background
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This research was passed on to me by my dear late mentor Bruno Pouliot. Advancing the silver coating program at Winterthur was one of his greatest legacies in the field of metals conservation. It is a team of individuals at Winterthur that are now carrying on the "silver coating torch," and I am proud to be part of it.
The history of coating silver is excellently described in the following article: Pouliot, et. al. 2013. "Three Decades Later: A Status Report on the Silver Lacquering Program at Winterthur." In AIC OSG Postprints 20: 32-48. This paper was the culmination of a 2011-2013 project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that enabled the research carried out and the re-lacquering of over 500 pieces of silver objects in the Winterthur collection.
In 2016, Winterthur was awarded another grant from the IMLS to carry out Phase II of the project, this time focusing on the re-coating of silver plated objects in the collection. It was during this phase that I became involved in the project. The team consisted of two hired technicians (and conservation rockstars), Katelyn Rovito and Tia Polidori, and the following Winterthur staff: curator of metals Ann Wagner, associate scientist Dr. Rosie Grayburn, conservation assistant William Donnelly, director of conservation Joy Gardiner, and volunteer scientists Dr. Michael Crawford and Dr. Chris Petersen, along with many other people across the institution who provided immense support. |
2016-2019 IMLS Silver II technician Katelyn Rovito with a batch of silver objects awaiting treatment (December 2018).
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current research status
From the many findings that arose during the 2016-2019 IMLS grant-funded project (see White Paper link below), there are also many avenues of research to continue.
- We explored Fiber-Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS) to measure nitrocellulose coating thickness on silver, and we aim to continue by expanding, if possible, to measure thicknesses of coatings typically used on copper alloys.
- In our work to evaluate copper alloy coatings, we conducted an aging study of the UV-fluorescent dye coumarin 6, which we have been adding to nitrocellulose coatings on silver to improve application and limit rate of coating failure; our findings were presented to the metals conservation community at the ICOM-CC Metals Working Group Interim Meeting in Helsinki this past fall.
- In the fall of 2022, we welcomed Alison Chew, a polymer science graduate student at CalPoly, to Winterthur who is helping us study coating interactions with fused plate specifically. This research is backed on data gathered during the 2016-2019 project, and we are collaborating with the metals conservation department at West Dean College and the Departments of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Delaware in order to complete this work.
publications
Grayburn, Rosie, and Lauren Fair. 2022. "A Lacquer to Dye For! Exploring a UV-fluorescent additive for coating application in silver conservation." Poster presented at Metal 2022, Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Metals Working Group, September 4-8, Helsinki, Finland.
Crawford, Michael K., Lauren Fair, Katelyn Rovito, Tia Polidori, and Rosie Grayburn. 2021. “Thickness Measurements of Clear Coatings on Silver Objects using Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 61:2, 71-84.
Polidori, Tia, Katelyn Rovito, Lauren Fair, Rosie Grayburn, Ann Wagner, Michael Crawford. 2019. "Current Silver Treatment Practices at Winterthur: Findings and outcomes from the IMLS grant-funded project 'Conservation of Silver and Copper Alloy Objects, Phase II." Whitepaper, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, December 18.
Grayburn, Rosie, and Ann Wagner. 2019. "A Non-Destructive Toolkit for Silver Plate Identification." In Metal 2019: Proceedings of the Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Metals Working Group, September 2-6, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, edited by Claudia Chemello, Laura Brambilla, and Edith Joseph. ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Polidori, Tia, Katelyn Rovito, and Ann Wagner. 2019. “Reclaiming the Gilded Age for a Tiffany & Company Cigar Stand.” In Silver Magazine, January/February: 18-24.
Polidori, Tia, Katelyn Rovito, and Rosie Grayburn. 2018. "Electroplated Silver During a Re-Lacquering Campaign at Winterthur: Treatment and analytical insights." Poster presented at Material Matters, the 2018 AIC Annual Meeting.
Crawford, Michael K., Lauren Fair, Katelyn Rovito, Tia Polidori, and Rosie Grayburn. 2021. “Thickness Measurements of Clear Coatings on Silver Objects using Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy.” Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 61:2, 71-84.
Polidori, Tia, Katelyn Rovito, Lauren Fair, Rosie Grayburn, Ann Wagner, Michael Crawford. 2019. "Current Silver Treatment Practices at Winterthur: Findings and outcomes from the IMLS grant-funded project 'Conservation of Silver and Copper Alloy Objects, Phase II." Whitepaper, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, December 18.
Grayburn, Rosie, and Ann Wagner. 2019. "A Non-Destructive Toolkit for Silver Plate Identification." In Metal 2019: Proceedings of the Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Metals Working Group, September 2-6, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, edited by Claudia Chemello, Laura Brambilla, and Edith Joseph. ICOM Committee for Conservation.
Polidori, Tia, Katelyn Rovito, and Ann Wagner. 2019. “Reclaiming the Gilded Age for a Tiffany & Company Cigar Stand.” In Silver Magazine, January/February: 18-24.
Polidori, Tia, Katelyn Rovito, and Rosie Grayburn. 2018. "Electroplated Silver During a Re-Lacquering Campaign at Winterthur: Treatment and analytical insights." Poster presented at Material Matters, the 2018 AIC Annual Meeting.