Staining ivory

Re: Karen Garlick's inquiry in Conservation DistList 6:26

Ivory, Dyed or StainedAddress:Address: Phone Phone
The Winterthur Museum has a gorgeous set of knives with handles made
from green-dyed ivory. They have an excellent library and quite possibly
their decorative arts curatorial and/or conservation staff can cite some
references that discuss old methods for coloring ivory.

    H.F.duPont Winterthur Museum
    Winterthur, Delaware 19735.
    302-656-8591.

At the Walters Art Gallery, conservator Terry Weisser and her
group have done quite a lot of work on the conservation and
restoration of ivory objects. In the course of their work, I
would imagine they also have noted information on dyed ivory,
and, since they've done a lot of treatment, they may also know
something about accidental stains.

    The Walters
    600 N. Charles St.
    Baltimore MD 21201
    301-547-9000

In "Painting Materials," Gettens and Stout indicate that ivory was
"often stained." No more than that, but it is a clue that with a little
research, you will be able to find examples of colored ivory and,
probably, recipes.

I hope you'll report to Conservation DistList readers your findings,
including references, when you get through looking into this.

Liz Welsh

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:27
                Distributed: Saturday, November 14, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-27-001
                                  ***