Conservator sought for taxidermy collection

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    The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC)
    has a service called the AIC Guide to Conservation Services,
    which will help you find a conservator in a particular specialty
    and geographic area.

        American Institute for Conservation
        1717 K Street, NW, Suite 200
        Washington, DC 20006
        202-452-9545
        Fax: 202-452-9328
        info [at] aic-faic__org
        <URL:http://aic.stanford.edu/>

I have been contacted by and expatriate Australian living in Wichita
Kansas USA. The nearest other big towns would be Kansas City,
Missouri (MI), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (OK), Perhaps even Dallas
Texas (TX). She requires a local conservator to further assist in
preparing her wild life collection for long term storage (several
years). I have raised the many issues with long term storage and she
is interested in getting it right. The following information was
provided by her.

Materials prepared in South Africa: The taxidermy for these pieces
was done by a well known, reputable taxidermy studio in South Africa
<URL:http://www.taxidermy.co.za/>. The mounts were completed on
solid foam life-form cores, this includes the head of the zebra rug.
We do not know what tanning process was used for the hides.  Several
of the flat skin hides are attached (sewn) to felt, also including
the zebra rug. There are also several skull and horn mounts, where
the skulls were bleached and mounted to wood plaques. Specimens
include gemsbok, kudu, impala, and zebra;
flat skins attached to felt: zebra, Springbok; flat skins not
attached to felt: wildebeest skull and horn mounts: wildebeest,
Springbok, zebra (not mounted on wood).

Materials prepared in North America: The taxidermy for these pieces
was done in the USA.  The mounts were completed on solid foam
life-form cores.  However, we don't know any other details.  There
are also some antler mounts on wood plaques and flat skins.
Specimens include pronghorn antelope, mink; antler mounts: whitetail
deer, Rocky Mountain elk; flat skins: whitetail deer, Rocky Mountain
elk.

I am seeking conservators local to her, who will be able to view the
collection and assist with sourcing materials in her area. She will
need assistance preparing, packing and crating the collection.

Victoria Gill
Textile Conservator
PO Box 7257
Duffy ACT 2611
+61 2 62871291


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:44
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 16, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-19-44-018
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