I have been following this thread with some interest, and while I agree
with Mr. Bailey's general thesis (esp. concerning volunteers and
their unsupervised contact with artifacts) it seems to me that there are
more exceptions to the rule than ceramic or glass artifacts.

As a conservator, my un-gloved finger tips often tell me things about an
artifact which a gloved finger would pass over.  This is not to say that
the fingers which handled breakfast or lunch handle an artifact without
washing with soap and water; in fact, I wash my hands many times a day and
dry them throughly to avoid having to apply lotions.

Over many years I have trained and supervised volunteers who have learned
to perform conservation treatments.  They also regularly wash their hands.

The point of this comment is that, in addition to a reduced in-flow of
knowledge, there are times when a gloved-hand can be more dangerous to an
artifact than an un-gloved hand. I have experienced and witnessed vagrant
fibers from a glove catching on and damaging artifacts.

So, if the volunteers are handling silver plate, by all means insist on
gloves.  If they are handling stiff leather harness from a 20-mule team
borax wagon, the oil on their hands will be beneficial.
Volunteers are there to help.  Sometimes they have a mistaken idea of who
museums large and small.

It is a duty of curators and conservators alike to decide which rules are
to be applied and when.  If you believe in absolutes you are in the wrong
business.

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Laboratory
Portland, OR

http://www.teleport.com/~tcl/index.html


On Mon, 6 May 1996, George Bailey wrote:

> Perhaps the best way to get volunteers to wear gloves is to show them the
> damage that can happen if they don't. Take a piece of brass, polish it with
> Brasso or something similar, thoroughly degrease it, then plant your sweaty
> fingers firmly onto it. Leave it in a humid area for a couple of months &
> you will then have a piece of brass with your fingerprints deeply etched
> into it.
>
> The only museum artifacts that should be handles without gloves are smooth
> ceramics and glassware (because they can be slippery), and these should be
> wiped clean once handling is finished.
>
> Wearing gloves in museums not only protects the artifacts, but also
> provides protection to the wearer. People tend to forget that the objects
> themselves can be dangerous. Various highly toxic chemicals have been used
> in the past as pesticides etc., and were frequently applied directly to the
> objects. Arsenic & DDT were both commonly used, and both are residual, ie
> they may still be on the surface of the object many years later.
>
> George Bailey
> Objects Conservator
> Australian War Memorial
> Treloar Centre for Conservation
> 4 Callan St, Mitchell, A.C.T. 2911
> Australia
> Phone: +61 6 241 6122
> fax:   +61 6 241 7998
> email: [log in to unmask]
>