A Method for Reinforcing Fragile Ivory

Abstract

The Walters Art Gallery has approximately 1157 ivory objects in its collection. Faced with the problem of preparing several fragile ivories for travel, I became acutely aware of a lack of published information on this subject.2 The ivories to be lent included a late Roman plaque (5cm by 5.9cm) and two French 14th century plaques (11.6cm by 6.9cm, as shown in Figure 1; 10cm by 17.2cm) which had cracks extending almost their entire lengths. Due to warpage, the ivory on either side of the cracks did not meet at the same level: one side was higher than the other. The front surfaces of the plaques were carved in relief while the reverse surfaces were polished smooth. The minimum thickness of the ivory was three millimeters.

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