Gilded and silvered frames

I am requesting information on the conservation of mirror plate
glass, tin amalgam and others in gilded or silvered wood frames.

My specialism is gilded wood furniture. Some of the pieces I am
working on are framed mirrors from the 18th and 19th centuries which
will be exhibited in the new British Galleries. As well as working
on the gilded frames I will be responsible for advising on
treatment, in particular preventive conservation measures for the
mirror plates. Many of the frames have backs that have not been
worked on since manufacture and therefore are particularly
interesting, most are very dusty, some are structurally unsound,
many have backings of paper, which is often damaged or wooden board
which often has warped, neither now offer good protection from dust.

I am very interested in accessing any material on the subject on the
protection/preventative conservation and treatment of mirrors in
general, but in particular in gilded or silvered wood frames.

I have tried to obtain an unpublished report:

   "The corrosive effect of wood on the tin amalgam backing of a late
    18 century mirror" by Johnson Mosher S. Furniture Conservation
    Programme, Smithsonian Institute.

I obtained this reference from Studies in Conservation Vol. 43 No. 4
1998. I have written to the Smithsonian Institution  on 2000-04-28
at Centre for Museum Studies, MRC 427, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC 20560, but have had no reply.

Christine Powell.
Senior Furniture Conservator
V&A Museum (of decorative arts)
South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL.
+44 20 7 942 2098.
Fax: +44 20-7-942 2092


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:10
                 Distributed: Wednesday, August 2, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-14-10-005
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