Michele,

Mold will grow on almost any organic material if the conditions are right.  In a collection, the only reason active mold is not found everywhere is that the RH generally is below 70% most of the time.  If it is not, mold will grow.  So, first, you need to look at the area where the figurine was located and see if any other items have mold on them.  Then, you need to lower the RH in that location.  In the mean time, put the figurine in a lower RH, ideally 40%-50%, and the mold will become inactive.  It will not become active unless the RH again goes too high.  If the areas are small, and you are not particularly sensitive to mold, you can remove it with a very slightly dampened cotton cloth or Q-tip.  Hopefully, if you caught it early enough, there will not be any staining of the underlying surfaces.  Wear a respirator and gloves if you have health concerns.  Again, everybody is different, but I have removed mold from hundreds of objects and architectural surfaces without using a respirator and have not had any problems.  That's just my personal experience, YMMV.

This is a bit of an unusual time of year for active mold growth, at least in locations where heat is required.  Usually, the RH this time of year is low, even lower than desired for collections preservation unless humidification equipment is installed.  So, be sure that it is actually mold, and not, for example, degradation of some sort of coating or treatment that was applied in the past.  If it is mold, it would be useful to try and determine why that location had so much moisture present.  The figurine may just be the canary in the coal mine, and is tipping you off to another problem.  If you would like to provide some more details, I would be happy to see if I can assist you further.  A detailed photo would be helpful, but please email it directly to me and not the list.

Marc

American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
     4 Rockville Road
     Broad Brook, CT 06016
     www.conservator.com 
     860-386-6058 

*Collections Preservation Consultation
*Conservation Assessments & Surveys
*Environmental Monitoring & Low-Tech Control
*Moisture Management Solutions
*Collections in Historic Structures
*Collections Care Grant Preparation
*Conservation Treatment of:
     Furniture
     Painted Wood
     Horse-Drawn Vehicles
     Architectural Interiors 
     Decorative Objects & Folk Art

Marc A. Williams, President
     MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
     Former Chief Wooden Objects Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
     Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michele Frederick 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Friday, March 08, 2013 9:18 AM
  Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Treating Mold on Ivory?


  Hello all,

  While working on an inventory of some objects in our collection yesterday I found what I'm pretty sure is live mold on an elephant figurine. The figure is wood but the tusks and eyes are ivory, and except for a few spots over the body, most of the mold was growing on the ivory tusks. I've isolated the object, but we are at a loss about how to attempt to kill the mold without damaging the object. We have a small freezer that we've used to treat works on paper and textiles in the past, but are worried about what freezing something made of these materials could do. Has anyone had to deal with this problem before and has some suggestions?

  Thanks so much,

  Michele

  -- 
  Michele L. Frederick


  MA, Art History and Museum Studies
  Curatorial Assistant, College Art Collections
  Berea College


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