conservation

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.

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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.

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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.