Overcoming the Challenges of Mounting a 39-foot Painted Textile

This year the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts asked Spicer Art Conservation, LLC to mount an unique painted textile from Tibet. The uniqueness of this artifact was not just due to the type of artifact, but also its dimensions. After all, how many artifacts do you know that are 39 feet long! The good news was that it was in a remarkable state of preservation for its monumental size.

The textile needed to be mounted for an exhibition, Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment, that would later travel across the country to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

The length is a critical part of the piece's iconography, which shows side-by-side deities. The deities, all with menacing appearances, are to be allies, not adversaries, facilitating the practitioner's spiritual progress. The painting is surrounded with rows of silk damask, as well as a pleated, double-layer ruffle along the bottom edge. This banner likely once hung on the walls of a monastery's main assembly hall or antis inner sanctum.

The painting layer out on the floor of a gallery for
examination (ca. 18th century, Tibet, opaque
watercolor on cloth).

Mounting this wonderful artifact had been a challenge for the museum. Using magnets was an appropriate solution, but what type of magnetic system would do the job? After all, due to the length the artifact would need to be rolled in at least one direction for the installation. Also the curator desired to have it installed where it would go around corners, allowing the viewer to 'enter' and be surrounded by it. I thought this was a really great, but really challenging idea. Just mounting it on 39 feet of straight wall would be challenging!

The obvious mounting system was to use the magnetic slat, fabricated by SmallCorp, Inc. But what gauge of steel could be rolled while also being thick enough to maintain the pull force of the magnets? The powder-coated steel with the magnetic slat is a gauge-24 (0.0276" / 0.7010 cm). This was too stiff and the coating was not flexible enough to withstand several rollings.

After much searching and investigating, a local manufacturer was found who makes steel air ducts. They had the ability to cut a continuous strip of galvanized steel, 1-inch wide in a gauge-26 (0.0217" / 0.5512 cm). We found that it could easily roll over an 18-inch diameter tube. The small jump between gauges 24 to 26 is not much, however, the thinner gauge was just enough to allow for the needed curvature, while also being able to return to a straight and flat surface.

From the start, it was clear that the painted textile needed to be rolled onto two large diameter tubes. The installation would begin at the center of the mount installed on the wall, working each side out, one at a time. This would insure its center and positioning. Unlike paper that is often rolled on a tube for installation, due to its stiffness, textiles -- even painted ones -- require support from the upper edge. Another issue to solve. In order to support the textile and provide a sleeve for the galvanized steel, Tyvek was used. The sleeve was sewn into the top edge of the Tyvek to hold the steel. The Tyvek was also kept long to act as a barrier for the painted regions during the rolling process. This was then attached to the reverse side of the banner providing support, protection and housing the steel needed for the magnetic system.

Preparing the Tyvek sleeve and backing for the scroll.

Painting conservator, Nancy Pollak inpainting
 on-site at Spicer Art Conservation's studio

Gallery before installation.

Last stages of installation.

With the help of the team at Spicer Art Conservation, LLC, and along with the mount makers and the art handlers at the VMFA, the scroll was successfully installed for the exhibition.

Learn more about magnets and their many uses in the new publications Magnetic Mounting Systems for Museums and Cultural Institutions. Available for purchase at www.spicerart.com/magnetbook.

Remembering World War I and II Service Banners and the 'Home Front'

Sheet music, "Our Service Flag: A Blue Start 
Turned to Gold," 1920, Library of Congress.

Over the years at Spicer Art Conservation, we have seen many types of service banners or service flags that were meant to be displayed by service members' families. First used during World War I, the banner was designed and patented in 1917 by U.S. Army Captain Robert L. Queisser of the Fifth Ohio Infantry, in honor of his two sons who were serving in that war. With subsequent use, their design and sizes were standardized and codified.

The flag or banner is officially defined as a white field with a red border, with a blue star for each family member serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities. A gold star with a blue edge represents a family member who died during Military Operations. This includes those who lost their lives during World War I, World War II, or during any subsequent period of armed hostilities in which the United States was engaged before July 1, 1958, or those who lost their lives after June 30, 1958:

• while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;

• while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or

• while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party against an opposing armed force;

or those who lost their lives after March 28, 1973, as a result of:

• an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of Defense; or

• military operations while serving outside the United States (including the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States) as part of a peacekeeping force. [1]

A personal banner, often placed in a window. The
blue star signifies one family member serving in
the Armed Forces. Should the family member
die in service, the family had the right to replace
the blue star with a gold one.The size of this banner
needed to be the same size ratio as the American flag.



The Gold Star Mother designation originally started in 1928 
by Grace Darling Seibold to recognize mothers who lost 
sons in WWI. The last Sunday in September is observed 
as Gold Star Mother's Day. Above, Gold Star Mother's 
Day at Arlington National Cemetery in 1936.

These banners were widely distributed in the home front, but lost favor during the Vietnam War. There has been a resurgence in their use since the first Gulf War. For example, the Silver Star is a tradition begun in 2004, marking service personnel who were wounded.

A 1918 Service flag, presented to Mills County by Glenwood
Lodge No. 43, Knights of Pythias
Many organizational banners were personalized
with the names of their members and, thus, can be very large.

WWII banner for Navy service. The printed design is
'flocked'. It still has its wooden rod with cord and tassels

WWII Banner from the West Side Rowing Club,
Buffalo, NY

The idea of commemorating members of a group has a tradition with GAR roll of honor as a means to honor valor and bravery of members.

GAR Roll of Honor with 18 names

Names are printed onto cardboard and attached to
fabric with a ribbon

Notes and Resources

[1] Wikipedia, "Service Flag," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag, accessed January 12, 2019.

CRW Flags, "Service Flags (U.S.)," https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us%5Esvc.html, accessed January 12, 2019.

"The Service Flag of the United States," http://www.usflag.org/history/serviceflag.html, accessed January 12, 2019.