Ok I have to step in on this. I know that everyone loves a recipe. But you simply cannot have that mindset when dealing with artistic and historic objects. In this instance Mandy was asking for a leather conservator because of issues with saddles. None of the condition specifics were mentioned. To take advice on the care of leather chairs and use it on saddles may work but it may also be a disaster. Saddles may use different leathers, often saddles have long histories of cleaning with saddle soap (which can cause white blooms later on), and there are also the issues of horse sweat and wear. So the chemistry of solving whatever issues are going on can be radically different than what you encounter in leather upholstery. And the aesthetic issues are certainly different too. So what is ALWAYS best is to consult with an experienced conservator - if they cannot see the actual objects at first then good digital photos documenting the objects and their condition certainly can start the process. I cannot begin to tell you how many treatments I have had to do over the years because someone decided that they could take a do-it-yourself approach to art and historic objects that created vastly more problems than what had originally been going on. Should we have do-it-yourself curators, registrars, educators, directors??? I certainly think not. Sorry about the slight rant here but I keep seeing this over and over on this list. Now - Mandy - there are several qualified conservators in Colorado who may be able to help. Do know Matt Crawford - I believe he is in Ft. Collins. You can contact either the Denver museum of art or the Western Center for the Conservation of Fine Art in Denver (http://www.wccfa.com/) for referrals for qualified conservators near you. Cheers! Dave David Harvey Senior Conservator and Museum Consultant Los Angeles, CA On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 10:51 AM, Ware Petznick <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > > Dear Ms. Langfald, > > I had a similar problem finding leather conservators to assist us in > preparing leather furniture and books for exhibition at the McFaddin-Ward > House. > > I would be happy to send to you guidelines to do it yourself that I > prepared for the TAM Annual Conference's Conservation Roundtable. > > Anne Battram and Nancy Rosebrock of the Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, NC > were generous in their guidance, which enabled us to develop a "recipe" for > conserving leather chairs and making them presentable for the McFaddin-Ward > House's third floor restoration. > > I will email it to you. > > Good luck. > > Ware Petznick > Former Curator of the McFaddin-Ward House > Now seeking employment > > --- On *Fri, 12/3/10, Mandy Langfald <[log in to unmask]>* wrote: > > > From: Mandy Langfald <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Leather conservator > To: [log in to unmask] > Date: Friday, 12 March, 2010, 17:39 > > > Hi all, > > Can anyone recommend a good leather conservator? We are having an "issue" > with our saddle collection and are trying to find a conservator to give us > some advice and possibly work on our saddles. > > Feel free to respond on or off list. > > Thanks for the help. > > > Mandy Langfald > Curator of Collection > Wyoming State Museum > 307-777-7033 > [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]> > > ========================================================= > 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]<http:[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]<http:[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). > ========================================================= 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).