveal back on the other.

Of course, uv museum glass all around to prevent fading is standard practice. Nothing is 100% though so especially delicate art should still hang away from sunlight.

 

I use museum quality acrylic glass.

I should have made it clear my objective is to preserve maps for posterity and hobbie. If I showed you some other pieces (particularly some I am having done now) it'll be clear.

 

I understand you want to preserve them! That's why I was letting you know the framing on that piece is not recommended as it can damage a map.

 

with all due respect this map has been sitting unframed for 350 years. The fact I put it in glass should demonstrate that I want the patina to be displayed and it happens matches other pieces of mine. having a spacer as you suggest would detract from the presentation I want. As it hangs, inside my air conditioned trailer home with me and T and no access to elements except the old herb is far better than the shelf it has been sitting on in Netherlands for however many decades.

 

You asked for opinions on framing, of which I was professionally trained in, including museum-quality preservation of historic materials.

Sitting unframed in acid-free, no-light, and temp/humidity controlled archive is actually the best method of preservation for most any object. But we like to see them so we make concessions to display them. So no, framing isn't necessarily the best place... especially with smoking. And climate control of one's home isn't climate control that is monitored by a museum... Obviously we make concessions to own things, so ambient moisture is going to be present (or if in desert, the lack thereof can damage things too).

You asked about framing, and clearly love your objects, so I was trying to be helpful. We just had to scrape art off glass with a razor blade last week, for someone who lived in a climate controlled home but didn't bother with a mat or spacers (and they live in the north of USA). It's depressing, and few people know it's a problem.

 

one mega byte.....and that's the file size...not the image size or quality..