The wax makes for some interesting issues. The divided boxes can help, they definitely need to be enclosed, but the dividers have to be taller than the fruit or you risk the edge cutting into it if it rolls. I would think the best material against them would be a soft tyvek. The space can be filled with a soft twisted tissue paper nest and then cover that with the tyvek. If done right it should provide an area for it to sit in to prevent movement, without burying the wax fruit. Do not let them cover the whole thing in tissue, it would stick if the fruit got warm and whenever someone has to look at or handle it they have to roll it around blindly, likely breaking little stems and things. 





-----Original Message-----
>From: John Marks <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Aug 5, 2008 7:17 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Storing & preserving wax fruit
>
>Hello,
>
>I'm posting for a colleague at an agricultural research college.  (I 
>searched the archive but didn't find any similar posts.)  She has a 
>collection of 200 wax fruit specimens (scientific quality, not Victorian 
>parlor fruit) made between the 1920s and 1940s.  They've been stored in 
>styrofoam peanuts since the 1960s, subsequently there's a lot of little 
>white flecks stuck to the fruit.  I haven't seen the collection and I 
>don't know the storage conditions - I hope they haven't been in an attic.
>
>What's the best storage system for wax fruit; specifically, what's the 
>safest packing material to be in contact with the artifact?  I was going 
>to recommend archival boxes with dividers, but what should she use if 
>she wants additional packing underneath and around each item?  Wax is 
>one material I haven't worked with much.
>
>If you've worked with such a collection or know museums that have them, 
>I'd appreciate any information to pass on to my friend.
>
>Thanks,
>John Marks
>Curator of Collections
>Geneva (NY) Historical Society
>
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