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 -----
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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