Cathy, Maybe take a look at the site of Conservation lab McKay Lodge. They did massive conservation work on a prominent sculpture in Cincinnati and have a ton of technical info about it and its problems on their website. http://www.mckaylodge.com/tylerdavidson Susan Kline, M.A. ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:58:41 -0700 >From: cathyosterman <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Bronze Fountains >To: [log in to unmask] > >Hi all, > >I'm hoping that someone out there has had some experience >cleaning a bronze fountain. We have a fountain of a cowboy >dumping water out of his boot and there is a white residue >around the basin which I would like to clean off. I don't >know if it is lime deposits or mineral salts but running >distilled water through the fountain in the future isn't a >cost-effective solution to the problem for us. > >Our maintenance program has included an annual cleaning with >Orvis soap, a rinse in distilled water, and a waxing with >Johnson Paste Wax. I believe the last time it was done was a >year ago. I scubbed at the white residue but it didn't come >off with the Orvis. There was some CLR with the bronze >cleaning supplies, but I did NOT use it. I've referenced >Patrick Kipper's book, "The Care of Bronze Sculpture" but it >didn't exactly describe how to clean the mineral salts or >lime off. Is it possible to clean? Should the bronze have >some patina work done and then be maintained differently? >Has anyone has a success that they can share with me? Any >thoughts would be appreciated! > >Cathy Osterman >Curator of Collections >CFD Old West Museum >Cheyenne, WY > >========================================================= >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).