Wax seals

Joanne Williamson <jowillia [at] ksbe__edu> writes

>I am trying to find a responsible way to stabilize wax seals on the
>bottom inside page of 4 page documents. (Two 18 x 14 inch sheets,
>folded)  These documents are  royal patents from the Hawaiian
>Kingdom and are dated circa 1850 through 1890. ...

I would suggest for each unit you carve, or otherwise carefully
fabricate a wedge out of some acid free board material or even a
inert foam material. Its dimensions should allow it to fit exactly
the into folded document--with the knife edge of the wedge at the
top at the fold of the bottom or back page of the (folded) forms. At
the lower edge is the thick end of your wedge, which must be just
slightly thicker than the thickest portion of the seal. In this
thick area a cutout is made congruent to the seal, to accommodate
the volume and shape of that seal. Finally affix some material such
as glassine to the outer surface of the entire wedge to protect the
adjacent page of the document, this creates a pocket for the seal
and protects the facing page. You may want to drill some venting
holes from the bottom edge of the wedge to the wall of the seal
cavity to allow climate controlled atmosphere exchange.

Victor  vonReventlow
Conservator of furniture, Painted wood Panels, Fellow of AIC
Private practice
Sequim, Washington USA, 360-681-5455


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:34
                 Distributed: Friday, November 22, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-16-34-014
                                  ***