Konserwacja grotesek J. B. Plerscha na ścianie północnej i fragmencie ściany północno-wschodniej westybulu dworu Mokronowskich w Jordanowicach

The grotesques by J. B. Plersch in Jordanowice were conserved thrice during the post-war period — in 195 0 - 1951, 1952-1953 and 1999-2001. The material applied upon the first two occasions and the fatal technical state of the manor house extensively damaged the paintings. The discussed article presents the “deconservation” and “reconservation” of a fragment of the J. B. Plersch decorations — the topic of a diploma study written in the Department of the Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. The conservation dating from the 1950s was severely criticised, although it should be taken into consideration that it was conducted for the p u rpose of salvaging the paintings by resorting to material available at that time — shellac, oil, egg white, wax, plaster, etc. During the latest conservation, it was necessary to tackle difficult technical problems associated with the considerable salination and unsatisfactory condition of the plaster as well as the necessity of removing earlier applied material, which rendered the painted layer indelible. Disintegrated fragments of the plaster were hardened by means of silicone resin Funcosil Steinfestiger 300. The additional strata of wax, oil and shellac were removed with assorted solutions of solvents. The following stages of conservation included emulation retouching of the missing elements of the painted layer and small reconstruction. Such an aesthetic solution is justified by the fact that the polychrome constitutes the most important element of the decoration of the vestibule. Missing elements of the grotesques could be reconstructed u p o n the basis of better preserved parts of the decoration on other walls and the doors. A comparison with grotesques by J. B. Plersch in the White House and the Palace on Water in the Warsaw Łazienki proved to be of great assistance.