Victorian dolls

I am presently considering how to approach the conservation of four
Victorian dolls that have been acquired by Standen, an Arts and
Crafts house that is in the care of the National Trust. Two of them
have hair filled cloth bodies while their heads, shoulders, arms and
legs are made of wax.

Has anyone had experience of conserving these type of dolls, or of
wax objects generally? Perhaps there is some reading matter on wax
conservation that I could be directed towards? The heads are broken
so I am looking for advice on adhesives and fill materials that have
been used by the conservation community.

The other two dolls have kid leather bodies and their heads, arms
and legs are made of bisque. Some repairs are needed to the ceramic
components which I am confident about approaching, while there are
some original rusted iron fittings on the leather body that I
consider need to be removed, as they are staining the leather. I
wonder whether anyone has any useful hints or tips they could pass
on about similar Victorian dolls?

Gill Nason, Conservator


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:20
                 Distributed: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-20-008
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