Brass coatings

Alan Hawk <nmhm [at] email__afip__osd__mil> writes

>    Dragon's Blood - Resin of Calamus Specie from a succulent growing
>    in Socotra Island (sic?) -Gulf States.
>
>    Red Sanders - Sandal wood.
>
>Does anyone out there know what the contemporary equivalents of these
>items are?

In answer to the above question I would suggest to contact the
conservation department of

    the Museum Boerhaave
    Lange St Agnietenstraat 10
    2312 WC  Leiden
    the Netherlands
    +31 71 21 42 24

Paul Steenhorst will be the person over there. They have a large
expertise in treating and (re)lacquering instruments (very beautiful
collection!). To my knowledge they did research in shellac varnishes and
can motivate in technical terms why and how one should re-apply shellac
and not more modern materials. As for the mentioned ingredients--there
are no modern equivalents, nature cannot be copied only imitated--you
could try the larger suppliers to painting and furniture conservators. A
good guess is:

    Cremer Pigmente
    Farbmahle
    D 7974 Aichstetten
    Germany
    0 75 65/10 11 + 16 04

hope to have answered your question, yours

Bas van Velzen
Jonge Eland papierestauratie
Oude Looiersstraat 65-67
1016 VH Amsterdam
+31 20 623 79 89
Fax: +31 20 627 32 23
VeRes (Dutch Association of Professional Restorers)
postbus 11503
1001 GM Amsterdam

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:49
                Distributed: Tuesday, December 27, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-49-005
                                  ***