Gloves with leather adornment, Before treatment
Leather Adornments
Patrick Kelly
America
1984
Leather and brass
While preparing Patrick Kelly garments to travel as part of the exhibit “Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love,” it was discovered that the snaps on five leather adornments from three different objects had corroded and were leaving a green/waxy residue on the textiles.
The adornments are used on leather gloves as well as jersey garments. They are all navette-shaped, vegetable-tanned leather, likely cow, tooled with differing geometric designs. They attached to the garments using open ring, prong style copper-alloy snaps.
The bright-green corrosion that had formed evenly on the surface of the snaps was waxy and likely the result of a reaction between the lipids and tanning agents in the leather and copper alloy.
Corrosion Removal
In consultation with Objects Conservator, Sally Malenka, it was decided to remove the corrosion mechanically under the microscope before degreasing the metal with ethanol.
The snaps on the garment also needed to be cleaned using dry swabs to remove offset corrosion.
Front of a snap, Before (left) and after (right) treatment
Back of a snap, Before (left) and after (right) treatment
Images courtesy and copyright of the Victoria and Albert Museum