This is why I belong to Museum-L. Great information expressed with a bit of
humor. Thank you Dennis.

One word of warning about the "wax-like" material, though. For years,
Winterthur secured tea cups to saucers and other such things with
microcrystaline wax. It does keep things in place, but when moving objects,
if the art handler or curator is not aware of the wax, it is possible to
pull hard enough without thinking that a handle or rim can detach. Or,
connected parts may come separated, fall, and break if the wax has only a
partial hold. I don't think Winterthur uses the wax anymore because of this
(and I am guilty, several years ago, of damaging a Chinese export porcelain
cup because of this very problem)
--
Wade Lawrence
Asst. Director, Drayton Hall
A National Trust historic site in Charleston, South Carolina
Web: http://www.draytonhall.org
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

> From: Dennis Kois <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:27:37 -0500
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Stabilizing Pottery on Exhibit
>
> Anne-
>
> We put very fragile pottery and similar materials in freestanding cases on
> a frequent basis here at the Metropolitan. Needless to say, with 5+ million
> people going throught the museum yearly worries about stability and safety
> are a real issue for us. While we evaluate each case/object/placement
> individually as shows are designed and installed, some of the tricks we use
> regularly include:
>
> - Occasionally we use a somewhat larger case than would be aesthetically
> ideal. An object might look perfect in an 18" square case, but for safety's
> sake we will bump it up to a 22" or 24" square case. Not visually ideal,
> but not so egregious that it is worth risking the object. As they say on
> TV, "Wider is Better"
>
> - HUGE amounts of weight in the base of the case, as low to floor as
> possible. It is not unusual for us to have several hundred pounds of weight
> in a  single case. We typically use elevator weights, which are cheap and
> heavy. Remember to check with your operations person about the floor's
> load-carrying capacity. You don't want to stuff a 18" case with 600 lbs of
> weight and then set it on a floor with a load capacity of 200 lbs/sf. Sure,
> the case won't tip over... mostly because it'll be too busy plummeting
> through the floor to the basement.
>
> - One of the best tricks is to secure the base to the floor in some way. On
> wood or stone floors we run strips of masking tape on the floor where the
> base will rest, then shmear the strips liberally with Elmer's glue. While
> this doesn't sound like much (tape glued to floor, case glued to tape),
> you'd be amazed how strong that can be once you add the weights. Using the
> tape lets you pull up the case and glue, even after a year, with no damage
> to the floor.   (in carpeted galleries, we run strips of hook velcro around
> the base to accomplish the same thing)
>
> - we do occasionally use small amounts of weight in the object itself, if
> it will be invisible to visitors, but this doesn't do much usually except
> slightly lower the center of gravity. More often on "tippy" ceramics we
> will carve some kind of "cradle" from ethafoam to hide beneath it, or
> fabric-wrap it if it will be visible to visitors. I've also been made aware
> of a Japanese product, originally developed for auto crash absorption, that
> is being used to secure objects to decks there. The stuff is amazing-
> wax-like but crystal clear, silicon based, slightly tacky, and (supposedly)
> tested 100% safe for ceramics- no residue, no oils transferring, etc. It
> was shown to me by the Director of the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka.
> Notably, his was the only museum in Osaka with no objects damaged in the
> big Osaka earthquake. I'll try and see if I can get more info, or maybe
> someone else on-list knows what it is or where it is from.
>
> In the end, if all of the above in combination aren't enough, we either
> place the case nearer a wall and secure it with a painted steel bar to the
> wall or we put the object elsewhere. Hope that helps- sorry this post is so
> long!
>
> Dennis
>
>
> Dennis Kois
> Design Department
> The Metropolitan Museum of Art
> __________________________
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/
> . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a
> one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the
> message should read "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
> Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).