Repairing a
Schimmel Eagle
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Delaware, USA
This majestic carved eagle usually resides in Schimmel Hall at Winterthur with over a hundred other carved eagles. Created sometime between 1865 and 1890 by Wilhelm Schimmel, a German-born Pennsylvania carver.
The eagle's proper right wing had been damaged previously in 1995 and was reattached. In the winter of 2018/2019, the wing was damaged again while on display.
See below for more details of my treatment process or clink the link below for my full treatment report.
Broken Wing
In the image on the left, you can see the damage inflicted on the wing joint. It no longer was able to support the weight of the wing, but was too tight to inject adhesive.
Senior Furniture Conservator Mark Anderson and I removed the wing with mechanical pressure. Parts of a wood and plaster historic fill covering the wing joint broke off during the removal process (right).
Image by Jim Schneck
Treatment Process
Solubility tests revealed that the original paint was not sensitive to water or denatured alcohol, but was sensitive to acetone. Consequently, I introduced sturgeon glue into the joins to provide additional stability. I manipulated the wing back into place and clamped to set with wood clamps cushioned with Volara. I added a stretchy fabric bandage and planks of scrap ethafoam to provide further stabilization during the setting process (A and B).
I coated the areas of loss with a barrier of sturgeon glue thinned with water based on the results of testing. Sturgeon glue was chosen because of its compatibility with wood and its different solubility from the fill material. After testing a variety of combinations of adhesives and bulking agents, I chose to use 20% Butvar B98 w/v in denatured alcohol bulked with glass microballoons for its ease of application, low shrinkage, solubility in denatured alcohol, and workability (C). This combination was based on research conducted by Megan Narvey at University College London.
I inpainted my fills to visually integrate them into the surrounding surface using Golden Acrylic paints in Golden Matte Medium (see below, images by James Schneck).
A
B
C
