Conserving a c.1720 Italian Tortoiseshell Mirror – Polishing and Finishing

The final steps for conserving the tortoiseshell mirror frame were to make sure all the excess glue was cleaned off and the surface was given a final gleaning and polishing with the incomparable Mel’s Wax.

As I mentioned earlier, the tortoiseshell veneer was very fragile in general, and the simple gentle tasks of cleaning and polishing caused three new areas to pop up, so I had to deal with them immediately as well, exactly as described int the previous post.

Mel’s Wax goes on effortlessly, and in the end yields a near-flawless archival protective surface.  It goes on like sunscreen lotion, then goes dull as it dries, and buffs perfectly with almost anything.  Paper towel, flannel, linen, cotton rags, anything.

As always, the very last thing was to strap the mirror to its litter, take it back to the client’s house, and hang it up.  I must say, it does look pretty good.

I will work on the second mirror once the storm of Studley calms down.