Saving the fragile blueprints of Gilded Age opulence
In short: The Met's collection of Louis C. Tiffany designs faces a race against time. Watch as conservators perform delicate surgery on nearly 400 drawings damaged by water, mold, and acidic paper.
During the height of the Gilded Age, Tiffany Studios produced tens of thousands of design drawings. While most have been lost to history, The Met acquired nearly 400 pieces in 1967. These artifacts are often in poor condition due to environmental damage and the inherent acidity of historical papers.
The video highlights a specific treatment for a watercolor drawing intended for a villa in Havana, Cuba, circa 1915-16. Conservator Marina Ruiz Molina works with curator Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen to stabilize these transparent and opaque watercolors, preserving the intricate graphite details that defined American decorative arts.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Conserving Tiffany’s Gilded Age Drawings
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