February 23, 2001

"Microscopy in Furniture and Object Conservation"
Craig Deller
Deller Conservation
Geneva, Illinois

The scope of Mr. Deller's slide/lecture presentation is to discuss practical uses of microscopy in the conservation of furniture and objects. The most powerful tool is often the stereo microscope. Advances in furniture conservation have opened up many uses for the microscope in determining the nature of materials.

Bio Sketch
Craig Deller is the principal of Deller Conservation, specializing in historic furniture and objects. Clients include the Chicago Historical Society, The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum, and many private and corporate collections. He is Director of Communications for the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and is president of the Chicago Area Conservation Group. He also teaches the "Interior Surfaces Conservation Lab" for the Masters Program in Historic Preservation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a Professional Associate member of AIC. He studied furniture conservation at the lab formerly known as CAL at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. His main areas of research are historic coatings and natural resins. His current hobby is the preservation of an 1859 stone cottage in St. Charles.

SMSI Minutes: 23 February 2001
Microscopy in Furniture and Object Conservation by Craig Deller Using the Richard Wolbers' cleaning system with three basic microscopes (PLM stereo, epi fluorescence), Craig Deller presented three case studies: the Dearborn Telescope (1864) at the Adler Planetarium, a polychrome cigar store Indian circa 1880, and a gilt and wood Heath Orrery also from the Adler Planetarium; Cross section slides of varnish or paint layers are stained using Aldrich stains: e.g. Rhodamine B to detect presence of oils. Carbopol 954 gel is used to carry the various soaps, enzymes, or solvents after which the poultice is removed with mineral spirits. A poultice mixture included the following items: 300 ml acetone, 30 ml mineral spirits, 50 ml water, 20 ml Ethomeen C25, 0.6 ml Carbopol. Slides were made with an Intel® PlayT QX3T Microscope using Windows 98. A report by Louise Harner at Inter/Micro 2000 praised the value of this inexpensive toy or tool. ( Note: The recording secretary took this Wolbers' course and brought slides of known varnish preparations which were freshly made; there were a great many false positives and negatives using the staining method ((Common complex additives negated the stains ability to fluoresce)); the firm Sara Lee also found this problem with staining and could not use it).

Respectfully submitted, Stan Schmidt, Recording Secretary