Early phenol-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde plastics

I have acquired a badly damaged (cracks, losses) art deco Reliure
Jotau industrial molded "Bakelite" bookbinding. While these bindings
are always referred to as made of Bakelite I believe, based on the
unpainted but rather colorful plastic, that they are perhaps made of
a urea-formaldehyde  plastic. Can anyone suggest a relatively simple
and non-destructive test for distinguishing between urea- and
phenol-formaldehyde plastics? Can anyone direct me to recent studies
of the conservation of early phenol- and urea-formaldehyde plastics?
Can anyone direct me to sources of information on the original
Reliure Jotau manufacture?

James Tapley


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:33
                 Distributed: Sunday, January 23, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-18-33-025
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