Retouching of Faded Taxidermy Specimens Made of Fur in Natural History Collections

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Dear Sir or Madam,

My name is Celina Klink, and I am a second-semester master’s student in the Department of Object Conservation at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany. As part of my current project, I am working on the conservation and restoration of a bison taxidermy specimen from the permanent exhibition at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart.

Due to exposure to sunlight and UV radiation over the past 20 years, the specimen has undergone significant color changes. To restore the object’s legibility and visual appeal, these changes will be corrected to its original condition through retouching. According to the literature, Orasol® pigments and dye solutions are particularly well-suited in terms of their color effect, reversibility, and lightfastness; however, in practical application at the Natural History Museum in Stuttgart, they proved only partially satisfactory (red hues in particular proved to be not lightfast, while yellow hues could not be completely removed). It is of great interest to me how other institutions deal with this issue.

I would therefore like to ask you to participate in the following survey and share the experience in your institution with handling fur specimens that have changed color. It will take about 10-15 minutes to complete. All information provided will be used exclusively for the purposes of this project.

Thank you very much for your support!

Does your collection include zoological specimens with visible color changes? (e.g., fading, yellowing, …)

What factors are considered the main causes of these color changes? (e.g., daylight, artificial lighting, …)

What illuminance (lx) is used when lighting zoological specimens?

Are regular light measurements taken in the exhibition?

Are there any specimens in your collection that show visible color changes retouched or otherwise color-corrected?

If so, what materials were used for this purpose?

If so, why were these materials used? (e.g., color effect, lightfastness, reversibility, surface structure of the specimen …)

If so, what technique was used to apply the materials?

If so, what were the limitations of this method?

Did you notice any further changes in the specimens after retouching?

If so, what changes did you observe? (e.g., further color changes, changes in surface texture, changes in gloss, …)

If so, how long did it take for the changes to become visible?

Do you currently use colors for retouching fur specimens?

If so, what colors/products do you currently use?

If so, If so, how would you rate the product(s) used in terms of: Color effect, Lightfastness, Reversibility, Application, Performance on the specimen?

Do you have experience using Orasol® dyes for retouching zoological specimens?

If so, which Orasol® product(s) did you use?

If so, how would you rate the Orasol® product(s) used in terms of: Color effect, Lightfastness, Reversibility, Application, Performance on the specimen?