# The Museum (Jackson)/Chapter 5

CHAPTER V The Preparation of Objects for Exhibition
PAINTINGS
IT has unfortunately been the custom for many years to consider that the restoration and cleaning of paintings could be entrusted to any artist. As a matter of fact, the art of the restorer is as different as possible from the art of the maker of a picture. On this subject we shall attempt to sketch briefly some of the methods used, but the details given will not be sufficient to enable any one to follow any of the processes. There are numerous treatises on the subject but none can be recommended without exception. The cleaning of a painting which needs to be done from time to time should never be entrusted to any but a skilled workman. There are various processes. One restorer insists that the only way to clean a painting is to use the fingers, rubbing gently, without any medium. Others believe in the use of cold water and a sponge, while others hold that certain kinds of oil are ​advisable. Others subject the pictures to the fumes of pure alcohol, the Pettenkofer system, which brings out the colors in a most astonishing way. But the question of the method to be used is not nearly as important as the question of the ability and character of the restorer.
We have, unfortunately, learned from England a love of varnish which would have made most of the old masters turn in their graves. The dealers say: "We can not sell a picture unless it has a good heavy varnish on it. People like the old look that comes by using a heavy yellow-toned varnish." But this is wrong and we must develop the taste of the public in our museums by showing them pictures with only a thin coat of varnish, just sufficient to keep the paint intact as was originally intended. The danger in removing varnish is, of course, that the glazes may also be removed.
At a certain period in the XVIII and XIX centuries, a great deal of pernicious repainting was done under the name of restoration, and pictures which underwent a thorough overhauling at that time are almost unrecognizable in some cases. The stories that one hears of the remarkable discoveries that have been made of Raphaels and other famous masters hidden away beneath the paint put on by the restorer are as thrilling ​as any Arabian Nights' tale and probably no layman buys a rather poor picture cheaply without feeling sure that he has an old master disguised. The difficulty in making a restoration is that the restorer, unless he be very conscientious, is carried beyond his original intention to such an extent that it is almost impossible for him not to put in a good deal of his own work on the picture. A careful and conscientious restorer will, however, add nothing to the picture. If there are certain portions lacking, it is the duty of the restorer, as at present understood, to add merely flat color in the place where the paint is gone which will harmonize with the ancient painting but which will deceive no one. In our climate there is often a great deal of trouble from blisters where the paint rises up and starts to peel. The process of getting the paint back into position again is a very painstaking and laborious one. The usual way is to inject mastic under the blister with a hypodermic syringe and then lay the paint back in place very gently, covering it with a heavy weight until the mastic has set, in order firmly to fix the paint in place. Frequently, however, where the paint is cracked and is peeling in many places, the mastic is dabbed onto the face of the picture, trusting to luck that some of it will get into the cracks and hold the ​paint in place. In this case, it is usual to place a thin tissue paper over the part that has been so treated until the mastic has thoroughly dried. A little cold water will easily remove the paper and the superfluous mastic.
Where a picture is in a serious condition, it is often necessary to re-back it. In the case of a painting on canvas this is rather a simple matter. A thin tissue paper or muslin is pasted to the front of the picture, the canvas is then taken off the stretcher and laid face down on a marble-topped table. The old canvas is carefully removed and the paint thoroughly wet with a rich mastic solution and a new canvas is carefully placed over this. In order to make the new canvas lie absolutely smooth, a warm iron is applied by some restorers. The process is a delicate one, as the new canvas must show no unevenness whatever yet the heat of the iron may do irreparable damage. When this operation has been completed, the new canvas bears the brunt of stretching over the new stretcher.
Where the painting is on panel, the process is a much more difficult one, as it usually entails the transfer of the painting onto canvas. Tissue paper or muslin is put upon the front of the painting as before. The virtue in this is that the paint is held in place by the tissue paper and no little ​particles are lost through friction while the panel is being reduced. The next process is to reduce the panel by planing it down on the back. This process is a very delicate one as, unless it is very carefully done, when the wood has become thin the gesso on which the painting has been applied will crack and separate. The usual custom is to shave the wood down until there is hardly more than a paper thickness of wood at the back of the gesso. Upon this is applied the strong mastic and the canvas is laid down as in the case of re-backing a painting on canvas. When this has been done, there is always a little thick edge which may be seen when the painting is out of the frame which will indicate its history. Frequently, however, paintings on panel, especially in the northern countries like Germany, England and the United States, contract and expand with the changes in the weather. This often means that the face of the picture will crack open. When there is any danger of this, but the condition is not sufficiently serious to call for rebacking, a process known in English as cradling has been invented. This is called in other countries by the French name parquetting. In this process the wooden panel is somewhat thinned by planing on the back. It is then treated with a varnish which is supposed to render it impervious ​to worms, and narrow strips of wood are glued onto the back running in the same direction as the grain of the wood. In these strips, which are usually about three-quarters of an inch wide and about two inches apart, grooves are cut at intervals of two inches and through these grooves are run strips of wood of the same width as the first and at right angles to them. These second strips must always be loose; the idea being that if the wooden framework on the back is too rigid, the picture will spread all the more, but where the framework gives as the wood in front moves, there is less danger. This process has been perfected by a number of high-class restorers and has now gained favor almost everywhere. There are still, however, a few men who feel that the only way to treat a wooden picture is to hold it absolutely rigid by the use of iron bars. These iron bars are screwed and clamped onto the wood in such a way that the picture is much more prone to crack than it was before. Over these irons a thck cement supposed to be waterproof is sometimes applied with the intention of keeping all air and moisture from the wood.
The method for the transfer of frescoes to canvas is an exceedingly interesting one and very difficult to perform. It is always a question how much one is going to get in removing a fresco ​from the wall, but the most successful method is the following: a canvas thickly spread with a strong adhesive is laid on the face of the fresco. When this substance has thoroughly dried the canvas is torn away from the wall and a surface varying from 1/16 inch to 1/4 inch is pulled off with the canvas. This is then levelled somewhat on the back and another canvas covered with mastic is very carefully laid over the back. When this has been put in place and has thoroughly dried the whole fresco is turned over and heat is applied to the front side to soften the glue. The canvas is then gently removed and the glue is wiped off. When the back canvas has been allowed to stay until the glue has thoroughly set it can be mounted upon a frame just like any ordinary picture. The curious thing about the process is that while the fresco appears on the canvas in almost as good preservation as when it was on the wall, the wall from which the fresco has been torn retains a shadow of the picture sometimes almost as clear as the original although, of course, uneven in surface. (A good example of this is the representation of St. Catherine, by Luini, in the Church of the Pelucca. The original is now in the Brera in Milan, while the wall of the chapel from which it was taken still shows a ghostly shadow of its former glory.)
​The other method of removing frescoes is one which has been used largely in Pompeii and other places where classical remains have been uncovered. A wooden frame is made in which the whole section of wall is fastened. The superfluous thickness at the back is then chopped away. This process necessitates the tearing down of the walls on which the frescoes have been painted and is, therefore, impractical in many instances. Any discussion of methods is idle, however, for no museum director has a right to experiment with the objects in his charge. Pictures in need of repairs should be entrusted only to skilled and conscientious experts with whom rests the choice of the method to be pursued.
Framing.—This is one of the most interesting problems which comes up in the arrangement of pictures. In the case of old paintings, modern opinion holds that the frame should be expressive of the period in which the painting was made. Many old frames have come down to us, although the museum director who starts out with the hope of providing his old pictures with frames of the period must expect to pay very nearly as much for the frame as he does for the picture, as any authentic old frame commands an enormously high price. In Europe where the museums have been established for so ​many years, the museum director is often able to find, tucked away in the attic of his museum, some admirable old frames which were taken off during the period when it was considered stylish for all the pictures in a museum to be framed alike. The falsification of frames is one of the most successful trades, and a fake frame is often so admirable in workmanship that even the greatest connoisseurs are deceived. For these, in many cases, old wood is used and the tricks of shooting buckshot into it to imitate worm holes and collecting dust to rub into the crevices are so cleverly used as to deceive even the expert. In the Brera in Milan are some excellent frames which look very old. In answer to a question as to whether they were expensive, the director said: "Oh no! I had those made in Florence last year, but I told the workman he could leave out the worm holes." Florence has one of the greatest manufactories of imitation old frames, and the market has been so thoroughly cleared of authentic originals that one may feel pretty skeptical as to whether any frames coming from Florence now can be really old. In Munich, in the Alte Pinakothek, are some very charming adaptations of old designs. These are simple, but set off the pictures far better than any modern frame could do. Nothing makes more difference in the ​looks of a picture than the way it is framed. The frame is not merely necessary to separate the picture from the background on which it hangs, but is very essentially a part of the impression it gives. Thus, for instance, a Renaissance frame which would be excellent on a picture by Botticelli, let us say, would probably not fit a picture by Rubens. In any period the frame that was used at that time represents the feeling of the age and is much better adapted to paintings of the epoch than is the frame of any other period. Modern artists are turning more and more to the style of frames used in the early Renaissance and adapting types of ancient mouldings to their own pictures. Yet rarely do these express artistic merit and the individuality of the artist to the same degree as do frames which follow the dictates of modern design. The excellence of the old designs was due to the fact that the artist was willing to spend infinite pains to make the frame suit the picture. Modern artists are realizing this and many of them now design their own frames.
The day of heavy gold frames for every picture is past. The frame must now be proportioned to the size of the picture and must conform in tone to the combination of colors in the painting. In the case of old Dutch masters, we note from ​the study of contemporary interiors that they were sometimes framed in black or very dark brown, with perhaps a slight touch of gold. A whole room in which the frames are black gives a very lugubrious appearance. For museum purposes the black frame is an admirable note provided it is not introduced too often.
Hanging.—In the matter of hanging, there are many things to be considered. The museum director who finds himself at the head of a museum in which all the walls are plaster is constrained to hang from a moulding or pipe. Of course an ordinary wooden moulding is not strong enough to be considered in an art museum, where very often the pictures to be hung are excessively heavy. Some type of iron bar is the most useful. There are on the market various forms of bars. The so-called Z-bar, one-half of which is imbedded in the plaster of the wall, has the disadvantage that it projects nearly an inch from the surface of the wall when in place and, therefore, the wires or chains from which the pictures are suspended do not hang flat on the wall. The pipe moulding has the same disadvantage, and also, as it is attached to the wall at frequent intervals with fasteners which are sunk deep into the plaster, a hook can not be placed where these fasteners come; therefore the exact spacing of pictures ​becomes more difficult. A system used in some places has certain advantages. A slot in the wall at a convenient hanging level is arranged. This slot is composed of two metal bars or two angle-irons let into the wall in such a way that one side is flush with the wall and they come together leaving a slot about ½ inch wide. Metal hooks are provided with a bar on the back. These hooks when turned can be pushed through the slot and when in place hold firmly against the metal edge of the angle-iron. With this system it is possible to hang the pictures very close against the wall and then there remains only the slot, which makes a somewhat disagreeable line around the wall. This same system, however, when used at the height of the ordinary moulding is not objectionable. In some museums where the walls are plastered, a wooden board about 3 inches wide has been let into the wall and painted the same color as the plaster. In this way pictures can be put up with nails or screws as desired, which is obviously an advantage, especially where collections have to be changed very frequently, when much time is saved.
In hanging pictures from mouldings, there are several processes which can be used. One frequently seen in European museums consists of using an iron about 1½ inches wide and ​perforated throughout its length, which hangs from the moulding and to which the pictures are attached by means of a screw which passes through a hole in the bar. This process holds the picture rigidly in place but is very ugly, and the wide iron strips hanging at regular intervals give one a disagreeable impression, even when they are painted the same color as the wall, for they always hang out far enough from the wall so that a shadow is cast on either side which makes a distinct line up and down. Chains have this same disadvantage and also another, in that it is difficult to make a picture hang straight on the two sides, although it is a great convenience to be able to hang the pictures from the floor instead of from a high ladder. The chains, however, have to be especially made for museum work and can not be obtained on the market in America. Much the most attractive way of hanging pictures from a moulding is with the use of an ordinary picture wire. Copper wire can only be used once without becoming much twisted and it is liable to break if allowed to hang bent. The ordinary brass wire has the disadvantage of being very susceptible to atmospheric conditions, rusts and becomes weak very easily. The strongest of the picture wires on the market is the braided steel, the ordinary picture wire, which can be had ​in all sizes according to the weight of the pictures it is to carry. The most convenient way of hanging when using wire is to pass one end through both screw eyes on the back of the picture, fasten this end to a hook and hang the hook on the moulding and then raise the picture to its place and fasten the other end of the wire onto another hook. The advantage of this is that only one wire passes from the hook down through the screw eyes and up to the other hook. In this way, if the picture is slightly crooked, it can easily be set straight. The usual way of hanging with wire is to fasten the wire onto the screw eye instead of onto the hook, which makes the adjustment of the picture very difficult. The wires when in place can be tinted with water color to match the wall. If this is done they are quite inconspicuous. All picture wires should be examined from time to time to make sure they have not rusted.
By far the easiest method of attaching pictures to the wall is by nails or screws, where the walls are sheathed with wood and covered with a textile. A room can be hung in about half the time that it takes with any other method, as long ladders are not needed and, once the height is established at which one wishes a picture to hang, to drive the nails only remains. The sheathing of walls ​with wood is now considered perfectly safe provided an asbestos paper covering is used or the wood is treated with a fire-proofing liquid, though the chemical properties of this liquid must be tested, as the acid fumes may prove deleterious to the paintings hung upon the wall.
The director is faced by a double problem in any building where there is danger of fire, for it must be possible to rapidly detach the pictures from the wall and yet the frequent attempts to steal objects from museums and exhibitions make it desirable that everything should be fastened in as rigid a way as possible. In one museum, the picture gallery is on the top floor of a none too fire-proof building. The Trustees of the Museum gave directions that all pictures should be so arranged that they might easily be taken out in case of fire, and then they came one day and playfully took down picture after picture and moved them into another room in the gallery in order to give the poor director a shock and to show him how easily a thief might carry off a full collection. Such cases must be dealt with by the ingenuity of the individual museum director. There are certain devices employed, especially in European museums, to put up small pictures and prints. A screw which requires a patent screw-driver is used. This screw is provided with two small ​holes on either side of the head, into which the instrument fits, but every one realizes that a strong wire hairpin would be quite sufficient to take the place of the patented instrument that is supposed to be used with these screws. In European galleries where the light is not uniformly good, it is the custom to hang paintings of special importance on long hinges. By this means they may be turned out on an angle with the light. A room in which there are several pictures so hung has a rather untidy appearance, but the improvement in the lighting of the pictures is worth it. The backs should always be covered if the pictures are hung in this way.
Labelling.—This is another matter which should engage the attention of a museum director, and here his real genius will come forth. There is absolutely no logical ground for refusing to label the objects in a museum. The two excuses given for omitting labels are, the revenue to be derived from the sale of catalogues, which is really negligible and which should not be considered by any director who has the interests of the public at heart; and the fact that the average visitor will read the labels and will not stop to look at the objects. If this is ever the case, the visitor would probably find a way to go through the gallery without profit. Unless a visitor is really interested, he ​will not bother to read the labels at all. The casual tourist who feels that he must "do" the museums of a town will rush through, glancing hastily from left to right and from right to left and paying little attention to any of the exhibits. If, however, his eye catches something which he thinks may interest him, he will stop and look at the label where he would not consider for a minute looking up the object in a catalogue. In the labelling of paintings, two points are to be considered: 1. the label should be legible, 2. it should not obtrude itself upon the view of the visitor. How is it possible to reconcile these two? In the museum of the Corsini Palace in Rome, an experiment has been tried which is not altogether successful. Here the labels have been made of wood, rather large, carved in a design resembling the frame and characteristic of the period of the picture. They have been gilded and toned to match exactly the color of the frames. Upon these the name of the picture and the artist's name and his dates have been written in letters characteristic of the period. The result is that in some instances the label is almost unreadable and in other cases it seems to overshadow the picture in importance. The usual brass plates lettered in black while not pretty are certainly preferable to these. In other museums the attempt has been made to have the ​lettering not too prominent and the consequence is that one has to strain one's eyes in order to read the label. Perhaps the most successful method is that adopted in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Here the label is printed on a long narrow strip of gold cardboard toned to match the frame and placed on the lower part in such a way that the strip runs the full length, and wherever possible, lies on a flat member of the frame itself. These labels are usually about ¾ inch high and the letters are ½ inch in height; the subject matter being very concisely put, giving the name of the artist, his dates or school, and a short title for the picture. Further details are left for the catalogue. One very important point to be considered in labelling is the desirability of having the information as concise as possible and having it all on one label. To have the name of the artist, his dates, and the name of the picture on one label, the name of the donor on another, and the catalogue number on a third, is a very common and disagreeable error. Everything should be done to avoid spottiness in appearance. Each additional bit of brass or cardboard added to a frame detracts from the continuity of the impression given by the picture.
Glass in front of a painting should be avoided ​if possible, because of the reflection. In certain cities the dust is so great that glass must be used on all pictures, while a few old masters and small and finely painted pictures always need the protection afforded by glass. If the glass is to be placed in the frame, however, care should be taken to allow the air to circulate between the painting and the glass, as otherwise the process known as sweating, which is very injurious to the surface of the painting, may take place. In a carefully framed picture where the back is sealed so as to keep the dust from the canvas there should be small holes for ventilation in the side of the frame. These may be covered on the inside with cheese-cloth or stuffed with cotton wool to keep out the dust. If a painting is in a precarious condition it is sometimes put in an air-tight case with glass front. This case is usually made the exact size of the picture and just deep enough to allow for the frame. The glass when placed in this way four or five inches from the face of the picture does not reflect as badly as when close to the painting.
MINOR ARTS
The largest group of material available for exhibition in an art museum and one which in this country is, alas, often neglected is that which ​may be classified as Industrial Art, and which includes furniture, textiles, glass, porcelain, iron work, wood carving and all the other objects of artistic workmanship which surround us in our daily life. Europe has already recognized the vital interest of collections of this kind and Berlin, Paris, Munich and London delight us with exhibitions worthy of all praise, which develop the taste of the ordinary public in matters connected with home life and are an inspiration to the artisan to produce useful objects of real artistic merit. The importance of such collections can scarcely be overestimated and the museum director will do well to perfect himself in a knowledge of the care of such material, as the public demand is daily increasing and in future no museum will be complete without large groups of industrial art.
Every object that can be preserved in a museum is subject to some kind of pest or disease which requires the care of a skilful physician. Some of these maladies are infectious, others are dangerous only to the object attacked. It is not within the scope of this volume to describe all, nor is it even possible to discuss all the methods of curing the diseases. As in the case of the restoration of paintings, there are experts who have devoted their lives to these things to whom inquiry should ​be addressed in all serious cases. The literature on this subject is scattered in the form of articles in Museumskunde, the Museums Journal and the Proceedings of the American Association of Museums. The most complete and authoritative handbook is that by Dr. Fr. Rathgen, "The Preservation of Antiquities," translated by George A. and Harold A. Auden and published by the Cambridge University Press, 1905.
Textiles.—Let us consider first the care of textiles, and primarily tapestries. Every woven fabric which contains wool is subject to the house-keeper's pest of moths. Exhaustive experiments, especially by scientists working with ethnographical material, have demonstrated that the ordinary moth balls or camphor balls are of absolutely no use. Cleanliness is most important. There is also a system of disinfection which is very useful. It is well known that the fumes of carbon disulphide kill all animal life and even destroy the germs in insect eggs. This substance is highly poisonous to human beings and is also excessively explosive. It has, however, no chemically deleterious effect upon color or upon the fabric itself. The problem is to subject the textiles to the fumes of carbon disulphide for a sufficient length of time to kill all insects or eggs without running the risk of fire and without poisoning the ​operator. One of our American museums has built a vault, just outside the building proper, which is so constructed as to be as airtight as possible. In this the tapestries are sealed for a week at a time, a small saucer of carbon disulphide being placed in the cell with them. This vault was doubtless almost as expensive to construct as the far more efficient device used in the Swedish museums and in Dresden. [See Museumskunde, vol. IV, p. 77, and Museums Journal, vol. IV, p. 205; also Dr. A. B. Meyer, Bericht iiber neue Einrichtungen in Dresden (1903), p. 22.] This consists of a large metal cylinder about four feet across and eight feet long with a door at one end which can be clamped on in such a way as to make the receptacle air-tight. Within the chamber are racks upon which the tapestries or other articles to be disinfected can be laid. A pump supplied with a gauge makes it possible to create a complete vacuum. When this has been obtained the carbon disulphide fumes are introduced and allowed to remain for twenty-four or forty-eight hours according to the condition of the objects to be cured. At the end of this time the carbon disulphide fumes can be pumped out and fresh air admitted until the pressure in the chamber equals that of the room, when the door can be opened and the tapestries ​removed. This process is the safest both for the operator and for the objects, as well as the most thorough. In certain cases where for any reason it is deemed inadvisable to use the chemical fumes, the vacuum itself if sufficiently protracted is said to have a similar effect. In one of the best known European museums there is a large collection of peasant costumes. These are kept in sealed cases, yet, even so, the danger from moths is so great that the garments are periodically painted over with a strong solution of arsenic, and the guard who patrols the room often shows symptoms of arsenic poisoning. The life of the garments themselves and the health of those in charge of the collection would be greatly improved could the museum install such a vacuum system as that described above. Another preventive of moths which is sometimes used is newspaper. It does not affect the eggs and is only useful if the object to be cared for can be completely covered. In case rugs, tapestries or textiles are to be put away for a long time they should be rolled on a wooden stick with newspapers between and finally done up thoroughly in more newspapers. The moths dislike printers' ink and will keep away from it.
It is unfortunate that we cannot always allow tapestries to be hung on our museum walls in the ​manner in which they ornamented some baronial hall in ancient times. But even the most durable fabric has its weaknesses, and a tapestry will collect dust in the folds and will soon show signs of wear in those spots where the dust has lain. It is therefore now no longer considered good museum practice to hang a tapestry from a rod or from hooks,—it must be put on a stretcher, as is done with a painting, so that there shall not be an unequal pull on the threads and if, as often happens, the tapestry is not quite square, then the framework must be made to fit exactly, so that there may be no strain in any point, although sometimes the tapestry itself can be straightened with care. If the tapestry is old or valuable a linen backing is often advisable, and this for two reasons. In the first place, if properly put on, it relieves the strain on the threads of the tapestry, and in the second place, it prevents the dust from accumulating on the threads at the back. In choosing linen for a backing a fine close weave is important and a sufficiently heavy quality so that it will bear the weight put upon it. The linen should be shrunk before using. It should be sewed firmly to the warp threads of the tapestry taking care that there is no slack. In case there are weak places in the tapestry itself these can be caught onto the back thus relieving the strain.
​It is much better and safer to completely back a tapestry than to reinforce it with a lattice work of strips of linen as is sometimes done. Before leaving this subject, a word of warning is perhaps not amiss. Never buy a tapestry without seeing the back of it. The forging of tapestries is a very difficult and expensive process which is rarely indulged in, but the unscrupulous merchant will acquire a few torn and tattered fragments and will have them pieced together with great skill. On the back the difference in technique and in the quality of the thread is apparent.
Where there is a large amount of dust in the atmosphere of a city it is often advisable to cover the tapestries with glass. This is an unfortunate expedient because of the reflection in the glass and because of the expense, weight, and the difficulty of handling large sheets of plate glass. But the greatest danger comes from moths, who find a safe harbor behind the glass. Glazed tapestries should be frequently aired and examined for this reason.
There are numerous methods of cleaning textiles. (See Carlotta Brinckmann: Die Instandsetzung der Raffael Teppiche, Museumskunde, vol. I, p. 34; Die Behandlung Koptischer Stoffe, Museumskunde, vol. II, p. 150. Böttiger and Köhler, Uber die Pflege gewirkter Teppiche, ​Museumskunde, vol. Ill, p. 205. Jules Guiffrey, La Conservation et la Réparation des Tapisseries, L'Art, vol. LX, pt. 2, 1901, p. 341.) The Gobelins method is a bath of running cold water, but while the dyes used in making the old tapestries were marvellous, yet by this process a small amount of color is unquestionably lost. A much safer method is the use of bread crumbs and a soft brush. This is long and laborious but safer than the above. Certain up-to-date directors have tried to use a vacuum cleaner, but where they have done so it has been found that the friction and the pull of a strong cleaner took away small particles of the wool of the tapestry itself. The safest way is to use a hand machine. A cheese-cloth placed over the face of the tapestry will bear the friction and yet be open enough in weave to allow the dust particles to pass through. These same processes may be used for the care of brocades, velvets and other textiles.
Banners or flags that are in a delicate condition may be shown with safety if mounted between two layers of cotton net such as is used in ladies' dresses. The degree of decrepitude will indicate the quality of net to be used. The coarser the mesh the less prominently it will show. A very important and very badly worn flag can be mounted between layers of fine, thin chiffon. This ​fabric comes in different weights, that called mousseline de soie (not silk muslin) being the best adapted for the purpose. When mounted, the banners should always be hung horizontally so as to avoid folds; hung obliquely they are much more picturesque but they give out sooner.
The care of laces is very simple. Dirt is here again to be avoided, for the small brown spots that so often come on old lace are due to dirt which has gradually rotted the fabric. Many kinds of lace lose much of their character if they have been washed, and yet the museum which allows dirty lace to come into its collection is laying seeds of trouble. There is an infection from dirt as from other diseases, and rotting of some of the finest pieces may result. Lace may be washed with little danger if carefully done. Only the purest of white soap should be used, and this should be grated and dissolved in water. The lace to be washed should be put into a clean white porcelain bowl and covered with cold water. A small amount of the soap solution should be added and the bowl set in a moderate oven until the water is thoroughly hot, not boiling. The gradual warming of the water dissolves the dirt without rubbing or injuring the delicate threads of the lace itself. When it is just too hot to handle take it out and allow to cool slightly, then ​transfer the lace into another bowl containing clean water of the same temperature and rinse the lace thoroughly by stirring it around well. If the lace is very dirty this process will have to be repeated several times; warming the rinsing water on the lace in the oven is also very helpful. Care should be taken not to break any threads, as the lace when wet is quite heavy and must be lifted so that no strain comes on any part. If the lace is very yellow it may be bleached by setting in water in a jar in the sun, although if the lace is clean the yellow color will do no harm. The most difficult process is the drying. When the lace is thoroughly rinsed it should be pressed between the palms of the hands to get rid of superfluous water and then picked out with the greatest care and infinite patience and laid out upon a clean white cloth fastened to a pillow. Tiny pins with very sharp points can be used to stretch it into place on the pillow and every part of the design must be worked into shape with the fingers. A woman used to handling lace is very clever at this and the piece when finished often looks quite like new. The use of a hot iron is highly inadvisable.
Folds in tapestry, lace or any other fabric must be guarded against as far as possible. If this cannot be helped the position of the crease should ​be changed from time to time to avoid wear. The museum director of to-day provides for his laces screens of uniform size which fit a storage case. The frames are made of quarter-inch stock about an inch and a half wide and covered with a textile. The size is determined by the size of the storage case, usually about 18×24 inches. Certain museums use a linen, either blue or unbleached, while others prefer a pongee or thin silk to cover these frames. It is important, of course, that the color should be fast and that it should be one that will show the laces to advantage. Usually these frames fit a show case so that an exhibition of laces is easily and quickly arranged. The laces are basted to the cloth on the frame with small stitches at fairly long intervals and with very fine thread. They must always be put on the inside of the frame so that the wooden edge acts as a protection. This also has the advantage of making a frame for the textile at the time of exhibition.
Linens and embroideries are usually kept in drawers. Tissue paper, preferably blue, as the bleach used in the white is harmful, laid between, is valuable in preventing rubbing and also helps keep gold and silver threads in embroidery from tarnishing. White beeswax put in with white satin is said to prevent its turning yellow. Small pieces ​of textile fabrics are usually mounted on frames in the same manner as the laces. Larger pieces are stored in large flat trays or drawers.
Storage cases need not be beautiful, but it is very important that they should be dust proof. Wooden cases are much easier to handle and wooden trays are less likely to buckle under weight than iron or steel ones. As far as fireproof qualities are concerned there is not much to choose, for while the wood will burn, the iron conducts the heat to such an extent that the contents of an iron case are very likely to become charred if exposed to excessive heat.
Wooden Objects.—Under this head may be included all articles of furniture, wood carving, panelling, wooden chests and even sculptures in wood. All are subject to the same disease and to the same treatment. The pest which commonly attacks wood is the little worm whose tracks may be found in all old pieces and whose living presence may be detected by the little particles of wood that drop from the hole in which the worm works. A light tapping near a suspected spot usually brings out the particles of sawdust and then the piece must be quickly isolated and treated, to prevent the pest spreading to nearby objects. If this is not done, a whole room is likely to become infected in a very short time. In the case of ​small objects an operation similar to that used in the treatment of tapestries is followed. A box is made of zinc carefully soldered together at the sides so as to be perfectly tight. Around the top a gutter is arranged, while inside is a wooden rack raised a few inches from the bottom of the box. A cover is provided which fits down into the gutter at the top of the box. A saucer of carbon disulphide is set in, the rack put in place with the object to be disinfected upon it, and the cover is put on. Then water is poured into the gutter so that no air can penetrate the box. This forms a fairly tight chamber in which the object to be disinfected must remain from one to two weeks according to its condition. If it is given long enough the eggs as well as the living worms will be destroyed. If the vacuum apparatus described above under textiles is used the time needed for this process is much shorter.
Many museums have used the "petroleum bath" with varying success. It seems to have been demonstrated that to thoroughly soak a piece of furniture in petroleum will kill the worms. The petroleum does not, however, kill the eggs and the process has frequently to be repeated. There are many disadvantages in this. In the first place the petroleum gives a very disagreeable odor in the exhibition galleries; secondly, the object ​treated in this manner becomes highly inflamable, and thirdly and most important, the petroleum not only injures any finish there may be on the wood, but darkens the wood itself disagreeably.
A much better and simpler treatment, which can be used without injury to the finish of the object, whether it be the ancient polished surface, or gilding, or polychromy, is the application of cedar oil to the affected parts. This may be put on with a brush in case the area to be treated is large, but when it is possible, a surer method is to inject the oil into the hole itself. So far as has been proved the cedar oil will not injure color, and this method may thus be used not only in caring for polychromed statuettes, but also for paintings on panel.
The care of the gothic polychromed sculpture which is slowly finding its way into our museums is a serious matter. The changes in the degree of humidity in the air, which make the climate in this country so interesting, affect most seriously these lovely objects. The swelling and contracting of the wood loosens the paint, which comes off in little flakes. The process continues even when these particles are back in place and it is sometimes most discouraging to find one's efforts apparently vain. The quality of the adhesive ​used and the manner of applying it are of the utmost importance.
Wooden objects which come from excavations often need special treatment. Impregnation with paraffin is one of the simplest things that can be done and is quite efficacious.
Ironwork.—Under this head it is necessary to make a distinction between the different classes of objects, for while the enemy is the same in every case, the remedy is different.
In the great European collections of armor, a man is kept at work constantly burnishing the pieces in rotation in a manner very similar to that used by his ancestors in preparing the knight for battle. As each piece is freed from rust it is coated with a thin filament of pure oil, not kerosene, for that has been proved to increase rather than diminish rust. Finger marks cause rust quicker than anything else, so that in handling a collection of this kind gloves are necessary. Old locks, keys, etc., may be freed from rust by boiling in water and scraping, and should then be treated with oil to keep them in condition.
Exhaustive experiments have been tried in the chemical laboratory of the Berlin museums. It has been proved that an object once thoroughly freed from rust and not handled will show no signs of returning trouble. The difficulty is, ​therefore, to free it from rust. Taking an iron dagger which came from some excavations near Berlin, Professor Rathgen first removed as much of the rust as was possible in the ordinary way and then used a dentist's buzzer to obliterate all remain- ing traces. The result was a disagreeable, pock-marked, shiny, shapeless thing which had lost all character by the process. It was so unsatisfactory that no object has ever been exhibited on which the process was used, and the experimenters are trying to discover some means of preserving the "antique look" without risking deterioration. The usual method of securing this result is by painting the object as it comes out of the ground with paraffin or varnish. The theory of this is that rust grows by oxidation and that an object kept away from the air will not become worse. The effect is very ugly, and the object has almost as "false" an appearance as the too much cleaned specimen. There is an electrolytic method which bids fair to prove the solution of the whole problem. The surface rust is partially removed by this and the progress of the disease is at least temporarily arrested. Often iron objects recovered from excavation are in a condition where even their form is threatened because of the corroding action of the rust. In these cases, the varnish or paraffin method is the only satisfactory ​one, for the varnish acts as a mastic to hold the pieces together and at the same time by keeping the air out prevents further decomposition.
Bronzes.—Of all objects in our museums the most difficult to care for are bronzes. These, especially such as have been for a long time buried in the earth, are subject to disease. One form of this is highly contagious and likely to be fatal to the object it attacks, and the others, while not communicable, are yet dangerous unless cared for. Should any bronze in a collection show signs of the first of these diseases, it must be isolated at once or all the other objects in the same case are liable to become infected. So far, no cure has been discovered for this disease although its progress may be arrested by placing the object in an air-tight case with pans of calcium chloride in the bottom to absorb any excess moisture in the air of the case. The first sign of the disease comes in pale green spots which gradually grow and spread until the whole surface of the object is covered and a fine green dust falls about it. A paraffin coat holds back the damage and if the case is not bad an electrolytic operation may cure it. The French process is the most satisfactory and simple of any, and will be found fully described in the introduction to the catalogue of Bronzes in the Metropolitan Museum by Gisela ​M. A. Richter. The other forms are the so-called "cracking" patina, the warty patina, the scaly patina and the pale blue patina. The most complete and exhaustive study of this subject will be found in the little book called "The Preservation of Antiquities," by Dr. Friedrich Rathgen, mentioned above.
Tin.—The tin disease is another very serious malady which is so far little understood. It comes about through exposing objects containing tin to too great cold and consists in the reduction of the metal tin into the salt tin. The salt cannot, however, be changed back into a metal without bringing the substance to the melting point. It is obvious, therefore, that this would be an impossible method to pursue with museum pieces which are preserved for their shape or modelling. Should the little white particles which denote the presence of the disease appear on any museum piece, care must be taken that the temperature of the room in which the piece is kept should never go below 60° Fahrenheit.
Silver.—Museum silver can best be cleaned by the use of ammonia, a soft brush, very hot water and a soft chamois skin. A brilliant polish is not desirable. The usual cleaning compounds all scratch the surface more or less.
Museum Cases.—Certain general principles ​can be laid down in regard to cases. Beyond these each museum will have to find out by experience what to do and what to avoid.
Some twenty years ago came the first agitation in favor of metal cases. The advocates of these contended that they were: 1. safer in case of fire, 2. more dust-proof, and 3. better adapted for showing objects because the frames were thinner and less conspicuous. The subject has caused much controversy, but the present opinion seems to be that so far as fire danger is concerned one type of exhibition case is as bad as another. A metal case is more expensive to build, but is also more permanently satisfactory in our changeable climate because not subject to the same contraction and expansion experienced by wood. On the other hand, the building of wooden cases has been affected by the design of the metal case and the wooden framework for the glass can now be made as light as is desired and as is proportioned to the size of the case. Cases as well as other museum equipment are now considered more beautiful and suitable if they are without ornament. The plainer and less conspicuous the lines of the case and the finer and quieter the grain of the wood and the finish, the better it fulfils its function in setting forth the objects within. In art museums to-day three types of cases are used, ​the wall case (see Morgan collection in Metropolitan), the desk case (see miniature cases, ditto), and the free standing case. The proportions of these cases must be studied in each instance according to the objects they are to contain and the size of the room in which they are to be exhibited. A combination of wood and iron seems to prove most satisfactory in building these cases, and they can be made with all kinds of mechanical devices to facilitate the work of the curator. Thus desk cases are made with finely adjusted weights which work in the legs of the case in such a way that the top will remain open at any desired angle, and free-standing table cases have sliding decks so carefully adjusted that they can be pulled out and pushed in without jarring the objects in the case. Then there is the system in the McLean case, an adaptation of the type developed by Dr. G. E. Pazaurek, Museumskunde, II, 79, where the whole top can be lifted up by means of a crank which works on a series of ratcheted posts which disappear into the legs when the case is closed. It will readily be seen that some of these devices are merely ingenious while others are really useful. (For discussions of these subjects the reader is referred to Dr. A. B. Meyer's Reisestudien and Berichte; Museums Journal, VI, 231, 403, to Dr. Foy's description ​of the Rautenstrauch-Joerst Museum of Cologne in Ethnologia, and to the papers by Mr. L. E. Rowe and Mr. H. L. Madison in the proceedings of the American Association of Museums, 1916.)
There are two really important matters to be considered in building cases. One is that they should lock securely, and the second, that they should be dust-proof. For the first of these one must be cautious in the selection of the hardware on a case. A very good type of lock is one which throws three bolts, one at the top of the case, one at the bottom of the case and one in the middle. This has the advantage of holding a large door firmly closed as it could not he held with the ordinary lock. A small keyhole is desirable and a complicated system of tumblers on the order of a yale lock is also an advantage. A large number of keys is to be avoided. Each museum should have its locks made to order with a minimum number of keys or with a master key, and it is desirable that the firm who makes the keys should be located in some other city and should not know for whom they are made.
Dust-proofing may be accomplished in various ways. Perhaps the simplest is that in which the door is provided with a little tongue which fits into a groove in the frame. The groove has to ​be made larger than the tongue in order to allow for shrinkage or swelling, but a layer of cotton or linen felt (never wool in any form) may be inserted to stop any possible passage of dust. If this is saturated with a disinfectant it is even better in keeping out insects. In metal cases the door is usually made to shut against the frame, and a layer of felt is supposed to be sufficient to keep out dust.
An excellent type of flat, shallow case attached to a wall for the exhibition of prints may be seen in the Fogg Museum, Cambridge. It should be noted that in this case much space is saved by having two doors hung on one specially constructed hinge.
Storage cases for Prints will be discussed under the separate heading of Engravings.
Heavy and Unsuccessful Cases Designed in a "Period," Bavarian National Museum, Munich, Germany
​the exhibit, it is simply a means of housing safely the objects to be shown. A case designed in a period may or may not be successful. If it is, it may add materially to the effectiveness of the room. But that particular case will be useless anywhere else, and if it is not successful it is offensive. Thus in the National Museum in Munich the Byzantine cases and one Rococo case are excellent—the Renaissance cases in the Italian room are very poor. In the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in the rooms devoted to modern art it was decided to give the furniture designer an opportunity to try his skill at designing a case which would harmonize in spirit with the modern furniture shown in the room. The result was one of the worst types of cases imaginable which even the authorities of that museum regard as a mistake. The worst feature of it is that it is in no way dust-proof and it is very easy to break into. Both of these matters might be remedied without influencing the design were that good enough to be worth the trouble.
One of the most difficult matters that confronts the director of a museum situated in an old building, crowded for room, is the utilization of the space under the windows. An example of an excellent solution of this problem is to be found in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Here the ​windows come quite low in the wall and at rather short intervals so that the exhibition space is much restricted and the glare in the eyes of the visitor is unpleasant. To obviate this, a case has been built partly into the window opening, with a solid
Window Case in Ashmolean Museum
back. Above the case and on the inside of the window casing is a wooden panel which keeps the light from shining directly into the face of the visitor. Behind this panel mirrors are arranged which throw the light from the window directly down into the case, thus securing excellent light while at the same time cutting off the glare. The rest of the room is perfectly lighted by the upper part of the window.
Rarely Successful Case Designed for a Richly Decorated Room, Bavarian National Museum, Munich, Germany
​Cases should be made from museum specifications, never from those used by a department store. Experience will soon show how a case should open. The usual wall case with a wide door will need to have some support when open, but it is much easier to arrange such a case than one in which only the narrow ends are made to open. The free-standing high table case which is to have exhibits on four sides is hard to arrange. The McLean system of raising the top has the advantage of giving access to all sides, but unless the top can be raised the entire height of the glass, there is sometimes difficulty with big objects. If the type of case with doors at either end be used, it is convenient to have the bottom of the case made to slide out to permit easier arrangement.
The furniture inside a case and the question of whether the bottom of a desk case should be flat or slope with the glass are matters of individual preference. Glass shelves are usually used, although if there is the slightest vibration in the museum the objects cannot be kept in line if they are standing on glass. Wooden shelves are lovely as a background for many kinds of objects. In wall cases a form of adjustable bracket support is used for the shelves. In free-standing cases small glass columns usually bear the weight of glass shelves when these are used. ​If the museum is cramped for space glass shelves must be used because many more objects can be shown with them, but the fact of their transparency makes the effect of the case confusing. The museum visitor sees everything in the case at a glance, and in order to see any individual thing must focus seriously upon it. Where the inside of a case is fitted with wooden shelves in pyramid form this is not the impression and the arrangement in groups is greatly facilitated.
For small objects cases made all of glass without wooden framework are often used. These are best held together with a special kind of cement. Where this cannot be obtained nickeled clamps at the corners may be substituted. Care should be taken that this type of case is not too commercial in design. A glass bell or convex glass corners on a museum case distort the objects within and should never be used. Storage cases should be of wood rather than metal because, should a fire occur, the metal conducts the heat to such an extent that the contents of a metal case are often charred, whereas if the case were of wood the fire might be controlled before any damage was done to the inside of the case.
Labelling.—In labelling minor arts the director has much latitude. It is usually customary to place upon the outside of a case a label telling ​the general nature of its contents, as, AMERICAN GLASS, XVIII AND EARLY XIX CENTURIES. This is sometimes painted on the case, but if this is done no other material can be exhibited in the case until it has been repainted. The Metropolitan has perfected the printing of glass labels which are very satisfactory for such work. They may be hung inside the case and are legible, unobtrusive and do not obstruct the view of objects in the case. Separate smaller labels harmonizing in tone with the background of the case may be used for individual objects. These should always be placed in a definite relation to what they describe. Black labels printed in gold are not as legible as light-colored ones printed in dark ink. Hand-written labels always look more untidy than printed or hand-painted ones.
Where the objects to be labelled are very small, Egyptian scarabs, gems, coins or the like, and there is much to say about them, numbers beside the objects referring to one central label may be used.
Holders of some kind for labels in cases are often necessary. The most convenient and the simplest are made of wire to exactly fit the label, but if these are not at hand a small block of wood glued to the lower part of the back of the label holds it up nicely.
​Where it is desired to affix the label to a marble or wooden base a compound of wax and balsam fir described in the Proceedings of the American Association of Museums, 191 5, p. 111 may be used. This does not leave any mark upon either substance and is easily removed if desired. It is used in a number of European museums very successfully.
The subject of labels has been exhaustively discussed at the meetings of the American Association of Museums especially in the years 1910 and 1911, and good authority can be cited for any procedure.
The subject matter on a label should answer the general questions of the visitor and furnish sufficient technical information to interest the scholar.
SCULPTURE
The cleaning of marble sculpture, like the restoring of paintings, should only be undertaken by an expert. Soap should never be used on marble, as grease of any kind discolors the surface and gives it a peculiar shiny appearance. Warm water and ammonia can often be used, especially on a polished marble. Experts, however, use a solution of muriatic acid which quickly removes all spots. The trick comes in knowing how strong ​it can be used without destroying the surface, and in washing it off afterward. Whiting is sometimes used but with rather unsatisfactory results. Of course, ancient marbles which have acquired a patine from burial in the ground would never be cleaned at all beyond removing the surface dirt with a brush or cloth. Many museums use a feather duster in cleaning. This is a mistake for the little stiff part of the feather is apt to be very scratchy and may do some injury. Much better is a painter's dust brush.
In the matter of the restoration of sculpture, fashion is discouraging more and more any attempts in this direction. It has been said that a statue with a broken nose is much more beautiful than one with perfect features because the imagination can supply an infinitely finer nose than any which an artist could achieve. Be that as it may, the Albertinum in Dresden is setting the example of the ideal way of handling sculpture. Among the many fine marbles this museum possesses, few are in perfect condition; some are Roman copies of Greek works; some could obviously be restored only in one way. Where fragments are present, they are pieced together so far as there is no manner of doubt as to their position. The moment any doubt is felt, a plaster cast is taken of the whole figure and of any parts, and the pieces in ​plaster are fitted together according to the idea of the scholar who is working on the problem. This restored cast is then placed on exhibition close to the original and carefully labelled so that the public can easily see which is which. In this way, with any change in opinion the cast can easily be altered without disturbing the original. Photographs of similar figures or groups are also provided for comparison. In the case of Roman copies of Greek works, casts of other copies of the same work are shown, and there is usually some member of the staff at work trying to reconstruct from these various copies the exact appearance of the original. It is only the exceptional collection in this country, however, which is rich enough in this class of material to be faced by this contingency.
When it comes to mounting sculpture, the question of the height of the base on which it is to be shown is of prime importance. (R. F. Martin, Some Notes on the Relationship Existing between Statue and Pedestal in Classical and Renaissance Times, Museums Journal, vol. IV, p. 333.) No definite rule can be set down, as each piece differs from every other. An excellent device is the use of the so-called "tiering machine," a valuable adjunct to any museum. This machine, developed for commercial purposes, is composed of a ​platform on wheels, which can be raised by means of a crank to any desired height up to seven or eight feet. The crank works very easily, as do the wheels, so that it is quite possible to put your marble upon the platform, drag it to the spot where it is to be exhibited, raise the platform to the height of the pedestal and transfer the object to it. But one of the greatest advantages of this machine is that you can test the height you are going to want for your base. Put the statue on the platform, take it to the place where it is to be exhibited, have an attendant work the crank, raising and lowering the platform till you are sure of the exact spot where it looks the best, take the measurement of that height and then order your pedestal. You will be certain to have no regrets.
Bases for statues may be built of wood, and should be provided with strong casters, so that it will be possible to move them in cleaning without too great difficulty. Marble bases are excessively expensive and rarely an improvement. Should square marble shafts be used for the mounting of busts, however, it is well to remember that the grain of the marble on two sides will show long stripes of color and on the other two sides, tiny flecks. If you desire to make your busts look as though they were higher up, place the ​striped side to the front. The other side will look at least two inches lower.
Pedestals for busts are difficult to proportion properly. They must not be too wide at the top or they look clumsy, and if they are too narrow for their height, must be weighted at the bottom so as not to tip over too easily. Small busts can best be shown on brackets. The height is determined by the position of the eyes, which should be on the level with those of the beholder, if the bust is life size. There are exceptions to this rule, however, and the general appearance of the room as well as the size of the bust must be taken into consideration in planning the pedestals.
The latest experiment, which is being tried in the new classical wing of the Metropolitan Museum, is that of casting pedestals in cement to imitate stone. These have all the properties of stone but are cheaper to build and lighter to handle, being hollow internally. They are substantial in appearance. Their durability has, of course, not yet been tested.
CASTS
A collection of reproductions in plaster to supplement original material is desirable. To simply store such a collection as is done in many European museums is a waste of material. Among ​the visitors to our museums, there are very few who are studying the history of sculpture so profoundly that a crowded or careless arrangement which would be intelligible to a specialist is of any interest. On the contrary, the purpose of a cast collection is to stimulate enthusiasm in the study of art among all visitors. It is, therefore, essential that an interesting group should be chosen and that it should be well arranged. The same amount of care and money should be spent on the installation of a series of casts as of originals, if the public is to understand and enjoy them. (G. Treu, Die Sammlung der Abgiisse im Albertinum zu Dresden, Archaeologischer Anzeiger, 1891, No. 1.)
The first point to be observed is the same in this as in every other class of material,—beware of overcrowding. The museum of comparative sculpture of the Trocadero, admirable as it is in many ways, has this fault. We are faced by an overwhelming quantity of objects all clamoring for our attention simultaneously. A few well-chosen figures illustrate the artistic development sufficiently; the rest should be stored and brought out only for lectures or for diversity.
Perhaps the most discussed point in connection with a cast collection is the desirability or undesirability of coloring the casts to suggest the ​material of the original statue. (B. Daun, Die Bemahlung antiker Gipsabgüsse, Museumskunde, XI, p. 193.) In considering this question the preservation of the cast must be thought of. A cast is by nature porous. It catches and holds dust very easily. Unless it has been treated in some manner dust can only be removed by the use of some elaborate method like the starch process, which was developed in the Albertinum in Dresden, the receipt being as follows:
In order to starch a life-size bust, take about one pound of clean, dry wheat starch and pour over it a scant pint of cold water. Stir until lumps are gone and the starch and water are thoroughly mixed. Place on the stove an agateware kettle which holds at least a gallon and put in it about two quarts of boiling water. Add to this the mixture of starch and water already made and stir constantly to avoid lumps. This should be allowed to cook until the paste becomes very thick. This hot paste must be spattered at once onto the cast by means of a large round bristle brush. The plaster must not be stroked with the brush, but the cast must be covered with an even coat of paste about one-half inch thick. If the paste is too thin it will run off, while if it is too thick it will not stick at all. A little experimenting will easily show what consistency is desirable. After ​about twelve hours, or at the latest the next morning if the starch is put on in the afternoon, the paste must be carefully pulled off with the fingers. In general the dirt will be taken off with the paste. Should dirt, however, stick to the cast anywhere, it will be loose and can easily be removed by a gentle wiping with a damp sponge which must be washed and squeezed out in fresh cold water. The starch must not remain on the cast longer than one day, as otherwise it becomes too dry, and in tearing off it takes the plaster too, and thus injures the surface. The same result occurs if the layer of paste which sticks to the cast is too thin.
If large statues or groups are to be cleaned the starch must be prepared in larger quantities and the paste put on beginning at the top. The process must not be interrupted until the whole is covered. Before attempting to apply the starch paste, the cast should be carefully examined to determine whether it has already been treated in any way or whether the plaster is still in the raw state. Casts which have never been treated or those which have been painted with water colors may easily be cleaned by the application of the starch paste. Great care should be taken that the paste is of the right consistency, as otherwise the cast may receive some damage.
There is a way of treating the new cast ​chemically that is used in the Albertinum in Dresden which is said to make it possible to wash it later when dirty. European museum directors have spent much more time and study on such problems than our American museum men have done. Experiments are being made in Munich with a shellac mixture. But this discolors the cast in a disagreeable manner. In this country some of our older museums are using white water-color paint on the casts when they become too dirty for exhibition otherwise. Such a proceeding makes every student hold up his hands in horror. The spirit of a work of art is such a delicate and evanescent thing that it is only with the greatest difficulty that it can be caught and imprisoned in a cast. Those who know and appreciate the subtleties of modelling call for a cast made from a mould taken directly from the original and prefer an early cast from that mould rather than a late one, so easily are the shades of surface destroyed. Imagine, then, what a lifeless thing a cast becomes when its surface is covered by layer after layer of calcimine! It is for this reason also that the washing of casts is attended with so much difficulty. The slightest change in the surface of a cast impairs its value, and the problem is consequently to provide a method of filling the pores of the plaster that will make it less ​subject to dust while in no wise altering its form, and to provide a method of removing dirt without injury to the surface.
If the officers of the museum decide that they wish to exhibit their casts white, there are three methods open to them. The first of these is the Albertinum method, which requires special apparatus that is rather costly but which is thorough and satisfactory. The second is a very simple process as follows: Take a one-quart glass preserve jar with a tight-fitting top and break up in it about two rounds of white beeswax. (This may be obtained by the pound or in five-pound packages from wholesale druggists. It comes in thin, round cakes about five or six inches in diameter and there are about seven or eight cakes to the pound.) Upon the wax in the jar pour a quart of turpentine. Set aside over night. In the morning the wax will be completely dissolved in the turpentine. No heat is necessary. Should time be short, a workable solution may be obtained in a half hour by breaking up a larger quantity of the wax in half the quantity of turpentine and shaking it thoroughly. Then take a soft, small paint brush and dip it in the solution and apply to the cast. Should the marks of the brush show on the surface, thin the solution with turpentine until it is easy to handle. Care must ​be taken not to rub the surface with a cloth as it easily takes on a decided polish. If this polish comes, it can be dimmed with clear turpentine. A cast that has been so treated can be washed with cold water and a sponge and, in case the dirt persists, with turpentine on clean cotton waste. After it has been washed, however, it is very desirable that it should be treated again with the turpentine and wax. There is often a certain difference in the quality of the surface of the plaster which does not show if the cast is left untreated but which with the application of any solution causes spots of a grayish color to appear. There is no help for this, although when thoroughly dry the difference is not very marked. The third process is the application of zapon, with which the author has had no experience.
Patinating.—The coloring of casts to imitate the material of the original is a process which has been called patinating. It is in use in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, in the Trocadero in Paris and in many other of the fine European cast collections. In this country it has so far been little used and museum officials are still arguing as to the ethics of the procedure. There is no doubt whatever that the impression made upon the public is much more pleasing and also much more true if the casts look something like ​the originals in color than if they are a staring white. The method adopted must, of course, be carefully studied, for if, in order to color the cast, a thick white coating of paint is put over it, the museum director will find himself much criticised for destroying the shades of modelling in the surface. Admirable results may be obtained in various ways. Perhaps the most effective of these is the Trocadero system which starts with the wax and turpentine solution to which a small amount of prepared oil color is added according to the shade desired.
Marble.—For the lighter whiter marbles of the XVII and XVIII centuries, the least suspicion of van Dyke brown in the mixture is sufficient. For ancient marbles that have mellowed and yellowed with time, use yellow ochre and van Dyke brown. The liquid will have a strong yellow-brown look.
These mixtures should be applied with a medium-sized brush, and a clean, soft cloth or piece of cotton waste should be at hand to wipe off superfluous color. It should be remembered that the color of the cast will be much less intense when it is on the pedestal and on exhibition than when being worked over in the shop. If too much color is applied, it may be in part removed by washing with turpentine.
​Terra Cotta.—Is somewhat more difficult. The Trocadero uses raw Siena and red ochre, but a little experimenting will be necessary before a wholly satisfactory result can be obtained.
Wood.—Yellow ochre, van Dyke brown, raw Siena and black.
Bronze.—A dull brown or green bronze can easily be obtained by using a large proportion of color in the turpentine and wax mixture. Should the gold lights be desired, however, the cast must first be shellaced, then gilded, then shellaced again, and finally painted over with green or brown of the appropriate shade. This method is not to be recommended, because of the numerous coats of paint required.
Basalt.—Black and the least suspicion of green mixed with turpentine and wax, and put on with a small atomizer or other spraying apparatus gives an excellent representation of basalt.
Glazed Terra Cotta.—The glaze of the terra cottas of the Delia Robbia sculpture may be admirably imitated by using the turpentine and wax rather thick. This should stand for some three or four days and then be rubbed down and polished with soft, clean cloths. A little zinc white added to the mixture will give a still better color.
Stone.—A very satisfactory process is the following: Dissolve a small amount of sculptors' ​clay in water and add a little lampblack. Experiments will soon show the exact proportions necessary, which will vary with the subject. Stir constantly and apply as evenly as possible. In some cases it will be necessary to stipple the surface. This makes a thin coating, easily wiped off, but as the dust settles upon it it becomes daily more stony in appearance. A glue size with bone-set has given fair results.
The firm of Gerber and Company of Cologne has made a specialty of coloring their casts, and do it very well for the most part. The suggestion of the original is very clear, although it may be questioned whether their color is accurate in all cases. Inaccuracy may be overlooked if the coloring is not very well done. When it is, it should be like the copy of an oil painting, just as close as a good artist can make it.
Mounting.—The "tiering machine," elsewhere described (see p. 158), is very valuable in determining the most desirable height for cast as well as original sculpture pedestals. For large casts, the pedestal should be about two or three inches wider on all sides than the base of the cast. Busts, especially life-size ones with a small base like those of Caesar, Socrates, etc., should, if possible, be shown upon a small shelf at a height that will bring the eyes at about the level of the ​eyes of the average visitor. The usual pedestal is apt to be clumsy if made large enough to be thoroughly steady. Such busts as those of the XVII and XVIII centuries which show more of the figure must, of course, be placed upon a regular base. In this case it is possible to have the width of the base somewhat less than the width of the shoulders of the cast provided that the cast is arranged with the usual small round base below. (See Marie Antoinette, by Lecomte; Lafayette, by Houdon, etc.) When it comes to such casts as the large half-figure of St. Anne from Rheims, which is more than life size, it must be raised higher from the floor, and in this case, unless the pedestal is kept as small as possible, it will look ill-proportioned. The same thing that has been said about design of pedestals elsewhere holds true here. The lines should be as simple as possible. There is no objection to the use of plain pine wood painted, which is often quite as effective as a much more expensive stock. No lumber that has not been well seasoned should be used in pedestals. Casters should be provided in all bases so that the casts can be readily moved about for purposes of cleaning or for instruction. In the Albertinum in Dresden, casts are frequently moved into the lecture room for use in illustrating a course of talks on the history of art.
​Bas-reliefs may be fastened to the wall by the use of angle-irons which can be obtained from any blacksmith. The lower edge of the relief is measured and the iron bent to fit. From six to ten inches according to the weight of the cast are allowed in the arm which is to be fastened to the wall. This arm is drilled with three or more holes. The cast is held in place on the wall and the spots where the irons are to go, marked. It is then taken down and holes are drilled in the wall into which the expansion bolts or toggle pins are put, through the iron arm. When these have been securely fastened they may be painted the color of the wall and the cast then placed upon them. A hook put in the wall at the top of the cast may be fastened into the wire eye, usually provided in such objects, to insure greater security. It is sometimes desirable where the relief is deep and heavy, as in the case of some of the gothic figures, to provide a small wooden base to hide the mechanism which holds the cast in place, and to give a greater appearance of stability. The simplest kind of mouldings are the most successful, and the fewer the members in this base, the less conspicuous it is and the easier to keep clean.
Labelling.—The labelling of a cast collection is most important, for we must remember that in dealing with such material we are educating our ​public and teaching them not only to appreciate beauty but also where to look for beauty. The first essential is to give the name or subject; then, equally important, the fact that it is a PLASTER CAST, and, consequently, where the original is, the artist, his country and date. In some cases the original has been removed from the place it was intended to occupy, and in that case this fact should be mentioned as "Original from Corbeil, France, now in the cathedral St. Denis, France"
Holders provided with glass to protect the label are really essential, as the labels on casts seem to become defaced much more rapidly than those on other objects. Here, again, simplicity of design is the most important requisite. A good type is that used by the Metropolitan Museum and by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It consists of a narrow frame with square edges provided with a slight projection on two sides for the screws which hold it in place. The label is held firmly within this and can only be removed by taking out the screws.
The color of holder and label should harmonize with the color of the base. The ink used should be black if the label is light in color and white if it is dark. Very dark blue, brown, green or purple ink can sometimes be used with even better effect than black.
PRINTS
The care and installation of a print collection is a subject by itself, requiring an expert knowledge of both museum and library methods. An ordinary print collection contains too many "specimens" to exhibit all of them at once, so that the problems of storage and cataloguing become of greater importance than the problems of exhibition.
Let us consider some of the processes a print goes through on entering a collection. It is first of all identified and entered in the accessions list and given a number. Then it must be stamped on the back in some place where the paper is well covered with ink (i. e. where the stamp will not show through on the right side) with the device of the museum or collection. The Kupferstich Kabinet in Berlin uses a small brass mould into which gelatine is poured to make a die or stamp. The advantage of this over a metal stamp is obvious, for it is soft enough to be used on the thinnest India paper without danger to the print. Rubber stamps may also be used, but a fine type can be made more legible with the gelatine, and as soon as the impression begins to be unsatisfactory the gelatine may be melted over and a fresh die prepared. Great care must be taken in ​the selection of the ink, as ordinary inks eat the paper of the print. Windsor and Newton's sepia oil color has been used instead of ink. It is important that the ink should contain no aniline dye and that it should be spread evenly on a glass plate before being used, to avoid lumps and thick spots in the marking. Space is usually left in this stamp where the accessions number can be added in pencil. The custom of using pencil for this purpose seems to be due to the fact that every large print collection expects to be able to sell or exchange duplicates when it acquires a better example of any work. This is not done in any other branch of art museum work though it is more or less customary in scientific museums. The pencilled number can be easily erased and should, of course, be removed before the print leaves the museum's collection.
The next step is the mounting. The Print Department of the British Museum and the Kupferstich Kabinet in Berlin are the two collections that have paid the most attention to this side of the work, and the "British Museum board," a mounting board specially prepared, free from substances harmful to prints, is the standard everywhere. It is, however, very expensive and most of the American collections content themselves with using one of the mounting boards put on the market ​by Chas. T. Bainbridge's Sons in Brooklyn. The author has never seen a chemical analysis of this board and cannot vouch for its freedom from injurious substances; in the collections where it has been used, however, it seems as yet to have done no harm. In mounting prints certain uniform sizes are used in most large collections. The advantages are obvious. In the first place, it is much easier and safer to store objects of uniform size; in addition, they are more easily exhibited, whether in separate frames or in a wall or desk case, and in loan exhibitions where prints from other collections are shown they are much more easily handled if all of similar sizes. It has been found convenient to use the following three sizes of mats: 14×18, 22×28 and 28×40. These give good proportions and most prints fit one of these sizes. The usual custom in mounting prints is to hinge together two pieces of board with linen tape or strips of linen cloth especially prepared. An opening is cut in the front board to show the print up to the margin of the plate. The backing board must be fairly thick, so as not to bend easily in handling, and to give real protection to the object mounted upon it. Rubbing is very harmful to the surface of prints, and the front board varies in thickness according to the value and size of the print and the amount of ​protection it needs. The opening in the front board should be slightly above the centre, as the eye in looking at a print has a tendency to make it look lower. This opening is usually cut with a bevelled edge. In Berlin a special machine has been made for this and the process is easy and simple. In our smaller collections the bevel is usually cut by hand, using a very sharp knife held slanting. Great dexterity and considerable strength are needed to make a good job of this hand cutting, and most curators of print departments would bless the inventor of a small and inexpensive machine that would do this more satisfactorily. In mounting the print, it is considered very bad museum practice to cut away any part of the paper on which the print is made. Oftentimes, therefore, a much larger mount is needed than the size of the print really calls for, in order to give an opportunity for storing the extra paper that the artist has thought best to use. The print is placed upon the mount, and marks made where the upper corners come. A thin gummed banknote paper such as is used for mending torn music or books is generally employed in mounting. This is easily removed, if necessary, and does not render illegible any marks that may be on the back of the print. The strip should be cut the full length of the print, folded in the ​middle and gummed to the print, then to the mount. Care should be taken not to use too much moisture on the bank-note paper as the paper of the print is apt to pull when damp and form bad wrinkles when dried. With certain of the Japanese rice papers it is better to make several small hinges instead of one large one, because the paper stretches when wet. When the print has been mounted it should be pressed under a heavy plate glass until thoroughly dry. In the case of prints mounted vertically, the hinge of the cover mount should always be on the left side. With prints mounted horizontally, the hinge should be at the top. The custom of firmly gluing down either the print or the mount has been given up since so much care and study have been bestowed upon the art of the engraver. The back of a print should always be accessible to the student. Where a print comes to a collection already mounted in the old-fashioned manner it may be carefully soaked in cold distilled water by a competent person. Experts in the handling of old prints can restore them in a remarkable way by simple processes of bathing. Brown water spots, for example, can be removed in this manner, and the creases made from improper handling obliterated. Any of the large print collections are in the habit of doing this, and the curator of ​a new department who has no previous training in this work will always find himself welcome to such advice, help or encouragement as he needs from the older institutions. Every museum with a print collection should provide a laboratory for the curator, equipped with a very large table (say, 4×8 feet), sheets of heavy plate glass of varying sizes, slightly larger than the standard sizes of his mounts, a flat-bottomed sink (not iron) at least 3×5 feet, with running water, a large-sized pasteboard cutter, and some sort of apparatus for cutting the bevelled edge of his mounts.
Exhibiting.—In exhibiting prints, small rooms with side-light are the most desirable. Artificial light should be avoided wherever possible, but may sometimes be used as a compromise if the prints could not otherwise be shown. Top-light is very disagreeable and should be avoided, as in making the necessary close observation of the print the visitor gets in his own light. Some museums prefer to show the prints in individual frames. These are generally uniform in design, adapted to the three standard sizes of mats, and fitted with removable backs. An exhibition is easily changed in this manner and looks very well when hung. If the walls of the print room are of rough plaster, which is undesirable, wires become necessary, and if wires are used ​the process of hanging is a long one. If, on the other hand, the walls are of wood, the prints are quickly hung, but also quickly taken down, which increases the danger of theft. Just how serious this danger is, is a matter to be considered by the individual museum director. There are two alternatives: wall cases and desk cases. Wall cases should be made shallow, with doors carefully planned so that the space enclosed by the wooden frame of the glass shall be adapted to the sizes of the mounts. The frame itself should be as small as possible. (In the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, an excellent double hinge is used which reduces to a minimum the space occupied by the framework of the glass doors.) These cases must be neither too high nor too low. They may occupy such space on the walls as is required to show three rows of the 14×18 size prints. A storage cabinet for prints of this small size may be provided underneath, if desired, but should not interfere with the visitor's ease in getting close to the prints in the case, for a print is made to be examined closely and does not "carry" as does a painting. Desk cases may also be arranged in connection with storage cases, and are very valuable for showing smaller prints, as it is easy for the visitor to get quite close to them. Thumb tacks or push pins are used for holding ​the prints on the back of the case, not by making a hole through the mount but by supporting the mount upon them. This makes an ugly number of spots at the corners but cannot be avoided. The only means of alleviating the difficulty is by placing them at equal distances on all the prints. The same arguments which have been brought forward in favor of showing paintings in one row only, can be adduced in the exhibition of prints. More than one row is disturbing and difficult to see, and in a properly designed gallery is unnecessary.
Storing.—A print collection differs from the other departments of a museum in that the number of specimens in even a small collection renders it impossible to exhibit all at one time. The larger the collection, therefore, the more opportunity there must be for safe storage. In the largest collections, boxes are used in which the prints can be assembled according to artists. There is a difference of opinion as to whether prints should be stored flat or standing up. The object is, in all cases, to prevent the rubbing of one print on another, but some authorities contend that while there is less pressure if the prints are standing up, there is more strain on the hinge and therefore more likelihood of the print becoming creased. The result of these contentions ​is that small prints, that is, the 14×18 size, are usually stored standing up, while the larger sizes are stored lying flat. In the expensively appointed cabinets like Berlin, all the prints are stored in boxes built of thin wood and covered with very heavy English buckram. They are arranged somewhat after the manner of the usual transfer boxes, and are bound in leather at the back, where the artist's name and the catalogue number of the box are indicated. They are lined with a pure white paper which is chosen so as to afford the greatest possible protection to the print. As has been said above, the boxes usually contain the work of one artist only, and if the collection is not rich enough to thus fill any box, there are little wooden frames which can be placed in the box to hold the mounts in place. These boxes are stored on shelves like books, the largest ones lying flat on racks provided with rollers, as in a library stack. In Dresden and some other cabinets where the boxes are bound in choice leather, the shelves on which they are stored are covered with corduroy to prevent the rubbing of the wood. Corduroy is purposely chosen because the boxes slip in and out so much more easily in the little grooves formed by the wale of the material.
In collections where so much money is not available for installation, the smaller prints are often ​kept in portfolios made of heavy wrapping paper (chosen for its pliability and resistance to wear as well as tested for its purity), and tied up with dark tape. These portfolios are very useful and cheap, and serve to protect the prints in some measure from dust. They should never be used on open shelves, however, but only in dust-proof cabinets. The larger size prints, for convenience in classification, need to be held together in some fashion, and may be simply laid between folds of large wrapping paper. These large prints are conveniently kept on trays which should not be too deep; 1½ inches in the clear is a good height. Cases with trays should be built so that the trays can be pulled out when the doors are open at an angle of 90°. This is important, as it is very often desirable to open two neighboring cases at the same time, and if the case is built so that the doors must be open at an angle of 180, this is impossible. The same method of fitting the doors to keep out dust which was described above (see p. 149) may be used in these cases. All paper is subject to attack by insects, and the curator of prints may at any time find that he has overlooked a diseased print which is spreading trouble among the others in his collection. For this reason one of the finest collections in the United States has gone to the expense of having its cases lined ​with red cedar and the trays built of the same wood. No finish is applied for obvious reasons:
* Any finish would impair the exhalation of the germicidal odor which is the attribute of cedar.
* Every finish contains matter which might stain the prints under exceptional weather conditions.
In order to run no risk of the prints becoming stained by sap oozing from improperly cured wood, it is best always to lay down a paper on the shelf before putting in the portfolios of prints.
ARCHÆOLOGY
There is no class of material so often poorly exhibited in museums, nor so capable of arousing enthusiasm if properly shown, as that which is the result of excavations. The most serious mistake, and the one most often committed, is in placing before the public quantities of specimens of a similar character. The wholesale exhibition of one class of objects leads to two things: a false impression on the part of the public as to the importance of that particular thing in the daily life of the people of ancient times, and a fatigue of mind and eye which must be avoided if the public is to benefit from the collection. To the great mass of museum visitors the exact position of a handle on a cup or the precise number of geometrical figures used in a design are of no ​possible interest. It is of great interest, however, to know that household utensils in the days of ancient Greece were of pottery and bronze, instead of china and tin, and the museum which can reconstruct the life of remote times for us in a vital manner is bound to interest. Such a recon- struction cannot, of course, be made without the help of the student who spends long hours poring over quantities of material of a like nature in its comparison, classification, and arrangement. For his sake, therefore, as well as for our general public, let us have collections of archaeological material subdivided to suit the needs of both types of visitors. The student should have side-lighted rooms of a convenient size, with windows low enough to permit him to examine objects under a strong light. The rooms should be provided with long tables, running at right angles to the window wall, upon which the collection in use can be spread. Around the room there should be cases, made as tight as possible, with glass doors wherever practical and with locks. These rooms thus serve as storage space and also as workshops. They should open onto a corridor, but should not be intercommunicating as it is sometimes convenient to give a student the key to one room when you may not wish him to enter the other rooms.
​Most objects which come into an archaeological collection, especially if they come directly from the field of excavation, are in need of treatment of some kind before they are ready for exhibition. Bronzes from Egypt are almost all subject to the patina containing chlorine salts that is so harmful, and some process of reduction or impregnation needs to be used before it is safe to put them with other objects. Coins are frequently in very bad condition and need to be reduced by an electrolytic process to bring out inscriptions, etc. All objects of terra cotta and limestone are attacked by salt crystals, and need prolonged treatment before the curator can be sure that they will remain secure. The scope of this little book is too limited to enter into details in regard to these processes. Suffice it to say that they have been worked out scientifically and thoroughly by Professor Rathgen, the official chemist of the Berlin Museums, who has published a little handbook for curators called "The Preservation of Antiquities," to which reference has been made before. While there have been continued experiments since that date, and some processes have been modified by further experience (see Museumskunde, vol. IV, pp. 12, 88; VI, 23; VII, 218; IX, 44; XI, 32 and Rhousopoulos, Museumskunde, vol. VII, 95, translated in Museums ​Journal, XI, 131), no museum which possesses archæological material should be without a copy, as a clearer understanding by the museum staff of the chemical action of the salts to which all antiquities have been exposed would often prevent disintegration of important specimens.
SAFETY DEVICES
Electricity is a great help in safeguarding museum collections. In every large city in the United States there is a company which makes it a business to assist in watching property at night. This is done by means of telegraphic communication. Wires run from a centrally located office of this company to each building that it is employed to watch, pass through the walls of the building to boxes so located that the night watchman, in order to get to them, must pass through every room. At stated intervals the watchman makes his rounds and puts his key into each box as he comes to it. This registers at the central office, and if a certain number of minutes go by without the reports, the company sends men to investigate the cause of the delay. In the morning, reports are mailed giving the exact time at which the watchman rang in each box. Special safeguards for the watchman may be arranged by having one box that is not rung in regularly. If ​he is overpowered by a thief who takes the key and makes the rounds, the central office will be advised of the fact by having a signal from the box that is not generally rung. These same boxes can be used for fire alarms. Where this service is not available, there are other means of controlling the watchman's round. All of these depend upon a box containing a clock and mechanism for registering the time at which a key is inserted in them. Sometimes there are different keys in the various rooms and the watchman carries the clock. In other cases the clock is in the room and the watchman carries the key.
In Europe, police dogs often accompany the watchman and are a great protection to him as well as good company and faithful servants. See Museums Journal, vol. VII, 411, Canine Custodians.
For the safeguarding of works of art either by day or night, a system of electric contact has been installed in many European museums which is efficient and absolutely invisible if desired. It consists in a little spring similar to that in the ordinary push button which rests against the object to be protected. The releasing of pressure immediately rings a bell which calls an attendant. The wires for these attachments are usually hidden, but where visible can be so arranged that the ​act of cutting the wires gives the alarm. Locks and bolts are not as efficient as such a device, which may be attached to windows, or doors of cases, or in any place where a thief might be expected to work. The system must be examined frequently and tested occasionally, and should not be allowed to influence in any way the vigilance of the guards and watchmen.
Plate glass can be cut on one side only, and should therefore be set in windows and cases so that the side which can be cut is on the inside.
For fire protection a large hose on each floor and a four-inch water pipe are of some assistance while in certain of the workshops a sprinkler system should be installed. Chemical fire extinguishers in the hands of ignorant or excited persons may prove very dangerous to works of art and should not be provided in a museum unless the guards and janitors are instructed how and when to use them.