>>> Jayne Holt <[log in to unmask]> 12/01/03 01:59PM >>> Hello-- a friend of mine on Museum-L forwarded your question about buffered vs. unbuffered mats. I am a paper conservator in the Washington, DC, area. You mention that the prints are "hand tinted". By that, I assume you mean they have been hand colored with watercolor (the usual media for this) and may, perhaps, also have been enhanced with some glazes. Since you've done research, I'm assuming you are familiar with the chemistry of buffering. The reason for avoiding a buffered mat would be if you suspect that the media on your print is sensitive to alkaline conditions. Certainly some pigments (such as prussian blue) are sensitive, however, in this context, there is a very tiny amount of the pigment, compared to a huge amount of other material that would benefit from a buffered housing (namely- the paper itself). You need to weigh the benefits for each component to decide on the best housing. A good example of when NOT to use buffered housing: cyanotypes and early blueprints (both with prussian blue images) should not be housed in buffered enclosures. Many photo conservators recommend against buffering for all gelatin based photo materials (although some make an exception for gelatin based prints on paper). The purpose of a buffered environment is to maintain the slight alkaline environment of your housing material (giving it a longer useful life before it has to be replaced). I would say, without seeing your prints and assuming they are typical of most such prints from that time period, that your best bet would be for buffered housing. The biggest concern for hand coloring is really exposure to light-- watercolors are notoriously light sensitive. But that is a whole other issue, isn't it? -Jayne Girod Holt [log in to unmask] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).