South Australian Northern Pioneers 1850 - 1859 Photo Mosaic from the State Library of South Australia's collections
The photographic mosaic had been roughly cut into four quarters making it difficult to store and display.

Artlab’s Paper and Books conservation team was requested to remove the old backing board so the entire mosaic could be once again reintegrated onto a conservation-grade mount.

Conservation Treatment
The careful manual process of removing the strawboard backing took many months. Once this task was completed, a new lining of Japanese paper was prepared.

Each quarter of the mosaic was humidified and flattened in preparation for being pasted onto the new lining.

The difficult process of pasting each section down required the team to work quickly but with great care as the paper was extremely thin and the sections difficult to align.

Once dried, the joins were in-painted and the mosaic drum-lined onto a conservation-grade backing board. The mosaic was safely returned to the State Library’s collection with a new lease of life.

South Australian Northern Pioneers 1850 - 1859 (B 6912).
State Library of South Australia.