I do not now which conservator was queried about this matter, but stains
from margarine/butter are treatable.

An individual conservator may choose not to treat a particular artifact,
based upon an examination of the artifact, but that is not the same thing
as saying that an artifact cannot be treated.

I regularly receive requests to conserve artifacts which I am not
competent to treat.  When that happens, I refer the inquirer to a
conservator in whom I have confidence with respect to the artifact in
question.

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab
Portland, OR

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On Sat, 27 Apr 1996, Rebecca Andrews wrote:

> I wanted to share this information with the list about a conservation
> issue with a work of art on paper.  I DID call a conservator first! A
> recent donation of a silkscreen print came into the museum with 2 blobs of
> 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter' (tub) on the image, much to the chagrin
> of the donor.  They had very carefully wrapped the print on the kitchen
> table before coming to the museum. I called a local paper conservator,
> who said that this is most likely not treatable (grease on paper).
> Because the paper is a very thick rag, the grease of the butter (NOT)
> would probably require water in addition to solvents to treat.
> Unfortunately, these types of inks are water soluable...
>
> So we will live with the stains, and isolate the print from
> others in the collection.
>
>
> Rebecca Andrews
> Collections Manager, Ethnology
> Burke Museum
> University of Washington
>