The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Butler, Marigene H.                           

Title:               Marigene H. Butler Papers

Dates:             1872-ca.2000, bulk dates: ca.1966-ca.2000

Call No.:         Col. 753

Acc. No.:        05x60

Quantity:        21 boxes (7 cu. ft.)

Location:        502 C 1-2, D 3-4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Marigene Butler was an art conservator, with a specialty in paintings conservation.  She was born on July 20, 1931, and graduated from high school in Caldwell, New Jersey.  During her youth, she studied painting.  She received a B.A. degree in art history and painting from Mount Holyoke College in 1953.  In the mid-1950s, she trained in the conservation department of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University under Elizabeth H. Jones.  She did not, however, pursue a conservation career at this time.  From 1966 to 1968, she did further paintings conservation training under Alfred Jakstas at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), and then became a member of the conservation team there.  While at the AIC, she acquired an interest in the use of polarized light microscopy and developed techniques for using it to study painting pigments.  She developed a course in “Polarized Light Microscopy for Conservators” in association with the McCrone Research Institute.

 

In 1973, Mrs. Butler became director of the conservation laboratory of the Intermuseum Conservation Association, based in Oberlin, Ohio.  She oversaw the fund raising and building of a new conservation facility and taught in the ICA graduate training program, while also acting as a teaching consultant in microscopy for the conservation training programs at Winterthur Museum and in Cooperstown, New York.  In 1978, she became head of the conservation department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, from which she retired in 1997.

 

Marigene Butler was active in several professional organizations, including the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC), the National Institute for Conservation (NIC), the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC),  the Royal Microscopical Society, the State Microscopical Society of Illinois, the Quekett Microscopical Society, and the Postal Microscopical Society.  She wrote a number of papers about the conservation work she performed.

 

Marigene Butler was married to Daniel K. Butler, a nuclear physicist.  They had three children.  She was a member of the League of Women Voters and was interested in various social issues. 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The files span the conservation career of Marigene Butler.  Included is information about her work at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Intermuseum Conservation Association, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Her participation in professional organizations is documented, as well.  The collection contains some treatment and examination reports; copies of papers which she wrote; lectures given by her about conservation; documentation of her participation in conservation training programs; her interests in the use of microscopes, pigments, and architectural conservation; some publications about microscopes (including early copies of The Lens); and notes from classes she attended.  A fairly large group of papers relates to the Intermuseum Conservation Association, especially its training program.  The files include some photographs.

 

 

ORGANIZATION

           

The files are in alphabetical order

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Gift of Marigene H. Butler.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            Art Institute of Chicago.

Intermuseum Conservation Association.

                        Philadelphia Museum of Art.

                        Postal Microscopical Society.

                        State Microscopical Society of Illinois.

 

                        Art – Conservation and restoration.               

                        Painting – Conservation and restoration.

                        Museum conservation methods.

                        Microscopy.

                        Microscopy – Periodicals.

                        Art restorers.

 

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 502 C 1-2, D 3-4

 

 

Box 1:

 

 

Folder 1:          Adam, Robert - room at Philadelphia Museum of Art

 

Folders 2-3:     Architectural conservation     

 

Folder 4:          Architectural conservation: Monticello

 

Folders 5-6:     Architectural conservation: various papers and reports

 

Folder 7:          Architectural conservation wallpaper at The Hermitage, Tennessee

 

Folder 8:          Art Institute of Chicago: symposium on Rembrandt

 

Folder 9:          Article reviews

 

Folder 10:        Artists’ techniques

 

Folder 11:        Belmont Mansion (Philadelphia)

 

 

Box 2:

 

Folder 1:          Bibliographies

 

Folder 2:          Bibliographies from training courses

 

Folder 3:          Bibliography for conservation assessment

 

Folder 4:          Bibliography for paper conservators

 

Folder 5:          Bibliography: NIC reference shelflist

 

Folders 6-7:     Butler, Marigene: Journal I and II     

 

Folder 8:          Butler, Marigene: “Polarized Light Microscopy in the Conservation of Paintings”

 

Folder 9:          Butler, Marigene: “Polarized Light Microscopy in the Conservation of Paintings” – with photos and slides

 

Folder 10:        Butler, Marigene: “Polarized Light Microscopy in the Conservation of Paintings” – mailing of preprints and replies

 

 

Box 3:

 

Folder 1:          Campin, Robert - technical

 

Folder 2:          Cleaning techniques

 

Folder 3:          Collections care

 

Folders 4-6:     Conservation articles

 

Folder 7:          Conservation examination forms       

 

Folder 8:          Conservation notes

 

Folder 9:          Conservation notes; gallery inspection and dusting notes, 1967

 

Folder 10:        Conservation notes; notes about work done, 1967-1968

 

 

Box 4:

 

Folder 1:          Conservation techniques

 

Folder 2:          Conservation treatment notes, 1968

 

Folder 3:          Consolidation of matte surfaces – D. Thomas

 

Folders 4-5:     Correspondence, 1968-1990s

 

Folder 6:          Cross-sections of paintings listing, 1972 – Rome

 

Folders 7-8:     Crystallography course notes, June 1970      

 

 

Box 5:

 

Folder 1:          Dayton Art Institute

 

Folder 2:          Degas exhibit – Paris and Ottawa, 1988

 

Folder 3:          Delly, John

 

Folder 4:          Dendrochronology

 

Folder 5:          Dendrochronology – P. Klein, ca. 1983-1990

 

Folder 6:          Disaster plan

 

Folder 7:          Duchamp exhibit – Japan, 1981 [also includes a trip to India]

 

Folder 8:          Electron microprobe and sample mounting

 

Folder 9:          Electron microprobe – analysis - ICA

 

Folder 10:        Examination report: Cezanne, “Bay of L’Estaque”

 

Folder 11:        Examination report: Cezanne, “View of the Bay of Marseilles”

 

Folder 12:        Examination report: Courbet, “Une Dame Espagnole”

 

Folder 13:        Examination report: Dali, “Soft Construction with Boiled Beans”

 

Folder 14:        Examination report: Degas, “The Ballet Class”

 

 

Box 6:

 

Folder 1:          Examination report: Picasso, “Man with Violin”

 

Folder 2:          Examination report: Pissarro, “River, Early Morning”

 

Folder 3:          Examination report: Vernet, “Royal Family at Naples”

 

Folder 4:          Examination techniques

 

Folder 5:          German vocabulary - Delly

 

Folder 6:          Glass: Corning seminars

 

Folder 7:          Glossaries

 

Folder 8:          Hals, Frans - microscopy

 

Folder 9:          Hals, Frans – paper by Butler in Museum Studies, vol. 5

 

Folder 10:        Hals, Frans – paper by Butler in Maltechnik 2 Restauro

 

Folder 11:        Horns, James – thesis on wood in panel paintings

 

Folder 12:        House paint - restoration

 

 

Box 7:

 

Folder 1:          Infra-red reflectography

 

Folder 2:          Infra-red reflectography – Louvain meeting, 1987-1991

 

Folder 3:          Infra-red reflectography – van Asperen de Boer paper

 

Folder 4:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA)

 

Folder 5:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA), 1969-1973

 

Folder 6:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): conservation seminars, 1978

 

Folder 7:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): correspondence: Pomerantz, Louis

 

Folder 8:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): history

 

Folder 9:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): information for Mellon Foundation and NEA

 

 

Box 8:

 

Folder 1:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): microscopes from Morgan Instruments

 

Folder 2:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): personnel    

 

Folder 3:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): reading course, 1976

 

Folder 4:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): seminar notes, training program, 1973-1974

 

Folder 5:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): teaching aids and lecture outlines, 1971-1972

 

Folders 6-7:     Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): training program, 1975-1976

 

Folder 8:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): training program, 1976-1977

 

Folder 9:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): training program, 1977-1978

 

Folder 10:        Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): training program: curriculum

 

 

Box 9:

 

Folder 1:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): training program: curriculum

 

Folders 2-3:     Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): treatment report: Rubens, “The Archangel”

 

Folder 4:          Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA): treatment and examination reports

 

Folder 5:          Keck, Caroline: cellosolve acetate technique, July 1976

 

Folder 6:          Keck, Sheldon

 

Folder 7:          Lecture: American Chemical Society

 

Folder 8:          Lecture: Annie S. Kemerer Museum, 1984

 

Folder 9:          Lecture: Art Institute of Chicago staff associates

 

Folder 10:        Lecture: Association for Preservation Technology, 1971; 1977

 

Folder 11:        Lecture: Belgium, 1989

 

Folder 12:        Lecture: Community Associates, Art Institute of Chicago

 

 

Box 10:

 

Folder 1:          Lecture: Conference for Conservation Administrators, 1986

 

Folder 2:          Lecture: Inter-Micro; also a paper in The Microscope

 

Folder 3:          Lecture: Inter-Society Color Council (SCC), 1987

 

Folder 4:          Lecture: Joliet

 

Folder 5:          Lecture: Library of Congress, 1974

 

Folder 6:          Lecture: Louisville; Davenport, 1975

 

Folder 7:          Lecture: Louvain, Belgium, 1987

 

Folder 8:          Lecture: NIC, 1995

 

Folder 9:          Lecture: New York Microscopical Society, 1988

 

Folder 10:        Lecture: Oberlin seminar, 1985

 

Folder 11:        Lecture: Philadelphia Rheumatism Society, 1991

 

Folder 12:        Lecture: Research Society of America (RESA), Argonne chapter

 

Folder 13:        Lecture: SPNEA Paint Symposium, 1989

 

Folder 14:        Lecture: Venice, 1988 [also Berlin, mostly travel arrangements]

 

Folder 15:        Lecture: Washington Guild of Conservators

 

Folder 16:        Lecture: Winterthur, 1980, 1984

 

 

Box 11:

 

Folder 1:          Lecture: Woodmere Art Museum, 1988

 

Folder 2:          Light (issue of Scientific American, Sept. 1968)

 

Folder 3:          Lining adhesive tests at PMA

 

Folder 4:          Lining information, 1983

 

Folder 5:          Lining materials - Rosen

 

Folder 6:          Manuscripts – University of Chicago and Leuven, Belgium

 

Folder 7:          Materials analysis for other museums

 

Folder 8:          McCrone Research Institute and Shroud of Turin

 

Folder 9:          McLaughlin, Robert B. – correspondence

 

Folder 10:        Meeting: American Association of Museums: Conservation Colloquium, 1984

 

Folder 11:        Meeting: “Color and Technique in Renaissance Painting,” Temple University, 1980

 

Folder 12:        Meeting: Getty Conservation Institute: paintings conservation, 1986

 

Folder 13:        Meeting: Ohio Art Museum curators, 1974

 

Folder 14:        Meeting: Training program conference, Cooperstown, 1983

 

 

Box 12:

 

Folder 1:          Meeting: Williamsburg paint symposium; and SPNEA paint symposium – “Paint in America,” 1989

 

Folder 2:          Michel-Levy color chart

 

 

Folder 3:          Microscopy: crystallography techniques and information re: identifying pigments

 

Folder 4:          Microscopy: fluorescence

 

Folder 5:          Microscopy: measurement of lengths

 

Folder 6:          Microscopy: refractive index determination

 

Folder 7:          Microscopy: Tahk class, Cooperstown

 

Folder 8:          Microscopy: techniques for identifying pigments

 

Folder 9:          Microscopy course I – notes, 1968

 

Folder 10:        Microscopy course II – notes, 1969

 

Folder 11:        Microscopy for conservators I (class, 1972)

 

Folder 12:        Microscopy for conservators I - notes

 

Folder 13:        Microscopy for conservators, 1973 – lecture outlines

 

Folder 14:        Microscopy for conservators II, 1974

 

 

Box 13:

 

Folder 1:          Microscopy teaching materials

 

Folder 2:          Miniatures and Indian miniatures

 

Folders 3-4:     Museum Studies: article on two Flemish paintings   

 

Folder 5:          National Gallery of Art (D.C.)

 

Folder 6:          National Museum Act advisory council (1978-1981)

 

Folder 7:          New York Microscopical Society: symposium, 1973

 

Folder 8:          Notes: Chemistry 103 – Man and Society, 1972

 

Folder 9:          Optics

 

Folder 10:        Paint analyses for Mt. Pleasant and the Saloon of the Woodlands Cemetery

 

Folder 11:        Paint in America – review of Welsh’s paper

 

Folder 12:        Painting materials and techniques

 

Folder 13:        Painting record [notes on painting and conservation of paintings]

 

 

Box 14:

 

Folder 1:          Palettes and painters’ implements

 

Folder 2:          Paper: Cezanne’s “Chestnut Trees,” AIC, 1973

 

Folder 3:          Paper: IIC-American Group, Oberlin, 1971

 

Folder 4:          Papers by Marigene Butler

 

Folder 5:          Patination

 

Folder 6:          Peale, Charles Willson – treatment of paintings at PMA under NEA grant

 

Folder 7:          Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA): conservator position

 

Folder 8:          Photomicrography

 

Folder 9:          Photomicrography – Renoir

 

Folder 10:        Pigment charts

 

Folder 11:        Pigment descriptions – final version

 

Folder 12:        Pigment descriptions – atlas - condensed

 

Folder 13:        Pigment identifications (first form, typed)

 

 

Box 15

 

Folder 1:          Pigment identifications – reference materials

 

Folder 2:          Pigment manual from Oberlin

 

Folder 3:          Pigment reference material – atlas I

 

Folder 4:          Pigment reference material – atlas II

 

Folder 5:          Pigments – atlas

 

Folder 6:          Pigments: cave paintings

 

Folder 7:          Pigments: Cezanne water colors

 

Folder 8:          Pigments: chemical composition

 

Folder 9:          Pigment: China trade goods

 

Folder 10:        Pigments: Getten’s notebook on identification of pigments

 

Folder 11:        Pigments: microscopical observations

 

Folder 12:        Pigments: notable occurrences, 1987

 

Folder 13:        Pigments used in manuscripts

 

 

Box 16:

 

Folders 1-2:     Plesters, Joyce, and pigments

 

Folder 3:          Plesters, Joyce – cross-section paper, etc.

 

Folder 4:          “Polarized Light Microscopy in the Conservation of Painting” – article by Marigene Butler

 

Folder 5:          Polychrome sculpture – Bellestrem paper

 

Folder 6:          Postal Microscopical Society

                        [for publications, see Box 21]

 

Folder 7:          Quekett Microscopical Club, ca. 1969-1978

 

Folder 8:          Recipes and materials

 

Folders 9-10:   Relining techniques [continues in next box]

 

 

Box 17:

 

Folder 1:          Relining techniques [continued from previous box]

 

Folder 2:          Renoir paintings – technical note

 

Folder 3:          Richard, M.J. – thesis on moisture barriers for wood

 

Folder 4:          Royal Microscopical Society

 

Folders 5-7:     Shelburne Museum

 

Folders 8-9:     State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI)        

 

 

Box 18:

 

Folder 1:          State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI): antique microscopes

 

Folder 2:          State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI): antique microscopes – photographs and captions

 

Folder 3:          State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI): curator - current

 

Folder 4:          State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI): curator, publications, 1970-1972

 

Folder 5:          State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI): history records

 

Folder 6:          State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI): The Microscopists’ Newsletter

                        [for additional publications of the SMSI, see Box 21]

 

Folder 7:          Stout, George - terminology

 

Folder 8:          Surface coatings

 

Folder 9:          Teaching materials – take on trips [continued in next box]

 

 

Box 19:

 

Folder 1:          Teaching materials – take on trips [continued from previous box]

 

Folder 2:          Technical notes – Italian 18th century paintings

 

Folder 3:          Textbook – “Microscopy for the Conservator of Art”

 

Folders 4-5:     Training program: Cooperstown

 

Folder 6:          Training program lectures, 1974                   

 

Folder 7:          Transfers

 

Folder 8:          Treadmill Pond water

 

Folder 9:          Treatment reports – private work

 

Folder 10:        Treatment reports: Cades, “Fall of the Rebel Angels” – Young – Rofo 24919

 

Folder 11:        Treatment reports: Cezanne, Paul, “Chestnut Trees” (Minneapolis, RX 8793), and paper

 

Folder 12:        Treatment reports: Tony Clark – Gavin Hamilton – “Study for Villa Borghese,” “Scene from Life of Pairs and Helen”

 

 

Box 20:

 

Folder 1:          Treatment reports: Daubigny, Karl – “Fishing Boats” (Cunningham, no. 589)

 

Folder 2:          Treatment reports: David, Gerard – “Lamentation”

 

Folder 3:          Treatment reports: Davidson – flower paintings, Dutch

 

Folder 4:          Treatment reports: Davidson, Mrs. – “Pocahontas”

 

Folder 5:          Treatment reports: Isabey, Louis-Gabriel-Eugene – “The Stone Quarry” – Rx8162, C.C. Cunningham

 

Folder 6:          Treatment reports: Jongkind, J.B. – “La Grande Jettée de Honfleur” (C.C. Cunningham, Rofo 22668)

 

Folder 7:          Treatment reports: Lager, F. – “L’Homme au Chien” – Newman #825

 

Folder 8:          Treatment reports: Maxon paintings

 

Folder 9:          Treatment reports: Neumann, Morton

 

Folder 10:        Treatment reports: Procaccini, Giulio Casare – “Virgin and Child with Angles,” 1969.626

 

Folder 11:        Treatment reports: Renoir: Mme. Clapisson, etc.

 

Folder 12:        Treatment reports: St. Louis Museum - analysis

 

Folder 13:        Treatment reports: Sully, Thomas

 

Folder 14:        Treatment reports: Weyerhaeuser – two Ter Borchs (Minneapolis Institute of Art)

 

Folder 15:        University of North Carolina, 1979

 

Folder 16:        Venturi & Scott Brown, architects

 

Folder 17:        Vinland map – L. McCrone

 

Folder 18:        Winterthur: evaluation of WUDPAC, 1976

 

Folder 19:        Wood fibers identification

 

 

Box 21: publications

 

 

The Lens:  vol. 1, no. 1-4; vol. 2, no. 1-4 (1872-1873)

(The Lens is the “quarterly journal of microscopy and the allied natural sciences, with the transactions of the State Microscopical Society of Illinois”; it includes ads for microscopes.)

 

Postal Microscopical Society:            Balsam Post, no. 1 and 2 (Mach and November 1984);

 42d annual report, 1914-15

 

State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI):        The Lens, new series Vol. 1, no. 1 (1939)

 

State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI):        Micro-Notes, vol. 2, no. 2-3 (1946); vol. 3, no. 1-4 (1948); vol. 4, no. 1-4 (1949); vol. 5, no. 1-2 (1950)

 

State Microscopical Society of Illinois (SMSI):        Micro Notes II, vol. 1, no. 1-2 (1975),

            Vol. 2, no. 1-2 (1976); spring/summer and fall/winter 1976; spring/summer 1977