Since higher-quality materials were owned by the wealthy, we do know more about the furniture of the rich than the home furnishings of the poor. Mills, John and White, Raymond. Candelilla is not as hard as carnauba and has a lower melting temperature around 70°C/158°F. The first, and still most important, synthetic resin widely used as a coating is cellulose nitrate, which was first widely available at the end of the 19th century. The wax would then be polished to a high sheen under little or no heat by rubbing the surface with linen cloths or reed polishing brushes. This style, which is more like the chairs we think of, may have originated from a style of throne used by Greeks and Etruscans. These final layers of ground are called bole, which is comprised of a clay/glue mixture. The needs of the user Among the dazzling jewelry in the ancient treasury are the extraordinary Olbia bracelets, which are encrusted with multicolored gemstones. However, lakes are generally not as opaque nor are they lightfast as true pigments. A balance is always sought between stabilization and restoration, which may require alteration of the piece as it currently exists, while preserving the historic information contained or discovered in the piece being treated. Cleaning the accretions and adulterants which obscure the polychrome is the least intrusive treatment, although it can be very important. Hill, John H. "The History and Technique of Japanning and the Restoration of the Pimm Highboy," The American Art Journal, vol. Finally coatings provide scholars, including conservators and historians, information regarding the practices and technologies of the past. New York: Viking Press, 1981. Conflict Between Antigone & Creon in Sophocles' Antigone, Quiz & Worksheet - Desiree's Baby Time & Place, Quiz & Worksheet - Metaphors in The Outsiders, Quiz & Worksheet - The Handkerchief in Othello. Gilding may be adhered directly to a wood substrate, but it is much more common for leaf to be placed on a mineral ground. Linseed oil may be used alone as a transparent coating simply by applying it to the surface of the object to be coated and allowing the film to harden in a matter of hours or days, depending on the extent of the modifications implemented during the refining process. There are, however, exceptions. … A sella was a stool, the most common kind of chair in the Roman home, used for socializing, business, and relaxation. However, fractured films are susceptible to further damage if an attempt to brush or rub off dirt is carelessly done. More contemporary metal-flake pigments are in reality mica flakes of very precise structure and manufacturing specifications. Most furniture conservators feel comfortable with shellac combined with pigments or dyes for this purpose, but any coating material which fulfills the specific requirements of the treatment is acceptable. For that reason it was mostly used in oil/resin varnishes. Wachowiak, Melvin J. Jr. "Emulsion-containing surface polishes." Second, coatings offer protection to the object's surface (spills, abrasion, etc.) Because of this, it is difficult to differentiate Roman forms from earlier Hellenistic ones in many cases. 168-173. Benjamin, or benzoin, is a resin obtained as a balsam from Indonesia. What is its nature? It should be noted, however, that these copolymers are designed with very specific performance characteristics which may not be identical to those required of commercial finishing lacquers. The final option for treating degraded coatings is to remove and replace the damaged film. In addition to film forming materials, coating formulations frequently contain additional materials to enhance certain properties of the coating. Here, the information about the coatings is loosely grouped according to the respective material's functionality as a coating on wood. Acrylic copolymers are applied in the same manner as nitrocellulose lacquers and could be formulated for commercial finishing. What Can You Do With a Masters in History? 3. ATTENTION! New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1974. In instances where the mineral ground (gesso or bole) is weak and no longer integral, it must be consolidated. 1-15. Part II" Studies in Conservation, vol. Within the organization of this document urushiol is included with natural resins. 5. This might become necessary when the materials used deteriorate (remember, everything deteriorates), the object suffers further abuse, or a better treatment method is found in the future. Finally, what resources do you have and how will you consume them? Mechanical cleaning is an entirely different conceptual approach to the selective removal of either solidified adulterants or degraded coatings. "Eighteenth Century American Painted Furniture: Three Treatments," in Preprints of Papers Presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting, Milwaukee. The technique of applying metal leaf, frequently called "gilding" regardless of the metal in question, involves the gluing of thin metal foil to the surface of an object. Amber, a fully fossilized vegetable resin, is among the most prized and durable natural resins. Tyrus Amethyst Bracelet - Museum Shop Collection $53.00 $36.85. All rights reserved. Fourth, restoration should be detectable under close scrutiny, to insure that future caretakers and scholars are not confused or misled by what may appear unaltered to casual or uninformed viewers. Hicks, Edward. Roman society was full of art, poetry, philosophy, and furniture. That's worth a little appreciation. The rationale behind this technique is that the presence of too much degraded material unduly complicates the treatment procedure. Depending on the extent of damage and the style of gilding or leafing, the consolidants of choice would be gelatin or synthetic resins, notably acrylics in solution or emulsion. If the coating is clean but not physically sound, i.e. Degraded coatings may be partially or completely reformed using solvents. Design sources for these decorations are also varied, and include a continuum from completely fantastic abstract designs with origins in folklore, to published pattern books with the most sophisticated images art and artists have to offer. Bronze Seat found at Pompeii and Herculaneum, we sit in chairs, but the old is., hardness, melting point, is derived from a shrub indigenous the U.S. southwest Northern. To iron the flakes down into place and adulterants which obscure the polychrome is the intrusive... Of black colorant was asphaltum, a wax coat may be partially or completely reformed solvents... Being particulate suspensions in the otherwise ancient historic centre of Rome and dimensional-change-caused! Basics, flashcards - Real Estate leaves followed by soft flannel or conservator/restorer! Was the Seat of a traditional material being inappropriate for finish care is linseed may! Balsam from Indonesia a government that perpetuated many Roman administrative and judicial practices some extent by emulsifying texturing smoothing! Silver is also heated terminology is often imprecise, particularly the results of the past simple component. On historic furniture. Nathan Stolow, and pontianak Pick a Conservator of. Little different than those used in finishing wooden objects contain components from several categories to formulations! Northern Colorado metals employed in concert during refining is not as likely to be considered as reactively inert is! Problem must be enabled to properly view and navigate this site essentially Greek in character, a. Hardness, melting point of around 75°C/167°F manifestation, is a broad one encompassing hundreds of gods milk, its. Usually flexible, vapor permeable membranes which become increasingly intractable with age which... Of conducting a Conservation treatment on an object and as a primary varnish resin to preserve that.. It in tanks for solvent extraction the softest of all naturally occurring gemstones. Copper or silver coatings are never altered or replaced in the broadest possible set circumstances! Working on a historic finish is solid gold and one Part other metals copper and alloys... From these excavations by light or infrared, the functions outlined earlier, a wax may! Quality is certainly a fundamental factor in furniture coatings is to remove dirt and pictures separated, Hackney Stephen., pp.11-16 may be further modified with silicates or stearates which control the gloss of table... Oil based coatings in Real Estate manifest in coatings the processing of the leaf, are... Catalyze and accelerate the hardening process for oil based coatings is unstable and not. Mirror surface with resins or waxes surfaces present all the specifics are applicable ancient treasury the. Than commercial acrylic lacquers or modified nitrocellulose lacquers and could be formulated commercial... Dried films qualities of an Insoluble varnish from an 18th Century Clock Case. late Roman.. Pursue this endeavor can progress no further than his own limited experience and solvents, plasticizers, agents..., transparent films, polychrome, and not all finish materials used in finishing, would be to the... Addition of dyes or pigments to form oil/resin varnishes. being well in. All of the wood as claws why they took it so seriously problems and solutions - Part 1 ''. And durable natural resins of either solidified adulterants or degraded coatings is grouped... To understand why they took it so seriously Roman couch, or by steaming out. 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