CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CRM VOLUME 22 NO. 7 1999
A New Lease on Life
Conserving Museum Collections
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Cultural Resources PUBLISHED BY THE VOLUME 22 NO. 7 1999 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Contents ISSN 1068-4999 Information for parks, federal agencies, Indian tribes, states, local governments, A New Lease on Life and the private sector that promotes and maintains high standards for pre serving and managing cultural Conserving Museum Collections resources
DIRECTOR Robert Stanton A New Lease on Life—Conserving Restoration of the Museum Collections 3 Lincoln Memorial Murals 35 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Jessica S. Johnson Audrey T. Tepper CULTURAL RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP AND PARTNERSHIPS Mr. Fuller's Most Peculiar Firearm 5 The Importance of Curatorial Katherine H. Stevenson David H. Arnold Planning in Condition Surveys 38 Gretchen L. Voeks EDITOR The Conservation of the Classical Ronald M. Greenberg Lighthouse Lens 8 Architectural Drawings —Valuable ASSOCIATE EDITOR Greg Byrne Records Requiring TLC 40 Janice C. McCoy Amy L. Lubick Lighting for Conservation 10 GUEST EDITOR Larry V. Bowers Conservation Science in the Parks— Jessica S. Johnson Not Just for Natural Resources 42 Map Printing Techniques—An Judith J. Bischoff ADVISORS Introductory Note 13 David Andrews Editor, NPS Nancy Purinton Summer Projects in Parks for Joan Bacharach Conservation Program Interns 45 Conservation Treatments for the Museum Registrar, NPS Brigid Sullivan Lopez Randall J. Biallas Washington Monument Historical Architect, NPS Commemorative Stones—Using A Workshop—Integrating Field John A Bums Architect, NPS Guidelines 16 Archeology, Conservation, and Hany A Butowsky Judith M. Jacob Culturally Appropriate Treatments ... .47 Historian, NPS Allen Bohnert Pratt Cassity More Than Simply Treatment—What Executive Director, National Alliance of Preservation CommBsions A Conservator Can Tell You Creating a Set of Conservation Muriel Crespi About An Object 19 Guidelines for Exhibitions 50 Cultural Anthropologist, NPS Toby Raphael MaiyCullen Robin M. Hanson Director, Historical Services Branch Parks Canada Passive Supports for Textiles 22 CRM ONLINE Mark Edwards Deby Bellman Historic Preservation and Cultural Resource Group Manager Keeping the Historic House URS Greiner Woodward Clyde Federal Services Using Freeze-dried Animal Specimens Roger E. Kelly Jane Merritt Archeobgist, NPS in Exhibits 23 Antoinette J. Lee Barbara Cumberland Humidistatically Controlled Heating and Historian, NPS Ventilations Systems—Alternative Methods Totem Preservation in for Control of Relative Humidity ASSISTANT Southeast Alaska 27 Denise M. Mayo Brenda Smith Alan Levitan How Can I Ship This?—Preventive Contracting for Object Conservation in Packing Conservation Treatment 30 Alice Newton Martin Burke Archival Preservation at the NPS Conservation of a Yellowstone Diane Vogt-O'Connor Studebaker Wagon 32 Susan Kraft Conserve O Grams An electronic version of this issue of CRM can be accessed through the CRM homepage at Cover: Top left, a summer intern stabilizes flaking gilt on a chair, see story p. 45; top right, inaugural
Statements of fact and views are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an opinion or endorsement on the part of the editors, the CRM advisors and consultants, or the National Park Service. Send articles and correspondence to the Editor, CRM, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resources, 1849 C Street, NW, Suite 350NC, Washington, DC 20240; 202-343-8164, fax 202-343-5260; email:
2 CRM No 7—1999 Jessica S. Johnson A New Lease on Life Conserving Museum Collections
he word "conservation" has deep ticular specialized skills. Basic preventive care and significant meaning in the information for parks, as stated in the Museum National Park Service. It is set in Handbook, Part I, Museum Collections, is con our mission and reflected in our stantly being revised and updated to incorporate StrategiTc Plan, and each day every employee's new information and practices. Most preventive work helps conserve the natural and cultural her care for NPS collections is done by park and cen itage of our nation. This issue of CRM illustrates ter staff and their programs are the foundation of what one group of professionals, called conserva all collection preservation. tors, and the professionals and students with However, sometimes this preventive care is whom they work, are doing to conserve collec not enough. Objects are used and damaged tions in museums. before coming to museums. Disasters like floods The profession of conservation, based on a or hurricanes strike even with the best risk man scientific understanding of materials and deterio agement and planning. Some objects, made of ration is a fairly new field. This new, scientific unstable materials, begin deteriorating immedi approach to the deterioration of materials devel ately upon creation. In these and many other oped between WWI and WWII.1 The first pro cases, a conservator can treat an object to stabilize fessional society (founded in the UK in 1950) its chemical and physical structure and bring it was the International Institute for Conservation back closer to an earlier condition. (IIC). The American Group of IIC separated in But conservators do much more. Through 1972 to become the American Institute for the their intimate knowledge of an object during Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works treatment and analysis, new information about (AIC). AIC has developed a Code of Ethics and construction, materials, and techniques can be Guidelines for Practice that is used to guide and brought to light. Articles in this issue discuss evaluate the work of conservators. University- treatments to objects as diverse as firearms, quilts, level training for conservators became available in lighthouse lenses, and stone monuments where the United States in the 1960s and 1970s and treatment or technical analysis added to the standards for experience and training of conserva information we have about our collections. tors are continually being upgraded. Conservators also bring new technologies and Conservators worldwide are currently discussing approaches to collections care by translating the need for professional certification standards. research done in a variety of scientific disciplines These changes toward conservation as a sep such as chemistry, physics, and engineering to the arate profession from others that work in muse practicalities of collection care. Larry Bowers ums and historic preservation are reflected in the describes new lighting technologies that are less National Park Service. The 1941 Field Manual damaging to objects. Our treatment experiences for Museums, by Ned J. Burns included a variety give us a perspective on what kinds of preventive of techniques and materials that were recom care practices have worked over the long-term mended to all museum staff for treating objects and what hasn't so we can advise park staff. in collections. The first NPS conservator, Authors writing about integrated pest manage Elizabeth H. Jones, a paintings conservator, ment and object maintenance include practices began work in 1951.2 By 1976, Ralph Lewis in improved by conservation research to insure that Manual for Museums was outlining a different they work the way we want them to. approach in which day-to-day care and preserva Conservation science—science directed specifi tion of collections (collections management) is cally toward preservation questions—helps the responsibility of park staff, who request con improve treatments, procedures, and practices servation assistance from conservators with par used to care for and preserve collections. Judy
CRM No 7—1999 3 Bischoff describes a new science lab that will NPS collections. You will be able to see this directly support research and technical analysis of exhibit, titled A New Lease on Life: Museum NPS collections. We also do training so that oth Conservation in the NPS at ers develop skills to contribute to the preservation
4 CRM No 7—1999 David H. Arnold Mr. Fuller's Most Peculiar Firearm
or the past year, I have been treat observations which might be of interest. Ferrous ing American military shoulder metal parts are heated and coated with a petro arms from the Fuller Gun leum-based wax. Brass or bronze parts are coated Collection at the Chickamauga and with an acrylic lacquer. Wooden components are ChattanoogFa National Military Park (CHCH). In cleaned and coated with pigmented carnauba 1954, this collection of over 350 firearms was wax. All of these coating materials can be easily given to the United States by Claud E. Fuller and removed or replaced some time in the future. his wife, Zenada, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Some cosmetic restoration is also being done— Claud Fuller was a life-long collector of American especially where old repairs have failed or where military arms (among several other things) and the finish has become marred. Photographs are his collection spans four centuries—from 17th- again taken after the treatment is completed. century matchlocks to the Model 1917 These, along with the individual treatment Springfield/Remington "World War" Rifle. Mr. reports, will provide the National Park Service Fuller believed it to be the most complete collec base-line documentation of the collection's condi tion of its kind. tion at a fixed point in time. This documentation The general purpose in treating the entire is essential to tracking changes that may occur to collection is to document its present condition, the collection in the years to come. stabilize any corrosion of the metals or deteriora In theory, conservators treat all artifacts tion of the wooden components, and protect with equal care and attention. However, there are them against future deterioration. Each gun is times when something special comes our way, photographed and its condition documented. and we need to respond to its uniqueness. It is a Although treatments for each gun are proposed fairly routine matter for conservators to study the on an individual basis, the basic regimen is the objects they treat. In some instances the connois- same. seurship which results can be critical to the devel The guns are disassembled as completely as opment of a treatment strategy. But, in the possible. All metal parts are cleaned with solvents, process of trying to learn about the special gun but usually some mechanical techniques are used that is the focus of this article, I suspect I may as well—scalpels, soft brushes; even dental tools have put in a few more hours than usual (since it are used, but with great care to avoid scratching was most unlikely to affect the treatment proce the metallic surfaces. Any proof marks or other dure) as I tried to establish the factual basis for stampings found are noted along with any other what has been published on the subject. Well why not?Take a look at it! It's a gun with a crank stick Model 1863 Sharps Carbine ing out of its stock. That's cer with mill crank tainly odd—and in itself pretty installed. Photo intriguing, especially on a mid- by the author. 19th-century firearm! It would not be unreasonable to guess that the crank might have some mechanical connection to the loading or firing mechanisms. Considering its martial purpose, what else could it be for? The gun is a 0.52 caliber Sharps New Model 1863 car bine, serial number 81319. This weapon (without the crank) was
CRM No 7—1999 5 Detail of Sharps one of the most desirable arms New Model issued during the Civil War. It is 1863 Carbine with mill. Photo breech-loading—and, therefore, by Charles its user held a critical advantage Shepard. over soldiers who often had to expose themselves to enemy fire while recharging their muzzle- loaded rifles. Although it was not the first breech-loading arm pur chased by the military—that dis tinction goes to the Hall breech- loading flintlocks made in Portland, Maine in 18171—it did have the advantage over ear lier models of having a self-con tained pellet primer which fed an explosive charge between the breech cone and was originally a grain mill," presumably for con hammer as it was cocked and subsequently verting foraged grains into meal or flour/ released. This eliminated having to put a small In looking further into the matter it soon cap on the cone between each shot—another step became clear that the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing saved and an especially welcome feature when Co. was not responsible for this adaptation. The fingers got clumsy during cold weather. While question as to who was responsible seemed to soldiers with muzzle-loading guns raced through have several answers. Here is a sampling: "During a complicated manual of arms to fire at a rate of the Civil War a workman employed at the St. three rounds per minute, the possessor of a Louis Arsenal devised a plan to incorporate a cof 10 Sharps carbine could easily get off 10 rounds in a fee mill on the butt stock of the gun.""' "The •y minute. coffee mill part was added ... by James If you guessed that the crank plays a role in McMurphy of Camden, New Jersey on contract 1 increasing the soldier's rate of fire you would be for the Ordnance department." ' "The Coffee wrong. When the crank and its internal mecha Mill attachment, located in the stock where the nism is removed from the butt stock, it becomes patch box is usually placed, was added to a few of immediately apparent that this attachment is a these carbines by a contractor in S [sic] Saint grinding device of some sort. It has an input port Louis, Mo. The idea being to issue one to a com 12 in the upper end of the plate on the lower edge of pany." "The theory was that the mill would be the butt stock. The plate opposite the crank has useful for grinding corn and other grain ... as 13 an output slot. The question is, just what is sup well as the issue coffee." posed to come out of that slot? While there may be elements of the truth in In his privately published volume entitled all of these assertions—the only solid answer Fuller Gun Notes, the title of Mr. Fuller's entry for came to my attention just before this article was this gun reads: "Sharps Breech Loading Carbine. due. Mr. Howard Madaus, curator of the Cody New Model 1863 with Coffee Mill."3 Early on, Firearms Museum, thought I would find an however, I read accounts which cast doubt on its authoritative article in the quarterly journal pub function as a coffee grinder. CHCH park histo lished by the Company of Military Historians. rian Jim Ogden ground a few coffee beans in the He was quite right. In a brief article on the origin gun (just prior to shipping it off for treatment). and purpose of the Sharps mill gun, its author He reported disappointing results, stating that it quotes directly from the January 6, 1865, report would take an excessive number of beans to make of an inspection board charged with inspecting a decent cup of coffee using the built-in grinder. and reporting about this modification (and other Other authors reported similar disappointing improvements) to the Adjutant General of the results/'6 and one logically speculated that since Army, Lorenzo Thomas. This board included an ".. .coffee was more of a luxury [for Civil War era Assistant Inspector General for the Cavalry soldiers], it is more likely that the 'coffee mill' Bureau, a senior officer from the Subsistence Department, and its presiding officer was a gen-
6 CRM No 7—1999 eral officer from the Quartermaster and from what arsenal were they issued? Did Col. Department.14 King have to purchase them himself or were they The inventor was Lt. Col. Walter King who on loan and subsequently returned to the issuing was on "detached service" from the 4th Missouri armory? Who actually installed the mills and State Militia Cavalry for all of 1864 and 1865 where? How were the guns finally disposed of? until he was mustered out on April 20, 1865. He Did Congressman King use his influence to get was the son of Austin Augustus King, a former his son a hearing for his inventions and permis governor of Missouri and a member of Congress sion to conduct a field trial? during the war. Col. King was actually promot The "Coffee Mill" Sharps carbine is one of ing the adoption by the War Department of a the rarest guns collected. I know of four. It is group of four items, which the board character often said that eight genuine examples exist. ized as "raiding equipments." Specifically, they Others have estimated their being between 50 were considering their use by small mounted and 100. Much remains a mystery, and my units, especially those in frontier service. The research will continue in order to "tie up" the "equipments" consisted of the Sharps carbine loose ends and one day to publish a more with a mill in its butt stock for grinding foraged expanded article on this most peculiar firearm. grain, a cooking kit in a seven-inch square leather container, a saddle bag to hold two months' sup Notes 1 ply of sugar, salt, and coffee, and lastly a canteen Steward Brown, The Guns of Harpers Ferry. with a shoulder strap. (Benyville, VA: The Virginia Book Company 1986), 69. The board's report was not encouraging. 2 Wiley Sword, Sharpshooter: Hiram Berdan, his They felt that if there were grain available to be famous Sharpshooters and their Sharps Rifles, foraged, there would also be mills nearby for its (Lincoln, RI: Andrew Mowbray Incorporated, processing. They expressed doubt that grain 1988), 42. found in the field would be dry enough to be 3 Claude E. Fuller, Fuller Gun Notes, (Collegedale, successfully ground into meal or flour. They also TN: Collegedale Bindery, 1957), 732 objected to adding more weight to the cavalry * James Ogden, Historian, Chickamauga and man's equipage when recent experience had Chattanooga National Military Park, personal com munication. shown that their first priority should be to see 5 Richard E. Hopkins, Military Sharps Rifles & that the soldier is able to carry as much ammuni Carbines Vol. /(self-published in 1960s, San Jose, tion as possible. They also pointed out that the CA), 50. mill could not be universally installed, and in ° Arnold Chernoff's account of Andrew Lustyik's particular would not work on the more recently grinding trials, The Gun Report, "Gun of the adopted Spencer repeating carbine—because its Month, " 56. seven-round magazine runs right down the mid ' Frank Sellers, Sharps Firearms. (Denver: Frank Sellers, 1982)76. dle of its butt stock. 8 Ibid. Allowing that others might disagree with 9 From an advertisement for item #2270 in a reprint their findings, the board recommended that Lt. of a 1920s Bannerman's Manhattan surplus arms Col. King be permitted to conduct a "fair trial in catalogue. the field," and (at his own expense) be allowed to 10 Hopkins, p 48. outfit a squadron of up to 100 men with the per 11 Sellers, p. 76. 12 mission of the unit's commanding officer.1' Fuller, p. 732 13 At present it is not known if the field trial Harold L. Peterson, The Treasury of the Gun. (New York: Golden Press, Inc. and The Ridge, Inc., ever took place. In fact, much more research is 1963), 175 needed to determine with documented certainty 14 Roger D. Sturcke, Military Collector and Historian, even the basic facts about this gun. Did Lt. Col. "Cavalry 'Raiding Equipment': The 'Coffee Mill' King intend for every mounted soldier to be Sharps Carbine Question," XXXI: 4, 181-2, 1979. issued his own "raiding equipments," or would 15 Sturcke, p. 181. they be spread out among the troops? How many Sharps were actually adapted to include a mill, David H. Arnold is an objects conservator in private practice.
CRMNo7—1999 7 Greg Byrne The Conservation of the Classical Lighthouse Lens
ost of us can conjure up an rather, "What aspect of the lens' history is being image of a lighthouse beacon preserved if it is re-polished?" sending forth its light in the Context issues are not new to either conser midst of howling wind, vation or the historic preservation field. The weatherM, and pounding surf. It does not take Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the much imagination for us to see how these bluntly Treatment of Historic Properties states that, "... the unforgiving environmental forces can threaten historic character of a property (or object) will be our nation's lighthouses. Although we have lost retained and preserved...(and that) each property treasured lighthouses to these environmental will be recognized as a physical record of its time, forces, it surprises many to learn that when it place, and use. Changes to a property (or object) comes to the classical fresnel lighthouse lens that have acquired historic significance in their itself, it is not environmental factors which cause own right will (also) be retained and preserved." the most damage to them. The standards suggest that an appropriate level of Based on the examination of dozens of conservation treatment—beyond stabilization— deteriorated and damaged lenses, the human fac is best made by considering the context. tor—visitor contact, ill advised maintenance Historic Preservation most often concen practices, lens removal, transport and storage, trates on the preservation of historic evidence as and vandalism—does the most harm. The next preserved in wear patterns, operational damage, most prevalent cause of damage results from the and/or interactions with historic figures and natural aging of the litharge glazing putty which events. Evidence that a lens was properly main holds the glass and brass together. The putty can tained (polished, cleaned, etc.) would be pre release hazardous lead particles as it deteriorates, served just as evidence to the contrary could also introduce stress into the system, and eventually appropriately be preserved. For instance, chips in will no longer adequately support the glass in the the prisms would not necessarily need to be filled brass. The combination of these two factors can to achieve historic preservation, especially if that spell disaster for a threatened classical lens. damage is noted in the keeper's log or associated How Should Lenses Be Treated? with an important personage or event. Conservation of a classical lighthouse lens Historic preservation can be less expensive should always begin with a condition assessment and may require less preventive maintenance which looks at the overall physical and chemical than restoration to period. This type of restora stability of the lens. Each of the constituent tion is most often sought in instances where a materials is examined to identify health, safety, lens remains in its historic architectural context. and maintenance issues, and basic stabilization If that context is furnished and interpreted to a needs. The assessment should result in a treat specific historic period, then period restoration is ment protocol which addresses those needs. appropriate for the lens as well. A period restora Treatments which extend beyond stabilization are tion would address the most recent damage or most often presented as treatment options deterioration and leave that which might reason because decisions about restorative treatments ably be attributed to the interpreted period. can only really be decided when considered in a Period restorations can be less expensive broader context. Interpretive goals, historic and less difficult than full restoration, which is preservation goals, funding, staffing, and opera likely to be carried out when the interpretive goal tional issues all come to bear on restorative treat is for the optic to appear as it would have when it ment decisions. The question is not, "What kind was installed. It is also often the case that an optic of brass polish is best for a classical lens?" but that has been removed from its tower and is out of its historic context will be a candidate for full
8 CRM No 7—1999 restoration—especially if the lens is used as an ing as an encapsulant and consolidant and low interpretive tool to demonstrate the optical prin molecular weight resin systems are also being ciples of the classical fresnel lens. The thinking is evaluated. that damage (such as chips in the glass) presents a Restoration Treatments distraction to the viewer when the interpretation Repair and replacement of damaged or concentrates upon optics and illumination. If less missing glass is the most sought after restorative complete restoration is desirable because of cost treatment. To date, the least expensive option for considerations, then discrepancies between the repair of broken or chipped prisms makes use appearance and interpretation can be successfully of either an optical grade epoxy or epoxy/acrylic addressed with interpretive panels which discuss resin adhesive systems. More "reversible" adhe- treatment and preservation goals. sives are also finding applications for use in Full restorations are often undertaken in the repair. Replacement of damaged or missing lens belief that a full restoration is historic preserva elements is another restoration solution. Options tion. Factors, including material selection and include replacement with cast epoxy, cast acrylic, application, combined with the skill and experi or replacement with glass. Each approach has its ence of personnel can produce a variety of results. particular advantages and disadvantages. The Misguided treatments can permanently scar the highest quality glass replacement is also extremely glass or brass and otherwise permanently damage expensive. On the other hand, lower cost cast the lens. Given the extraordinary value ascribed epoxy replacements can discolor with time. to classical lenses and the inherent risks in work The other treatment most often requested is ing with hazardous materials, it is imperative that that the brass support structure be returned to a treatment plan be proposed by experienced some previous appearance by repolishing it. The offerors and that proposed treatment meet both problem with polished copper alloys is that either the preservation objectives of the client as well as constant maintenance or a brass coating that pro the actual needs of the lens. In addition to con tects it from further corrosion is required to textual considerations, there are, of course, the realities of available funding and ongoing mainte nance issues which will impact final treatment decisions. Stabilization Treatments If the original deteriorated litharge glazing putty can be stabilized, then one of the major threats to classical lenses can be brought under A third order lighthouse lens control. As straightforward as this solution on exhibit in the sounds, successful treatment depends upon a lighthouse number of factors, including the composition of keeper's quar ters. Photo the putty, its porosity, previous treatment history, courtesy the and the degree to which it has physically deterio author. rated. An alternative to the stabilization of the old glazing putty is its replacement, a time con suming and expensive option. Re-glazing is diffi cult because the lead putty is a hazardous mater ial which requires special handling and disposal. The good news is that it appears that the French manufacturers changed the formulation of their glazing putty sometime around the turn of the century, opting for a lead oxide which appears orange-red in color instead of the more tradi tional lead carbonate which appears white. The change produced a more porous, slightly softer putty. A porous putty can be consolidated, hence stabilized—an impervious material cannot. New low viscosity silicone resins appear most promis
CRM No 7—1999 c> retain the polished appearance. Coatings are great Future Directions when applied to small brass museum objects. Conservation treatments are available now They can be applied without much trouble, and which will preserve the beautiful classical fresnel when the time comes they can be removed and lenses in our nation's lighthouses. Architectural reapplied fairly easily. Not so with a 10 foot high conservators, objects conservators, and historic by 6 foot wide first order lens which is 85 percent preservation specialists continue their search for glass and 15 percent brass. even better materials to improve techniques for The decision to polish lens brass should be treatment in the hope that a classical lens will no made only after a close examination of its condi longer need to be removed from its tower because tion. A highly developed layer of cuprite (the red it is unstable. If a lens must be removed for other dish brown corrosion layer often found on cop reasons, stabilization methods and improved per alloys) can indicate that the lens did not packing techniques help ensure a safe relocation. receive periodic cyclic maintenance during the In large part, it is the publics keen interest in historic period. Cuprite is a rather benign form these historic beacons which is helping to pre of corrosion often thought of as a protective form serve them. Public support of preservation ori of corrosion. It is only bright brass which can ented institutions like the Lighthouse quickly corrode. Can the brass be returned to its Preservation Society, the U.S. Lighthouse Society, former glory? Yes. Does the reddish brown form and the new National Lighthouse Museum (to of corrosion need to be removed? No. Brass treat name a few), helps ensure that the classical fresnel ment and the impact re-polished brass has upon lens will remain an integral part of lighthouse his interpretation, historic preservation, and future tory. maintenance should be thoroughly discussed by all affected parties before re-polishing is under Greg Byrne is a conservator at NPS Harpers Ferry taken. Center-Conservation.
Larry V. Bowers Lighting for Conservation
he National Park Service is the visible light is nearly as damaging and must be repository for an enormous vari controlled accordingly. ety of cultural artifacts. For most Damage from light is permanent and irre of us, the information and versible. Unfortunately, the only way to prevent knowledgTe we receive in our visit to an NPS visi that damage is to completely eliminate exposure; tor center or museum is directly related to how an obvious difficulty for parks wishing to display well we see the art and artifacts presented. their collections. Complicating that is the fact We have learned much over the last 50 that exhibits in the National Park Service are years regarding the effect of light on organic often designed as long-term installations, to last materials. Exposure to light energy (photons) perhaps for decades. Under these circumstances it induces a variety of chemical reactions, causing is easy to understand that lighting choices may structural changes, embrittlement, pigment loss, have a great impact upon the important resources and finish degradation. The degree of damage we have on display. And therein lies the problem. produced is the result of the amount of illumina The fundamental question proposed to the tion and the length of time an object has been conservator becomes: what are the safest lighting exposed. Ultraviolet light was once thought to be levels for paintings, furniture, paper objects, tex the primary agent of damage. We now know that tiles, etc.? From the conservator's perspective, the
10 CRM No 7—1999 answer to that question of course has to be zero. fully employed, fluorescents can still be useful in With no light, and an otherwise stable environ certain applications. ment, we can guarantee that our objects will last Directional lamps are considered superior a very, very long time. for object lighting and allow the user to exercise Selection of a sensitive artifact for display far greater control over both aesthetic and conser automatically carries with it curatorial responsi vation concerns. In recent years tungsten halogen bility to provide exhibit circumstances which lamps have become the standard for art and arti allow the object to be preserved for as long as fact lighting because of their ability to produce a possible while still on exhibit. Limiting exposure crisp white light with a high color rendering is the only alternative. This can be done in two index. ways: minimizing light levels or limiting the time Fixture choice is important with price an object is on display. often, though not always, an indicator of quality. Visitor education is important and a com It is generally advisable to avoid the track lighting ponent of successful object lighting. Visitor and fixtures in your local home supply store and response can be negative if the exhibit design is deal instead with reputable lighting manufactur poor or if he/she is unprepared for the lighting ers who know their products and can offer advice levels required for conservation. These are legiti and product continuity. Good quality fixtures mate concerns. As we age, the light gathering usually offer the ability to alter your lighting ability of our eyes decreases, reducing visual acu through the use of accessory filters, spread lenses, ity. An aging population poses increased demands barn doors, etc. These enable the user to control on the skills of exhibit designers. the shape, amount, and quality of light and Until recently, many designers were under greatly affect the presentation. the mistaken impression that it was impossible to Lamps vary enormously and, within a par satisfactorily light objects at levels which meet ticular style, offer a wide variety of beam spreads, conservation standards. Education, and the skill wattages, and capabilities. Your choice of lamp ful work of individual lighting designers, has will depend directly on the following: shown that it is possible to meet the standards of • Area of coverage desired. This is defined by both disciplines, though it may take some skill the beam spread of the individual lamp cho and creativity. A variety of techniques can be sen. Most manufacturers will offer a variety of employed to increase the perception of light and beam spreads within a given lamp model, increase contrast, including selection of back ranging perhaps from a wide flood (60°) to ground color and providing adequate transition narrow spot (10°). areas for visual acclimatization. • Footcandle level desired. This is a function of Conventional lighting manufacturers now the lumens,^ or light output, and the beam produce a wide variety of lamps and luminaires shape. The difference in the amount of lumens that fulfill most museum lighting requirements. produced by an individual lamp type, from a Lighting an object well can often be reduced to given manufacturer (e.g., General Electric simply choosing the proper fixture and lamp. MR-16) is usually defined by the bulb wattage. Fluorescent lamps have traditionally been For instance, a 25 watt GE MR-16 lamp will used in older style NPS exhibit cases. Though produce fewer lumens than a GE 50 watt lamp usually spurned for sophisticated object lighting, of the same type. Footcandle levels will also be this type of lamp does offer a way of providing greatly affected by the beam spread chosen. A general non-directional illumination in an more focused beam produces a more intense exhibit. Consumer demand has had a positive illumination. A narrow spot lamp may pro impact on this technology. Fluorescent lamps can duce three times the footcandle levels on a now be had in a wide range of color temperatures given surface, from the same distance, as that (K)' and several have a color rendering index of a similar flood lamp of the same wattage. (CRI)2 rating of 90 or more, far above older style • Quality of light. The color rendering index lamps and well above the museum minimum of (CRI) and the color temperature will affect 85 CRI. They are certainly cost-effective, with greatly the appearance of the exhibit. Lamp life expectancies sometimes approaching 20,000 choice may be related to the nature of the hours, an obvious asset if maintenance costs are objects displayed. With monochromatic paramount. If the lamp is selected well and care objects, CRI and color temperature may be of
CRM No 7—1999 11 little concern. Conversely, polychrome objects at Harpers Ferry to test a variety of lighting com may require exact color rendering and a precise ponents. It has allowed us to compare and evalu color temperature for proper display. ate some of the leading fiber optic systems and • Special features. Pressure from consumers and given us a set of standards for application. government regulation has led manufacturers Fiber optics have been successfully to offer lamps with an expanded range of fea employed for object lighting at a number of NPS tures, some of which are useful in exhibits. sites, including LBJ, San Antonio Missions, Some lamps now produce much lower levels in Agate Fossil Beds, Harpers Ferry, and Friendship the infrared or ultraviolet parts of the spec Hill. Fiber optic lighting systems are also in trum. We've recently measured MR-16 lamps development for the Declaration of from one manufacturer, which produced only Independence at Independence NHP, and for a 5 mW/lumen of UV, very much below the White House exhibit of 18th-century creche fig museum standard of 75 mW/lumen. ures. • Lamp life. Depending on the manufacturer, As with any technology, fiber optics individual lamps can differ enormously on life embrace both the positive and the negative. They expectancy, within a given type. A few years are by no means perfect and should be ago most MR-16 lamps were rated at around approached from a thoughtful, educated perspec 2000 hrs. Many MR-16s can be had today tive. Inappropriate application may lead to fail with 5000 hr. lamp life, lowering lamp replace ure, increased costs, or maintenance problems. ment costs and reducing overall maintenance. Fortunately, over the last decade we have • Cost. Similar lamps can vary somewhat in cost come a long way toward better integrating the from one manufacturer to another and special needs of visual access without sacrificing the very features may affect the price. The difference objects which enrich our experience. may be negligible however in relation to the Recent advances in case design, environ required effect. A low-UV MR-16 lamp may mental monitoring, relative humidity control, only cost six to eight dollars and need replac and exhibit lighting have changed greatly the way ing only once a year. By comparison, an objects can be presented in our national parks. Optivex UV filter for the fixture may cost 10 With a little knowledge and forethought, park times that amount. staff can make effective and often cost saving, Where conventional lighting is inappropri decisions about artifact lighting and the object ate, developing technologies such as fiber optics environment. and light pipes offer greater possibilities to satisfy conservation needs. Fiber optics, a relative new Notes 1 Kelvin (K): the standard unit of measuring the color comer to the field of museum lighting, were once temperature of a light source. Ordinary household considered an interesting, though not particularly incandescent lamps are rated at 2500°-2800°K, practical, lighting tool. They are not suitable for producing a light yellow in coloration and consid all object lighting and they are certainly not a ered "warm." Tungsten halogen lamps are usually replacement for conventional museum lighting. rated 2900°-3400°K. However, as fiber optics offer the possibility of Color Rendering Index (CRI): the degree to which completely eliminating ultraviolet and infrared a tested light source accurately renders color com pared to a Black Body at the same Kelvin color tem radiation from the object environment, they rep perature. Lamps are rated on a scale of 0-100. resent a viable alternative for lighting our most ' Lumen: the amount of light flow (flux) through one important artifacts. unit area at distance from a source of one Candela. The National Park Service has been using and testing fiber optic systems for exhibit lighting Larry V. Bowers is a conservator with the NPS Harpers for over eight years. Subsequent to our first crude Ferry Center-Conservation. (but successful) attempts, we have installed a small laboratory in the Division of Conservation
12 CRM No 7—1999 Nancy Purinton Map Printing Techniques An Introductory Note
dmit it. You have probably used edge is based on hundreds of hours carefully and thrown away dozens of maps examining maps. The watermark, paper color, in your life—the sketch on a nap and texture can reveal information. A mark or kin that helped you to a party, stamp that might not even be noticed by the the parAk map after vacation, the atlas that disinte amateur could be a collector's mark and prove grated under the back seat. But those were tools important. Even damage can tell a connoisseur that helped you make spatial sense of the world! about the history of a map. For instance, a cut They helped you synthesize distance and observa edge could result from the map being removed tion! That's what maps do, after all. Consider a from a book. This is a complicated field and this different situation. You are in a print storage article will not attempt to summarize carto room, looking at a map. It shows California as an graphic connoisseurship. What it will do is island. European 17th- and 18th-century maps explain the basic differences between three often depict California as an island. The image is important printing techniques that have been old, but is the map old? used over the past five centuries for making Many museums have maps in their collec maps. Two will be found in old maps and the tions and archives. In these collections old and third is a technique found only in 20th-century modern maps are sometimes stored in the same maps. The characteristics of the printing drawer. It is important that museum staff respon processes described here are visible under magni sible for the care and preservation of map collec fication. A 1 OX power lens should be sufficient. tions be aware that there are old maps in park A hand held magnifying glass is best because collections. A single characteristic of maps—print nothing is placed on the surface of the map. Be technique—will be discussed in this article. This sure to look at several areas of the map to make is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sure the characteristics you see are visible learning about old maps. The goal of this article throughout the image. is to make you aware of the fact that there are old Don't ignore the antiquity of maps in col maps in many museum collections. If you are lections. If a mistake is made in identifying a responsible for a map collection and it contains a modern facsimile as an antique map (and extra map with the old print characteristics shown in care is taken for it), that is better than treating an this article, place it in an archival quality folder. antique map in the same casual way as those sold If the map turns out to be a facsimile (a modern in the gift shop. If a map might be old, place it map that intends to deceive by imitating the carefully in an archival quality folder. paper, size and lines of an old map) you have Historically, there were only three ways of made an error, yes. But you have erred on the pressing ink onto paper: relief, intaglio and side of caution and that's good. We will not dis planographic. The relief method presses ink onto cuss reproductions because they are modern maps paper from the tops of the ridges in a block; that are not made with the intention to deceive; examples are woodcut prints, linocuts and letter they don't even look old. press. The intaglio method presses ink onto the Connoisseurs can spend their entire lives paper from the bottom of troughs made in a learning about old, original maps. That knowl plate; examples are engraving and etching. The
CRM No 7—1999 13 planographic method presses ink onto paper clean, leaving ink in the lines. It took a lot of from a flat surface; lithography is an example. pressure to transfer the ink to the paper and this Process/History/Technique was accomplished in the press. Woodcut. This is a relief printing process Lithography. Unlike the previous tech and is the oldest printing technique known. niques, we do know who invented lithography: Early on it was used for printing designs on tex Aloys Senefelder, in Munich, in 1798. Senefelder tiles, playing cards, and religious prints. In referred to the process as "chemical printing." He Europe, it flourished in the 15th and 16th cen used the repelling properties of grease and water turies where it was used in books printed with to print from polished slabs of very fine textured movable type. limestone. He promoted his new printing The white areas of the design were cut out process and news of it spread rapidly. Images of a plank of wood with very sharp tools, proba could be made easily with lithography and many bly knives and chisels. The plank was cut in the more prints could be made in this process than grain direction and fruitwoods, beech, and had been possible with woodcuts or copper sycamore were used. The map was either drawn plates. The demand for inexpensive maps in the directly on the block (reversed) or transferred U.S. was met by stone lithography during the onto it. All the work had to be done skillfully 19th century. For the entire 20th century, how because once the design was cut it was very diffi ever, offset lithography has by far been the domi cult to make changes. If a change was necessary, nant form of commercial printing, which a piece was cut out of the block and a wooden includes maps. plug inserted. The limestone attracted water and grease A "wood engraving" is different from a equally making this planographic technique pos woodcut because the image is made by cutting sible. When the stone was inked, the ink was on the end grain surface. A sharp tool, the burin, repelled by the water and would only adhere to could achieve very fine lines when used to cut the greasy drawing media in the image areas. In a the design into the end-grain. Wood engraving press, the ink was transferred to a sheet of paper. was popular in the 19th century. The same chemical properties work on spe Engraving. This is the oldest intaglio tech cial metal plates and these are most commonly nique. Engraving had been done to decorate used in the indirect lithographic process called metal for ages. The process of making images by "offset" lithography. In this technique the inked engraving a copper plate, filling the lines with image is transferred to a rubber cylinder that ink and pressing it onto paper started in the 15th presses the ink onto the paper. In offset lithogra century and it was the most important map phy the image does not have to be drawn making technique until the 19th century. The reversed and thousands of prints can be made an advantages were that more and larger maps could hour. be printed from a copper plate than from a Identification woodcut and finer lines could be made. Woodcut. The appearance of woodcut lines Magnified exam Revisions were also easier to make. (below) is a result of the tools and materials used ple of woodcut The plate was a flat, print. polished sheet of copper and the map drawing (reversed) was transferred onto the plate in a variety of ways. A highly skilled craftsman, the engraver, used a burin to cut the lines into the copper plate. Revisions could be made by raising the selected area, smoothing it and engraving the plate again. To print the map, the whole plate was covered with ink and then wiped carefully
14 CRM No 7—1999 to make the print block. For instance, a knife cut face. If the paper has not been cut down, there in a resistant material will usually be straight and will be a platemark. sometimes slip. This results, in the print, in Lithography. Photography has made litho angular lines of uneven width. The ends of the graphic processes the most problematic printing lines tend to be square. Small round circles Magnified exam and letters are impossible. This medium is ple of offset litho not well adapted to smooth, tight, grace graphic process. fully turning lines. The woodcut print is characterized by a squarer, more severe and simpler looking image. In addition, the woodcut line was relatively fragile and could break after many printings, resulting in white breaks in the lines. Because the wooden lines are pressed into the paper, the ink can be thicker at the edges of lines and the lines can be embossed slightly on the back of the paper. Engraving. The engraved line (below) will be pointed where the burin is techniques to identify. Facsimiles of woodcuts inserted into the metal and blunt where the tool and engravings have been made using lithogra is removed. The engraved line can be very fine, phy. However, this is a planar technique and the graceful and curved but it cannot be loose or ink will always lie evenly on the paper. In offset playful because the force of mechanically cutting lithography, seen magnified above, the image is made of tiny dots that have soft edges and merge in dark areas. Both black and color inks have this characteristic.
Nancy Purinton is a conservator and supervisor of the paper conservation lab at Harpers Ferry Center-Conservation.
Photos courtesy the author.
There are many variations of relief, intaglio and planographic printing methods. Only three were discussed here because, over the centuries, these three printing techniques Magnified exam the plate makes a casual or quick drawing style were used more than any others to make maps. ple of engraving. impossible. Shaded and dark areas are made with Books have been published about print making crossed lines, called cross-hatching. Solid, black, processes and maps. Two recent publications wide lines are impossible with this technique. are Collecting Old Maps, by Francis J. Large, wide letters are made by cutting lines Manasek, (1998) Terra Nova Press, Norwich, immediately adjacent to each other. Because the Vermont, and How to Identify Prints, by ink is deposited from troughs in the plate, heavy Bamber Gascoigne, (1986) Thames and lines will be raised slightly above the paper sur Hudson Inc., New York, NY.
CRM No 7—1999 15 Judith M. Jacob Conservation Treatments for the Washington Monument Commemorative Stones Using Guidelines
he Washington Monument What is so wonderful about the stones is stands 555 feet tall in the center their diversity: each stone is different. For conser of this nation's capital.* Visitors vators, the diversity is also the challenge. The take an elevator to the top, view stones range in size from 2-by-2 feet to 6-by-8 the remarkablTe landscape, and then return to the feet. Stone types include granite, marble, lime elevator for the trip down, unknowingly riding stone, sandstone, soapstone, and jade. Some past 193 commemorative stone tablets set into stones are quite simple while others have high- the walls of the interior. The stairs leading past relief sculptures or in some cases, are fitted with these stones were closed 23 years ago in order to bronze and silver plaques and letters. There is a prevent the vandalism that had already damaged stone from every state, and also from fraternal many of them. Now, as the exterior is completely and community organizations, cities and towns, enclosed in scaffolding for cleaning, repointing, foreign countries, and individuals. Most of the and masonry repairs, National Park Service con stones date from 1849-1855. Sixteen stones also servators are busy inside, carrying out conserva date to the 20th century, with the last one tion treatments to clean and stabilize the com installed in 1989 to replace one that had been memorative stones. This article describes these stolen from the construction site over a century treatments and the guidelines that set the proto ago. col for treatments. The significance of the stones lies in the message that each bears through text, iconogra Washington phy, or specific material. The stone from Maine Monument Commemorative states "MAINE," the stone from New Bedford Stones on the (Massachusetts) has a whale carved in relief in the 140-foot level. center, and the stone from Arizona is made out of Photo courtesy Naomi Kroll, three slabs of petrified wood. Many of the mes NPS. sages have been compromised over the years by dirt, structural and surface deterioration, inap propriate repairs, and vandalism. The current work will restore the message of each stone: all text and pictorial elements should be legible and material should be readily identifiable. In restor ing the message, the stones themselves may or may not be restored to their original appearances (for example, cleaning dirty white marble will remove a disfiguring gray color, but may not restore the bright white color of a new block of stone). Conservation treatments are carried out to preserve cultural property for future generations. All treatments are carried out in accordance with the Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice of
16 CRM No 7—1999 Conservator many missing elements were steam cleaning replaced with epoxy fills that the "Colorado" stone. Photo have now yellowed. Incised let courtesy the ters in some stones were painted author. for easier reading. All stones are extremely dirty. As part of the development of the treatment guidelines, test treatments (for example, cleaning methods and materials) were car ried out on a number of different stones in order to learn the effec tiveness, efficiency, and limita tions of various types of treat ments. These tests provided a great deal of information on what the range of treatments the American Institute for Conservation of would be. Understanding the full scope of the Historic and Artistic Works. These professional work would not have been possible without first standards ensure that treatments are based on a carrying out these tests. thorough understanding of the problem(s), they For this project, all stones will be cleaned. If cause no harm to the cultural property, they can their condition is so fragile that cleaning would be removed at a later time, and are documented cause further deterioration, surfaces will be stabi with text and photographs. lized prior to cleaning. Cleaning serves two pur The conservation treatments that are being poses: the first is to remove dirt and grime to carried out on the commemorative stones follow restore a clean surface, and the second is to a set of specific guidelines that were formulated enable the better assessment of condition. based on significance and also on condition, test Cleaning often reveals problems not visible treatments, treatment limitations, and budget. beforehand. Following cleaning, the condition of Guidelines are important for any project, but for each stone is re-evaluated and further treatments this project in particular they are especially neces are executed if necessary. sary. While some stones are more finely sculpted The methods and extent of cleaning are than others, or are in better condition, not one guided, in part, by the lack of a water source in can be considered more or less important than the monument. All water is brought up to the another. All stones are equal and the treatment work areas on the elevator, and all dirty water is guidelines help to ensure an equality of treat collected and brought down on the elevator; all ments. The condition of each stone is evaluated, elevator work must be carried out during hours treatment options are evaluated, and treatments when the monument is closed to the public. selected that address the condition of the stone in Therefore, cleaning methods use as little water as relation to the message being delivered by the possible and cleaning is not expected to produce stone. Developing the guidelines was a fairly perfectly clean surfaces. For stones that have been lengthy process and involved discussions with marred with graffiti or otherwise stained, more conservators and park management staff. aggressive cleaning treatments are required and The condition of the stones at the begin great care is taken to ensure well-rinsed surfaces. ning of the project has resulted from a period of In almost all cases, non-original paint in letters is time in which the stones have been completely being removed. This paint detracts seriously from exposed to the elements and subject to poor envi the aesthetic impact of the stone itself and does ronmental conditions. This is evidenced in not increase legibility to any great extent. eroded and flaking surfaces, and also some cracks Samples of this paint are being saved for future and fractures. Stones have also been vandalized reference. by graffiti and removal of projecting pieces, and The epoxy fills from previous restorations many stones have been scarred with misguided are, for the most part, quite skillfully executed graffiti removal efforts. Previous cleanings have but they have now yellowed and no longer match left abraded surfaces. In previous restorations,
CRM No 7—1999 17 the stone. Because they are not harmful to the stones should stay in good condition. Historic stone, the fills will not be replaced. Instead, their reports describe surfaces completely wet and color will be adjusted by inpainting to match the dripping with condensation. This problem was stone. Inpainting will also be used to visually solved last year with the renovation of the heat reduce, where possible, graffiti that has been ing, ventilating, and air conditioning system. scratched into the stones. Heavy rainstorms now bring water pouring into Missing sculptural elements that prevent the monument through open joints at the top. the legibility of the message will be replaced with When the current exterior repointing work is fills if there is sufficient documentation to enable complete, this problem too will be solved. Finally, the re-creation of the element. Letters that have keeping visitor access controlled with ranger- remains of original finishes (gold leaf or paint) guided small tours should greatly prohibit future will be inpainted to restore the effect of the origi vandalism. nal decorative appearance. To ensure the continued good condition of Flaking and powdering surfaces will be sta the commemorative stones, periodic maintenance bilized to the extent that is possible. Stone flakes is necessary. At the completion of the project, a in the process of becoming completely detached maintenance plan will be prepared with instruc will be reattached to the parent material. tions for the park on caring for the stones. The Structurally unstable stone will be stabilized with only treatment necessary for the near future is reinforcing supports. Powdering surfaces will be periodic dusting and the plan will guide park consolidated, if further examination and tests staff in proper dusting techniques. There are indicate the viability of this kind of treatment. some stones whose condition will require moni Three stones have deteriorated to such an toring and the plan will give explicit guidance on extent to be completely illegible. These are being proper protocol for monitoring. Finally, the cleaned and stabilized only. Bronze plaques, bear maintenance plan will recommend the keeping of ing the original text, will be fabricated and an up-to-date list of local conservators to be hired installed adjacent to the illegible stone. (at a moment's notice) in case of graffiti or other The documentation of this project provides vandalism. a record of condition and treatment for each When the current treatments are finished, commemorative stone and is necessary for future the stones will be in the best condition since their conservation efforts. Documentation is also nec creation and, with proper maintenance, should essary for the future study of the stones and will remain in this condition for many years. The greatly assist historians, art historians, and park stones that were set into place a century-and-a- interpretation staff. Stone descriptions, condi half ago will be ready for viewing, studying, and tions, history of conditions, and treatments are appreciation for many generations to come. recorded in a database specifically developed for this project. All stones were photographed in * Robert Mills designed the Washington Monument their "before treatment" state, and when the pro in 1836, and in 1848, the cornerstone was laid. In 1855, when the monument was about 150 feet ject is finished, "after treatment" photographs high, the Washington National Monument Society will also be made. ran out of funds and construction ceased; the unfin Ideally, there is no need for conservation ished monument was left completely open to the treatments if all measures are taken to prevent elements. In 1878, the US Army Corps of deterioration and vandalism. Good preventative Engineers, under the direction of Lieutenant conservation practices are the absolute best form Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey, resumed construc tion and in 1884, the monument had been com of preservation for all cultural property. Of the pleted. It was first opened to the public four years numerous environmental conditions that have later. lead to the deterioration of the commemorative stones in the Washington Monument, many have Judith M. Jacob is senior conservator, National Park been alleviated or are in the process of being alle Service, Northeast Cultural Resources Center, Building viated, and from now on, with maintenance, the Conservation Branch.
18 CRM No 7—1999 Robin M. Hanson More Than Simply Treatment What a Conservator Can Tell You About an Object
hy would someone choose measures roughly 19 inches square. Neither the to send to a conservator an quilt nor the sham is signed or dated. object that was not in obvi The quilt and sham were constructed of ous need of treatment? scraps of upholstery fabrics, at least some of (The Wobject's condition was excellent and it did which were used in White House upholstery pro not need to be prepared for storage or display.) jects during the last decade of the 19th century. What could the curator or historic site hope to As such, the objects provide an invaluable record learn from the conservator? What tools would be of late-19th-century furnishing textiles, the taste needed to accomplish the task? of the day, and textile manufacturing technology. These were some of the questions raised The quilt and sham were made by A. E. when the author examined an object from the Kennedy, a Washington, DC, merchant who pro White House collection. The goal was not treat vided a variety of services for the White House, ment, rather it was to collect information. The including reupholstery, during the years 1893- object's provenance had been established; infor 1904.1 Both objects were purchased in the sum mation provided by the conservator helped to mer of 1995 in Frederick, Maryland, at an estate Crazy Quilt, c. 1893-1904, confirm or refute what was already known about sale of a descendent of A. E. Kennedy. from The While the object. The quilt and sham are reflective of House Background Victorian sensibilities in their use of a variety of Collection. Photo courtesy White House object 995.1747.1 is a crazy rich textiles such as brocades, velvets, taffetas, and the author. quilt, a style of quilt popular in America during satins. By any measure, the textiles used through the last quarter of out are sumptuous. the 19th century Project Description and Findings and into the early One of the goals of the project was to deter years of the 20th mine if any of the fabrics used in the quilt and century. The quilt sham could be found on furniture in the White is very large, mea House during the last decade of the 19th century. suring over 90 Research focused on the main formal rooms of inches in length state on the first floor, particularly the East and 65 inches in Room, and the Green Room, Blue Room, and width and compris Red Room. The interiors of the formal rooms of ing over 900 pieces state were photographed frequently, therefore and between 80 increasing the likelihood that photographs and 90 different including upholstered furniture might exist and textiles. White could be matched to fabrics used in the quilt. House records date As a first step, a Mylar overlay of the quilt the quilt to the was made. Pieces were counted and fabrics inven period 1893 to toried for later reference and characterized as to 1904. weave structure and fiber content. Accompanying the A stereo binocular microscope (common quilt is a pillow equipment in most large conservation labs) was sham, White used to characterize the weave structure of the House object textiles. This step is particularly important in 995.1748.1, that cases where there are several small pieces of simi-
CRMNo7—1999 19 larly colored textiles; determining the weave feel and very ornate, with elaborate fringe known structure often can help confirm whether or not as passementerie. the two pieces are from the same textile. While it was not possible to positively A polarized light microscope was used for match the pile textiles in these black-and-white fiber identification. Because this testing tech photographs to the pile textiles that appear fre nique is destructive (it requires the removal of quently in the quilt, clearly pile textiles were several minute fibers from the object) only lim commonly used upholstery fabrics. Period pho ited fiber analysis was accomplished in the course tographs reveal a large round ottoman in the of this project and only in those few areas where center of the room and side chairs along the existing splits or tears allowed a small sample to walls; all are upholstered in the same dark pile be taken. The excellent condition of the object textile. Elaborate ornamentation in the form of made complete fiber analysis impossible. long fringe is in evidence around the bottoms of Determining if any of the fabrics used in some of the side chairs as well as the ottoman. the quilt were the same as those seen in the his By the late-19th century, visual records toric photographs was a process akin to assem reveal a room with an exotic feel. Large potted bling a jigsaw puzzle. From the large black-and- palms and ferns, interspersed with seating furni white prints taken of sections of the quilt, all ture, line the walls. Only a small section of this scraps of the same textile literally were cut out of enormous room is revealed by the photograph. the photograph, laid on a table, and oriented to An upholstered armchair with elaborate fringe is try and establish a pattern, or repeat, that seen in profile in the foreground. From the small matched the textile on a particular piece of furni yet clearly-visible area of textile covering the ture in a historic photograph. Once properly ori armrest, it is possible to identify this textile as ented, the scraps were taped together. The results one of the fabrics used in the quilt. It is a satin of this detective work are described below. weave with gold warps and wefts in pale yellow East Room and white comprising the design of varying Although envisioned by the architect as a species of exotic flowers—parrot tulips, double levee or reception room, the East Room—the or triple carnations, chrysanthemums, and lilies, largest of the formal rooms of state and occupy among others—appearing as "medallions" sur ing the entire east end of the first floor of the rounded by interlocking circular garlands of White House—instead functioned more as a small flowers such as forget-me-nots2 and dia Green Room, monds. The round ottoman, still present in the 1893. Photo grand salon. Photographs from 1890, taken dur courtesy The ing the Benjamin Harrison administration, show center of the room, has been reupholstered in a White House a room with furniture upholstered in a dark pile textile similar to or the same as the textile used (Library of textile, presumably a velvet. The furniture was for the armchair. Congress Collection). typical of the Victorian era, massive and solid in Because historic documentation indicated the room was decorated in gold and white, it is not illogical to assume that the furnishing textiles used in the room were gold. By cutting pieces out of the black-and-white photographs that cor responded to the same textile, and piecing them together, the pattern on the armrest could be established. Green Room Somewhat lighter and airier in feel than the East Room, the Green Room is a small room located along the south side of the building, between the East Room and the Blue Room. In a photograph dated 1893, taken at the end of the Harrison administration, a large piece of uphol stered seating furniture, serpentine in shape, is covered in a lavish textile. Known as an indiscret, this type of seating furniture is described as being "typical of conversational seating fashionable
20 CRM No 7—1999 Red Room, Since completing this research, 1893. Photo by the author made a fourth match Frances Benjamin using a photograph in Esther Johnston, cour Singleton's 1907 book, The Story of tesy The White the White House. In this undated House (Library of Congress photograph, Mrs. William Collection). McKinley is seated in an uphol stered chair; the textile used on the chair is the same one used on the back of the sham. At least two other matches have been made by staff during the course of related research. In these cases, actual fabric scraps were recovered from furniture during reupholstery projects, and matched to fabrics used in the quilt. As has been illustrated, invalu able information about this unique during the Second Empire. "^ While the color of artifact was provided by the textile conservator. the textile cannot be determined from the black- By using a few simple tools and techniques, the and-white photograph, it is not unreasonable to conservator was able to obtain information presume that it was green. It is another one of directly from the object itself. This information the fabrics on the quilt, a satin weave with green contributed to the understanding of the quilt's warps and white and gold wefts. Again the repeat history and of furnishing textiles used in the was established in the same manner. White House at the turn of the century. Red Room Adjacent to the State Dining Room, the Notes 1 Red Room traditionally is used by first ladies as a In the 1940s, a Park Service historian went through White House records at the National Archives and reception room. Photographs taken in the sum copied transactions, including invoices, between mer of 1893, during the second administration local merchants and the White House. From these of Grover Cleveland, reveal another room typical records, Kennedy can be linked to specific White of the Victorian era. Again large urns flank the House projects between the years 1893 and 1904. fireplace, pictures are hung salon style on the 2 Forget-me-nots commonly were regarded as an walls, and the massive, solid wood chairs are emblem of constancy and friendship. In the sumptuously upholstered and finished with elab Victorian era, the symbolism attached to specific flowers would have been widely understood. orate passementerie. The chairs that appear in ' Mary Schoeser and Kathleen Dejardin, French the foreground of the photograph are uphol Textiles: From 1760 to the Present (London: stered in a textile that corresponds to yet another Laurence King, 1991), 130. textile on the quilt. It is a satin weave with red warps and red and white wefts. Robin M. Hanson is completing an advanced internship Of particular interest is the description of in textile conservation at the NFS Harpers Ferry this upholstery fabric found while examining his Center—Conservation. The research on this object was toric records. It was characterized as a "silk-like undertaken during her training in art conservation at the Winterthur Museum/University of Delaware Program in fabric with palmette-like medallions interspersed Art Conservation. with small diamonds." This pattern can be seen in photographs where the repeat was established The author wishes to thank NPS textile in the same manner. These small diamonds have conservator Jane Merritt for making this project been used as a design element in the quilt; sev possible and the White House Office of the eral of the motifs in the center section contain Curatot for facilitating access to historic pho alternating pieces of this red textile with its small tographs and allowing results of this research to white diamond, interspersed with a pile weave be disseminated. textile.
CRM No 7—1999 21 Deby Bellman Passive Supports for Textiles
he Textile Laboratory in the and storage. Constructing a support serving both Division of Conservation at purposes provides a cost saving for the parks. The Harpers Ferry Center designs textile's original intended use, design, and current mounts for the display and stor condition are crucial in determining the method age ofT textiles in the national parks. Considered of the support to construct. part of a conservation treatment, these mounts Support Types provide support enabling textiles to be handled There are many types of supports or safely and allow for easy exhibit rotation of fragile mounts that can be used with textiles. However, artifacts. with all methods of support, remember that the Several factors determine the type and materials used for fabrication should be archival design of the mounts. These include artifact con or inert. Flat textiles are best placed on archival dition, anticipated duration of the exhibit, boards covered with thin polyester batting and method of display, and the desire to handle arti washed de-sized cotton fabric. This provides a facts without causing stress or damage. With surface that prevents the textile from sliding. these considerations, the support is designed to Placing flat objects on padded boards also pro meet the individual needs of the object. vides a safe and secure method of moving the Whenever possible, a passive mounting technique object and eliminates direct handling. Not only is used so that excessive handling and stress to the does the board provide a base for safe storage, but object can be eliminated. Passive supports can it can also double as a mount. By placing the perform dual functions; they may be used for dis board on a slight angle, it can accommodate play as well as for storage. exhibit needs. Due to the sensitive nature of textiles, pas Costumes and period clothing are often sive supports may be necessary for both exhibit essential parts of an exhibit or collection. Clothing in good condition can be placed on a Inaugural coat custom made padded mannequin that supports worn by George Washington, all the elements of the garment. Care should be Morristown taken to rotate the costume off exhibit as a pre National ventive conservation measure. Historical Park. After treatment A garment in fragile condition requires a support board different approach. In some storage areas, cloth and interior sup ing can be laid flat and the folds of the garment ports. padded by inserting tissue into the folds to pre vent the fabric from creasing. Because tissue tends to settle over time, it reduces the support and causes the textile to flatten and crease. Padded pillow supports are an alternative to tis sue. They can be made from nylon fabric or poly ester stockinette tubing filled with polyester bat ting, and placed in the garment simulating the shape of the object. Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey, has in its collection the inaugural garments belonging to George Washington. The garments, a silk coat, vest, and trousers, are in very fragile condition. The park requested the garments be prepared for long-term storage. However, they also wanted the option to exhibit any one of the
22 CRM No 7—1999 garments on special is placed on exhibit and raised for viewing by occasions for a short placing an acrylic wedge under the board to allow period of several a viewing angle of 15 degrees. weeks. The garments A similar passive support was also utilized were too fragile to on a silk velvet vest in the collection of Andrew display on a man Johnson National Historic Site, Tennessee. Upon nequin or even to be completion of the conservation treatment, a stor handled frequently, age box was made to house the vest. An interior so it was necessary to pillow support was fabricated from nylon fabric develop a passive sys and polyester batting. This was placed in the vest tem of mounting and to provide support for the velvet and prevent any storage that elimi creases from forming. nated the need for Textile conservators use a variety of tech direct handling. A niques to support and display objects. When pos base support was sible a passive support system is chosen. While Inaugural vest developed for each of the three pieces. This con providing a three-dimensional appearance to the worn by George sisted of rigid archival boards cut close to the object, passive mounting techniques also provide Washington, Morristown shape of the objects, each was slightly padded support to the object. This system allows easy National with polyester batting and covered with cotton exhibit rotation and eliminates the need for Historical Park. fabric. An interior support pillow made from direct handling of fragile artifacts. Combining Acrylic support in place while nylon fabric with polyester batting was placed these two preventive conservation factors pro artifact is on into the clothing. The smooth surface of the vides for both the exhibit and storage needs of exhibit. nylon allows the pillow to slide in place without the object. excess friction on the artifact and the batting will not collapse over time. While in storage, the Deby Bellman is assistant textile conservator, NPS clothing lays flat on the support. When the park Harpers Ferry Center-Conservation. wishes to display one of the garments, the board Photos courtesy the author.
Barbara Cumberland Using Freeze-dried Animal Specimens in Exhibits
he use of freeze-dried animal museum collections. In the mid-1980s, the num specimens in National Park ber of park inquiries about evidence of insect Service exhibits became popular infestation and deterioration of freeze-dried spec in the late-1970s through the imens in exhibits increased. mid-1990sT. Freeze-drying animal specimens for Freeze-drying technology display purposes is an alternative to conventional The Smithsonian Institution popularized taxidermy techniques or fabricating models out freeze-dry technology on natural history speci of synthetic materials. This article will deal with mens for museums in the 1950s. It was a quick, the use of freeze-dried specimens acquired for effective technique for interpreting accurate ani national park museum and visitor center exhibits mal forms. Freeze-drying converts water in the as opposed to their use in scientific study collec specimen from its frozen state directly to its tions in museums. gaseous state, a process called sublimation. Conservators at the Harpers Ferry Center Animals are first frozen into a desired position Division of Conservation are often called upon (held by wiring or propping) and then placed in a by park staff to answer questions about their vacuum chamber at -15°C to -20°C. Ice crystals
CRM No 7—1999 23 are allowed to sublime from the specimens, exhibit cases, combined with periodic pest which results in minimal distortion. In most inspections by trained staff, are the best protec cases, body organs are retained, although some tion available to parks. times the animals are first eviscerated (the prefer Freeze-dry preparators often recommend able option). Freeze-drying has an advantage over either routine (once/year) refreezing of specimens conventional taxidermy of ease and inexpensive for pest control, or the inclusion of a vapor phase labor costs, although the product is not always space fumigant such as paradichlorobenzene, less expensive. Freeze-drying can give a more real naphthalene or dichlorvos (Vapona strips) in a istic appearance on small, delicate specimens than sealed exhibit case with the specimens. However, traditional taxidermy. Although freeze-dry the NPS does not endorse this fumigant preparators do not readily admit the possibility approach in most instances. The use of vapor that incomplete drying and rehydration can phase fumigants is now discouraged for health occur, there have been many reports of this hap reasons and because they react negatively with pening in national parks and other museums. museum objects and materials. Park personnel Incomplete sublimation occasionally occurs in must first request review and approval for any larger specimens, sometimes causing brittleness pesticide use from their Central Office or of the outer surfaces, while some internal tissue Washington Office Integrated Pest Management may still contain its original 90% moisture con (IPM) Specialist. In response to signs of infesta tent. Incomplete drying can be a more likely tion or as a preventive measure, cleaning the case cause of tissue decay than exposure of specimens with a nozzle attachment vacuum and the use of to high humidity on display. a crack and crevice treatment using diatomaceous The success of an exhibit of freeze-dried earth or Tri-Die( (silica aerogel containing materials depends on understanding the limita pyrethrum) may be considered. As part of the tions of the process, a commitment to mainte park's IPM pest monitoring program, using nance, and proper exhibit design. Contrasted sticky traps with pheromone lures2 for webbing with conventional taxidermy, freeze-dried mater clothes moths and varied carpet beetles is effec ial is more porous and brittle, and vulnerable to tive for early detection in the exhibit space. insect attack, biodeterioration and oxidation. To kill all stages of insect pests in freeze- Specimens are collapsible and easily scarred if dried mounts, a controlled re-freezing* is most handled improperly. often recommended both as a preventive measure In animals with a naturally excessive fat and and a response to pest evidence. After freezer oil content (generally all those that live near treatment, any insect evidence is removed from water), there may be fatty acid damage because the object mechanically and the specimen is lipid oxidation and degradation occurs when assessed to determine the extent of damage. It materials are frozen. It can attack the skin, deteri may be cleaned, conserved, and re-used if damage orate protein and go rancid. Microorganism (e.g., loose or lost fur or feathers) is minimal. All attack follows. Conventional taxidermy is recom freezing and conservation details should be docu mended over freeze-drying for fatty and large mented and kept with the object's permanent specimens. Freeze-dried specimens should always records. be isolated from collection objects to avoid cont There are other methods of disinfesting amination by migration of fats and oils. specimens such as suffocation by various anoxic Freeze-dried specimens are especially attrac fumigation methods, toxic vapor phase fumiga tive to protein- and keratin-eating insects such as tion, and a newer procedure of plasma field steril clothes moths and dermestids (carpet beetles and ization under vacuum. Freezing is more practical hide beetles), and insect attack is highly probable for park staff and many museums because it in unprotected specimens. In the past, some taxi requires less specialized equipment, and if done dermy specimens were protected from persistent correctly, is as effective, cheaper, and safer. It infestation with Edolan U, a mothproofing pesti offers no residual protection, although freezing cide (the only pesticide that seemed to work for can lower the moisture level in the specimen freeze-dry preparators), but it is no longer on the making it less appealing to insects. market and has not been replaced. Well-sealed
24 CRM No 7—1999 Re-freeze-drying has been recommended val skins, live and dead insects and larvae, holes, when there is moisture regain in the specimen, hair loss, feather damage and loss, holes in beaks, because freezing itself will not solve the problem. skin eaten off feet, specimens eaten from inside Specimens should not be saved once tissue decay out, etc. Reported evidence of rehydration and has begun. Strong odors can be a warning sign of tissue decay included bad odor, mold, and rotting deterioration, although the animals can normally lesions. In several instances, all freeze-dried speci have their own peculiar odors. mens at a park eventually needed disposal and As with conventional taxidermy, freeze- replacement with non-freeze-dried options. dried mounts can potentially be damaged and The freeze-dried animals in the parks found change color at high light levels. Exhibit lighting with pest evidence/damage or tissue decay should be filtered for UV, with 3-15 foot-candles included owls, turkey vultures, herons, turkey, as the recommended light level. bald eagles, hawks, ducks, waterfowl, other birds, Surveys of NPS Sites with Freeze-dried rat, skunk, raccoons, squirrels, rattlesnake, black Taxidermy Specimens bear cub, dungeness crabs, opossum, coyote, bad In January 1991, all 16 parks'* with freeze- ger, prairie dogs, bobcat, muskrat, nutria, otter, dried animals in their exhibits were surveyed to mink, weasel, armadillo, baby deer, small alliga find out if they were experiencing any mainte tor, turtle, fish, beaver and wolf. Many of these nance problems with the exhibits installed animals are larger than the size we now recom between 1978 and 1990. The survey was updated mend for freeze-drying (squirrel or smaller), and in March 1999 and 24 parks were contacted^ some are fatty animals such as those that lived that had these kinds of specimens on exhibit (the around water. same parks contacted in 1991 and all others Case Study known to have freeze-dried exhibits installed My interest in this subject was rekindled since 1990). Details of the survey questions and when I did an on-site conservation project at the results may be requested from the author. Alaska Public Lands Information Center in The 1999 survey indicates eight parks Anchorage in 1997. Their visitor center has many reporting no problems with their freeze-dried freeze-dried and conventional taxidermy mounts specimens, while 16 reported that there have and fish models, both in exhibit cases and out on been instances of insect infestation, damage and open display. During my visit, the park replaced tissue decay. The fact that two-thirds of the parks two freeze-dried dungeness crabs that were with freeze-dried specimens reported extensive infested with webbing clothes moths and very problems is alarming. odorous from tissue decay. The taxidermist who Some parks have open dioramas. Parks had prepared them provided free replacement claiming well-sealed exhibit cases tended to freeze-dried crabs to be reinstalled in the closed report fewer insect incidents. None of the parks exhibit cases. Within one year, the new dunge presently have a fumigant included in the cases ness crabs were infested with dermestid beetles, with the specimens although one had Vapona Anthrenus scrophulariae (Buffalo carpet beetle). strips and one had paradichlorobenzene cakes The case is not insect-tight but it is also possible included at installation. These fumigants were that dermestid eggs or larvae were present inside since removed when no longer recommended or the crabs at installation. After the initial infesta available for museum use. tion, I recommended that if the crabs ever Pests identified in the park surveys included needed replacement again, synthetic models be dermestids (varied carpet beetles, buffalo carpet made instead of using freeze-dried specimens. beetles, Trogoderma sp., and unidentified); This was done in 1998. This visitor center also clothes moths (webbing clothes moths and case- lost a freeze-dried black bear cub and an eagle to making clothes moths); fungus and stored prod separate webbing clothes moth infestations. The uct beetles (confused flour beetles, rove beetles eagle also had minute brown scavenger beetles and minute brown scavenger beetles); psocids, fly associated with it. Those specimens were not maggots and cockroaches. Pest evidence included enclosed in exhibit cases. frass and dust on and beneath specimens, cast lar The exhibit design here is a clear instance where infestations of individual freeze-dried spec-
CRM No 7—1999 25 imens are a great threat to the other freeze-dried • Specimens are large (larger than a squirrel or and conventional taxidermy specimens on open songbird) exhibit and within cases, and also to sensitive • Specimens have high fat content (e.g., ducks, ethnographic collections that are in separate fish, otters, beaver, etc.) exhibit cases. I had carefully inspected and • Open displays are to be used (no exhibit cases) cleaned the taxidermy specimens during my visit • Ambient humidity levels are likely to be high to the park, and advised on a pest management (above 55% RH) strategy to prevent the spread of infestation. The • Exhibit is long-term specimens require close and frequent inspection, Because the statistical evidence from the and a pest monitoring program that includes 1999 survey showed significant pest and biodete- sticky traps with webbing clothes moth rioration problems in two-thirds of the 24 pheromone lures. When the pest evidence was national parks with freeze-dried exhibits, I tend discovered on the eagle, the evidence was saved to advise against the acquisition and use of freeze- for identification, the eagle was sealed in a plastic dried animals in future exhibits. In instances bag and frozen to kill the pests. After freezing, when the freeze-dried specimens need to be when the conservator examined the eagle it was replaced, the replacement specimens should be found to be too damaged (feather loss, holes) to either models or conventional taxidermy. save. It will be replaced with a specimen prepared For parks with exhibits of freeze-dried ani by conventional taxidermy and enclosed in an mals in less-than-ideal conditions such as open exhibit case. The park is considering changing dioramas or poorly sealed cases, it is important to the exhibit design in the future to include enclos be especially aware of the limitations of the speci ing all specimens in well-sealed exhibit cases. mens and have a good pest management program Recommendations in place. Replacement costs are often incurred For very long-term exhibits featuring ani when the exhibits are expected to last a long mals, the best solution may be the use of models time. These displays will always require mainte fabricated from synthetic materials. While nance, cleaning, and frequent inspection. slightly more expensive initially, replacement costs of deteriorated or infested specimens are Notes 1 unlikely to be a factor with fabricated models. It Anthony M. Knapp, Conserve O Gram, 21 A, "Dichlorvos (Vapona) Update." 1993. also has the advantage of not harvesting animals 2 Source: Fumigation Service & Supply, Inc. Phone: from the environment and being less of a mainte 800-992-1991. nance challenge. There are a growing number of * Raphael, Toby, Conserve O Gram, 316, "An Insect exhibit studios that have the ability to produce Pest Control Procedure: The Freezing Process." high quality models. The NPS now uses models 1994. for all exhibits with fish. ^ Alaska Public Lands Information Centers- If a park or their exhibit designers decide to Anchorage and Fairbanks, Big Cypress NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Cape Cod NS, Devils Tower NM, use actual non-living animals in their exhibits, Effigy Mound NM, Everglades NP, Glacier Bay NP, they need to make an informed decision between Great Smoky Mountains NP, Gulf Islands NS, Jean using conventional taxidermy or freeze-dried Lafitte NHP, Joshua Tree NP, Rock Creek Park, taxidermy specimens. The method of preparation Voyageurs NP, and Yellowstone NP should be suited to the particular specimen to be ' The National Parks above (4) and also: Big Thicket preserved and the exhibit circumstances. NP, Buffalo River NP, Glacier NP, Guadalupe Conventional taxidermy is preferred in most Mountains NP, Harpers Ferry NHP, New River instances, especially open displays. It has the Gorge NR, Sleeping Bear Dunes NL, and Theodore Roosevelt NP advantage of lasting longer, reduced insect vul ° Exhibit Conservation Guidelines- Technical Note 1:8, nerability and reduced humidity sensitivity. "Selecting Taxidermy Specimens for Exhibit". Conventional taxidermy preparation should Division of Conservation, Harpers Ferry Center, be used instead of freeze-drying when any of the National Park Service. CD-ROM, 1999. following conditions exist:6 Barbara Cumberland is assistant conservator, NPS Harpers Ferry Center—Conservation.
26 CRM No 7—1999 Alan Levitan most prominently in potlatches, ceremonial gath erings where material goods were given away to the guests. These events were often marked by the erection of totem poles, commissioned and Totem Preservation in paid for by the host. Totems are almost always carved from a sin Southeast Alaska gle log, although appendages such as wings and beaks may be carved separately and attached by means of a mortise and tenon joint. Western red mblazoned on posters, tourist cedar (Thuja plicatd) was the wood of choice. brochures, and now even web This species grows to tremendous size, is rela sites, totem poles have come to tively easily carved, and has natural resistance to symbolize the land and the cul the fungal deterioration that progresses quickly in E the moist environment of the coast. The region tures of the Northwest coast. The totem region, roughly 1,000 miles long and 100 miles wide, where totems were traditionally carved is limited includes both coastal British Columbia and by the natural occurrence of cedar. In the south Southeast Alaska. Here in the resource rich, tem ern reaches, where the cedars grow large, poles perate rain forest a complex material culture four to five feet across and 50 feet high were not evolved marked by a unique artistic style, uncommon. However, in the north where envi The art of the Northwest coast is governed ronmental conditions limit the size of the cedar by subtle rules of line and form. Few objects, tree, totem carving changes in scale and style. whether wood, bone, shell, or fabric are left The golden age of totem carving is short, unembellished with carved, woven, or painted generally considered to be between 1830 and design. Although the artistic style evolved inde 1880. By the 1880s disease had decimated the pendently over many hundreds of years, most population of many of the native communities. scholars now agree that carving of monumental This, together with governmental and church wood sculpture did not become common until efforts, resulted in the destruction of many Participants in a after contact with Europeans. This contact pro aspects of the traditional culture. At about the preservation vided two elements that would make large scale same time, expeditions, often organized by muse workshop clean ing pole surface carving easier: ready availability of iron for tool ums in the large cities of both Canada and the in Wrangell's blades and the beginnings of a cash economy United States, began to assiduously collect mater Kik.setti park in with specialization of labor. Russian traders, the ial culture of the Northwest. While some were preparation for the application of first Europeans to explore the coast, highly valued scrupulous in paying for the cultural property, fungicide. Photo the pelt of the sea otter, found in abundance in others assumed that all goods in villages not per courtesy Randy coastal waters. Trade in these pelts provided an manently occupied were free for the taking. Rodgers, Sitka National Historic income source for many in the tribal aristocracy. Shortly after the turn of the century the ter Park. The newfound wealth and status were displayed ritorial governor of Alaska, John Brady, sent out the sailing ship Rush to collect poles from Tlingit and Haida villages on the shores of Prince of Wales Island. Brady's intent was to send the totems to expositions in St. Louis and later Portland to draw interest to the Alaska exhibits. Most of these poles were eventually shipped back to Sitka, the territorial capital, where they were erected on the old Russian walk along a small peninsula just outside of town. Initially adminis tered by the territorial government, this site was declared a national monument in 1910 and was incorporated into the national park system in 1916. The poles and the scenic trail along which they are erected now form one of the primary cultural resources of Sitka National Historical Park.
CRM No 7—1999 27 Pole Preservation now possess historical value in their own right, The condition of many of the poles was form the core of the collection of poles still poor at the time they were collected, and this exhibited outdoors at Sitka as well as other totem was a concern of the territorial government. parks. Notes and early photographs in the park archives Recent Preservation Efforts indicate that the poles were repaired before they Recognizing that the CCC era poles in were shipped south and again prior to erection in their collection were deteriorating, the staff of Sitka. Early preservation efforts consisted pri Sitka National Historical Park asked the wooden marily of filling checks with plaster and wood artifact conservators in the Division of shims, covering decayed areas with sheet metal Conservation, Harpers Ferry Center, to under and linseed oil coated canvas and re-painting. take a condition survey. In conjunction with that Though traditionally paint was used sparingly to survey, the park hosted a conference in the sum highlight features or carved forms, in the early mer of 1991 that brought together subject mat days of the park it was applied over all surfaces, ter specialists, conservators, carvers, cultural often in non-original colors. The caretakers were resource managers and members of the local aware of the deteriorating condition of the pole community both native and non-native. collection, however, their ability to improve the Initially one of the more contentious issues situation was limited by lack of money, man was the propriety of preserving poles at all. power, and knowledge of the nature of wood Traditionally, little value was placed on preserv decay. ing poles and some members of the native com The CCC Era munity thought it best to allow old poles to sim New efforts were directed to preserving the ply deteriorate and return to the earth from poles in a depression-era Civilian Conservation which they came. After considerable discussion, Corps program administered by the U.S.Forest a consensus emerged that it was indeed appropri Service. Experienced carvers were hired to teach ate to preserve examples of earlier carvings to unemployed young native men carving skills. provide inspiration and information to contem Sitka was one of about half-dozen sites in porary carvers as well as the general public. The Southeast Alaska where the CCC worked to pre conference attendees felt that this effort should serve poles and by so doing preserve important go hand-in-hand with efforts to preserve the cultural traditions as well. skills and cultural traditions associated with The work included both repair of poles and totem carving, one of the activities of the park replication of those that were considered beyond since the 1960s. repair. The repair process typically entailed re- In consultation with the park staff, the carving of the outer weathered surface, extensive research and planning for the preservation of the wood patching of decayed areas, filling of checks pole collection began. It was apparent that the with plaster, fastening of sheet lead caps to end- most pressing need was to stabilize the poles on grain surfaces, applying fungicides and repaint exterior exhibit and that treatment of the origi ing. Although some of the techniques and mate nal poles and pole fragments in interior display rials employed would not be acceptable by and storage should be put off until a later phase. today's standards, without the efforts of the CCC In early discussions it was emphasized that con program most of these poles would not now exist servation treatment and continuing cyclic main in any form. Today many of the original poles tenance could extend the exhibitable life of the have been placed in protective museum environ poles considerably, but they could not be pre ments. A few, carved from particularly resistant served for the long term in an outdoor environ logs, can still be found standing in totem pole ment. We therefore recommended that plans be parks throughout Southeast Alaska. made for eventual placement of the poles in pro The highly deteriorated poles were taken tective storage or display. down and placed beside new cedar logs for repli Seven poles were taken down and re cation. A few segments of the original poles were mounted on new yellow cedar support posts in salvaged at that time, but most were left to decay. the first phase of treatment. The rest were stable At some sites a few of these totems remain recog enough to undergo treatment while standing. nizable, lying on the forest floor covered with Treatment generally included cleaning, consoli mosses and saplings. The replicated poles, which dation of areas deteriorated by fungi and insects,
28 CRM No 7—1999 structural repairs, and the application of a non point for community activity and help galvanize toxic fungicide and insecticide followed by appli interest in the preservation of cultural traditions. cation of water repellent. In some instances With that in mind, the Division of where the splits in the poles were extensive, sup Conservation, in partnership with the Wrangell port systems were fabricated out of stainless steel Museum, and Sitka National Historical Park, or aluminum and attached to the rear. Generally, applied for and received a grant from the NPS's lost elements were not replaced. Where replace Cultural Resource Training Initiative (CRTI) ments were made, either for aesthetic or struc program to provide training in carved pole tural considerations, native craftsmen, familiar preservation to residents of Southeast Alaska. The with the art form were asked to carve the ele goals of the workshop were to enable participants ments. A number of factors led to the decision to understand the nature of the threats to pole not to repaint the poles: the original paint colors preservation, evaluate the condition of poles in and patterns were not known with certainty, an their own collection, identify the treatment intact paint layer restricts the penetration of options, and perform some of the basic treat fungicide, and we felt that fresh paint tends to ments. The course was geared to individuals, par look awkward on weathered wood surfaces. ticularly members of native organizations, who The preservation work at Sitka took place have direct responsibility for caretaking the mon over a number of summer sessions. This enabled uments but little background in the philosophy us to assess the effectiveness of the materials and or practice of preservation. techniques after a few years of exposure and The response to the workshop, which took adjust the treatment accordingly. Based on that place in April 1998, was encouraging. It brought assessment a cyclic maintenance plan for the out together carvers, curators, conservators, and tribal door poles was prepared. The park maintenance administrators for an intense week of information staff initially worked with us on the pole treat exchange through lecture and hands-on work. ment to gain experience and in recent years has Perhaps most valuable, the participants came to successfully taken over the cyclic maintenance realize that others shared their concerns and that tasks. although the preservation problems are substan Spreading the Word tial, they are solvable. By the end of the week a As word of the preservation work at Sitka fledgling pole preservation organization was spread, caretakers of other pole collections in established with the mission of disseminating southeast Alaska approached the park about information and working to secure funding for sharing its expertise. Recognizing the broader carved pole preservation. responsibility of the NPS to the preservation of The participants were unanimous in asking these unique artifacts, the park responded by that a follow up workshop take place that will serving as a local clearinghouse for preservation focus on additional hands-on preservation tech information and helping to underwrite travel to niques. Thanks again to funding from the CRTI perform condition surveys for other totem col the course is scheduled to take place in Wrangell lections. in August of 1999. This project provides a good After assessing the condition of the poles at example of how the NPS can leverage its exper a variety of totem parks we began to realize the tise and funding and thereby have a positive magnitude of the preservation problems, the effect on cultural resource preservation beyond similarity of the problems from site to site, and it's own boundaries. One of the course partici how pressing the need for treatment is if the pants wrote: CCC era poles are not to be lost. Although some I have learned much and been inspired and of the preservation tasks require the knowledge encouraged to go home and care for our poles. and skills of a conservator, it was evident that I feel more confident about what I can do. with proper training individuals who are steeped If that attitude can be sustained the outlook for in the tradition and live in close proximity to the the preservation of these significant artifacts will resource could accomplish many aspects of treat be much enhanced. ment at less cost. Further we felt the treatment of Alan Levitan is a conservator of wooden artifacts, Harpers totem poles could potentially serve as a focal Ferry Center-Conservation.
CRM No 7—1999 29 Martin Burke Contracting for Object Conservation Treatment
he National Park Service regu Common mistakes in writing a scope of work larly contracts for object conser involve using long sentences and paragraphs, vation services. Services include abstract, vague or ambiguous language, and conservation treatment of indi including unrelated materials. The objective is to viduaTl museum objects, collections, historic write clearly, use exact descriptions, and avoid structures, and various types of collection and misunderstandings before and during the con condition surveys. The few conservators in the tract. NPS cannot address all of the object treatment Finding and Selecting Qualified and survey needs of the parks. This situation Conservators necessitates contracting for professional conserva How can you locate a professional conserva tion services. The majority of contracts are devel tor to bid on and complete the project? A list of oped, issued, and monitored by park and regional potential conservators can be developed by con staff. The challenge of conservation contracting sulting other park curatorial staff, the regional is: curator, calling local museums or historical soci • to develop an unambiguous statement of work, eties, the American Institute for Conservation in • to find and select a qualified conservator, Washington DC or calling Harpers Ferry • to understand the technical approach in the Center-Conservation for recommendations. language of a treatment proposal, Conservators usually specialize in a particular • to monitor the work while in progress, and type of object such as archeological and ethno • to determine whether some standard of quality graphic materials, paper and photographs, tex has been achieved. tiles, and paintings. Conservators are not evenly It is important to understand these steps spread over the U.S. so do not be discouraged if because conservation treatment can result in a potential contractors have to travel a great dis permanent change in the object. This article tance to examine, survey, and treat objects. The explores some of the problems and issues of con goal is to find a conservator who has experience tracting for conservation services and provides treating the type of objects you have or have con some suggestions on how to become knowledge ducted surveys. Selecting the right conservator able about and control the process. The mechan requires evaluating qualifications. Does the indi ics of the federal contracting procedures will not vidual have the education and experience for the be discussed. Although the article is written pri project? The more time spent gathering informa marily for NPS staff it is applicable for govern tion and understanding qualifications, calling ment agencies or individuals hiring a conservator. previous clients about past performance on simi Developing the Scope of Work lar projects, and reading writing samples, the bet The contract scope of work is a written ter the match between the conservator and the description of what the contractor is required to project. Unfortunately the selection process is do, conditions under which the work must be time consuming and people are often hesitant conducted, how the work will be assessed, and about asking pointed questions and following up goals to be achieved. Standard scopes of work for on references. conservation surveys and object treatment are Treatment Proposal available from NPS regional Curators, NPS After the contract has been issued the next Museum Management Program office in step is for the conservator to examine the object Washington, and Harpers Ferry Center- and submit a treatment proposal or plan for writ Conservation. These standard scopes of work ten approval. The treatment proposal is a detailed were written to speed up developing contracts statement of what and how the work is to be and ensure critical elements are not forgotten. accomplished, and it serves as the basis of com-
30 CRM No 7—1999 munication and discussion between the conserva and problems are identified during the perfor tor and the client. The plan must include: mance period instead of waiting until the project • Report of examination, i.e., purpose of exami is complete. nation, identification, dates, maker/origin or Determining Quality and Performance scientific classification, accession or identifying Quality standards have yet to be developed numbers, measurements for object conservation treatment. Currently the • Materials to be used measure of performance is that the contract was • Time estimate completed on time, on or under budget, there is • Cost estimate some cosmetic or physical difference in the • Objectives and limitations of the proposed object, and a written report of treatment with treatment photographs is submitted. The final treatment • Risks and benefits report should discuss not only any variations • General description of the materials to be used from the treatment proposal but also results of • Alternatives to the proposed treatment, if and any analysis and recommendations for subse when appropriate quent care either on exhibit or in storage. • A statement that information revealed during Conservation contracting is a process. treatment may require minor variations from Understanding and controlling the process is crit the approved plan ical, because object treatment may change the It is critical to understand the treatment way the object is perceived and interpreted by proposal because it details changes that will be staff, researchers, and the public. Subtle changes made to the object. The submission of the treat in appearance such as color or gloss can result in ment proposal presents the opportunity to dis changes in the interpretation of age or value. Of cuss questions, reservations, or alterations with even greater importance in object treatment is the conservator prior to commencing work. If the loss of information that may reside in damage, proposal presents issues, ideas, or terms that you deposits, wear, or other clues to the history of an don't understand park staff can call one of the object. NPS conservators for assistance or consider hav Contracting for conservation services is a ing an NPS conservator act as a technical repre common way to accomplish the variety of preser sentative to monitor the contract. Once the treat vation projects facing NPS staff. Being knowl ment proposal is approved and signed the conser edgeable and conversant about the contracting vator will proceed with the work. If contracting process and truly understanding the importance, for collection or condition surveys the treatment historic value, and use of the object results in proposal is not submitted, but the management preservation of the unique qualities of the objects goals of the work should be clearly identified in our care. Contract Monitoring When work begins it is important to moni Suggested Readings tor the contract's progress until the project is The American Institute for Conservation developed complete. Conservators are required under the the Commentaries to the Guidelines for Practice which defines accepted practice for the conservation AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice profession and provides recommendations that to contact the client if there is any substantial assist in the pursuit of ethical practice. The com change in the treatment proposal, but adding a mentaries are available online at monitoring element to the contract allows a
CRM No 7—1999 31 Susan Kraft Conservation of a Yellowstone Studebaker Wagon
ne hundred years ago, visitors An Anniversary Opportunity to Yellowstone fell into a dis In 1997, in conjunction with the 125th tinct hierarchy. The "dudes" anniversary of Yellowstone National Park, were the wealthy visitors who Yellowstone museum staff proposed the conserva arriveOd by train, traveled by stagecoach, and tion of a historic vehicle from the museum col stayed in grand park hotels like the National lection as a 125th anniversary project, and Hotel in Mammoth Hot Springs and, later, the obtained estimates for treatment of several car Old Faithful. "Sagebrushers" were those with riages, including the Shaw & Powell. In the end, fewer resources, more adventurous spirits, or the Shaw & Powell vehicle stood apart from its both, who brought their own vehicles and competition for its rarity, its obvious need for pitched their tents amid the sagebrush, or virtu treatment, the quantity and quality of surviving ally anywhere they pleased. Falling roughly in original fabric, and its unique but untapped between were the park's tent campers. potential for interpreting the way in which many Before the automobile came to Yellowstone, early turn-of-the-century visitors—particularly there were two official tent camp companies in middle class visitors—experienced Yellowstone. the park: the Wylie Permanent Camping While its competitor, Wylie, operated in Company and the Shaw & Powell Camping several national parks, Shaw & Powell was a Company. Their camps were arrangements of log small, local business (based in Livingston, buildings and brightly-striped, furnished canvas Montana) that operated only in Yellowstone from tents. Typical tent camping company patrons 1898-1916. Wylie vehicles are not common, but included middle class visitors, as well as wealthy Shaw & Powell vehicles are extremely rare. tourists who either eschewed the luxuries of the Manufactured by Studebaker Bros, of South park hotels and wished to rough it a bit, or sim Bend, Indiana around 1898, Yellowstone's buggy ply had not been able to obtain reservations for is actually a mountain stage, a type of mountain the dude's tour. These visitors toured the park spring wagon. It carried up to 11 passengers and and moved from tent camp to tent camp in was pulled by two horses. It is the only stagecoaches or buggies owned and operated by Studebaker, as well as the only tent camping the two companies. company vehicle, in the park's collection. Today, one of these buggies survives to tell Little is known of the history of this partic the story of Yellowstone's tent campers. In the ular wagon, but much can be surmised from a lobby of the Old Faithful Inn stands a vehicle close examination of the vehicle. Painted on the once owned and operated by the Shaw & Powell driver's box is the number 6, painted over either Camping Company. Last year, it became the first the number 1 or the number 11. These low num historic vehicle in Yellowstone National Park his bers suggest that the buggy was probably an early tory to receive professional conservation treat member of Shaw & Powell fleet. The company ment, and the first to be exhibited indoors. The name had been painted and repainted several story of this vehicle's preservation and conserva times on each side of the passenger compartment, tion begins a new chapter in the history of trans suggesting that the buggy remained in service a portation artifacts in Yellowstone, following a number of seasons. The fact that it survived at all long tradition of displaying retired stagecoaches strongly suggests that the wagon was still in ser and other horse-drawn vehicles outdoors, and vice when the stagecoach era ended with watching vehicles deteriorate in substandard storage. Yellowstone's all-motorized 1917 season.
32 CRM No 7—1999 The only photograph known to have been required use of personal protective equipment as taken of the wagon before its accession into the a precaution against Hantavirus, underscored the museum collection is a 1961 snapshot which need to take positive steps toward preserving the shows the buggy outdoors at park headquarters vehicle's remaining original fabric. in Mammoth Hot Springs. In this photograph, The park prepared a funding proposal the buggy appears in a state of disrepair similar to detailing options for treating five different car that observed when it was finally added to the riages from the museum collection. The proposal museum collection in 1993. Its side springs, included historical information and broad cost tongue, most of its roof, and parts of all four seats estimates, and addressed each vehicle's interpre (including the driver's seat) were missing. As one tive potential. Historic photographs of each vehi might expect, given the fact that the buggy spent cle (or comparable vehicles) in use and modern at least a portion of its retirement years outdoors, snapshots showing current conditions illustrated virtually all the upholstery and stuffing, as well as the proposal. The Shaw & Powell wagon was pre the side curtains, were missing. The leather pan sented as the park's preferred alternative for treat els that had enclosed the sides of the front boot ment. The Yellowstone Park Foundation, a non or storage compartment under the driver's feet profit organization that works with the National had been deliberately sliced out. Park Service to preserve and protect Yellowstone's When the buggy was accessioned and its resources, accepted the proposal as a 125th condition documented, additional problems were anniversary project, and rapidly identified a pri noted. Most disturbing was the fact that the vate donor willing to cover the estimated buggy was full of dead leaves, rodents' nests, $15,000 needed to conserve the Shaw & Powell rodent droppings, spider webs, and other evi wagon. dence of long-term neglect. Many of its painted Conservation or Restoration? surfaces were unstable, with portions of the faded With advice and assistance from the NPS gray-green of the body, the yellow lettering and Harpers Ferry Center Division of Conservation, undercarriage, and the black pinstriping flaking. Yellowstone museum staff drafted a scope of A surviving bit of roof was found to contain work detailing treatment needs and documenta more than 30 years of graffiti, with dates ranging tion requirements. Goals included stabilization of from 1910 to 1944. Early entries may well have surviving original fabric; preservation of all evi been made by Shaw & Powell employees or cus dence of historic use; replacement of missing tomers, and may be viewed (depending upon parts with either historically accurate reproduc one's perspective) as items of historical interest, tions or parts from the same time period; recov Shaw & Powell rather than vandalism. ery and documentation of all original elements buggy, before conservation, Before conservation treatment became a that could not be left in situ; and making the being loaded for financial possibility, special project funding buggy presentable and safe for display. Putting transport to con enabled the park to hire a seasonal museum tech the buggy into running order was never a goal; servator's work shop in Cody, nician to clean each of the 30 historic vehicles in such consumptive use of a rare and historically Wyoming, 1997. the museum collection. Thorough cleaning and significant vehicle was out of the question. NPS photo. examination of the Shaw & Powell buggy, which The treatment that was ultimately per formed on the wagon is best characterized as a mixture of conservation and restoration. A noted expert on Yellowstone stagecoaches with a resume including treatment of vehicles in private collec tions and museums including the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, was selected for the job. Compromises to the original scope of work were made to accommodate some of his preferred techniques and materials, since he was deemed to be the best qualified, overall, to work on the vehicle. Before work began, Yellowstone's museum staff photographed every part of the vehicle, using both black and white and color film.
CRM No 7—1999 33 crystalline wax, and was not comfortable working with it. Replacement wood parts were painted with a blend of 50% enamel paint and 50% of the linseed oil/turpentine mixture, applied to achieve an appearance compatible with that of the rest of the vehicle. No inpainting was done, and parts of the buggy that were stable, including the Studebaker Bros, logos in gold leaf that appear on the tailboard, were untouched. Every generation of lettering ever used to identify the buggy as a Shaw & Powell vehicle is still visible. Minute paint chips were taken from several areas of the vehicle before conservation and sent to HFC. Analysis of these samples may reveal the number of layers of paint on the vehicle, the types of paint used (from which the approximate The conservation/restoration of the vehicle date of application might be deduced), and the Shaw & Powell buggy—after was performed locally over a period of six relative length of time each coat served as the sur conservation— months, and entailed stabilization as well as face coat. It may be possible to differentiate paint on display in the wholesale replacement of missing elements. applied during the wagon's use by Shaw & Powell Old Faithful Inn from paint applied later in an effort to approxi Lobby summer, Described and photodocumented in a final 1998. NPS report, treatment included rebuilding most of the mate the historic appearance of the vehicle. photo. top of the wagon and replacing the left side-pan Studebaker part numbers were found els of the driver's box and the driver's footrest. A throughout the vehicle during treatment, and set of side springs, correct for this vehicle and were documented in the wagon's catalog record. from the same time period, was located near Samples of all original materials removed Helena, Montana and installed on the wagon. from the wagon, including fragile fragments of The original front springs were re-arched to original upholstery and stuffing, were also docu match the side springs. Original seat parts, found mented and will be retained in the park's lying on the floor of the wagon, were combined museum collection to create one complete seat. The two other pas Following treatment, the wagon was deliv senger seats, all of the leather upholstery, the ered directly to the Old Faithful Inn, the site front leather boot, and the side curtains are his selected for its display. Although the inn was his torically accurate reproductions of the originals, torically associated with the dude rather than the based on archival photographs and Studebaker tent camper, the site of the former Shaw & catalog illustrations. The seats were stuffed with a Powell camp at Old Faithful is nearby. As the rubberized hair product recommended by HFC buggy was being installed and photographed, vis in place of the excelsior with which the seats itors crowded around it and bombarded park appeared to have been originally filled. The iron staff with questions. An accompanying display on tires of all four wheels were tightened, but tent camping includes a portion of the original required no other treatment. Pigmented micro- roof, samples of historic tent canvas recovered in crystalline wax may be applied to the wagon's fer the park several years ago, photographs, post rous metal elements at a later date. cards, and various Shaw & Powell-related arti The major compromise in the treatment of facts. The buggy remains the only vehicle in the the wagon involved the use of a 40% linseed park's collection that is on display. Judging from oil/60% turpentine mixture as a surface coat on its popularity, interpretation of the park's early some parts of the vehicle. Because linseed oil transportation history and preservation of its tends to cross-link and can leave a dark, sticky material culture were long overdue. film, the scope of work called for the use of a clear microcrystalline wax on painted finishes. Susan Kraft is the supervisory museum curator at However, the conservator had never used micro- Yellowstone National Park.
34 CRM No 7—1999 Audrey T. Tepper Restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Murals
n 1995 and 1996, two decorative rior of the memorial and complement its neoclas murals by the artist Jules Guerin were sical architecture. restored at the Lincoln Memorial in The Subject Matter I Washington, DC. The murals, painted The murals contain a total of 48 figures in between 1917 and 1918, were in such poor con classical costume that allegorically portray the dition that they were easy to miss when visiting accomplishments of Lincoln, the 16th president the memorial. They are very high off the floor of the United States and the emancipator of the (37 feet) and were obscured by the dirt and the slaves. The figures are divided into three group damage of 76 years of exposure to the elements. ings on each mural. The mural on the north wall The restoration was one component of a multi- above the Second Inaugural Address is titled million dollar preservation effort sponsored by "Unification." The Angel of Truth is at its center the National Park Service (NPS) for the memor joining the hands of two figures representing the ial as a whole. It was completed by the firm of reunion of the north and the south. The other Cunningham-Adams Fine Arts Painting groupings of figures depict unity, fraternity and Conservation of Sandy Hook, Connecticut. charity, as well as art, science, and the humani The Lincoln Memorial, designed by the ties. These images were chosen to stress the architect Henry Bacon, is open to the outside importance of continued progress in the once- because there are no doors at its main entry. The divided nation. The mural on the south wall materials on its interior, limestone and marble above the Gettysburg Address is titled with an ornamental cast-metal ceiling, have held "Emancipation." The Angel of Truth is shown up nicely since the memorial was dedicated on freeing slaves, their chains dropping to the May 30, 1922. The murals, however, have not ground as the angel raises her arms. Other figures fared as well because of their exposed location in the painting represent faith, hope, and charity, and because they are painted with oil on canvas, as well as justice, law, reason, intelligence, and the same as an average oil painting intended to immortality. hang inside a building. This presented an The Artist and the Murals extremely challenging conservation problem. The Jules Vallee Guerin was born in St. Louis, murals' paint and ground (preparatory) layers Missouri on November 18, 1866 and died in were cracked and flaking loose from the canvas; Neptune, New Jersey on June 14, 1946. In 1911, they were dirty and, in addition, their colors had Henry Bacon hired Guerin to assist him in a faded dramatically. The initial goal of the restora design competition sponsored by the Lincoln tion was to stabilize the paintings. The method Memorial Commission for a new memorial. developed by the conservators to stabilize them, Guerin, a prominent architectural illustrator, cre however, had the added benefit of protecting ated exquisite watercolors of Bacon's design and them from the weather, as well as returning their Bacon was ultimately awarded the contract. He original color and vibrancy. later chose Guerin to create the two large murals, The murals are located in the north and which along with the statue, inscriptions, and south chambers of the memorial, above the ceiling, were an integral part of the memorial's inscriptions of the Second Inaugural Address and interior decoration. the Gettysburg Address. These side chambers The murals were painted on two continu flank the central space of the interior, which ous pieces of canvas in the artist's studio in New houses Daniel Chester French's marble statue of York City. Guerin used a platform similar to a Lincoln. The murals are each 12 feet high by 60 stage to paint, where the canvases could be raised feet long. They add color and texture to the inte or lowered as desired. Remarkably, the charcoal
CRM No 7—1999 35 sketches he made on the canvases before he began restore the paintings, the NPS set parameters for painting are still in place, despite the harsh envi the selection of a conservator to complete the ronment in the memorial. In 1919, the murals task. Their choice, after careful screening, was the were brought to Washington rolled onto large team of George W Adams, a conservation engi wooden drums. The drums were hoisted into neer, and Christiana Cunningham-Adams, a fine place and the murals were gradually unrolled arts painting conservator, who together have from the center out. They were then adhered extensive experience in painting conservation in directly onto the limestone walls and tamped both the United States and in Europe. down with felt-covered bricks. The murals are The Cunningham-Adams team worked still extremely well adhered to the walls from this from two decks of aluminum scaffolding erected original treatment. in each chamber to study the murals carefully Guerin executed the paintings in a style and develop a strategy for conservation. They which combined his early classical training in art closely examined all 200,000 square inches of the with impres paintings' sur A conservator sions from face, which on the team of they docu Cunningham- extensive travel Adams Fine Arts in the Middle mented photo Painting East and con graphically and Conservation temporary styl on computer- treats the north generated sur mural. Photo by istic trends. the author. Painted in vey sheets. To rich, exotic determine the colors and extent of the bold, distinc deterioration, tive brush they employed strokes, the Fourier-trans paintings form infrared resemble tapes spectroscopy, tries, and serve x-ray diffrac the same pur tion, and the pose of warm scanning elec ing the stone tron interior of the microscopy, memorial that and had labo Medieval ratory analysis tapestries served in stone castles. done on micro samples for salts, fabric, and Guerin's work in public buildings prior to microbiological characterization, as well as clean the Lincoln Memorial included maps painted on ing tests evaluation. The paint and ground layers the ceiling of McKim, Mead, and White's of the murals had fractured into a grid of tiny fis Pennsylvania Station in New York City, now sures running in all directions. Many of the paint demolished. He later went on to paint murals in squares between the fissures were either coming other cities, including Chicago, San Francisco, loose from the canvas or had fallen off entirely. Baton Rouge, Kansas City, and Cleveland. Moisture had penetrated through the small cracks The Conservation Treatment and as a result, dirt, black fungus, and salts had The National Park Service determined early formed on the surface. Due largely to the pitting in the overall preservation effort for the memorial effects of the passage of salts and the disruption that the murals needed attention. Since little was of the surface by cracks, visibility of the imagery known about the history of the murals and their became obscured and the original colors became unusual environmental conditions, the NPS con veiled by a white haze. tracted with the firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott The conservators tested methods of clean of Washington, DC, to conduct a preliminary ing and consolidating the murals before selecting evaluation. After learning more about where the treatments. The first step was to clean the paint problems lay and what might be required to ings very delicately with one-foot square com-
36 CRM No 7—1999 presses of a solution of one part ethyl alcohol and Lighting the Murals one part lacquer thinner, allowed to dwell for two Now that the murals have been returned to minutes. The cracked and lifting paint and their original glory, the next step is for the ground layers were then pressed back into place, National Park Service to see that they are prop inch by inch, and then consolidated with multi erly lit. In 1997, a lighting study for the memor ple applications of microcrystalline wax (at 5%, ial was completed by Einhorn Yaffee Prescott. 7.5%, and 8%), followed by multiple applica This study included computer-generated mock- tions of methylacrilate resin (Acriloid B72; at ups and on-site testing to arrive at the best light 5%). This process not only re-adhered the lifting ing solutions. The type of lighting that most paint and ground to the surface, but re-saturated complements the murals is incandescent. Fixtures the colors as well. The re-saturation process is will be mounted above the chamber ceiling and similar to waxing or oiling dry wood, where the directed through louvers to the paintings below. grain and luster of the original material returns as In addition to artificial light, the interior of its surface becomes wet. Even with the first appli the memorial is partially lit by three skylights. cations of the wax, the results were extremely dra Below the skylights, set directly into the floor of matic. The original colors and subject matter the memorial's attic, are a series of translucent were brought back to life, showing how the artist marble panels through which light enters into the and architect intended the interior of the memor chamber below. As a part of the recent ceiling ial to be experienced. Before treatment, many restoration, the panels—which are thick slabs of original features were obscured. After treatment, Alabama marble—were cleaned and re-saturated even the red rouge of a little girl in the north with beeswax. The beeswax adds tremendously to mural is visible. the panels' light transmission and this greatly An essential property of the wax and resin enhances the reading of the murals during day mixture is that it acts as a moisture barrier. light hours. Washington, DC has a very humid climate and The transformation of the murals from the interior of the memorial can become their pre-restoration state to what they are today extremely wet. On an unusually balmy winter or is truly remarkable. Now the total composition of spring day when warm air from the outside decorative elements makes sense: the earth tones comes in through the main opening of the of the restored murals, the color of the marble memorial and hits the cold stone walls, dewpoint and limestone, the leathery-brown color of the can be reached. As a result, condensation forms restored metal ceiling, and the diffuse light on the walls and water runs down the murals, streaming through the cleaned translucent marble almost as if it is raining in the interior. It is inter panels. While the statue and the inscriptions are esting to note that Henry Bacon anticipated that somewhat somber and serve to memorialize moisture might be a problem and designed a Abraham Lincoln, the added color and light is heating system for the memorial, not for human inspirational and helps to interpret the values and comfort, but to eliminate condensation on the greatness of this exceptional statesman. inside. Unfortunately, the system did not work properly and was abandoned early on. Since con Audrey T. Tepper is a historical architect with the densation continues to be a problem, the wax was National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services Branch in Washington, DC. applied to seal the cracks in the murals and mois ture no longer penetrates below. Water, which once soaked directly into the paintings, now beads up and rolls down. By stopping the repeated moisture penetration, this treatment will Acknowledgments slow the mural's rate of deterioration. The mini mum life of this treatment is approximately 20 I would like to thank the following individ years, but it is expected to last considerably uals for contributing to this article: George W longer. A program of monitoring and inspection Adams; Christiana Cunningham-Adams; Michael of the murals will identify any problems and Auer; Michael Zisk; and the staff of National improve its longevity. Capital Parks-Central.
CRM No 7—1999 37 Gretchen L. Voeks The Importance of Curatorial Planning in Condition Surveys
onservation collection condition funding with the conservator so options for treat surveys are increasingly being ment are explored. used to determine the overall Recently the Western Archeological and condition of museum collec Conservation Center (WACC) contracted a col tions,C and to identify levels of deterioration and lection condition survey of plastics and rubber to project conservation treatment costs. Curators address storage issues. This case study is pre need this information to plan storage projects sented to illustrate the planning process the effectively, develop funding requests, and evaluate Center used to obtain the desired information. preservation options. A successful survey will pro Identify the problem. Several plastic objects duce this kind of information as well as addi stored at WACC from the historic collections of tional documentation critical for long-term col Faraway Ranch at Chiricahua National lections management. Monument were deteriorating. The objects were Conservation collection condition surveys brittle and small fragments were detaching. Acrid are expensive undertakings. In order for a survey smells were noticed in several cabinets. A plastic to be cost effective, the curator must be well pre tablecloth was sticky to the touch. Staff won pared for the conservator's visit. dered whether anything could be done to halt or The scope of the survey must be deter slow the deterioration. Most of the collection mined and goals must be defined: Why are you appeared stable, but could anything be done to conducting this survey? Is it for general overall repair the few deteriorating objects? Were other condition information? Are you concerned about plastics in the collection degrading in a similar a specific collection or type of deterioration? fashion? Were the rubber objects deteriorating What do you intend to do with the survey? Have too? A collection condition survey was needed to you considered the significance of the objects? address these questions. Are your objectives clearly defined? Define the project. In order to understand Make good use of the conservator's time by the magnitude of the potential survey, a list of planning the survey with him/her. Talk with the objects was assembled. This created a challenge conservator beforehand to ensure that back for the curator. Materials fields in the National ground documents, object lists, and assistance are Park Service's Automated National Catalog available. While the conservator is on-site, ensure System (ANCS+) ranged from detailed entries that objects are easily accessible and a knowledge such as vulcanite, acetate, PVC, etc., to general able staff member is available to answer ques ized "synthetic." A list of all material types in tions. Conservators often require information ANCS+ was printed and all plastics and rubber that is not documented in the catalog record. were noted. This allowed the curator to compile a They may need to examine environmental group of approximately 2,500 objects and object records, previous conservation treatment records, parts manufactured from plastic or rubber stored or discuss the history of the care of the collec at WACC from various parks. Because all objects tions. These needs will differ depending on the on the list were deemed significant, cost estimates scope and goals of the survey. included all in the survey. Ensure that the significance of the objects The results had to supply information use included in the survey is considered. The conser ful to us in the preservation of these specific col vator is not responsible for determining signifi lections: identification of the type of plastic or cance. The curator must decide which objects are rubber and of the best method of storage for the important enough to warrant the cost of survey artifact, determination of the need for treatment, and potential costs of treatment. Discuss future and estimation of the treatment time.
3.S CRM No 7—1999 The WACC conservator determined that The format of the survey was designed in baseline photographs of the surveyed objects ACCESS by the WACC conservator and com would enhance the condition record. The deteri puter specialist, with later input from the consul oration of most plastics and rubber is inevitable tant. The type of plastic or rubber was recorded and the photographs would allow visual tracking in order to make the best storage decision for of the damage over time. Each object was first each object. A field was included to allow com photographed in black and white, and color ments on the condition of the object and any slides. Obvious deterioration was recorded using conservation treatment needs. Twelve fields were microphotography at up to x50 magnification in included to indicate the special storage condi black and white prints and color slides. tions required and an additional comment field Locate and hire the consultant conservator. was used to relay any specific instructions for Specialized skills are required to identify plastics individual objects. Basic data from the catalog by sight and touch. Because these skills were not record, including the catalog number, object available at WACC, we hired a private objects name, location, measurements, etc., were trans conservator with an extensive background in ferred from ANCS+ into the survey format to plastics and rubber. In order to locate this indi speed the process of data entry and avoid dupli vidual, we began by searching the literature on cation of information. This allowed the conserva the subject of plastics and rubber conservation. tor to view existing information, add missing We then queried members of the American data (e.g., measurements), and correct any errors Institute for Conservation of Historic and in materials identification. Artistic Works (AIC). (A referral service is pro Using the survey. The next step in the pro vided by the AIC.) ject is to use the survey data to segregate off- The conservator, Sharon Blank, spent gassing plastics from stable plastics to reduce approximately three weeks at WACC conducting deterioration of adjacent objects and metal cabi a conservation condition survey of 597 plastic nets. The number of objects requiring storage and rubber objects. Time did not allow for a sur upgrades and the amount and type of materials vey of all identified rubber and plastic items in required to complete the task will be determined the collections. Since many are duplicates, exam by consolidating survey data. Objects not on the ples of each object type were chosen for identifi survey list will be examined for similarity to sur cation and condition reporting. veyed items, and will be stored in the same fash Assist and plan with the consultant. We ion. After this analysis is completed, pre-program supplied the conservator with background infor conservation interns from the University of mation regarding the history of the collections, a Arizona will be hired to conduct the actual stor list of objects, our concerns about their preserva age upgrade. tion needs, a draft of the survey format, and a list Careful curatorial planning of a collection of necessary components for the final report. We condition survey is crucial to produce a docu discussed the survey in advance and decided to ment that is a meaningful and useful tool for make several changes to the survey format. We preservation. The importance of curatorial plan toured the conservator through the storage space ning cannot be underestimated. Clearly defined and discussed environmental conditions and pre goals, well-organized assistance and information, sent storage materials. We supplied the database and early interaction with a conservator will and were available to assist the conservator when greatly improve the final product and its rele needed. Two pre-program conservation interns, vance for further storage, environmental, and Audrey Harrison and Terri Moreno, worked with treatment decisions. Collection of data in a for Sharon, locating objects, removing and returning mat that is compatible with existing systems will objects to storage locations and entering data. maximize its usefulness in the future manage This planning and interaction resulted in a ment of collections. greater number of objects surveyed, more infor mation about specific deterioration mechanisms Gretchen Voeks is a conservator with the Western affecting the collections, and a greater under Archeological and Conservation Center, NPS standing by staff members how to preserve the collections.
CRM No 7—1999 39 Amy L. Lubick Architectural Drawings Valuable Records Requiring TLC
n recent years, architectural drawings specializing in architectural drawings if identifica have become highly regarded for their tion is uncertain. aesthetic and historical content. The A one-year project focusing on the treat desire to collect and prize architectural ment of a collection of original architectural drawingIs has ballooned and spurred preservation drawings belonging to the National Park Service awareness for these materials. Organizations such is currently underway at the Division of as COPAR (Committee on the Preservation of Conservation at the Service's Harpers Ferry Architectural Records) have been established in Center in West Virginia. The collection consists several states and U.S. cities since the 1970s to of 84 drawings of the White House completed protect architectural records. Conferences, semi prior to the extensive renovation that took place nars, and workshops on the production, appraisal, during President Harry Truman's second term in accession, and care of architectural drawings and office. Renovation of the White House began in records have been held in countries across the December 1949 and was completed in March globe. Research into materials used in fabrication 1952. This collection of measured drawings was of original architectural drawings and photo- created on-site over one year from August 1948 reproductions (blueprints, diazotypes, van dyke through August 1949, in anticipation of the prints, etc.) has grown, permitting a greater changes the White House was slated to undergo. understanding of appropriate conservation treat The drawings document floor plans, interior ele ment and preventive care. vations, details, and ornamental embellishments Original architectural drawings and repro of the White House as they existed prior to the ductions are often created from poor quality renovation. materials. Poor quality materials, extensive han Lorenzo Winslow, architect of the White dling, and inappropriate storage affect the stabil House during the renovation, supervised a team ity of these drawings. Proper storage and care will of seven architects to complete the drawings. A extend the life span of architectural records. The drafting room used by the architects was located selection of suitable housing materials for storage in a temporary wooden building south of the requires identification of components used in the Rose Garden during the renovation. Fifty years fabrication of original drawings and photo-repro later, the collection of renovation drawings ductions. Several photo-reproductive processes are remains historically significant as a record of the sensitive to alkali (such as blueprints) and risk White House as it existed in 1949. damage when placed in contact with buffered Seventy-eight of the drawings are executed interleaving materials. Ideal storage conditions in graphite on tracing paper. Six of the drawings require architectural drawings to be sorted by are on tracing cloth, five executed in graphite and photo-reproductive process. Storage of different black ink, and one a photo-reproductive process. photo-reproductive processes together may have Tracing paper and tracing cloth are transparent detrimental effects on the documents. For exam supports that were used for the rendition of mas ple, some materials used in the manufacture of ter drawings since the 19th century. Copies of diazotypes have the ability to affect alkaline-sensi drawings on the transparent supports would be tive drawings and silver based photographic prints made using one of the various duplication such as Photostats.1 Valuable workshops to aid in processes. Tracing cloth was typically made from identification of photo-reproductive processes linen, and later cotton, coated with starch and have been held for archivists, librarians, and calendared. Three of the tracing cloth drawings in museum personnel. Verification of a photo-repro this collection are coated with cellulose nitrate ductive process may be provided by a conservator instead of starch.
40 CRM No 7—1999 Since the majority of drawings is executed 100% white rag stock and prepared tracing on tracing paper, ample information was needed paper. ^ The catalog warns that the prepared trac in dealing with these supports. The tracing ing paper may be subject to some discoloration papers in the collection differ in weight and color with age. Samples of available tracing papers were and are in various conditions. Some of the papers included in a number of historic trade catalogs, have aged and yellowed while others remain fairly providing an excellent reference for examination. white. Fiber analysis of several tracing paper sam The drawings in the collection vary greatly ples reveal the papers to be made of cotton. Five in size. The smallest drawing measures 20 inches of the drawings have a watermark indicating the x 27 inches and the largest measures 183 inches x fiber content is 100% rag. 42 inches. Each drawing in this collection is in Tracing paper is not always composed of need of conservation treatment including surface- cotton fiber; chemical wood pulp may also be cleaning, mending of tears and losses, humidifi- used. A paper published in 1992 reported manu cation, and flattening. All of the drawings appear facturers' characterization of modern transparent to have been handled extensively—many were papers and their fiber processing. The two types rolled and folded causing deep creases and edges of transparent supports associated with architec that are especially weak, brittle, and vulnerable. tural drawings are natural tracing papers and pre- Sixty-two of the drawings are in need of pressure- sensitive tape removal and/or adhesive staining reduction. Many of the drawings possess staining from pressure-sensitive tape adhesive that has transferred during direct contact with another drawing. A survey was conducted to obtain addi tional information regarding current conservation treatment of tracing paper and then used to develop a conservation treatment plan for this drawing collection. A list of paper conservators was compiled from existing tracing paper conser vation literature. The survey was mailed to 62 conservators in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Thirty-eight conservators responded to the survey, providing many helpful ideas and sug gestions for treatment. Survey respondents fre quently advised minimal intervention when treat Before treatment pared tracing papers. The natural tracing papers ing tracing papers. Respondents emphasized con photograph of a are extensively beaten during fiber processing. servators must be aware of the type of tracing measured Increased fibrillation from beating increases the paper being treated. Since prepared tracing paper graphite drawing on tracing paper. amount of fiber bonding. Transparency of the is very different in composition from natural Lengths of pres paper is increased when there is minimal inter tracing paper, conservation treatment techniques sure-sensitive ruption of light transmission through the sheet. will often differ from one paper to another. An tape applied to the reverse side Impregnants and coatings may be added during organic solvent safely used to reduce pressure- of the drawing sheet processing to form prepared tracing papers. sensitive adhesive residue on a natural tracing have caused Among materials used to transparentize paper are paper may have catastrophic effects on a prepared staining and severe distor starch, mineral oils, and acrylic films. Historical tracing paper. The organic solvent may reduce tions of the tracing papers were impregnated with oils, fat, adhesive and remove the oil or resin in the pre paper. Photo by waxes, varnishes, and resins. pared paper as well, rendering the paper opaque the author. In addition to the conservation literature, and reducing the transparency of the sheet, per various trade catalogs at the Harpers Ferry Center manently altering its composition. Library and National Museum of American Stains are difficult to remove from tracing History provided interesting information regard paper, particularly the pressure-sensitive adhesive ing transparent supports. A drawing material cat tape stains. The barrage of organic (and often alog printed in 1955 by the company Keuffel and toxic) solvents required to reduce an adhesive Esser, listed for sale a natural tracing paper of stain do not always produce satisfactory results.
CRM No 7—1999 41 The disfiguring tape stain in the photo on page Transparent Papers." The Institute of Paper 41 will require approximately 10 hours of conser Conservation: Conference Paper Sheila Fairbrass, 234-46 United Kingdom: G.W. Limited, 1992. vation treatment, including the application of 3 Keuffel and Esser Company. Catalogue ofKeuffel heat, mechanical reduction of adhesive, solvent and Esser Company Manufacturers and Importers of application to stabilize and reduce (but not com Drawing Materials. Hoboken, NJ: 1955. pletely remove) the tape stain, humidification, and flattening to minimize planar distortions in References the sheet. Ehrenberg, Ralph. Archives & Manuscripts: Maps and Architectural Drawings. Chicago: Society of This brief description of the conservation American Archivists, 1982. treatment required for a damaged drawing from Mass COPAR. Proceedings of the Symposium on the the collection illustrates why all aged tracing Appraisal of Architectural Records. Cambridge, papers should be handled with care. Tracing 1987. paper is a fragile and tricky material, requiring Nelb, Tawny Ryan. "Will Your Drawings Be There When You Need Them?" Plan ef/WN64:12 delicate handling. All architectural drawings, (Dec. 1991). regardless of support material, need special atten Price, Lois Olcott. "The History and Identification of tion in order to retain their information and aes Photo-Reproductive Processes used for thetic composition. Architectural Drawings Prior to 1930." Topics in Photographic Conservation 6 (1995): 41-49. Notes A comprehensive bibliography compiled in 1994 on 1 Reed, Judith, Eleonore Kissel, and Erin Vigneau. conserving architectural drawings and oversize "Photo-Reproductive Processes used in the works of art on paper, by paper conservator Nancy Duplication of Architectural and Engineering Carlson Schrock, may be accessed via the internet Drawings: Creating Guidelines for Identification." at: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bib/ The Book and Paper Group Annual 14 (1995): 41-49. 2 van der Reyden, Dianne, Christa Hofmann, and Amy L. Lubick is a post-graduate paper conservation Mary Baker. "Some Effects of Solvents on intern with the NPS Harpers Ferry Center—Conservation.
Judith J. Bischoff Conservation Science in the Parks Not Just for Natural Resources
sk the general public what they • To provide information to conservators to aid know about conservation in the them in their decisions regarding object stor National Park Service and they age, exhibition, and conservation treatment will likely reply—"You mean sav • To carry out research projects related to the ing treesA, water, animals and the environment in technology or provenance of museum artifacts, the parks?" If one were to ask what a conserva studies on mechanisms of deterioration of such tion scientist working for the Park Service does, artifacts, systematic development of new con the answer would probably be that such a scien servation materials, and evaluations of the tist studies the parks' natural resources. Most long-term efficacy of previous conservation would be surprised to learn that one Park Service treatments conservation scientist has little or nothing to do Tools of the Conservation Scientist with natural resources, but instead studies cul Several tools commonly used by the conser tural resources. vation scientist for examining or analyzing arti The cultural resources conservation scientist facts are infrared spectroscopy, optical has several roles: microscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. • To provide information to park curators and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy interpretive staff to aid them in interpretation (FT-IR) is one of the most important tools of the of an artifact conservation scientist. It can be used not only to
42 CRM No 7—1999 Fourier- identify organic materials including adhesives, Transform coatings, and consolidants, but also for an array Infrared Spectropho of inorganic materials such as paint pigments, tometer. Photo metal corrosion, or salts from archeological courtesy the objects. For example, FT-IR can help identify an author. adhesive used in a previous restoration, the var nish coating on historic furnishings or identify a fiber type or a paint binder. The science lab at Harpers Ferry has suc cessfully used infrared spectroscopy to confirm shellac as the original coating on a Baltimore, Maryland, wine cellarette from Hampton House National Historic Site, copper stearate as the waxy green corrosion product on a gun from the Fuller collection at Chicamauga-Chattanooga use a particular group of dyes in weaving her National Military Park in Georgia, and pyroxylin rugs, or to determine that a coating on a brass (cellulose nitrate) on some historic tracing papers lamp contains a yellow dye to brighten the being studied in conjunction with the conserva appearance of the brass. tion treatment of architectural drawings. There are, of course, many other tools Optical microscopy is another important important in the work of the conservation scien multi-purpose tool. For example, optical tist, but they are beyond the scope of this article. microscopy allows identification of fibers, paint Current Project pigments, corrosion products, or salt encrusta Cumberland Island National Seashore, tions. It may also be used to examine objects or Georgia, is home to both natural and cultural to observe chemical changes during microchemi- resources. The endangered loggerhead sea turtle, cal testing on small samples from artifacts. numerous species of birds and plants, and the Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV/VIS) dunes come to mind when one thinks of some of works on the same principle as infrared spec the island's natural resources. The island is also troscopy, but uses ultraviolet and visible light home to a broad range of cultural resources. It instead of infrared as the light source. One can was originally populated by Native Americans, use UV/VIS for analysis and identification of and at some point, the Spanish had a mission on dyes found in textiles, lake pigments, leather or the island. Familiar are the 18th-century Miller- quills, or intentionally colored lacquers or glazes. Greene tabby house and the 19th-century This simple analysis involves extracting the dye Carnegie mansions. At "The Settlement" on the into an appropriate solvent such as alcohol or north end of the island is the First African Baptist water and measuring its spectrum. Although two Church, known most recently for its famous dyes might appear to be the same color red, the wedding of John F. Kennedy, Jr. spectrophotometer can detect differences that the The science lab at Harpers Ferry was UltravioletA/isible eye cannot; that is, each dye has its own charac recently asked to perform paint analysis on nine Spectropho teristic spectrum. Such information can be used of the island's historic structures. This project tometer. Photo courtesy the to assign attribution to an object; for example, a began with a week-long sampling trip to author. particular weaver of a Native American tribe may Cumberland Island to work with Jennifer Bjork, Chief of Resource Management, and John Mitchell, curator. Several arduous but exhilarat ing days fending off sand flies and ticks, and imagining snakes at every turn produced nearly 60 paint samples for cross-section analysis. Each small sample was imbedded in poly ester resin, which when hardened, was polished to reveal the various paint layers. The color of the original paint layers were matched with a stan dard color system, the Munsell Book of Color, which gives the hue (color), value (lightness or
CRM No 7—1999 (3 darkness) and and efficient method, that takes less than a day to chroma (color satu perform, will replace the earlier Oddy test, which ration). Matches was not only extremely slow (greater than one were also made with month for results), but also inconsistent and sub commercial paint jective in its results. The science lab plans to fan decks. develop a database of appropriate materials for Some simple construction of exhibits and to train other con microchemical tests servation labs wishing to adopt this method to were used to help create their own databases. identify the paint Of current concern to Native American pigment used. For groups is the presence of pesticide residues on example, the paint artifacts being requested for repatriation. Because on the stucco of these objects may be worn during ceremonies, it Plum Orchard is of extreme importance that any toxic pesticide Mansion was identi residues be identified. Pesticides such as toxic Plum Orchard fied as a whitewash, while that on the window arsenic and mercury compounds, chlorocarbons Mansion. Photo frames, columns, and balustrade was probably such as Chlordane, and para-dichlorobenzene courtesy NPS- HFC Photo lead white. (PDB) or fumigants such as sulfuryl fluoride Archives. Information about paint binders will also (Vikane) and ethylene oxide, were commonly be obtained from the cross-sections. Special col used to prevent insect infestation of organic ored dyes or stains which preferentially bind with objects. Although some information is known a particular paint binder and fluoresce in the about what pesticides were used in collections of presence of ultraviolet light will be applied to the Native American objects, little is known about cross-section. Application of the fluorescent dye, how toxic these materials still are, how to identify rhodamine B, will help identify oil paints, while them and most importantly, how to remove such the colored dye, Ponceau S, will help to identify residues. We hope that our part in this major casein (milk) paints or glue-based paints. research effort will be to develop some "low tech" The results from the various analyses will field methods for the identification of organic aid the park in its restoration and preservation pesticide residues. efforts. They will also provide more detailed A Final Word information for interpretation of the park's his The few examples reported here are toric structures to visitors enjoying the island's intended to give the reader a sense of the impor cultural offerings. tant scientific work being done to aid in the Future Project interpretation and preservation of the vast cul Part of the role of the conservation staff is tural resources of the national parks. While no to advise exhibits staff on appropriate exhibit one would argue the importance of preserving materials. This collaboration between conserva and interpreting the parks' natural resources, the tion and exhibits ensures that objects are given fact that most Americans think of the parks in the best possible care, while at the same time terms of their natural beauty, gives those of us being exhibited to their best advantage. Thus, use who work on the cultural resources side the of an exhibit case material that can harm objects opportunity to raise the awareness of preserving is something that both conservators and exhibit these equally important park resources. specialists wish to avoid. The issues facing scientists studying cultural To support conservators and exhibits staff resources are not all that different from those in this effort, the science lab at Harpers Ferry will concerned with natural resources. In keeping be setting up a new testing method for identify with the Mission of the National Park Service, ing exhibit materials that might be hazardous to both groups are dedicated to protecting those museum artifacts. This method involves a rela resources and providing for "the enjoyment of the tively simple setup requiring a specially equipped same in such a manner and by such means as will computer and an electrochemical cell. The leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of method measures the level of harmful substances future generations." extracted from a material being considered for use in an exhibit case. It is hoped that this rapid Judith J. Bischoff, Ph.D., is a conservation scientist, NPS Harpers Ferry Center—Conservation.
4
chool's out, and students enrolled in Conservation Center) and New York State the graduate conservation training University at Buffalo. Summer internships are a programs are looking for hands-on graduation requirement of the Winterthur and Sconservation work. Museum collec Buffalo graduate training programs. Although tions of the National Park Service are as diverse as not as an academic requirement, NYU program the parks themselves, encompassing all types of students are encouraged to take on summer work organic and inorganic materials, and preservation for professional growth. In every case, training requires the expertise of conservators working in programs seek to match the students' interest and every specialty recognized in professional conser abilities with the activities of a professionally rec vation. It's a good match for the National Park ognized conservation facility. Service. The Harpers Ferry Center Division of National Park Service conservators repre Conservation has established cooperative agree Suzanne Davis, summer intern sent most of these specialty fields. The Division ments with the training programs to place both from the NYU of Conservation at Harpers Ferry Center in West year and summer interns and trains an average of Conservation Virginia functions as a central conservation three program students a year, placing interns Center of the resource for the NPS nationwide. With a staff of with specific laboratories and projects according Institute of Fine Arts Program, 17 conservators, the Division of Conservation is to their skills and interests. Rigorous academic stabilizes fragile equipped with specialized laboratories for conser and technical conservation curricula have flaking gilt on a vation of archeological objects, decorative arts equipped these students with knowledge and chair from a suite of furniture and historic objects, ethnographic materials, fur skills that can make them valuable team members in the Vanderbilt niture and wooden artifacts, paper, and textiles in completing conservation treatment projects. Mansion. Photo and has recently developed and staffed a conser Students in turn expect to gain valuable experi by Eugenie Milroy. vation science laboratory as well. With a staff of ence in the "real world" of conservation by devel two objects conserva oping treatment proposals based on accurate con tors, the Collections dition assessment, and completing conservation Conservation Branch treatments including all documentation within of the Northeast the proposed time-frame estimate. Cultural Resources These cooperative agreements also provide Center provides con the administrative umbrella that enables the servation services to Collections Conservation Branch (CCB) to parks in New England access and fund program interns for projects both and the mid-Atlantic on-site and in the CCB conservation laboratory states for treatment of in Lowell. Working with the programs through historic and decora Harpers Ferry, the CCB conservators (the author tive art objects includ and Carol Warner) have supervised interns on ing outdoor sculpture. such on-site projects as the survey and conserva The major con tion of plaster sculptures at Saint-Gaudens NHS, servation training pro and treatment of the bronze Colonel Prescott grams in the United statue at Bunker Hill Monument in Boston. States are the On-site conservation projects are particu University of larly well suited for use of summer interns Delaware because, by their very nature, the treatment (Winterthur), New goal(s) must be achievable in a set period of time. York University Each project requires summer interns to review (Institute of Fine Arts material characteristics of the object, diagnose
CRM No 7—1999 4S deterioration mechanisms, undertake appropriate turned out to be the original mansion gatehouse, testing, collaborate in the development of a treat which, along with the mansion, was designed by ment proposal, and participate in the final treat the premier architectural firm of McKim, Mead ment and documentation reports. and White. Having been used for park housing When funding was made available for an for decades, the gatehouse itself bore no signs of ideal summer project at Roosevelt-Vanderbilt the Gilded Age, but was extremely comfortable National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York, and convenient to the work site. The park sup the CCB contacted nearby NYU to see if any of plied furniture, sheets and basic kitchenware. The the conservation program students would be students brought additional comfort items to the interested in participating. The result was that, in site and a few luxury items such as a coffeemaker, the summer of 1998, graduate students Suzanne toaster and shower curtain were loaned by CCB Davis and Eugenie Milroy from the NYU conservators. The terrific living arrangements Conservation Training Program became a key ele provided by the park went a long way in con ment in the successful completion of a conserva tributing to the success of the summer project. tion project at the Vanderbilt Mansion. The mansion's large and well-lit basement It was a challenging project. The Vanderbilt laundry room was converted into a field conser Mansion contains one of the finest intact collec vation laboratory by the park and the CCB. The tions of furniture from the Gilded Age designed park cleared, cleaned and painted the room, and en suite for the mansion in 1897. However, supplied worktables, shelving and various sup decades of uncontrolled climate extremes within plies and tools already available at the site. the building have led to problems of extensive Additional materials were ordered from conserva flaking and loss of gesso, bole, and gold leaf on tion supply companies, and a vanload of supplies the high-style furniture. At the time of the pro and equipment was sent from the CCB ject, even light routine dusting was impossible Conservation Laboratory in Lowell. without further loss of gilded surfaces. To exacer The project began with an introductory bate the problem, oily soot from a boiler puff- workshop by furniture conservator Hugh Glover back covered every surface throughout the 54- of the Williamstown Art Conservation Center on room mansion. the theory and practice of gilding and gilt stabi The Williamstown Art Conservation lization for conservation team members and Center, a private regional conservation organiza interested park staff. Conservation treatment of tion in Massachusetts, had been contracted by selected furniture then began under the guidance the park the previous year to develop a compre and direction of CCB conservators. For the dura hensive plan for soot removal, but the fragile tion of the project, one or both conservators vis gilded furniture could not be cleaned using nor ited the site two days a week to work with the mal soot removal techniques without first stabi interns and monitor their progress. In addition, lizing insecure surfaces. Based on selection crite two park staff members also participated in sev ria of severity of condition and visual prominence eral phases of the treatment under close supervi within the furnished room, park curator Anne sion. Treatments involved re-attaching flakes of Jordan selected specific items for treatment using gilded surface, consolidating weak areas, soot information supplied from a comprehensive removal, and filling and toning losses when nec Furniture Conservation Survey completed in essary to blend with the surrounding surface and 1992 by contract conservator Robert Mussey of unify the visual appearance of the piece for exhi Boston. With the goals of the Gilt Stabilization bition. At the end of the summer, 12 fairly com Project defined and funding secured for the CCB plex pieces were completed, but there are many to undertake the work, the CCB and park cura more pieces that must be stabilized. The park is tor began logistical planning for the project. pursuing funding to continue this work, and the Although interns are paid a modest stipend CCB will again advertise this internship opportu for their eight-week commitment, rental apart nity to conservation training programs. ments can be difficult to find for only two A major reason for the success of this sum months and weekly hotel rates can be prohibi mer project was the collaboration of several agen tively expensive for students. To facilitate the pro cies to ensure that the project would satisfy the ject, the park generously provided living arrange expectations of all parties. Collaborators for this ments for the conservation team. This housing project included the park, which wanted to be
46 CRM No 7—1999 able to remove soot from gilded furniture; the Hampshire, treatment of plaster sculpture at CCB conservators, who needed daily on-site Weir Farm NHS in Connecticut, and conserva activity for completion of the conservation treat tion of sculpture and large historic objects in the ment hours required to finish the selected pieces home and library of Thomas Edison in New during the project time-frame; NYU academic Jersey. When funding for these projects is in program officers, who seek appropriate profes place, they will be advertised to the conservation sional internship opportunities for their students; training programs with hope of attracting bright and, finally, the students themselves, who seek and skilled summer interns to work on-site with enriching and challenging summer projects in a the CCB conservators. Living quarters designed great location. All of these expectations were met. by McKim, Mead and White may not be avail Past surveys by the CCB have identified able for all on-site summer projects, but the parks treatment projects in addition to the continuing and their collections are fabulous. Vanderbilt Mansion Gilded Furniture project Brigid Sullivan Lopez is Chief Conservator, Collections that are also good matches for summer interns. Conservation Branch, Northeast Cultural Resources These projects include stabilization of an exterior Center, Lowell, Massachusetts. painted frieze at Saint-Gaudens NHS in New
Allen Bohnert A Workshop Integrating Field Archeology, Conservation, and Culturally Appropriate Treatments
n interdisciplinary workshop, on archeological field projects. This has resulted Integrating Field Archeology, in several notable publications, including: Conservation and Culturally Conservation on Archeological Excavations,' The Appropriate Treatments, was Elements of Archeological Conservation? Retrieval organizeAd through the Curation Program of the of Objects from Archeological Sites?' and First Aid National Park Service's (NPS) now defunct for Finds? Such collaboration is the exception Intermountain Cultural Resource Center rather than the rule in the United States, how (ICRC). The workshop occurred in June, 1997, ever. It is not surprising, therefore, that the single and was held at the Center's Santa Fe, New comprehensive U.S. publication in this area is A Mexico, office and at Pecos National Historical Conservation Manual for the Field Archeologist, by Park. The workshop had two primary purposes. Catherine Sease.5 The Sease publication served as One purpose was to provide training on funda the main 'reference' for the workshop. The need mental field conservation philosophies, tech to further integrate the principles of archeology, niques, and materials. The workshop also pro conservation, museum management, and general vided a forum and an opportunity for discussion resource management in the planning and execu and training on various aspects of culturally tion of archeological field projects has been rec appropriate treatments as they pertain to certain ognized as a need for many years in the U.S. and material types, artifacts, and features. The work has been called for in numerous publications." shop was highly unique in that concepts of cul While we have seen some progress through turally appropriate treatment were linked with national and regional initiatives on archeological those of field archeology, field conservation, and site protection and collection management in museum management. general, archeological field conservation remains There is a long history of collaboration virtually invisible. This is of particular concrn between European archeologists and conservators when publication such as "The Federal Curation
CRM No 7—1999 47 Regulations" (36 CFR 79)7 and "Federal along with staff from the ICRC Curation Archeological Contracting: Utilizing the Program also served as instructors. Everyone Competetive Process"8 are examined. attending the workshop brought with them their If one considers the execution of an archeo own particular experiences, professional training, logical project as a process, the process may be and cultural perspectives, from which others ben divided into planning, field, laboratory, report efitted. Of particular interest were the perspec ing, and repository phases. In such a continuum, tives shared by participants from the Crow, archeologists, curators, resource managers, tribal Navajo, Lakota, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Zuni representatives and other cultural specialists can and Jemez tribes. be seen as having joint responsibilities during Workshop sessions included: general intro each phase. Given the recognized need for ductions to the history and philosophy of conser expanded interdisciplinary collaboration and vation; critical aspects of planning for conserva joint or interdisciplinary responsibilities, this tion, curation, and consultation with affiliated workshop was designed to illustrate the benefits tribes in the early stages of project development; of interdisciplinary collaboration, to facilitate dia and various basic issues pertinent to conservation logue and promote collaboration, and to serve as in field archeology settings. Separate sessions a potential model for further efforts in these were devoted to the preservation of features and areas. in-situ preservation concerns. Additional sessions The workshop was funded under the NPS's focused on discussions and presentations of the Cultural Resource Training Initiative. Cosponsors methods and materials appropriate to certain and partners for the workshop represented material types such as metals, faunal or botanical diverse organizations, institutions and levels of samples, bone and shell artifacts, glass and ceram government. For example, representatives from ics, and wood or other organics encountered the Pueblo of Jemez served as instructors and, under a variety of site conditions. through their Historic Preservation Office, the One of the highlights of the workshop, Pueblo served as a cosponsor. Other sponsors and according to all participants, was the tribal repre instructors represented the Office of sentative-led panel covering specific topics of cul Archeological Studies of the Museum of New turally appropriate treatment. These topics are Field Mexico, the Graduate School for Historic potentially very sensitive and emotionally Conservation Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, charged. Nevertheless, the discussions were frank Workshop arti fact recovery Pecos National Historical Park, and Dean and and informative. Representatives from the Pueblo exercise at Associates Conservation Services of Portland, of Jemez discussed certain concerns the pueblo Pecos National Oregon. Zuni Tribal Historic Preservation Office has with the care and handling of objects from Historical site. Photo courtesy personnel, private conservators from Santa Fe their heritage and site etiquette when on the the author. and the South Florida Conservation Center, pueblo's ancestral sites. The concerns were not only for the physical and spiritual well being of the objects, but also for the people handling them and for the pueblo as an organic whole. Discussions by representatives from Zuni Pueblo also emphasized the special concerns of the Zuni people. A guest presenter from the Navajo Nation expressed concerns about the typical methods and materials used by museums during fumigation and other preservation-related activi ties. The methods and materials used, while physically preserving the object, may in fact have serious detrimental effects on the spiritual well- being of objects, especially ceremonial and other sacred objects. Other discussions and presenta tions covered culturally appropriate treatment issues resulting from consultations held as part of
*i« CRM No 7—1999 implementing the Native American Graves museum management in the execution of archeo Protection and Repatriation Act. These included logical projects. Two points made by all work keeping associated funerary objects and ancestral shop participants and instructors alike were that remains together while in the custody of muse more training of this type is needed on a regular ums, allowing zoomorphic and anthropomorphic basis and that topics covered during the work objects access to fresh air, ensuring containers shop must become a component of U.S. acade housing ancestral remains do not have a solid lid, mic training. Both will help to ensure such train that ancestral remains are not in association with ing becomes institutionalized and not left up to plastics, and others infrequently held workshops such as this one. Two days of the workshop were held on site at Pecos National Historical Park. The park's sites Notes 1 served as a focal point for several discussions. It N.P. Stanley Price, ed., Conservation on Archeological illustrated decades of in-site preservation strate Excavations, (Rome, Italy: I.C.C.R.O.M., 1984). 2 J.M. Cronyn, 1990, The Elements of Archeological gies, diverse methods of interpreting sacred and Conservation, (NY and London: Routledge, 1993) secular spaces, and approaches to museum collec 3 Robert Payton, ed., Retrieval of Objects from tion use and storage. Another highlight of the Archeological Sites. (Clwyd, Wales: Archetype workshop was the field recovery exercise held at Publications, 1992). the park. The author and Erik Blinman created a 4 David Watkins, ed., 1987 First Aid For Finds. 2nd simulated archeological site comprised of several Revised Edition. (England: Rescue and UKIC excavation units several weeks before the work Archeology Section, 1987) shop occurred. The intent was to simulate a vari ' Catherine Sease, 1992, A Conservation Manual for the Field Archeologist. Archeological Research Tools A. ety of preservation-related, consultation-related, (Los Angeles: UCLA, 1992). and data-related decision points one might " Richard I. Ford, "Systematic Research Collections encounter during an archeological project. Each in Anthropology: An Irreplaceable National unit was comprised of a wide range of preserva Resource." In Report of Conference Sponsored by the tion conditions, material types, and objects. Council for Museum Anthropology and the N.S.F. These included: burnt/worked wood and bone, Peabody Museum, 1997; Catherine Sease, A whole/broken ceramics and glass; features such as Conservation Manual; Sydel Silverman, and Nancy J. Parezo, eds., 1995 Preserving the Anthropological hearths and caches of artifacts/food stuffs, deco Record, 2nd ed. (NY: Wenner-Gren Foundation for rated collapsed earthen wall surfaces, fragile met Anthropological Research, Inc., 1995); N.I.C., als and composite objects, and paper/textiles. All 1984; N.I.C., 1990; National Institute for the participants and instructors were assigned to Conservation of Cultural Property, Ethnographic teams and each team was responsible for 'excavat and Archaeological Conservation in the United ing' one of the units employing the methods and States," (Washington, DC: NIC, 1984); National materials discussed earlier during the workshop. Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property, "A Suggested Curriculum for Training in Along with the Sease publication, each par Ethnographic and Archaeological Conservation," ticipant received a notebook containing copies of (Washington: DC, 1984); National Institute for the several conservation articles and bibliographies Conservation of Cultural Property, Training for on archeological conservation and historic preser Collections Care and Maintenance: A Suggested vation. The notebook was also sent to over 125 Curriculum, Volume I: Archaeology and offices in an effort to encourage and support Ethnology," (Washington, DC: NIC, 1990); U.S. Department of the Interior, 1991 future workshops. The notebook was distributed 36CFRPart79. "Curation of Federally-Owned and to all tribal historic preservation offices, National Administered Archeological Collections." Park Service sites in the Intermountain Region (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1991). and those in other regions with substantial arche 8 Jameson, John Jr., et al., Technical Brief No. 7 ological collections responsibilities, and to (revised), Federal Archeological Contracting: selected universities. Utilizing the Competitive Procurement Process Clearly the workshop was a success in and (Washington, DC: NPS, 1992). of itself. More importantly, however, it clearly demonstrated both the need for and the potential Allen Bohnert is Chief, Curatorial Services, Southeast benefits of integrating the perspectives of indige Region, NPS. nous peoples, archeology, conservation and
CRM No 7—1999 49 Toby Raphael Creating a Set of Conservation Guidelines for Exhibitions
xhibit conservation focuses on A. Exhibit Planning practical techniques that protect Integrating Conservation into the Exhibit Process museum collections from unneces Integrate conservation early in the exhibit sary damage while on display. The planning phase. HarperEs Ferry Center-Conservation has recently Provide adequate time and resources. completed a technical resource to assist exhibit Search for balanced conservation solutions. specialists achieve preservation-responsible The Exhibit Team exhibits. The resource is called the Exhibit Work cooperatively with the team. Conservation Guidelines and has been produced as Utilize supportive design staff who have con an electronic publication, presented in a CD- servation experience. ROM format. Excerpts are included below. Require detailed plans that specify perfor Improperly designed and poorly fabricated mance criteria. exhibits are a significant source of damage for the The Role of the Exhibit Conservator collections of the National Park Service. Several Include an exhibit conservator on the exhibit years ago the NPS Harpers Ferry Center's team. Division of Conservation embarked on a major Involve the exhibit conservator in the earliest preventive conservation project to develop a set stages of the process. of practical, exhibit guidelines. The objective was Selecting Objects to create a "user friendly" technical resource for Select appropriate display objects. Avoid select both NPS personnel and exhibit specialists in ing too many objects. general. Take into consideration the aesthetics and The Exhibit Conservation Guidelines estab treatment requirements of each object. lishes a methodical approach for the inclusion of Avoid permanent exhibit of objects. conservation in the often-confusing processes of Allow enough time and resources to safely pre pare, mount, install, or replicate exhibit exhibit development and production. It defines objects. the critical areas of involvement for conservation Establishing Conservation Criteria specialists, includes the baseline information Determine the conservation needs of each known in the field, and adds what we at Harpers individual object chosen for display. Ferry Center have learned from many years of Establish necessary but realistic conservation producing exhibits. criteria for display. Only by involving conservation early and Incorporate the conservation criteria into throughout the process can we ensure preserva exhibit design. tion-responsible planning, design, and produc Collections Management tion. Years of experience have taught us that suc Ensure safe handling of objects in all phases of cessful exhibits require a close, constructive work exhibit development. ing relationship between exhibit, curatorial and Stabilize all objects according to need. conservation specialists. A sense of shared respon Include the appropriate documentation for sibility for collection preservation and trust are each object. invaluable parts of the equation. Protect objects during photography. The technical resource includes 250 pages B. General Planning of guidelines, technical notes, and illustrations; Multilevel Conservation Response the following summarizes the key guidelines. Design for environmental stability and protection.
50 CRM No 7—1999 Consider both macro and micro approaches. Emergency Preparedness and Fire Protection Choose an appropriate level of response from Develop fire protection and emergency the multiple options. response plans. Exhibit Format and Layout Perform a risk assessment and address potential Use enclosed display when possible. problems. Allow sufficient room for traffic flow. C. Exhibit Case Design Group together objects that have similar con Designing a Conservation-Grade Case servation criteria. Design cases as protective enclosures. Temperature and Relative Humidity Establish performance criteria. Obtain baseline information about the temper Provide detailed, explicit drawings and specifi ature and relative humidity. cations. Control the environment within the entire Build and test complicated case designs as pro exhibit space. totypes when possible. Locate sensitive objects in the most stable loca Test the fully assembled case in its final loca tions. tion. Provide additional control for sensitive objects. Case Stability, Security, and Access Particulate Contamination Construct a physically stable, structurally Monitor pollutants and enclose sensitive col secure case. lections. Provide appropriate security features. Use high-efficiency filters in environmental Ensure practical access design for curatorial systems. entry. Use localized filtration equipment as needed. Sealed Exhibit Cases Chemical Pollutants Use sealed display cases when appropriate. Monitor pollutants and enclose sensitive col Design well-sealed cases with tight joints and lections. with gaskets. Incorporate chemical filters in the environ Use conservation-appropriate sealants. mental systems. Test case performance. Provide air circulation. Ventilated Exhibit Cases Select stable construction materials. Use ventilated cases for appropriate applica Aerate the exhibition space before object tions. installation. Control the design and construction of venti Exhibit Lighting lated cases. Develop a lighting plan that responds to con Use positive-pressure cases when appropriate. servation criteria. Lighting Design within Cases Limit total light exposure. Develop a case lighting plan and specify appro Filter all sources of ultraviolet radiation. priate lighting equipment. Control infrared radiation. Isolate lights from the display chamber. Exclude sunlight. Reduce heat gain and temperature cycling. Construct lighting mockups. Incorporate heat-reflecting and insulating Biological Infestation materials when necessary. Examine objects for signs of infestation and Humidity- Control Principles active mold. Provide a well-sealed case that will support Design exhibits to inhibit infestations. humidity control. Enclose objects when the risk of infestation is Ensure adequate air circulation within the case. high. Provide separate access to the environmental Avoid introducing insects through props and maintenance chamber. unchecked exhibit materials. Test the case before enclosing objects. Control human behaviors that encourage Monitor the interior relative humidity for the infestation. duration of the exhibit. Physical Security Active and Passive Humidity-Control Conduct a risk assessment. Establish whether the goal is stabilization or Provide the appropriate level of protection. control. Use tamper resistant hardware. Select an appropriate passive or mechanical Facilitate authorized curatorial access to the system. objects.
CRM No 7—1999 51 Provide safeguards for mechanical systems. Support the entire object to avoid physical Include appropriate and sufficient moisture- stress. absorber medium for passive control. Provide adequate support for flexible objects. Test and monitor the case. Support all parts independently over as large Pollution-Control Systems an area as possible. Incorporate enough absorber to remove pollu Stabilize objects from vibration. tants for six months to one year. Ensure the security of framed works. Ensure unrestricted airflow. Exhibit Production and Object Installation Provide access to change the absorber. Avoid transporting objects into production Maintain the absorber. areas. D. Installation and Maintenance Inspect exhibit assemblages that affect objects during the production phase. Choosing Conservation-Appropriate Materials Complete construction before object installa Select conservation-safe materials for case con tion. struction. Evaluate the exhibit teams performance. Avoid adhesives within the object display area. Exhibit Maintenance Review the composition of commercial inte rior finishes. Provide a maintenance manual which includes Allow sufficient curing time before installing the conservation criteria. objects. Monitor exhibit conditions. Isolate objects from painted or varnished sur Perform necessary maintenance to ensure the faces. continued performance. Keep the exhibit area clean. Select and attach decorative fabrics carefully. Plan ahead for the safe movement of objects. Using Less Stable Materials Use the least hazardous material available, and Toby Raphael is a conservator, Harpers Ferry isolate objects from them. Center—Conservation. Aerate the case after applying coatings and sealants. Illustration courtesy Kevin Brookes. Isolate objects from problematic surfaces. Incorporate a pollutant absorber or scavenger. Design and Fabrication of Exhibit Mounts Design and fabricate mounts for object instal lation ahead of time. Protect the integrity of the object.
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