Storing portrait miniatures

I am to re-house a small group of 19th century portrait miniatures
(seven in all) as they are currently stored inappropriately. They
appear to be ivory based though one has a matt surface and may be
vellum.  All but one are mounted as brooches or pendants (no chain
present), the other--a larger one of about 4 x 3 inches--is adhered
to card which, in turn, seems to be attached to the velvet covered
backing of a wooden frame.

Most are in good condition but

    *   two of the small ones are not secured within the metal/glass
        mount and separate from it easily;

    *   the large one is warped and pulling away from the card
        backing so that it no longer fits properly within its frame
        and is therefore similarly unsecured.

Can anyone advise me on a storage method bearing in mind their
condition and that inscriptions on the reverse may have to be
accessible; are there conventional methods that would be suitable
and is there something that would double for storage and display?

Sharon Connell
Brotherton Library
Leeds University
England


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:59
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 25, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-59-015
                                  ***