Coatings for outdoor sculpture

George Hagerty <ghagerty [at] mfa__org> writes

>I'm in the process of researching any new coatings that people may
>know of, have tried, or can direct me to publications about for the
>protection of outdoor sculpture composed of cast iron.

The Bower Barff technique (great name!) was a patented system for
developing a black oxide on heated iron by blasting with steam while
red hot.  Frank Matero has researched this technique. He found it
essentially intact on the treads of a cast iron stair inside the
Rockery in Chicago.  My understanding is that it did not live up to
the promise on exterior installations as the oxide was easily
scratched leading to typical corrosion. You should contact him at U
Penn. I have a Yale and Town hardware catalog from the turn of the
century that states that they were the sole patent holders in the US
for the treatment.

Mark Rabinowitz


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:42
                Distributed: Wednesday, February 2, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-42-005
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