Decorative painted surfaces on metal

Cynthia Jane Gorman <lu_who [at] hotmail__com> writes

>I am a MA student of Metals Conservation working on my dissertation.
>I just started to carry out a study of painted metal surfaces. ...
>...
>... I am looking for and would greatly
>appreciate any insights, leads to references, articles, books, and
>contacts about conservation solutions and techniques used for
>objects with paint on metal.

During my undergraduate conservation course I had to conserve a very
fragile and corroded painted copper firemark. The object was covered
in the typical green copper patina due to outdoor exposure and
suffered extended paint loss while the surviving paint was in bad
condition. Loose/bulky corrosion was removed mechanically but there
was no attempt to clean the metal as that endangered the sensitive
overlying paint. Removal of surface dirt/dust and loose oxidation
products contributed to lowering the surface pH of the object. Paint
consolidation was carried out only in selected areas using Paraloid
B72 in acetone as the majority of the weathered paint was soluble in
polar solvents. Aqueous consolidants could not be used since
moisture introduction instigated corrosion reactions. Broken metal
pieces were re-attached using Japanese tissue and Paraloid B48N and
the object was coated with 3% BTA in water. Finally the firemark was
placed in an acid-free box lined with Plastazote and covered with
acid free tissue. A fellow student conserving a painted mark in
better condition was able to remove corrosion products that covered
the underlying paint using Prelim paste.

Apart from the above in my MSc Conservation thesis at Cardiff
University I researched and presented the decay mechanism of oil
painted copper artefacts. You can refer to it if you need to know
more on the degradation of the oil paint-copper system. In order to
find more publications on the subject I'd suggest you try the AATA
and also have a look at the following articles/books:

    Horovitz, I. (1996)
    The consolidation of paintings on copper supports.
    In: ICOM-CC 11th Triennial, Edinburgh.

    Heuman, J. (1992)
    Removing corrosion on a painted outdoor bronze sculpture with
    mild chelating agents.
    The Conservator 16.

    Bjarnhof, M. (1987)
    Treatment of paintings on copper supports.
    In: ICOM-CC 8th Triennial Sydney.

    Fiorentino, P. et al. (1982)
    The condition of the Door of Paradise by Ghiberti.
    Studies in Conservation 27.

    Jedrzejewska, H. (1976)
    A corroded egyptian bronze: cleaning and discoveries.
    Studies in Conservation 21.

    Taarnskov, B.(1989)
    Examples of conservation of painted metal objects.
    In: International Restorer seminar, Veszprem Hungary (same book
    has other articles on painted metals).

Lydia-Chara Pavlopoulou
Conservation Scientist
BA (Hons), MSc Conservation
4 Kioutahias Str
Imittos, 17237
Athens, Greece


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:42
                  Distributed: Friday, March 11, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-18-42-011
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