Antiques, their restoration and preservation / by A. Lucas.

  • Alfred Lucas
Date:
[1932]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Antiques, their restoration and preservation / by A. Lucas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    116/248 page 112
    plaster,1 the precautions that will be mentioned when dealing with this material2 should be observed. Sometimes on the surface of the gilt there is a characteristic reddish-brown deposit that is confined to the vicinity of cracks and broken edges. Where, this has been tested it has been found to consist largely of an exudation of glue from underneath the gilt, on which there is often what appears to be a fungus growth, and it may be removed by frequent applications of warm water applied with a sponge or soft rag. Iron The fact that iron corrodes readily is a matter of common experience, and rusty iron may be seen almost everywhere. It is very noticeable, too, that on the sea coast iron corrodes more quickly than inland, this being due to the presence of salt. The principal agents responsible for the ordinary rusting of iron are (a) moisture, without which rusting is impossible ; (b) common salt derived from the ground in which the iron has been buried, from sea air or from salt water; and (c) oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air. In order to clean iron, a simple and satisfactory method, when the condition of the object will allow, is first to remove as much of the rust as possible by brushing with a stiff bristle brush, or 1 Termed “ gesso ” by Egyptologists. 2 See p. 185.
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