A vintage Christmas decoration undergoing restoration. Storage is the key to keeping your vintage and antique decorations looking new.

Many of us have antique Christmas ornaments and decorations that were passed down by mothers and grandmothers. Hopefully, yours are in good condition, considering their age, but if you have some that have suffered damage from handling and storage, there are ways to return them to their original lustrous look. But you can take steps now to prevent future damage to these important keepsakes of holidays past.

Holiday decorations are typically made of fragile materials that are easily damaged by accidents, mishandling, heat, light, moisture or improper packing and storage. The damage is often not discovered until decorations are unpacked from the previous year.

Boxes of special ornaments and family keepsakes are often stored in places that can do them the most harm. Basements, attics and storage sheds are unfortunately the places where many of these fragile objects are kept from year to year, exposing them to extreme environmental conditions that can cause them to crack, fade, melt, mold and deteriorate beyond repair. When disaster strikes, some damage can be professionally restored.

It is important to consider the potential for damage when displaying holiday decorations. Some items can be damaged if placed too close to fireplaces, burning candles and Christmas lights. Keep fragile decorations out of the reach of small children and pets.

Proper storage after the Holidays

Vintage Christmas ornaments in an after-market box with foam cushioning. Try to keep the boxes your decorations come in because they are designed to protect the contents.

For most, our family decorations represent fond memories of a holiday past. They hold great sentimental value and deserve proper handling, care and storage to preserve them for future generations to treasure and enjoy. A small investment of time, quality packing materials and proper storage space will help to prevent the unnecessary loss of important family traditions.

Fragile holiday decorations should be individually wrapped in acid free tissue and placed in shallow divided plastic boxes with lids for storage. Adequate soft packing materials should be used to cushion breakable objects. Heavy ornaments and decorations should be placed on the bottom of the storage box. Hooks and hangers should be removed and stored separately.

Decorations that contain photographs and/or natural materials may attract insects or mice and should be sealed in strong plastic bags and placed in hard plastic containers for storage.

Items made of wax, thin plastic or cookie dough should never be stored where they are exposed to high temperatures. Never store holiday decorations in an attic or outside storage shed. If off-site “self-storage” is used, inside temperature-controlled facilities are preferred over small outdoor storage bins. These units are usually constructed of un-insulated metal and offer little protection from extreme temperatures and fluctuating humidity levels.

Storage boxes should be labeled and placed on sturdy storage shelves in a closet or a cool, dry basement where temperature and relative humidity (RH) are controlled. Boxes should not be stored near sources of heat and moisture. If these items must be stored in a basement they should not be placed near a furnace, water heater, floor drains, electrical panels or under HVAC ducts and water lines.

• Large items should also be wrapped in acid free tissue and placed in sealed plastic storage containers to prevent damage.
• When you purchase or receive new decorations, save the original fitted packing materials for reuse and storage.
• Place small packets of silica gel in sealed storage containers to prevent mildew.
• Lights, tree stands and heavy outdoor decorations should be not be stored in the same container as fragile indoor keepsakes.

Remember when stacking packed storage containers to place the larger, heavier boxes on the bottom. Select storage containers that have strong lids that will support weight and use stackable, interlocking containers whenever possible.

— by Douglas Eisele
Old World Restorations

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This is the restored Robert Scott Duncanson landscape with the original colors intact. It is valued at $300,000.

CINCINNATI – The dingy dirty canvas showed up at Doug Eisele’s Old World Restorations in Cincinnati in March 2009. The owner of the painting, a dentist from London, KY, had rescued the work from an obscure corner in ClaireBourne Antiques in Lexington by paying $900. It looked like it might need to be cleaned up a bit so he took it to Old World based on its excellent reputation.

When Eisele saw the painting he remarked, “That’s a nice painting” which turned out to be an understatement of some magnitude. He thought the work looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t see a signature. As the cleaning progressed the letters “…son” emerged from the right corner and Eisele knew he was looking at a previously unknown work by former Cincinnati artist and resident Robert Scott Duncanson (African-American/Canadian 1821-1872). He immediately called the owner suggesting he insure the painting for at least $100,000 but now he believes it would actually sell in the $300,000 range.

This is how the Duncanson landscape looked before the work by Old World Restorations was completed.

Eisele was familiar with Duncanson’s work having seen his eight mural works on exhibit at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, formerly known as the Belmont, the home of Nicholas Longworth who commissioned the works in 1851. He also had previously restored several Duncanson works.

Duncanson was born in Fayette, NY, the son a Scottish Canadian father and an African American mother, making him a “free born person of color.” He was raised in Canada by his father to avoid racial conflicts, returning to the United States in 1841. He became a self-taught artist by copying prints and painting portraits. Seeking more commissions he set up a studio in Detroit in 1845 but returned to Cincinnati in 1846 and focused on landscapes of the Ohio River Valley, inspired by works of the Hudson River School. By the early 1850s he was a recognized landscape artist.

He became associated with the abolitionist movement in 1848 through a commission by Charles Avery, an abolitionist Methodist minister, which established him within a network of abolitionist patrons for the rest of his life. He is considered to be the first African-American to make a living selling art.

Duncanson was noted for painting partly from real life and partly from imagination. Eisele thinks this is the case with the current work, as he believes the painting is a combination of the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the Hudson River School style and an unidentified European landscape.

But before he could make that judgment, though, Eisele had to see enough of the painting to identify it, and that took the restorative skills at Old World. The first task was to remove the layers of smoke, soot, dust and dirt that had accumulated on the surface over the last 140 years. Then the original over layer of yellowed damar varnish needed to be removed. As that process evolved, the green sky began to turn back to blue, but it also revealed that significant over painting had been done at some point during a previous restoration. When the over painting was removed, using all reversible procedures, the sky returned to its original hue. Old World’s inch-by-inch restoration took nearly eight weeks to complete, but the result was worth the wait.

The owner of the restored Duncanson has placed the work on long-term loan to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY where the chief curator, Ruth Cloudman said, “It’s a fantastical landscape. When the opportunity came up to have one of his paintings on extended loan we knew that would be very exciting.”

For more information about this painting or restoration in general, call Old World Restorations at 513-271-5479, e-mail deisele@oldworldrestoration.com, or visit the Old World Restorations Web site.

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Winter weather can play havoc on your outdoor statuary. This 19th-century plaster cast of a copy of the statue of David is showing sings of weathering. Now, before the leaves start falling, is the time to prepare your outdoor art for the winter.

People love their gardens, and that includes many wonderful old statues and other ornaments made of stone and metal. But every winter, many witness damage to some of them from exposure to the elements. So what should you do now—or this fall at the latest—to protect stone and metal yard art from extreme winter conditions?

It’s good to be thinking about protecting your outdoor art now, before the leaves begin to fall and temperatures drop. Most of us assume that garden ornaments, outdoor statuary and fixtures made of stone or metal that were designed to be displayed and used out-of-doors will survive seasonal changes indefinitely without damage or deterioration.

While some weathering is expected, surface deterioration occurs slowly and is frequently unnoticed until after much of the damage has already been done. Deposits of dust from circulating air supports the formation of fungal cells on porous stone, metal and clay sculpture. Once begun, the roots (mycelium) of such growth break through the surface and begin a cycle of deterioration that, if left untreated, can be permanent and irreversible.

Perhaps the number-one enemy of all stone, metal and wood garden pieces is water and ice. Freeze and thaw cycles that occur during the winter can further exaggerate these effects on nearly all types of outdoor art and statuary. Small cracks will quickly grow if left unrepaired throughout the winter, as water freezes and expands, forcing the crack to split apart further. Outdoor statues made of cast zinc are far more brittle than those made in bronze. Close examination of zinc sculpture usually shows that some seams have separated, probably because there were incipient cracks to begin with. Lead-tin solder seams are often found cracked on statues that appear intact, and white-bronze joins tend to separate over time because they were often poorly bonded in the first place.

Significant to keeping outdoor sculpture and statuary in good condition, is carefully selecting an appropriate location. Organic growth on statuary will be greater when dense trees, shrubs and ground cover are nearby and become overgrown. Outdoor statuary of marble or bronze can be adversely affected when placed near a swimming pool or fountain, where chlorine can cause premature corrosion.

A 19th-century cast stone statue of Diana the huntress, virgin goddess of the hunt, atop a cast stone pedestal. While statuary can add to the beauty of your garden for most of the year, outdoor art should be brought inside during winter months if possible.

Year-round routine maintenance can help to preserve outdoor sculpture for a long time. Examination by an experienced conservator is a critical first step. A professional assessment will alert you to existing conditions such as oxidization, deterioration and stress fractures that may not be clearly visible. A conservator may suggest and prioritize necessary treatment options that can include simple cleaning, stabilization and restoration of damaged areas. Part of any suggested treatment should be a plan for regular maintenance and future restorations that may be necessary.

For example, the conservation treatment of a bronze statue will frequently include the application of hot and cold wax layers. Every few years, the base wax will need to be rejuvenated. The paste wax is typically reapplied a few times a year to seal and protect the sculpture.

It is important to carefully inspect all of your outdoor art several times a year. Pay careful attention to the accumulation of surface dirt, grime, lichen, algae or mold. If a statue or garden ornament has been repaired or restored, examine these areas for any signs of deterioration, cracking or other damage. Small structural cracks and voids can be in-filled with proper materials and sealed to minimize the need for costly restorations in the future. Keep in mind, that cleaning, stabilization, restoration and conservation treatments can only be performed on large outdoor works during warm weather, unless of course, they can be moved indoors for treatment. Now is certainly the best time to take necessary steps to prevent or minimize the effects of winter.

A cast iron angel can add a little touch of art to a garden, but make sure to pay careful attention to the accumulation of surface dirt, grime, lichen, algae or mold.

Preservation Tips:

• Remember, that some weathering is to be expected.
• Select a suitable location for outdoor art.
• Never place marble or bronze statues near a swimming pool.
• Never place metal objects that rust on stone or porous bases.
• Conduct regular inspections yourself or contact a conservator.
• Clean away organic growth only with water.
• Never use bleach or household cleaning products to clean outdoor art.
• Cracks should be in-filled and sealed with proper materials.
• Do not seal cracks in marble or stone statues with caulk or silicone.
• Do not wrap and seal outdoor statues in plastic.
• Move outdoor art inside during winter months if possible.

—by Douglas Eisele

Old World Restorations

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Antique and vintage globes, even if they are damaged, can have a useful and productive second life with a little work.

Globes were initially engraved or painted directly on spherical shells. In the late 16th century, globe-makers began printing maps and pasting them onto round shells made of solid wood or hollow wood stuffed with layers of paper. Some were made of blown glass, marble or metal. The maps were divided and cut into panels (gores) with curved sides tapering to a point at the north and south poles, so that when applied to the surface of the shell, they create a complete three-dimensional map of the world.

The wooden shell was covered with pasteboard and chalk to create a uniform and smooth surface on which the gores representing the terraqueous globe or the celestial sphere were pasted in the proper order.

A meridian ring or semi-circular band usually made of metal, arches around the globe on the axis connecting the poles. The globes axis was tilted at about 23 degrees from the vertical to reproduce the Earth’s tilt on the plane of its orbit.

The horizon ring is a circular band that is typically made of printed paper laminated to wood or metal. It wraps around the equatorial area of the globe containing calendar or zodiac signs. The horizon was supported by three legs in the English mount and by four legs in the Dutch mount.

A small, thin metal circle on the top of the globe called the hour circle. It is divided into 24 segments and imprinted or engraved with the hours of the day and night. By turning it, one can calculate the time difference between various locations on the globe.

Antique and vintage globes, even if they are damaged, can have a useful and productive second life with a little work.

Most old globes can be repaired and restored if damaged or deteriorated. The surface of the globe and stand can usually be cleaned, stabilized and retouched. Broken or dented shells can be repaired. Badly damaged gores can sometimes be replaced with reproduced sections of similar maps that are trimmed and attached over the damaged or missing areas, and toned to match the surrounding surface colors. Replacement areas can also be digitally reproduced to match original losses.

Many old globes have yellowed or darkened with age. This is caused by acids in the wood and papers used to create the globe and/or the varnish layers that were applied over the paper surface of many globes. In some instances, this discoloration can be reversed or reduced by careful and controlled cleaning by an experienced conservator. The map can quickly and easily be destroyed by improper cleaning.

The materials that were used to fabricate most globes are sensitive to climactic change. It is important to store and display antique globes only in an environment where temperature and relative humidity are controlled and constant.

Paper panels that are fading and starting to peel can be cleaned and reattached to the shell.

Exposure to ultraviolet light can fade the maps, darken and yellow any surface varnish that may have been applied over the maps and trigger splitting and separation of the globes support shell and gores.

Tips for protecting antique globes:

• Never place an old globe in direct sunlight
• Keep in a controlled environment
• Don’t attempt to clean the surface
• Dusting cloths can catch and damage loose or lifting paper
• Keep stand in good and stable condition.
• Don’t apply tape over the surface for any reason

—by Douglas Eisele

Douglas Eisele is from the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art and Old World Restorations, Inc.

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