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Abstracts, WAG session,
2006 AIC annual meeting
Providence, RI

The Stradivarius and the DC-3
Robert L. Barclay, Senior Conservator of Historic Objects, Canadian Conservation Institute

Instrument and Document: Balancing Values in the Conservation of Musical Instruments
John R. Watson, Conservator of Instruments and Mechanical Arts, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

A Description of 19th Century American Gilded Picture Frames, and Outline of their Modern Use, Preservation, and Conservation
Hugh Glover, Conservator of Furniture and Wood Objects, Williamstown Art Conservation Center

The De-Installation of a Period Room: What Goes In To Taking One Out
Gordon Hanlon, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Melissa H. Carr, Masterwork Conservation

Adhesion Problems and Degradation of Epoxy Finishes on PEG Treated Wood
Steven Pine, Decorative Arts Conservator, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Development and Application of Non-Intrusive Dendrochronological Methods for Wooden Furniture Analysis: The Case of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Renaissance Burgundian Cabinet
Arlen Heginbotham, Associate Conservator, J. Paul Getty Museum
Didier Pousset, Dendrochronology Consulting, Sheffield, England

Museum Objects and Private Collections: Conserving an 1870’s Frullini Armchair for Use
Christopher Swan, Furniture Conservator, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Mid-Century Frank Lloyd Wright: Preserving the Price Tower and Gordon House Interiors
Pamela Kirschner, Conservator, Fine Art Conservation, Waterford, New York

The Prodigal Chairs: Minimally Intrusive Upholstery at the U.S. Capitol
Michael Mascelli, Upholstery Conservator, Latham NY
David Blanchard, Blanchard Furniture Studio, Monterey VA
Donald C. Williams, Senior Furniture Conservator SCMRE

Adirondack Rustic Architecture and Regional Watercraft: Case Studies of Artifact Use at the Adirondack Museum
Doreen Alessi, Conservator, Adirondack Museum

Restoring the 1885 schooner Coronet – The Balance between Historic Preservation and Future Use
Susan Daly, Marketing Director, International Yacht Restoration School


The Stradivarius and the DC-3
Robert L. Barclay, Senior Conservator of Historic Objects, Canadian Conservation Institute

This paper explores the pragmatic and aesthetic aspects of the use of historic objects, with particular emphasis on musical instruments.
Transformation of objects through regular maintenance, substitution of worn parts, changes in fashion, and restoration procedures are contrasted with the aesthetic experience derived from the objects’ use. The paradox of restoration is examined, where intervention is inevitably accompanied by conjecture. The paper concludes with a discussion of psychological strategies evoked to ensure that knowledge of the extent of transformation of the object does not diminish or detract from the aesthetic experience.

Instrument and Document: Balancing Values in the Conservation of Musical Instruments
John R. Watson, Conservator of Instruments and Mechanical Arts, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

The objectives of conservation include both restoration and preservation. When viewed in their narrowest definitions, the two objectives appear irreconcilable. Our profession is thankfully not dependant on narrow and polarized definitions, yet a great challenge is faced in the conservation of functional objects in general and musical instruments in particular. Although there is a certain paradox of restoration, restorative conservation offers a reasoned approach that balances the restoration of form with equal attention to preserving material evidence. This involves understanding, respecting, and balancing diverse values, including an array of intrinsic and extrinsic values.

The principles of restorative conservation rarely lead to simple rules about how to balance restoration and preservation, so every case requires judgment and discussion among stakeholders. Different families of musical instruments (strings, woodwinds, brass winds, percussion, keyboards, et al) also have differing vulnerabilities and so differing traditions of treatment.

This paper will feature several musical instrument case studies, selected to illustrate different solutions for different situations:

  • A 1766 English square piano that received stabilization treatment, and not musical restoration
  • A mid-eighteenth-century pipe organ that received restorative conservation
  • A 1756 harpsichord that was fitted with reproduction mechanical parts to reduce wear from use
  • An 1816 English grand piano restoratively conserved to playing condition

A Description of 19th Century American Gilded Picture Frames, and Outline of their Modern Use, Preservation, and Conservation
Hugh Glover, Conservator of Furniture and Wood Objects, Williamstown Art Conservation Center

Picture frames are a functional component of most art collections and they are subject to wear and tear as they fulfill their housing function for paintings. Damage to picture frames can occur during exhibitions, storage, and travel, and is caused by handling, hanging processes, adverse environments, neglect, and irreversible restorations.

Picture frames are maintained by a variety of preservation specialists, and despite their ubiquity they have not become the domain of any one conservation discipline, and there is scant literature devoted to their preservation interests.

This presentation will focus on the analysis of 19th century American gilded picture frames, as well as preventive care, modern modifications, and restoration/conservation treatments. The talk is derived from the cumulative experience in treating frames at the Williamstown Art Conservation Laboratory.

The presentation will address frame nomenclature and the development of popular styles and constructions of the 19th century. It will outline ornament forms and materials, and give an overview of period gilding techniques. Different aspects of frame care, handling and modifications for the safety of the artwork will be addressed, together with a brief overview of conservation treatments.

Finally, the many datable frame/painting combinations that survive in American collections provide a valuable source for understanding frame history and its rapidly changing styles and technology. This talk will outline evidence that helps determine whether a frame is original to its artwork.

The De-Installation of a Period Room: What Goes In To Taking One Out
Gordon Hanlon, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Melissa H. Carr, Masterwork Conservation

Many American museums installed period rooms in the early twentieth century. Eighty years later, different environmental standards and museum expansions mean that some of those rooms need to be removed and either re-installed or placed in storage.

Over the past four years the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has de-installed all of their European and American period rooms as part of a Master Plan to expand and re-organize the museum. The removal of the rooms was coordinated and supported by museum staff and performed by private contractors.

One such room was a painted fully paneled room from Newland House, Gloucestershire (1748). This presentation will provide an overview of the de-installation of that room. It will include comments on the planning, logistics, physical removal and documentation, as well as notes on its future re-installation.

Adhesion Problems and Degradation of Epoxy Finishes on PEG Treated Wood
Steven Pine, Decorative Arts Conservator, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

In the 1950's Ed Moulthrop pioneered the green wood turning of native hardwoods into thin walled bowls as large as 36 inches in diameter. His innovative work was responsible for a generation of adventurous turning in the American craft community. His work is represented in most surveys and public collections of twentieth century decorative arts. Unfortunately, his innovative use of diverse commercial materials produced for other applications has caused his work to be inherently unstable. This paper will examine the materials and dynamics that resulted in the degradation of one of Moulthrop's bowls in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

Moulthrop's working methods began with obtaining freshly felled trees from county crews expanding local roads near Atlanta Georgia. He would often store his stock outside under plastic sheeting in order to keep it damp until the wood was worked. Leaving the stock outside in the often damp conditions of Atlanta summers fostered spalting which Moulthrop exploited to enhance the color variation of his finished work.

The largest of the bowls began with stock that weighed as much as 1500 pounds. After rough cutting his stock he turned it green on specially built outboard lathes using custom designed lances and loops on the interior and gouges and skews on the exterior. Once the bowl was cut he used a rotary bit grinder to finish the interior surface.

In order to avoid distortion, checking and cracking of his turnings Moulthrop immersed each bowl in a vat of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 1000. The duration of the PEG treatment was from two to three months depending on the size of the bowl. On removal from the PEG bath each bowl was then wiped dry, returned to the lathe, sanded, finished and sanded again. Moulthrop's finish formulations varied as he experimented over the years to improve his technique. The finish on the MFAH bowl was identified by FTIR as epoxy.

Added to the collection in 1989 this 28 inch diameter Liriodendron tulipifera bowl remained stable under standard museum environmental controls until 2004. At some point hydraulic dynamics in the wood began to excrete PEG and exert pressure on the epoxy finish at the wood finish interface. Blisters appeared in the finish at the shoulders of the bowl primarily associated with increased end grain at that part of the bowl conformation. FTIR identified the matter in the blister as PEG and un-catalyzed epoxy.

This paper will identify the dynamics of the relationship between the epoxy and PEG and it will more closely examine Moulthrop's working methods. Treatment options will be explored and proposed.

The Development and Application of Non-Intrusive Dendrochronological Methods for Wooden Furniture Analysis: The Case of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Renaissance Burgundian Cabinet
Arlen Heginbotham, Associate Conservator, J. Paul Getty Museum
Didier Pousset, Dendrochronology Consulting, Sheffield, England

In September 2002, the oak pieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Renaissance Burgundian Cabinet (71.DA.89) were studied by wood analysis and dendrochronological dating. An innovative application of non-intrusive X-ray technology was used to gather data and facilitate the study of annual growth rings. Collected samples provided critical information about the year when trees were felled, the origin of wood and about technological conversion of wood. In comparison with previous studies carried out on the ébéniste Sabin’s cabinets, results confirm the authenticity of this cabinet and its Burgundian origin at the end of the XVIth century.

Museum Objects and Private Collections: Conserving an 1870’s Frullini Armchair for Use
Christopher Swan, Furniture Conservator, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

An armchair thought to belong to a suite made for the Linden Gate mansion in Newport in 1873 was recently purchased, along with several other pieces from the set, and is intended for use in a private collection. Linden Gate was built as a summer residence of Henry G. Marquand of New York. Marquand was a wealthy railroad financier, philanthropist and President of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The house was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt in conjunction with furniture maker and sculptor Luigi Frullini, and decorators John LaFarge and Samuel Colman. Sadly, the house was damaged by fire in 1973, and demolished for new residential building. A brief history of the house and some of the known Frullini furniture is offered in order to better understand the context for the preservation of this magnificent object.

The chair is a grand and masterfully worked object of medieval and renaissance revival style sculpture, obviously made for a grand house. It appears to have been upholstered with a generous set of springs and covered in embossed, painted and gilt leather, now lost. The owner of the furniture not only wants to use the chair, but wants the upholstery to feel the same as it did when it was new. In addition to some minor and some significant structural repairs and re-carving, recreating the upholstery presented the biggest challenge in its treatment. A non-intrusive sprung under-upholstery system was designed to fit into the chair frame bottom and back, complete with old springs and contemporary cushioning materials to match the feel of the original chair. A new decorative leather cover was fabricated and fitted over the new under-upholstery, for use. The non-intrusive or minimally intrusive upholstery allows the chair to be used in much the same way as it formerly was.

The interest in such late nineteenth-century furniture is increasingly important as these objects are sometimes not always as highly valued as older materials. So often, nineteenth century revival style furniture is forgotten in light of more rare and desirable earlier periods. Introducing minimally intrusive upholstery and other conservation methods for private owners and users of these materials is an important preservation goal.

Mid-Century Frank Lloyd Wright: Preserving the Price Tower and Gordon House Interiors
Pamela Kirschner, Conservator, Fine Art Conservation, Waterford, New York

Funding provided by grants through the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors has allowed in-depth study of the interior finishes, color scheme, fabrics and furniture of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Price Tower and Gordon House.

Price Tower opened in 1956, the same year that Frank Lloyd Wright signed the designs of Gordon House, and the sites incorporate similar materials and design. This presentation includes the information gathered as well as preservation issues and conservation treatment methods determined to preserve the original interiors. Price Tower was built in 1956 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma for H.C. Price, an oil pipeline manufacturer. It is a 19 story skyscraper and was originally designed as offices and apartments. It now includes a hotel and restaurant and holds the offices of the Price Tower Arts Center along with period rooms and exhibition space.

Gordon House, although designed by Wright in 1956, was not built until 1964 and is one of the few remaining concrete block Usonian houses. It was originally built on the south bank of the Willamette River on a farm near Portland, Oregon for the Gordon’s and was moved to Silverton, Oregon in 2001. It is now open to the public. Wright designed both freestanding and built-in furniture for each site and also suggested colors and fabrics.

Written documentation and original photographs found in the Price Tower, Gordon House and Taliesin West archives have been utilized to determine the colors, materials and furniture original to the buildings. Physical evidence has also provided information about construction, finishes and show cover fabrics. Scientific analysis was performed on finish samples from the interior wood paneling and furniture to determine the original coating materials. The results of this analysis have been compared to historic methods and materials from the period along with the physical evidence. This information was then utilized to determine appropriate conservation treatment methods and will be discussed in this presentation.

The technical and historical information provided in this study is helpful for conservators, historians and curators to better understand the materials and construction used in Frank Lloyd Wright designs during this time period. It also promotes the proper care and conservation treatment of these objects while preserving original finishes and the historic intent of the sites.

The Prodigal Chairs: Minimally Intrusive Upholstery at the U.S. Capitol
Michael Mascelli, Upholstery Conservator, Latham NY
David Blanchard, Blanchard Furniture Studio, Monterey VA
Donald C. Williams, Senior Furniture Conservator SCMRE

Three historically important chairs recently re-acquired by the collections division of the U.S. House of Representatives required substantial reconstruction, finish conservation, and upholstering. In keeping with the collection’s new emphasis on “best practices” collections care the authors designed a comprehensive treatment for the three chairs including finish reclamation, structural repair, and minimally intrusive upholstering. While the three had much in common, each required unique responses to specific deterioration and extant fabric. Novel uses of materials and techniques allowed the chairs to be treated successfully and serve as a model for collections care at the Capitol for the future. In so doing, conservation-based collections care is now front and center at the U.S. Capitol.

Adirondack Rustic Architecture and Regional Watercraft: Case Studies of Artifact Use at the Adirondack Museum
Doreen Alessi, Conservator, Adirondack Museum

The Adirondack Museum in northern New York State is a large outdoor museum in an extraordinary location. Situated in the center of the six million-acre Adirondack Park, which consists of tiny communities amidst a vast wild forest, the museum is the repository for the cultural history of the entire area. The rustic furniture and architecture that developed in the Adirondack Mountains strongly influenced the rustic aesthetic throughout the country.

The museum has in its collection a number of examples of rustic architecture. These curious and often whimsical structures, built between 1880 and 1905, must withstand the harsh climate of the area, which is more extreme than that of Juneau, Alaska. The first part of this paper will focus on two small structures that were moved to the museum from famous camps in the area. The first, a two-seat privy that is sided with large sheets of spruce bark and built by an unknown builder, is an example of the whimsical treatment of a practical and functional structure. The second, Sunset Cottage, a one-room cabin sided completely with hundreds of bark-covered cedar twigs, is a paradigm of rustic craftsmanship in the Adirondacks. The rustic materials of bark and twig on an exterior add a level of complication to on-going preservation issues and present a conservation challenge. The institution's extensive photo archives provide interesting notes on these two structures and historical context to the preservation choices that are made.

The second half of the paper will focus on the museum's use of the quintessential Adirondack artifact: the Adirondack guideboat. This delicate wooden rowing craft, a highly refined regional boat with elegant lines and very particular handling properties in the water, was a key to the settlement of this mountainous region. Taking the stance that functionality is essential to interpretation, in 1979 the museum collected a 1910 guideboat that has been available for use ever since. This artifact is maintained in the traditional manner and is stored in traditional boat storage, rather than in climate-controlled museum storage with the rest of the collection, which is the largest collection of small freshwater wooden craft in the country. The paper will discuss the advantages and drawbacks of this situation. Images from the collections will illustrate the development, significance, and unique qualities of the guideboat.

Restoring the 1885 schooner Coronet – The Balance between Historic Preservation and Future Use
Susan Daly, Marketing Director, International Yacht Restoration School

The restoration of the 1885 schooner yacht Coronet is an historic preservation project conducted on the campus of the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) in Newport, Rhode Island.

Coronet is the last remaining schooner yacht of her age, size and degree of originality – a magnificent example from the great age of yachting at the end of the nineteenth century. Launched in 1885 for American industrialist Rufus T. Bush, Coronet was built to cruise the world's oceans in comfort and style. Her interior includes appointments such as mahogany-paneled staterooms, a grand marble-treaded staircase, stained glass doors, a main saloon with etched mirrors and gilded moldings, a cloisonné chandelier, a tiled heating stove, and a piano. Coronet’s state of preservation is extraordinary, and her hull and interior are substantially original. Her remarkable record of ownership, extensive voyaging and survival from the 19th into the 21st century, make her a unique and internationally important vessel. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has recognized Coronet’s importance by designating her as a Save America’s Treasures project, and she has been awarded a place on the National Register of Historic Places, the first vessel in Rhode Island to receive that distinction.

Coronet is currently being restored to sail as she did in the late 19th century. Following IYRS’s acquisition of Coronet in 1995, the process has included an exhaustive search through primary sources to document her voyaging history and extensive documentation of her as-found condition. Her interiors have been recorded and removed. The next phase will be to restore her hull and deck. Coronet’s original structure will be retained wherever feasible, and both materials and workmanship will replicate the construction methods used when she was launched. Once restored, Coronet will serve as a floating museum and will replicate her historic voyages.

This paper will discuss the restoration process for Coronet with a focus on the documentation and research conducted to date. The considerations, debates and trade-offs made in restoring a historically significant boat with the goal of putting her back into operating use and “earn her keep” will also be discussed.