The conservation and restoration of wood furniture is an activity dedicated to the preservation and protection of wooden furniture items of historical and personal value. When applied to cultural heritage, this activity is generally performed by conservator-restorer. Furniture conservation and restoration can be divided into two common areas: structure and completion. The structure is generally related to wood and can be divided into solid wood, join, and veneer. The completion of furniture can be painted or transparent.
Furniture has existed for many years of human existence. Very old-fashioned or antique furniture can be preserved or restored so that future generations can also enjoy it for cultural, educational and personal benefits. There are many organizations and guidebooks that can be used to understand the techniques used to save and restore furniture.
Video Conservation and restoration of wooden furniture
Pelestarian
Conservation of furniture is a synthesis of three major efforts, according to the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute:
- Minimization of damage (preservation);
- Merging (stabilizing) existing artifacts;
- Repair/replacement (compensation or recovery) of any damages.
Preventive preservation is a form of conservation recognized here with furniture treatments. The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works states that stripping and refinement furniture is no longer a standard practice. The initial finish is as important as the historic furniture as any other original element. The final layer offers important data to the researcher and is part of the history of the object and once deleted, it can not be recovered. Lifting and replacing the surface is considered a last resort after other conservation methods fail.
Maps Conservation and restoration of wooden furniture
Recovery
Antique Recovery can be a difficult process if the goal is total and complete authenticity. For conservators, authentic material is the original original material of the object. For example: A chair with its original upholstery, even if it is faded and shredded, is authentic to the conservator and has historical value even though it may not be exhibited. The same chair can be "restored" and look as when new, with a replacement cloth copied from original woven and color, and coated in accordance with the design known from a particular piece of furniture; this will represent another type of authenticity.
Original material
Furniture can be divided into several periods dominated by the use of certain wood.
- Until the late 17th century Oak dominated.
- From the mid-seventeenth century, walnuts gradually became the main wood for the outside and the drawers in the best quality pieces with oak still used for the underlying parts.
- In the second quarter of the 18th century, the first mahogany was imported from the West Indies and eventually replaced the walnut.
- In the 1790s, satinwood was popular as exotic decorative wood for the best quality pieces.
- During the Regency period, rosewood wood was dominant.
- But since then no species have dominated.
Furniture can consist of many different components, and extra,:
- Original adhesive
- Upholstery
- Matting and stuffing
- Casters
- Labels
- Trends and stains of original usage and from subsequent periods
- Old dust in the cracks
- Fix hardware and adhesives
- Objects left in drawer or cabinet
- All substitutes
- Carcase (The main structural elements that make up the furniture body)
The upholstered fabric
Dust-lined furniture can be achieved by placing a soft screen on the surface and using an attachment brush on a HEPA vacuum with a soft suction. For further cleaning of upholstered furniture, such as stains, this may most likely require a textile conservatory, in addition to a conservatory with knowledge of wood furniture.
When a conservator-restorer is working in upholstered furniture, it is important for them to consider innovative approaches to reversibility, maximum preservation of information, and the use of stable chemicals. Treatment can produce objects that are visible indistinguishable from traditional coated furniture, but the actual means of attachment do not include nails or staples that puncture wood. Velcro makes it possible to inspect the carcass of furniture without damaging any part of the treatment. When furniture is treated using this technique, the stuffing is usually replaced with Ethafoam engraved with the appropriate shape. The resulting object has a seat that looks like the original, but is not "sittable."
American furniture from the mid-nineteenth century may receive new coatings every thirty years. Sometimes a new cloth is placed on top of the old one, and at other times the worn coating is removed completely before the new cover is applied. Conservator-restorers can sometimes find the original fiber proof yarn on the seat frame, usually around the tack hole. This can guide them to create original seats reproduction if the original fabric is not available.
Chair Marie Antoinette
The Victoria and Albert Museum has a case study on their website about the description of conservation treatments made on the chair of Marie Antoinette in preparation for exhibition at a new European gallery to be opened later in 2015. This chair was made in 1788 by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Senà © © (1748-1803). The seats have been re-coated several times, re-coated and re-coated. The last intervention was in the 1970s when the fabric was covered in blue cloth and partly painted a grayish blue.
Varnish
Synthetic lacquer, cellulose nitrate, was developed in the 1850s but was not available in formulations suitable for commercial furniture until the late 1920s. Unfortunately, cellulose nitrate changes color and becomes brittle due to age, so over time, the coating on furniture can turn yellow and opaque. It can also penetrate in some places by the network of fine cracks or varnishes can fall completely. The initial date and scarcity of this original layer make it important to maintain varnish on the furniture despite this problem.
In a case study of the wardrobe with this condition from the 1930s from The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts: "Conservators use a more stable synthetic resin, a type of acrylic copolymer dissolved in a solvent, to consolidate the attenuated area of the original varnish without significantly altering the glossiness of the end result or the color. To give a consistent overall finish, they color a portion of the same color solution as the nitrate old cellulose to fill some of the more booming losses In the future, the new varnish will not easily removed, if it can be eliminated altogether, but the synthetic resin used by the conservator is known to have good aging properties. "
Terms
The following is a list of Wood Requirements to describe the conditions, as suggested by MRM5: Museum 5 Registration Methods:
Alligatoring: A series of hairline cracks in old lacquer, creating a crocodile look in hiding.
Checking: Little gaps between the wooden cells that create patterns like dams. Found where the wood is cut straight across the grain for engraving, as in foot-and-claw foot.
Dry rot: A decay of spiced wood caused by a fungus that consumes wood cellulose, leaving a soft skeleton easily reduced to a powder.
Shrinkage: Loss of mass or size in response to relatively dry humidity conditions.
Preventable Damage
Preventive preservation is the best form of conservation you can do for furniture without a scientific conservation title.
Environmental impact
Uncontrolled environments may cause veneer release, cracking, and flaking.
Light
Light easily leads to waning of color. Light is a major concern for furniture because stains and wood colors are particularly vulnerable to natural and artificial light.
Relative temperature and humidity
To prevent cracks and veneer cracks, avoid placing furniture near the radiator, heat vents or other areas where the relative temperature and humidity (RH) fluctuate widely. Relative stable humidity is essential for furniture because rapid changes cause different parts of the object to expand and contract at different levels and to different degrees. If the relative humidity of more than 60% of fungi, such as mold and mildew, will be rampant in wooden furniture. The recommended range for wood furniture is 45% -55% RH.
Impact of RH change on wood furniture:
Low RH
- Timber shrink and separate
- The joints become saggy and the elements no longer firmly consolidate
- Layers and inlays suffer - If shrinking carcasses cracks will appear in the layer and the inlays become loose
- When glue holds it fails, veneer coatings
- Causes poles to shrink, craze and flake
High RH
- Swelling can cause moving parts such as cabinet doors or chest of drawers
- If the glue fails, veneer peels
- Corrosion affects spikes that hold objects in place, metal layers and stuffing
- Insects and rots thrive when wood content rises
The rapid and constant cycling of RH fluctuations causes the greatest damage to all of the above to create rapid structural weakness.
Pests
The common furniture pest is a powder beetle, less than a quarter of an inch long, which lays its eggs in small cracks. Insect larvae hide in the forest, creating a tunnel network as they feed along the granules. When they mature to adulthood, they come out of the forest leaving the hole "out" or "fly" and fly to lay eggs, complete the cycle. Photos to the right ---
Here is another case study of the early 19th century bed with a woodworm infestation from The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:
"To protect the bed from damage and prevent pests from spreading to other works of art, it is very important to treat the new acquisition before entering the building.The conservator actually seals the bed in a giant impermeable pouch and puts oxygen inside the case, scavengers made of particles The iron reacts quickly with oxygen, binding the gas itself and thereby removing it from the air. With the right amount of scavengers in a closed environment, the conservator carries oxygen down from normal air, a rate of 20 percent to less than 0.1 percent. about four weeks in detention, all the woodworms at all stages of life are choked.Then objects can be safely taken to the Museum.There are no toxic chemicals involved in the treatment, and conservators throw away the scavengers that are safely spent. "
Handle and move furniture
Perhaps the biggest cause of furniture damage is people because of misuse and mismanagement, creating physical damage. Always put on clean cotton gloves and handle as few objects as possible. Check furniture whether there is any damage or loose connection before moving it. Remove objects from the surface and then remove drawers, shelves, and doors. Elements that can not be removed must be secured with a soft cloth strap.
As well as structural damage, dents, surface wear, scratches, stains and wax from candles are all evidence of past usage. Water splashed from repeated floor washing, or spilled from floral displays damages the bare or glossy surface, most often leaving a white mark. The cups and glasses leave the 'ring' on the polished surface. Spilled alcohol will remove the polished surface almost instantaneously.
Furniture treatment
For the most part, maintaining furniture means keeping it clean, with care.
Clean
Furniture oil is not recommended for maintenance because it contains lots of flax seed oil or other drying oil, and when used repeatedly will create a smooth and insoluble surface coating that darkens and obscures wood grain. Other furniture polish contains oil that does not dry like lemon oil, but pulls and traps dirt and grime. Silicone polishers are also discouraged because they leave films that are difficult to remove and can interfere with future future treatments.
Tools for furniture care
The Hammond-Harwood House and City of Bowie Museum Collector Series The Corner Workshop provides resources on Cleaning and Maintenance Furniture that deals with furniture cleaning tools and techniques.
- Oil-free nitrile gloves
- Cotton fabrics
- Synthetic fabrics, "Fab Cloth" and "Preserve-It"
- Brush, "Hake" or "Windsor-Newton" brush
- Distilled water
- Scrub adhesive glue, "Titebond Liquid Hide Glue," "Old Brown Glue"
- Cotton, balls, or wool
- Brush cleaner, "The Master's"
- Paste or candle butcher, "Butcher," "Johnson," "Goddard's," and "Trewax,"
The Canadian Conservation Society recommends that Micro crystal wax (whitespace candles with no aroma and color-free available in specialty equipment stores) be used to enhance the final gloss, which will facilitate the removal of fingerprints. Do this only once a year and only to the surface that is handled, be careful to avoid the buildup of wax around metal equipment.
Education
The Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute has a graduate level study program of the Conservation Furniture Training Program established in 1986.
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library sponsors two graduate programs with The University of Delaware. The Winterthur program at American Material Culture, founded in 1952, and the Winterthur-University of Delaware Program at Art Conservation were founded in 1974.
Organizations dedicate to the conservation and restoration of furniture
- The American Institute for the Preservation of Historical and Artistic Works
- The Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (MCI)
- The Canadian Conservation Society
- Sustaining Places: Resources for Small Museums and Historic Sites
- Connect to Care Collection, Online Community
- National Park Service Museum Management Program
- The Getty Conservation Institute
- Department of Conservation Victoria and Albert Museum
See also
- Furniture
- Conservation science
- Collection care
- Conservator-restorer
- Preventive preservation
- Textile conservator
References
External links
Video: Winterthur Museum, Treatment in Handling, Chapter 6, Furniture and Wood Materials Published on 30th of Oct 2013. Training videos at the Winterthur Museum demonstrate how to safely handle and work with antique furniture in the Living environment museum.
Using basic keyword searches for furniture, Meet Publications on the website The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a very instant resource for reading or downloading publications about furniture.
One can access the National Parks Museum Handbook through their website. This handbook consists of three parts: Museum Collections, Museum Records, and Museum Collection Use.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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