I always wear gloves when handling and conserving objects. The main reason for this is that I don’t want to leave my fingerprints on the objects I am working on, especially metal. Sweat is predominately water but also contains salt, two ingredients that are not very good for metals. Although the damage is not instant, over time, if the metal is not cleaned, the fingerprints become etched into the surface.
On this ulu (Inuit woman’s knife) you can see where someone has held it with the full four fingers on one side. There is a corresponding thumb imprint on the other side.
On this flint holder the finger print has etched through the lacquer and into the metal.
Cigarette box, pre-conservation
The silver cigarette box is a rather severe example of poor handling. Due to the nature of the object, it was very much used in its time and was probably polished on a regular basis. This would ensure that the water and salt in the sweat did not start to damage the metal.
However, once the object was no longer in use and was stored in unsuitable environmental conditions, the silver tarnished very heavily and the fingerprints were easily visible all over the box. Although polishing is a good way of cleaning silver it does mean that a small amount of silver is removed every time. It is not possible to completely remove etched fingerprints apart from grinding and buffing the surface of the metal. As this would remove too much of the original material is not carried out as a conservation treatment and is more of a restoration practice.
Cigarette box, post-conservation.
As you can see, it is not only metal that is susceptible to fingerprints. The fingerprints left on this bottle are more likely to be caused by someone having dirty hands when handling the object and leaving a greasy deposit behind.
Wearing gloves during conservation and handling not only protects the objects but my hands, too. Sometimes in the past, objects were treated with solvents and materials that we wouldn’t consider using today. So by wearing gloves I am preventing anything that may be on the object being absorbed into my skin.
(Images: Fiona Cahill)