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Flattening a vellum leaf?

Can I flatten this large leaf? It has been stored rolled up for a long time. Would weight alone do it? I read about humidification, but it is obviously ordinary and not worth any special effort or cost.

 

I know it is of no great value, but any opinions about age or origin?

 

leaf.jpg

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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?

Other side:

 

leaf2.jpg

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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?

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Vellum is a little like Memory Foam - in time it will lie relatively flat once more.  There are several ways to speed the process without wetting it - "cold steam" humidification and magnets works very quickly (be sure to use waxed paper between the magnets and the vellum, and between the vellum and the steel plate upon which it rests) as does high relative humidity and sandbagging (nothing more than a layer of common sand atop a sheet of buffered paper covering the leaf while it rests on a marble or formica tabletop),  adding sand daily to increase the weight.  The latter is slower but yields better results as the weight of the sand is more even than using magnets, and will "push down" all but the tightest, stiffest curns.  In either case, be sure the "bow" faces upwards (high in the center).

 

Don't disparage it; it's a nice leaf.  From CANTUS: A Database for Latin Ecclesiastical Chant:

 

http://cantusdatabase.org/id/004266

 

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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?

Thank you for the advice and the link. Much appreciated.

 

Glad to know it is nicer than I thought. My uninformed opinion was not based on anything other than I thought the colored initials looked a lot plainer than others I have seen.

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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?


@the-whale wrote:

Thank you for the advice and the link. Much appreciated.

 

Glad to know it is nicer than I thought. My uninformed opinion was not based on anything other than I thought the colored initials looked a lot plainer than others I have seen.


 

You're certainly welcome.  Like the old apiarist said - beauty is in the eye of the bee holder.

 

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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?


@the*bumping*squirrel wrote:


 Like the old apiarist said - beauty is in the eye of the bee holder.

 

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He, he he!  Sometimeses I just slay me!

xsquirreldance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 6 of 8
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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?

Better to be slayed than stung!  scream

 

Image result for bee squirrel cartoon

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Re: Flattening a vellum leaf?

 

 

 

I've heard that a rotund dancing squirrel can flatten a vellum leaf in 20 minutes when you play Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker at triple speed. 

 

The procedure is quite intricate and is properly termed, Flat Out Nut Job.

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