Waterlogged ivory

In response to Nicola Smiths' request for advice on the drying of
waterlogged ivory I would suggest a very slow (controlled) air dry.
A large amount of small worked ivory objects have been recovered
from the Pandora wreck and thus far we have enjoyed good results
with controlled air drying.  Please respond to me off list and I
will happily elaborate on the drying procedures I currently use.  I
have not had any experience with the use of solvent drying for ivory
material but I would imagine that rapid drying would result in
drying stresses and should be used with caution.

I can also suggest that there may be people working locally to you
(on the Wasa) that may have experience with the conservation of
waterlogged ivory.

Jessica Turner
Materials Conservator, Queensland Museum
P.O. Box 330
Sth BNE, QLD, 4101, Australia
+61 7 3840 7681
Fax +61 7 3846 1918

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:7
                  Distributed: Thursday, July 2, 1998
                        Message Id: cdl-12-7-002
                                  ***