Well, now you've opened a can of worms.  :)  The piece is actually on display/on exhibit in a potato cellar (it is also used as a demonstration area), a building that is of course not climate-controlled.  I am lucky to actually have some buildings that are, but not this one.  Although I should think that the temperature stays more constant than it might in other buildings.  The piece is used to process potatoes.  The knives are sticking straight up in holders.  I am afraid to even take the knives out they are so rusty and stuck, I might break them.  

Plastic was the only thing I could think of that you could see through and wouldn't be so obvious, but I am up for alternate suggestions.  I am worried if people can't see what is in them, they will try to take the covers off.  There are rope barriers, but that's it.

Covering it with plex like you mentioned was going to be my back up plan if I couldn't come up with anything better.  

I'm glad to give my colleagues something with which they can rack their brains, because I'm racking mine, too.  Maybe we need some of that whiskey?


_______________________________________________
Erin Quinn
Collections Coordinator
City of Greeley Museums
919 7th Street
Greeley, CO 80631
(970) 350-9218
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>>> [log in to unmask] 01/14/02 01:41PM >>>
I love a good puzzle like this ;)

I would, however, be cautious about making a plastic sheath, unless you have
very tight control over humidity in your cases.  Plastic can trap moisture,
even just condensation, up against metal (anything, really) and cause
corrosion.  I'd look for something with both transparency and breathability,
though of course I can't think of any such substance off the top of my head.
Could you place the knives under plexi panels with open sides?  WHat
circumstances would this protection be for -- storage?  Display in a case?
Display in an exposed-to-visitors-reach location?

Juliette Rogers
Stephen Phillips Trust House

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