Scott Hansen Asks Stephen Koob of CMoG

Alan –

This is an inquiry I made to Stephen Koob, the Chief Conservator at CMoG, and his response. Stephen has graciously given me permission to share it with the readers of the Gazette.

Scott Hansen

INQUIRY:

I want to create an indexing system for my glass collection. I want to somehow “mark” each piece of glass with a unique identifier (in my case it will simply be a consecutive numbering system) so that I can tie all of the paper records, photos, receipts, research, etc. for that piece of glass (say I call it #1) to a file folder also labeled #1.

Could you please offer some advice on how to “mark” each piece of glass. I have seen museum accession numbers on pieces of glass that appear to be written by hand with some sort of marking pen. I was thinking of clear adhesive labels on which I could write my number but the descriptions of those labels contain words like “permanent adhesive” and that makes me uncomfortable (plus I assume that the ones which don’t say “permanent adhesive” will fall off at some point).

RESPONSE:

Actually, this is a very complex subject that brings conservators and registrars to blows.

There are many, many, ways to label or mark pieces, including paper labels, numbered tapes, or digital scan dots (miniatures of what the supermarket has).

All have advantages/disadvantages. Paper labels are probably the easiest, but look bad, and can damage the glass by trapping moisture under the label for decades. Plastic tape is marginally better, but it depends on what the adhesive is (as you mention). I seriously doubt that there are any that are “permanent”. You just need to know the right solvent.

Having said all that, let me tell you what we do.

We label all our glasses, usually on the base, with acrylic paint (white for all glasses except white glasses. For white glasses use black).

Apply the number, or letters and number, using a metal quill tip pen (which requires practice and constant cleaning).

But FIRST, apply a thin horizontal swath/swipe (?) of clear acrylic nail polish, right out of the bottle, using the brush supplied. (At some point conservators started making their own, archivally stable, acrylic lacquer, but to be honest, it doesn’t apply as well, because varnishing nails and designing a lacquer for that, isn’t exactly our expertise).

Let dry 10 minutes or longer.

Apply number.

That should do it. Some people recommend a second coat of nail varnish, but it is very tricky to do that without disturbing the first, and should not really be necessary.

All materials should be available from Michaels, or any good art supply store. You should also get a quart of acetone from a hardware store or WalMart and some paper towels, to wipe off any mistakes (paint and varnish will both clean up quickly with a paper towel wetted with acetone). You only need any tiny amount of water-based acrylic paints-1 or 2 0unce bottles, from Michaels. If it seems too thick, add a little water and shake up. Practice writing numbers on a window glass.

So you could go with your initials, SH-1 … SH-1001, or as you say just the number. Conservators like to write small, and the quill pen is very accommodating.

Stephen Koob

Chief Conservator

The Corning Museum of Glass

[Scott Hansen Note: If it isn’t already on your bookshelf, I enthusiastically recommend Stephen’s book, Conservation and Care of Glass Objects. In addition to covering the subject of the title, it contains a great deal of material about caring for and displaying your collection at home as well as packing and shipping glass. It is available from the GlassMarket at CMoG (www.cmog.org) for about $23.]