The Conservation Of Fur, Feather And Skin

Skins, feather and furs have been used since prehistoric times for making articles such as clothing, blankets and pouches and have been used as covering material for items as diverse as furniture, kayaks, books, boxes or chests. There is a wide range of leathers, skins and furs, all with different qualities and characteristics. Differences include the animal species from which the skins derive and the processing and finishing methods used to make the finished skin, leather or fur product. The conservation treatment of feathers often emphasizes prevention, or the control of insects, light, and inappropriate handling. Treatments may be done for stabilizing broken or bent quills, where adhesives can be safely applied, and reattaching feathers using tying or sewing techniques, and carrying out cautious and conservative cleaning. The book “The Conservation of Fur, Feather and Skin” will give readers, ready access to information on specific subjects in manufacturing engineering, providing further understanding and ideas of this subject area. This book is a compilation of chapters that discuss the most vital concepts in this field. It explores all the fundamental concepts of fur, feather and skin in the present day scenario. It focuses on conservation of feathered skins, types of tannages, shell mask and cleaning of feathers. It also deals with parchment and featherwork. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language and extensive use of examples make this book an invaluable source of knowledge. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by this book.

Nilly Fernandez is an Associate Lecturer at Community College, Minas Gerais. She obtained her Ph.D. in Animal and Veterinary Science from University of Science & Research, Alberta. Her research focus is in the field of animal physiology and leather conservation relating to agricultural science and manufacturing disciplines. Fernandez has also contributed numerous articles and research papers on animal skin, sources of protein for animal production, leather and animal diseases.

Preface ix
1. An Introduction to the Types of Tannages used on Ethnographic Leather 1
1. Introduction 1
2. Types of Tannages 2
3. The Chemistry Of Mineral Tannage 9
4. Chromium Tannage 9
5. Determination of Tannage type 20
6. New insight into combination tanning 21
7. Conclusion 28
References 28
MCQs 30
Answers 30
2. The Conservation of Plains Indian Shirts 31
1. Introduction 31
2. The Art of Plains Indian Shirts 32
3. Clothing 37
4. Microfade Testing Of Plains Indian Shirts 39
5. Conclusion 43
References 44
MCQs 45
Answers 45
3. A Brief Summary of Laser Experimentation Undertaken on Parchment 46
1. Introduction 46
2. Critical evaluation of laser cleaning of parchment 47
3. Conservation of Parchment 54
4. Conclusion 57
References 57
MCQs 60
Answers 60
4. The Conservation of a Turtle Shell Mask from the Torres Strait Islands 61
1. Introduction 61
2. Turtle Shell 62
3. Turtle Mask from the Torres Strait 66
4. Conclusion 72
References 72
MCQs 74
Answers 74
5. Love a Duck: The Conservation of Feathered Skins 75
1. Introduction 75
2. Duck Characteristics 76
3. Types of duck feathers 77
4. Skinning the ducks 83
5. Conclusion 95
References 95
MCQs 97
Answers 97
6. Cleaning of Feathers from the Ethnological Museum 98
1. Introduction 98
2. Feathers to the Ethnographic Museum 99
3. A new challenge for scientists and conservators at the British Museum: Cleaning of Museum with laser 100
4. Conservation and restoration of feathers 101
5. Preventive conservation 107
6. Conclusion 112
References 114
MCQs 115
Answers 115
7. Colourful Feathers: Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Amazonian Featherwork 116
1. Introduction 116
2. Colored feathers in museum collections 117
3. Ethnographic Featherwork from the Andes and Amazon in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 117
4. Feathers: The Treasures of the Rainforest 130
5. Quantifying Appearance Attributes and Monitoring Appearance Changes 134
6. Conclusion 136
References 137
MCQs 138
Answers 138
8. Fur will Fly: Exhibiting Controversy 139
1. Introduction 139
2. Fur clothing 141
3. Sources of fur 143
4. Animals Used for Clothing 147
5. Fur trade 151
6. Fur farming 162
7. Controversy 166
8. How Fur Production Harms the Environment 171
9. Conclusion 172
References 172
MCQs 174
Answers 174
9. Caring for Fur at the Museum of London 175
1. Introduction 175
2. Materials 176
3. Definition of Types of Fur Objects 176
4. Collections Care Strategies for Fur 181
5. Causes of Deterioration of Fur Objects 191
6. The fur tanning process 193
7. Cleaning 194
8. Repair and Restoration 195
9. Preventive care, maintenance, and storage 196
10. Conclusion 198
References 198
MCQs 200
Answers 200
10. Caring for Feather, Skin and Fur 201
1. Introduction 201
2. Variety of feather, skins and furs 202
3. Fur care 204
4. Causes of damage to feather, skin and fur and preventive conservation strategies 206
5. Skin and Feather Disorders of Pet Birds 212
6. Conclusion 215
References 216
MCQs 217
Answers 217
Index 219