MS224: Care of Leather and Skin Materials
Dates: Apr 12 through  May 7, 2010
Price: $475    
Instructor: Helen Alten

Description:
Prior to the invention of plastics, skin materials were the
flexible covering used for most objects - from bellows to
books, carriages to desktops. Furs and skins are in almost
every museum's collection, be it Natural History, History
or Art. Caring for leather and skin materials demands an
understanding of how and why they deteriorate. Care of
Leather and Skin Materials offers a simplified explanation
of the origin, chemistry and structure of leathers and
skins. Students learn to identify leathers and surface
finishes, determine their extent of deterioration, write
condition reports, and understand the agents of
deterioration that are harmful to leather and skins both in
storage and on exhibit. Topics include preparing hide and
skin materials for storage and exhibit, the use of archival
materials and which ones might harm skin proteins,
housekeeping techniques for large objects or books on open
display, and three-dimensional supports for leather and
skin to keep them from distorting. Integrated pest
management and historical treatments will be covered, with
a unit on hazardous materials applied to older skins and
leather that might prove a danger to staff.

Course Outline:
1. Introduction
2. History and function of skin materials
3. The biology and chemistry of skin and its treatment
4. Documentation and Condition Report Writing
5. Leather and the Environment
6. Handling leather and skin materials
7. Treating leather and skin materials
8. Care of Leather in Storage
9. Care of Leather on Exhibit
10. Conclusion

Logistics:
Participants in Care of Leather and Skin work through
sections on their own. Materials and resources include
online literature, slide lectures and dialog between
students and the instructor through online forums.

Care of Leather and Skin runs four weeks. To reserve a spot
in the course, please pay at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html If you have
trouble please contact Helen Alten at
[log in to unmask]

The Instructor:
Helen Alten, is the Director of Northern States
Conservation Center and its chief Objects Conservator. For
nearly 30 years she has been involved in objects
conservation, starting as a pre-program intern at the
Oriental Institute in Chicago and the University Museum of
the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a degree in
Archaeological Conservation and Materials Science from the
Institute of Archaeology at the University of London in
England. She has built and run conservation laboratories in
Bulgaria, Montana, Greece, Alaska and Minnesota. She has a
broad understanding of three-dimensional materials and
their deterioration, wrote and edited the quarterly
Collections Caretaker, maintains the popular
www.collectioncare.org web site, and lectures throughout
the United States on collection care topics,. Helen Alten
has been a Field Education Director, Conservator, and staff
trainer. She began working with people from small, rural,
and tribal museums while as the state conservator for
Montana and Alaska. Helen currently conducts conservation
treatments and operates a conservation center in
Charleston, WV and St. Paul, MN.

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