Removing ink from marble

Suzanne Hargrove <objcons [at] slam__org> writes

>An outdoor Knoxville Marble sculpture was recently vandalized with a
>black felt tip pen.

In a situation similar to yours--magic marker on white marble--I
found that in the end what was most effective was sunlight
bleaching. I tried a number of poultices similar to the ones you are
using; they reduced but did not completely remove the mark.  However
one month in sunlight faded  remaining marks to invisibility.   If
your sculpture is in a location where it receives sunlight you may
find that your residues will fade acceptably.  Good luck,

Julie Unruh
Agora Excavations, Athens


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:36
                 Distributed: Tuesday, November 6, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-15-36-003
                                  ***