Wood surfaces

Would anyone have an opinion on treating the surface of wood
destined for display in cases in museum conditions? We are going to
display a number of very old oak carvings which have apparently
never been waxed or painted. It is not our intention to apply a
surface treatment for any aesthetic reason; we would be interested
to hear if there is a non-aesthetic argument for applying any
surface coating for the sake of preventive conservation.

Michael Pearce
Conservation Scientist
Historic Scotland


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:61
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 10, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-61-010
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