Conserving New York's Suffrage Wagon

The journeys of historical artifacts often take many twists and turns; their stories become embellished and some undergo physical changes that make deciphering their histories all the more challenging. In honor of Women’s History Month, we thought it would be interesting to share the conservation challenges of a wagon that was used by the New York State Suffrage Association to advance the cause of women’s right to vote in the early 20th century.

The treated wagon as on display at the New York State Museum. The
later letting 'Sprit of 1776' can  be easy seen

In June of 1913, the Association received the wagon as a gift from the I.S. Remson Manufacturing Company in Brooklyn for use in suffrage parades in New York City and Long Island. The wagon was said to have a Revolutionary War pedigree, although that story has not been corroborated. After the right to vote was successfully achieved, the wagon was retained by the Kearns family who accepted it on behalf of the Association until it eventually made its way to the New York State Museum by way of the short-lived Museum of Women in Manhattan. A side panel on the wagon is painted with the lettering, "Spirit of 1776," the name Edna Buckman Kearns is said to have named the vehicle, according to her great-granddaughter. Was this because of the unfounded pedigree? We'll likely never know.

The wagon when on parade. The lettering visible
in the image can only faintly seen, but still
present (see the image below).

The wagon, accurately termed a New England Pleasure Wagon, received conservation treatment by Gwen Spicer and Ron duCharme in 2000, with the goal of stabilizing it for exhibit. The treatment focused on the three materials used in the wagon’s construction – the wood wheels, axles, and body; the body's painted surfaces; and the iron springs, wheel hubs and rims.

Inadequate storage and exposure to weather take their toll on wood and painted surfaces. Dry rot, shrinkage, warping and crumbling paint are common problems. In the case of the wagon, they were compounded by grease, oil and bird guano.

A thorough cleaning required removing the wood body and wheels from the carriage. What was left of the lettering on the wagon body’s sides needed to be protected to prevent further paint loss during the remainder of the cleaning process. This was achieved by consolidating the painted surfaces with a dilute solution of Acryloid B-72, applied by brush. Dirt and soil could then be removed from the body with diluted detergent and water. Grease and oil on the running gear were cleaned with mineral spirits.

The wagon during the stabilization of the painted regions. At
least two campaigns of  paint are present. The '6' of 1776 can
be seen in the image above.

A separated side panel was glued back into place and small wood losses and missing molding were reproduced, glued in place and toned. Plaster fill from a previous restoration was removed.

All heavily corroded metal components were cleaned with brass bristle brushes, degreased with mineral spirits and then coated with magnesium phosphyl in order to chelate the metal before being painted with dilute black enamel.

The uneven color of the wood surfaces was evened out by brushing on water-soluble aniline dye. A final protective application of dilute Acryloid B-72 in xylene was thinly applied to all surfaces by spray gun and a second thin-layer was applied to heavily weathered areas.

Despite its centuries of use, the Suffrage Wagon has earned its place in history. It can no longer withstand prolonged stress and most certainly cannot hold people or be pulled any distance. For long-preservation, the recommended temperature is between 60-70 F, and relative humidity between 40-55%. Light levels should be between 5 and 10 footcandles.

Additional Resources

Bill Bleyer. Women's groups petition NY state museum to display LI suffrage leader's wagon.    Newsday.  June 27, 2015. Accessed March 23, 2018.

Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute. Preserving and Restoring Furniture Coatings. Accessed March 23, 2018.

When Water Strikes, It's a Freezer to the Rescue!

Unusually warm temperatures last week have caused rivers and creeks in our area to swell, flooding low-lying areas. Earlier this winter the River Seine rose to flood stage, causing the Louvre to implement emergency protocols and close its lower level.

When a water disaster strikes a textile collection or organic collection, a humble freezer can become an institution's best friend. Subjecting items to a deep freeze will halt bacterial and fungal activity and give an institution time to develop a remediation and conservation plan. Procedures for freezing textiles should be a part of any organization's disaster plan.

No natural water disaster or leak is too small or large for a freezer to be helpful.

And the faster the response time, the better.

It is important to place the textiles into the freezer as soon as possible to minimize mold growth. Ideally, items should be wrapped in plastic with minimal folds or overlaps, thus creating a larger surface area. Interleave fabric layers with freezer or waxed paper to prevent dye transfer.

Attached labels added to the packages

Items should be spaced apart from each other to promote rapid freezing, preferable in separate packages. Insure that the package are labeled with information about the artifact, including the accession number. The more information included the better since it might be a while until they can be addressed. Do not rely on your memory of what is inside.

           

Fabric layers are separated with freezer or waxed paper 

            

Previously frozen textiles await cleaning

                         

Water damaged textiles can then be removed from a freezer and quickly wet cleaned.

In consultation with a conservator a proposal can be developed to treat the water-damaged textiles.

Additional Resources

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. "Salvaging Water Damaged Textiles."  Accessed February 15, 2018.

Connecting to Collections Care. Video, "Salvage of Water Damaged Textiles." Source: Video demonstration of salvaging wet textiles – Preservation Australia. Accessed February 15, 2018.

FEMA Fact Sheet. "Salvaging Water-Damaged Family Valuables and Heirlooms."  Accessed February 24, 2018.

National Park Service. Conserv-O-Gram, "Salvage at a Glance, Part V." 2003. Accessed February 15, 2018.

What is Magnetized Stainless Steel?

If you don't know it by now, we at Spicer Art Conservation think about magnets a lot. And with Gwen's book, Magnetic Mounting for Art Conservation and Museums (to be published by Archetype later this year), we like to share what we're discovering about their properties and applications.

The other day a client called about how to mount an artifact in their institution using magnets. We worked out a system where counter-sunk disc magnets would be secured to the wall allowing the artifact to be held in place with thin stainless steel discs. The registrar proceeded to order the supplies. She called back a few minutes later asking, "what is magnetized stainless steel?" and then stated, "but stainless steel is not magnetic!"

As it turns out stainless steel is not just one metal, but instead is composed of a group of metals or alloys. All of the metals in this group are magnetic, except one. The confusion lays in the fact that the non-magnetic type of stainless steel called "austenitic" is the most commonly used stainless steel for producing domestic products, and thus it is the type of stainless steel that we are most familiar with. (An example is stainless steel utensils/flatware that have 18-20% of chromium and 8-10% nickel, which is not magnetic.) 

When nickel is added, as with the utensils/flatware example above, stainless steel becomes non-magnetic and its anti-rust properties are enhanced. The more nickel the greater the corrosion resistance. But, its presence also causes the stainless steel to be non-magnetic. This stainless steel is the austenitic type.

The stainless steel alloy has at least 10.5% chromium. It is the added chromium that creates the protective layer of chromium oxides on the surface that prevents the development of iron oxide rust. It is the added chromium that makes the metal both rust and scratch resistant, and with the increase of chromium, resistance is also increased. Chromium can make up as much as a quarter of the weight.

Magnetic stainless steel is based on the amounts of alloying elements as described above as well as on the grain structure and the amount of cold working. Another interesting fact is that austenitic type stainless steel with a low amount of nickel can be reverted to a magnetic type when cold hardened. However, it is true that the metal has a crystalline structure that has a lower magnetic permeability than just steel alone.

The odd thing you might now being asking is, "But nickel is ferromagnetic! How can it NOT be magnetic?" Therefore, you would think that when nickel is added to iron and chromium it would be even more magnetic. But this is not the case! Why this happens is based on the different atomic arrangements between face-centered cubic (FCC) and body-centered cubic (BCC) -- austenitic with nickel and ferritic without nickel, respectively.

 

Face-centered cubic (FCC)                        Body-centered cubic (BCC)

Therefore, if you want a ferromagnetic material that will not easily corrode and has a thin profile, stainless steel is a great option for that magnetic system.

Learn more about magnets and their many uses in the new publications Magnetic Mounting Systems for Museums and Cultural Institutions. Available for purchase at www.spicerart.com/magnetbook.

Conservation and Mounting for the Exhibition of an 18th Century Silk Officer's Sash

What do you do when you are asked to perform the seemingly impossible? You bring in the troops.

Much of conservation and museum work is about team work. Spicer Art Conservation, LLC recently completed a project that encompassed the conservation and mounting of 28 military artifacts. (you might be reading more about these artifacts in upcoming future blogs, and if you missed it, check out our recent blog that discussed just the hats that were treated in the project: "Conserving, Storing, and Mounting Hats").

Left: The Silk Sash as it appeared before treatment.

Above: A close up of the weave structure of the Silk Sash. Sprang weave is unique, and while the sash may appear to be a knitted textile, upon close examination, it is not.






For this particular artifact, the curators from the owning institution desired that the Silk sprang-weave Officer's Sash would be mounted as it was worn by the officer. The difference between this request, and other more traditional mannequin based mounts, is that the sash was to be mounted alone, without any other artifact. Instead the sash would be displayed on a singular, custom designed and fabricated, three-dimensional mount that appeared to float in midair.

The sketch that showed the original display idea of the curators.

We were given a sketch of the concept (see above) and the rest was ours to design and execute. Luckily, we were working with the very talented staff of Brigid Mountmaking on this project. A member of their group, Deanna Hovey, came to the studio and we soon worked out an idea. The mount would meet the needs of the curator's display concept, and at the same time, would provide full support of the long sash. The mount would then be fabricated by Deanna and brought back to Spicer Art Conservation later for covering with show fabric, and a final fitting of the sash.

Deanna Hovey (left) of Brigid Mount Makers and Gwen Spicer (right) of
Spicer Art Conservation, LLC work to design a mount to provide support
for the 18th century sash, and to meet the display needs of the exhibit curators.

Once Brigid Mountmaking fabricated the mount, it returned to
Spicer Art Conservation. The team worked to carefully mount the Silk Sash.
Above the photo shows how the sash is supported by first being folded
around one side of the "yin and yang" mount halves. The sash then is
supported at the rear (bottom of photograph above, and detail in photo below)
with another piece that holds it securely in place. The mount is supported
on ethafoam blocks to provide easy manipulation of the mount.

The rear of the display mount has a fully supportive contoured
back support which holds the sash securely in place with overall
pressure between the soft surfaces. The long rod that sticks out
of the back will secure the mount on to the display deck.

The bottom of the mount shows the hardware and metal securing
components. Notice that all metal pieces are perfectly toned
to match the color of the show fabric. 

The sash was fully supported because of the method it was placed within and wrapped around the custom mount. But as that the actual duration of the exhibit was not fully known, additional anchoring stitches were placed at the waist. This was a safety feature to ensure that the effects of gravity would be lessened. Of course the stitches were carefully placed so as not to penetrate the yarns of the sash, rather they anchor loops of the stitches to the mount.

The finished treatment. The Silk Sash is securely mounted in a free-hanging display.

The display of this sash was a different approach than the way other silk officer's sashes that have been prepared for exhibit at Spicer Art Conservation, LLC. These sashes are amazingly stretchy (thanks to the sprang-weave) and much like this one, appeared on American officer's waists as early as the Revolutionary War. In fact, we have treated officer's sashes from the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. If you would like to know more about officer's sashes, check out our blog post that discusses them in depth, particularly the characteristics of sashes from different eras and conflicts: "How do you know? Dating a War of 1812 Sash".

____________________________
Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.  

Look for Gwen's book, "Magnetic Mounting for Art Conservators and Museums",  to be released in 2018.

Why do polyester fibers attach so well to wool?

Here at Spicer Art Conservation, LLC, we are finishing the treatment of several wool uniforms from several military conflicts. The uniforms were stabilized, then mannequins were custom made for all of them. As all conservators do, we keep our work space clean and tidy, vacuuming on a regular basis. However, no matter what we do, those pesky polyester fibers find themselves on the surface of the wool uniforms. And to make matters worse, they are not easy to remove. Why is this?

White polyester fibers on black wool. Why do they attach so well!?

Well, with my research on magnetic systems, I have been investigating various issues regarding the materials that are frequently placed and used within the magnetic system, other wise known as the "gap". How these materials behave is related to many things, the topography, friction, cohesion, and static charge of the materials. All have an additional influence on how the magnetic system functions. In the mentioned scenario, several of these things have a role.

Where I am going with this, is that when materials are in contact with one another, they share electrons, which assists with the cohesion of materials to one another. The amount of sharing from one material to the other is related to their placement on the Triboelectric series.

The Triboelectric series? What is that?

Well, it is a ranking of materials in the order of their propensity to gain or lose electrons. It is based on the conductivity of the individual materials as seen in the table below. How it works is if two materials in contact are neighbors on the scale, there is less exchange. But if they are far apart, no matter where they lie on the scale, exchange occurs.

Schematic of electron exchange when two different materials are in
contact and then separated. The extent of this exchange is based
on the materials placement on the Triboelectric series.

To go back to the wool uniform and polyester fibers: referencing the chart below, notice how wool is neutral, close to cotton? It is not too often that I find myself trying to remove cotton fibers from wool. But, polyester is far away from neutral on the scale!

So the next time you find yourself complaining about the challenges of polyester fiber removal, do not blame the wool, blame those electrons!

Table: Material order of the Triboelectric series.

Charge	Material	Notes
+++	Air
	Polyurethane foam
	Hair
	Nylon, Dry skin	Dry skin has the greatest tendency to give up electrons and becoming highly positive in charge.
	Glass
	Acrylic, Lucite
+	Leather
	Rabbit's fur	Fur is often used to create static electricity.
	Quartz
	Mica
	Lead	Surprisingly close to cat fur.
	Cat's fur
	Silk
	Aluminum
	Paper
	Cotton	Best for non-static clothes
	Wool
NEUTRAL
	Steel	Not useful for static electricity
	Wood	Attracts some electrons, but is almost neutral
	Amber
	Sealing wax
	Polystyrene
	Rubber balloon
	Resins
	Hard rubber
	Nickel, Copper
	Sulfur
	Brass, Silver
	Gold, Platinum
	Acetate, Rayon
	Synthetic rubber
	Polyester
	Styrene & Polystyrene	Why packing peanuts seems to stick to everything.
-	Plastic wrap
	Polyethylene
	Polypropylene
	Vinyl, PVC
	Silicon
	Teflon	Teflon has the greatest tendency of gathering electrons on its surface and becoming highly negative in charge.
	Silicone rubber
- - -	Ebonite

_____________________________
Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.

Learn more about magnets and their many uses in the new publications Magnetic Mounting Systems for Museums and Cultural Institutions. Available for purchase at www.spicerart.com/magnetbook.