ART CONSERVATOR
DIGITAL
A PUBLICATION OF THE WILLIAMSTOWN + ATLANTA ART CONSERVATION CENTER
VOLUME 15. NO.2 A LIST OF TERMS USED IN PAINTINGS CONSERVATION FOR THOSE IN THE KNOW!
Often, conservators use words that are unique to our field and the fine arts. For our feature articles on the treatment of the paintings in the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art, our senior paintings conservator, Montserrat Le Mense, has compiled a short list of terms to help you read along. We will continue to build upon this page in the future.
AUXILIARY SUPPORT | usually references a stretcher or strainer, providing structure to the primary supports
CANVAS | in the textile field it applies to a number of tightly-woven materials of relatively coarse fibers
Keys | shaped wood wedges that expand a stretcher adjusting stretched canvas tension
Linen | a cloth woven from flax
Loom | a machine for weaving yarn into a textile
Scalloping or cusping | pattern locked into the canvas weave by drying under tension points
Secondary Support | usually references a lining canvas, providing a secondary support layer
Selvage or selvedge | an edge produced on woven fabric during manufacture that prevents unraveling
Sizing | seals the canvas and prepares it for the ground and/or oil based layers
Stretcher | a wood framework with expandable corner joins
Strainer | a fixed wood framework
Thread count | number of warp and weft threads in a square inch of woven fabric
Warp & weft | In a loomed fabric, warp threads run the vertical length, weft horizontal
Weave | pattern of weaving or structure of a fabric