According to the Oxford Dictionary, “Poppet” has two definitions: either as an informal British term for an endearingly sweet young girl, or a small figure of a human being used in sorcery and witchcraft. While the portrait Poppet from the Fischer Governor Foundation must refer to the former, she certainly cast a spell on us as she underwent treatment in our Painting Department.
The painting before treatment.
In a stunning blue dress with a lofty gaze, Poppet arrived in good condition, needing only minor aesthetic work after a thorough formal examination. The painting had no backing board, and the stretcher the canvas was stretched upon had open miters from trying to tension the canvas. The painting was slack, leaving soft deformations in the upper right and left corners. The composition was executed in moderately applied oil, with wide drying cracks through the lower left half of the painting in dark colors, which were stable but disfiguring. The painting also appeared to have a natural resin varnish that had discolored, and a light layer of grime.
The back of the painting and frame before treatment.
First, our conservators cleaned the portrait to remove grime, and cleaned the reverse using a soft brush and vacuum. Then, the canvas corners were reinforced due to small holes, and deformations were flattened as best as possible using a combination of heat, suction, humidity, and weight techniques. The stretcher was keyed out to provide adequate tension for the canvas and the stretcher miter reinforced, and the labels were protected with Mylar to retain provenance.
The labels after they were protected with Mylar.
Next, the varnish layer was removed to the extent safely possible with appropriate solvents. A coat of varnish was then applied to saturate the paint layer. Inpainting was carried out in areas where there were cracks, using reversible conservation paints to reduce their appearance.
The painting under a blacklight, part of the way through treatment.
Finally, Poppet was reinstalled into her existing frame to conservation standards, with an acid-free Coroplast backing board attached to the reverse to provide additional protection.
The back of the painting and frame after treatment.
We’re excited for this beautiful portrait to return to the Fischer Governor Foundation, where she will continue to enchant viewers for years to come.
