The Framers Forum

Dear All

I have been asked to frame a parchment scroll, someone bought in Eygpt. What is the best way to bond to a backing board?
Anyother suggestions very welcomed.

Many Thanks

Gary

Is this a papyrus?

Although not (usually) of any value at all - I would not 'bond' this - if what you mean is stick the whole thing down. This gives what I call an 'embalmed' look - unnatural. They look better with the odd bit of undulation.

I would float mount it with many 'V' or 'S' hinges - not self adhesive but gummed, such as Hakayu. Place these hinges under painted areas, otherwise they may show through the fibres.

These things look good on suedette mountboards - no window mount but a spacer such as econospace from Lion.

This is a papyrus I did recently. Black mats with a gold accent look great on a lot of them, but this one needed blue. The blue is a little less bright in reality.



Sometimes the top mat is a different colour to the one that the papyrus is mounted on, but mostly the same colour with an accent colour under the edge of the top mat. I use a foamboard spacer under the top mat to give extra space and more depth. Hinged with Hyaku gummed tape or starch paste and Jap paper hinges.

Parchment is made from animal skin - it has a tendency to expand and contract a fair bit and you have to make sure you take this into account when attaching to a board - with scrolls you could use clear mylor corners or a ribbon going across the corners could work. in my experience very little stays stuck to parchment so the option of not sticking always seems to be the best one.