Department Chair

Patrick Ravines

Date of Award

8-2016

Access Control

Open Access

Degree Name

Art Conservation, M.A., C.A.S.

Department

Art Conservation Department

Advisor

Jonathan Thornton

Advisor

Lucy-Anne Skinner

Department Home page

https://artconservation.buffalostate.edu

Abstract

A framed hairwork wreath in the style of mourning art, and belonging to the author, was initially investigated through a Buffalo State College Independent Research Project (CNS-615) to identify and characterize the fabrication materials used in its construction. Thirty-one material samples were collected and analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM), X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF), and X-radiography. Fabrication materials include human hair; textiles are cotton, silk, cuprammonium rayon, and possibly polyester Dacron; dyes contain aluminum, iron, tin, and copper mordants; colorants and pigments are zinc, copper, arsenic, manganese, iron, and smalt. As part of a Senior Specialization Project (CNS-695), and based on historical research and the CNS-615 analytical findings, an appropriate treatment and rehousing protocol was formulated and includes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, surface cleaning treatments, and a proposed method for consolidating the hair and treating the frame. XRF analysis of the frame found the gilding to be brass. XRF and Attenuated Total Reflection (iTR ATR) Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the frame’s varnish contains lead, zinc stearate, an aged oil, and a tree resin. An Oddy test coupled with low-temperature Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (py-GC-MS) analysis of the paper backing board found that it could corrode objects containing lead. Preventive conservation recommendations are also discussed in an effort to safely house and store the object. A creation date of the wreath and frame is estimated between the 1880’s and 1920’s.

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