Plastics: Collecting and Conserving

Blank, Sharon; Quye, Anita; Williamson, Colin

doi:10.2307/3179885

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The deterioration processes effect on the stability of cellulose ester plastics has attracted significant attention [8][9][10][11]. In general, the remarkable character of cellulose acetate degradation is deacetylation, which is mainly expressed by the increase of acidity [12,13]. The stability of the substrate will be greatly reduced with the increasing concentration of acetic acid [14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on microbubble of cellulose acetate microfilm of the Republic of China (AD 1912–1949) collected in the Second Historical Archives of China

Jia

et al. 2020

Herit Sci

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The white spots known as microbubbles that are formed in cellulose acetate film, significantly affects the texture of the image. However, the formation of microbubbles and their corresponding microstructure are poorly understood. In this paper, cellulose acetate microfilm from the Republic of China (AD 1912-1949) collected in the Second Historical Archives of China was chosen as a prototype to investigate the causes of microbubble disease for the first time. A comparative study was conducted between the film samples with and without microbubbles. Herein, the microstructural analyses including optical and SEM microscopy were conducted. The crystals in the microbubbles proved to be triphenyl phosphate as identified by NMR spectroscopy and SEM-EDX. Comparative properties of the film substrate with and without microbubbles were measured by TG, XRD and FT-IR spectroscopy. The results show that formation of microbubbles was generally accompanied with the vinegar syndrome and was produced between the protective and emulsion layers with the different types of shapes along the closed structure (the diameter of ~ 0.1-2 mm). The formed microbubble was filled with plasticizer. Based on the above-mentioned results, the possible formation process of microbubble was proposed in the present study. The results can provide support for the cause of microbubbles and basis for the conservation of photographic films.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on microbubble of cellulose acetate microfilm of the Republic of China (AD 1912–1949) collected in the Second Historical Archives of China

Jia

et al. 2020

Herit Sci

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“…Researchers interested in fundamental properties of polymeric materials such as ageing performance or mechanical properties, including dimensional stability and shrinkage, may refer to any polymer encyclopedia or reference book on polymer degradation and stability [ 3 ]. In addition, typical damages in museum plastic objects considered as case studies are shown in an atlas released at the end of the POPART project [ 34 ] and in conservation-focused books [ 17 , 19 ].…”

Section: Methodological Approaches To the Study Of Deteriorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, visual features as transparency/opacity might be of aid in sorting plastics. Odour is also considered a preliminary tool for polymer identification if materials are already showing extensive deterioration [ 17 , 19 , 24 , 25 ]. Destructive, non-instrumental identification techniques, such as those based on hardness, density and hot pin tests were historically used to analyse polymers in collections but are only exceptionally applied on artwork materials and will not be discussed further here.…”

Section: Identification and Compositional Analysis Of Plastics In mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, plastics’ durability is an especially relevant requisite for collectability. To date, the majority of plastics collected, and hence potentially researched by material scientists, are design objects; however, knowledge advancement about objects with a greater artistic and economic value, such as sculptures, could have a higher impact on current societal concerns [ 19 ]. First, the object has to be rare, which contradicts the mass production of plastic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What Fate for Plastics in Artworks? An Overview of Their Identification and Degradative Behaviour

Lazzari

Reggio

2021

Polymers

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This review is conceived as a guide for material science researchers and conservators aiming to face the problem of deterioration of contemporary artworks entirely or partially made of plastics. It initially illustrates the analytical approaches for identifying polymeric material components in 3D art objects, such as sculptures and installations, and provides a perspective of their limits and advantages. Subsequently, the methodologies used for studying the deterioration of contemporary art plastics are reviewed, emphasising the main effects of the different types of degradation (i.e., migration of additives, oxidation and hydrolysis) and suggesting the appropriate techniques for their detection. Finally, the application of artificial ageing tests is critically assessed. All the concepts are elaborated through case studies and examples.

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“…Children’s toys and dolls are manufactured using natural and synthetic materials developed primarily for industrial and technological applications. Since the chronological development of synthetic polymers is well documented [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] the identification of the materials used to make a particular doll can help inform likely dates of manufacture or approximate age. Dolls belonging to the late 19th century were often made using natural/non-synthetic materials, e.g., ‘one-piece stuffed-body’ constructed dolls with heads made from bisque (a ceramic material fired at a relatively low temperature) or porcelain [ 2 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Materials and Condition of 20th-Century Dolls in Zoe Leonard’s Mouth Open, Teeth Showing 2000

Lee¹,

Ireland²,

Townsend³

et al. 2022

Polymers

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Systematic condition and analytical surveys were carried out on Zoe Leonard’s (b. 1961) Mouth Open, Teeth Showing 2000, an installation artwork in Tate’s collection consisting of 162 children’s dolls. The dolls were manufactured at various points within the 20th century and encompass several potentially problematic synthetic polymers found in modern and contemporary museum collections. To explore the doll materials and conservation condition, a multi-analytical approach was used to identify key synthetic polymer types and additives present, including portable and bench analytical techniques. Challenging degradation phenomena associated with different types of doll have been discussed and related to their material composition, which has helped our understanding of the conservation challenges inherent to this contemporary artwork.

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Plastics: Collecting and Conserving

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Study on microbubble of cellulose acetate microfilm of the Republic of China (AD 1912–1949) collected in the Second Historical Archives of China

Study on microbubble of cellulose acetate microfilm of the Republic of China (AD 1912–1949) collected in the Second Historical Archives of China

What Fate for Plastics in Artworks? An Overview of Their Identification and Degradative Behaviour

Exploring the Materials and Condition of 20th-Century Dolls in Zoe Leonard’s Mouth Open, Teeth Showing 2000

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