Leather discolored by tobacco smoke Training conservators

Bryan Owen <Bryan_Owen<-a t->nps< . >gov> writes

>Finally, let's face it, most people can be trained to do
>conservation work.  Some people learn well--a continuous
>process--some never become more than adequate, no matter what the
>training or schooling.

Bryan Owen raises an interesting point and one which can be argued
late into the night.  Personally, I like to provide as much
information as the questioner is likely to make good use of.  If I
don't know the questioner, there is the source to consider.  In this
instance, a moderated listserv devoted to conservation issues and
that gives me some confidence that shared information will probably
not be badly misused.

But that is not the same thing as agreeing that most people can be
trained to do conservation work.  At the IIC Rome Conference in 1961
there were five papers on the subject of training conservators.
Helmut Ruhemann had this to say:

   "From thirty years' teaching experience I have learnt that the
    greatest problem is how to select the most suitable recruits.
    ...  I do not agree with those of my colleagues in the USA who
    hold that anybody with an intelligence a little above the
    average can be taught to be a good restorer.  He can only be
    taught the teachable things, and talent, sensitivity, flair and
    a sharp eye are not among them.  They can be developed, but only
    where they are inborn.

   "This brings us to the important question:  should a picture
    restorer be an artist by nature and training?  I have no doubt
    that he should, though several very successful restorers seem to
    have managed well without any apparent artistic talent or
    training, but they are exceptions."

My own twenty-four years' experience with employees, trainees, and
volunteers supports Ruhemann's thesis; many are called but few are
chosen.

Oh, about the tobacco smoke on leather?  I'd begin testing with VM&P
naptha.  Just remember that any solvent which will remove the
absorbed tar/nicotine from the leather will also drive some of it
further into the leather; that includes any leather dressing which
may have been applied in the past.  On the upside, any varnish which
may have been applied in the past will retard absorption of this
solvent and solutes by the leather.  On the downside, any varnish on
the leather will likely have already caused the grain to begin
splitting away from the corium which means that the tobacco smoke is
the least of your problems.

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab.
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, OR  97217

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:31
                Distributed: Wednesday, October 1, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-31-003
                                  ***