Dear Pest List, Although this message is a bit "off-list", I hope it may be useful as many people who've posted to the list seem to have some connection to the restoration - conservation sector.
Like Maureen McCormick of Princeton University Art Museum who posted to the list last week I'm a "pestlist lurker", though I'm going to rely for a while on the useful archived mailings of the list as I don't often need information on IPM matters. But I was interested to hear about the 'Zephyr skin' on pipe organ parts. I think it's difficult to think of many names that could cause more obfuscation with regard to what an item actually is, but surely 'zephyr skin' is the same as or very similar to 'goldbeaters skin' (goldbeater's skin)? Surely if this is a naturally-derived proteinaceous membrane from an animal, i.e. not a reconstituted film made from animal protein (gelatine), then it's very similar to the goldbeaters skin? When I looked into the origin and modern use of thin protein membranes as part of my work on conservation of parchments I was able to have some insight of the historic use of animal membranes in the butchery industry, where intestinal skins have been both available as a free by-product of the trade, and also widely used historically by it as casings for pulped meat products, e.g. for sausages fresh and smoked, haggis, black pudding, etc. etc. Nowadays these casings tend to be artificially made by breaking down protein and re-constituting the skin with no doubt other items added, see e.g.: http://www.devro.plc.uk/ ; http://www.naturin.de/; and this can allow better control of the size and shelf-life of the casing, etc., but they may not have the same character that may make them suitable for applications like in this case pipe organ parts, or with oboe reeds, etc. (e.g. http://www.howarth.uk.com/). Nevertheless I've always thought that modern technology would have come up with a substitute product. The French term for goldbeaters skin is I understand "feuilles de baudruche". Web searches for goldbeaters skin, feuilles de baudruche, chitterlings, etc. reveal useful information. I did think that the 'zephyr skin' in Carolyn's close-up photo looked a bit more opaque than I'd expect, though the wider view made it looked more translucent, as I'd expect a goldbeater skin to be. To get hold of goldbeaters skin I would always go to Henk de Groot in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, who's a creative parchment maker and whose goldbeater skin prices I've found affordable: http://www.dedas.com/parchment/ He can provide goldbeater skin in 1, 2, or 3 layer thickness (or any thickness you want I should guess), and can supply it alum-tawed also. Sincerely, Dominic Wall ACR, Conservator. Adult & Community Services, Suffolk County Council Suffolk Record Office, Gatacre Road, IPSWICH. IP1 2LQ. United Kingdom. Telephone: +44 1473 584547 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/sro You can help the Suffolk Record Office acquire, preserve and make available the original documents which are the basis of Suffolk's history. To find out more: www.suffolk.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/LocalHistoryAndHeritage/SuffolkRecordOffice/Friends/<http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/LocalHistoryAndHeritage/SuffolkRecordOffice/Friends/> ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: 10 June 2010 20:59 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [pestlist] insect damage on pipe organ puffer pneumatics Carolyn - I've run into this problem in the past. I had one situation where the carpet beetles first fed on the needlepoint kneelers in the sanctuary and then moved into tapestries and finally the the organ itself. The restorer may have used wool felt. In any event, the damage is from carpet beetle larvae; not silverfish. Carpet beetles are found indoors throughout the U.S. and Canada. The larvae feed on any animal protein. The fish-protein glue sounds yummy; if you're a carpet beetle larva. Tom Parker -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, Jun 10, 2010 1:49 pm Subject: [pestlist] insect damage on pipe organ puffer pneumatics Dear Colleagues, I recently had an interesting discussion with someone who specializes in pipe organ restoration. A church in northern New Hampshire recently had their 19th-century pipe organ restored by someone else and then noticed they were having problems caused by failure of the keyboard puffer pneumatics. The person whom I spoke to was then called in to take the organ apart to figure out what was causing the problem. When the organ was taken apart, he discovered that 5 of these puffer pneumatics exhibited small losses that look very much like silverfish damage. The puffer pneumatics are made of wood and are covered by a material known as zephyr skin, which is extremely light weight and typically comes from the intestinal wall of various animals. It is traditionally adhered to the wood with a fish-protein based adhesive. He examined the rest of the organ for any further evidence of insect pest infestation and found none. In all of his years of working on organs, he has never seen insect damage of this kind and he was also surprised to see what appeared to be silverfish damage so far north. Here is a photo of the insect damage under magnification: (Not copied here- See earlier emails) And here is a photo of the pneumatic puffer key itself. It is about 3" long. (Not copied here- See earlier emails) I am a relatively new Vermont resident, and so far have not seen any silverfish here. Although, I definitely saw them when I lived in Boston. I also am used to seeing silverfish damage in paper, but not on skin-based materials such as parchment or vellum. We also both thought it was strange that such a tiny amount of the material was eaten and that no other evidence of insect pest infestation could be found. His hypothesis is that the insects may have been present in the previous restorer's shop (in a more southern location) and that it is unlikely the insects are in the organ's current building in northern New Hampshire. He is also somewhat suspicious that the previous restorer did not use the right materials as the repair "zephyr skin" looks and feels quite different to the zephyr skin he has always used. I have recommended that the church monitor for insect pests with the Catchmaster Insect Traps and Monitors and that they also start monitoring the temperature and relative humidity in the building. All good things to be doing in the first place! Any other thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you, Carolyn Frisa [cid:889250608@14062010-1840] WORKS ON PAPER, LLC 7 The Village Square / P.O. Box 636 Bellows Falls, Vermont 05101 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> www.works-on-paper.net<http://www.works-on-paper.net/> 802.460.1149 = Emails sent to and from this organisation will be monitored in accordance with the law to ensure compliance with policies and to minimise any security risks. The information contained in this email or any of its attachments may be privileged or confidential and is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee. Any unauthorised use may be unlawful. If you receive this email by mistake, please advise the sender immediately by using the reply facility in your email software.
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