My name is Sarah Giffin and I am an assistant conservator for a private art conservation studio in Los Angeles. I'm currently working on the conservation of a large number of Tiffany lamps for a private institution, and I was wondering if there is anyone on the DistList who has experience with the manufacture of Tiffany lamps and/or their cleaning. There are a couple of perplexing condition issues with the lamps, and since this is my first time undertaking their conservation, I am wary about their removal. The first issue is tenacious copper corrosion on the caming, and it is unclear about whether or not it is manufacturer applied patina or active corrosion. Most perplexing is what appears to be a widespread and very persistent thin yellow encrustation that covers both the inside and outside surfaces of the glass. The only thing that seems to remove it is ethanol and manual scraping with a scalpel, but when it is removed the color of the glass is significantly more vibrant. Does anyone have experience with accretions like this, or know what it is? I've tested everything from solvents, detergents, weak acids, and latex peels, and ethanol is the only thing that even remotely starts to remove it without scraping.
Any advice would be much appreciated. -- Sincerely, *Sarah Giffin, MScAssistant Conservator* ROSA LOWINGER AND ASSOCIATES CONSERVATION OF ART + ARCHITECTURE Direct: 805.444.9496 [email protected] www.rlaconservation.com ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Archives through August 2016 at http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/ Archives from September 2016 onward at https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
