I am hoping that someone have experience with this material. Object: bright red fragmented seal from a city dig, found in a latrine. It is presumed to be from after 1536 but no specific dating. Still encased in "dirt". It is from Trondheim, Norway. >From what I have read, see my list in the bottom for the articles I have found >useful, the red colour indicates that there may have been used cinnabar, and >the age period would suggest that a shellac and beeswax mix would have been >used. Questions: To treat it I have to dig it out of the lump of latrine filling I have gotten it in, without damaging the pieces. In the articles, they both recommend using turpentine/ethanol and strongly advise against using it. - So what are your experience with solvents on seals? After I have cleaned it (somehow), I wanted to glue it back together and give it some support for when it will be handled. - How would you glue it? What type of wax would you use? I read a lot about buffing the seal as the last step, does that have an effect? - Or do I risk damaging more than I help? -Lastly it was buried in a latrine, so it would have a lot of bacteria and or fungal spores, could I somehow disinfect it from that, to prevent further degradation, and how do I do that? A treatment with ethanol? Leaving it in a stabile low RH environment for a while? Or?
List of articles: Fleetwood, G. (u.d.). The conservation of medieval seals in the swedish riksarkiv. Ross, A., & Robertland, D. (1970). The conservation of non-metallic seals. studies in conservation, ss. 51-62. Woods, C. (1994). The nature and treatment of Wax and shellac seals. Journal of the society of archivist,, s. 12. With regards Thora Gerner Nyborg ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
