Caring for Cultural Material 1

Caring for Cultural Material 2

Damage and Decay

Managing Collections

Managing People

Handling, Transportation, Storage and Display

Glossary

Index

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Caring for Cultural Material 2
In this volume:
– Textiles
arrow Leather
– Wood
– Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Material
– Metals
– Outdoor Collections
– Acknowledgments
Leather
In this chapter:
– Objectives
– Introduction
– What is leather?
– What are the most common types of damage?
– Common causes of damage
– Storing and displaying leather
– Treatments
– Cleaning leather
– Lubrication of leather
– Treatments of attached metal fittings
– Summary of conditions for storage and display
– Leather in Australia’s climatic zones
  MORE ABOUT LEATHER
– Skin
arrow Collagen
– Untanned skin products
– Leather
– Spews
– Additional cleaning methods
– Humidity chamber
– Lubricant formulations
– For further reading
– Self-evaluation quiz
– Answers to self-evaluation quiz

 

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Leather

Collagen

Collagen is probably the most abundant protein in the animal kingdom. It is a major component of skin, tendon, cartilage, and is found in bone and teeth.

Collagen molecules are bonded together to produce fibres. In animal skins there is a structure of fibres held together by crosslinks. This structure accounts for the great strength of collagen and the fact that the fibres are insoluble.

These fibres can be broken down to produce a collagen product that has a very random structure—gelatine.

 

 

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