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:         Chase, W. T. (William Thomas)

Title:               Tom Chase conservation papers

Dates:             1962-2006

Call No.:         Col. 883

Acc. No.:        10x108

Quantity:        25 boxes, 2 folders

Location:        11 E 1-5

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

William Thomas (Tom) Chase was an art conservator, spending his career as head conservator at the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.  He was born in Boston, Mass., in 1940.   He majored in the conservation of art at Oberlin College (B.A., 1962) and further studied art conservation at New York University (M.A., 1967).  He worked under Rutherford J. Gettens until the latter’s retirement.   Chase wrote a number of papers, chiefly pertaining to the conservation of metal.  He was a member of IIC, AIC (serving as president), and the Washington Conservation Guild.  He also served on a number of committees and wrote and gave papers at conferences.  He made visits to Asian conservation laboratories and worked on several projects with colleagues in Thailand, Japan, and China.  After retiring from the Freer Gallery in 1997, he established Chase Art Services, a consulting firm which examined the condition of archaeological metal objects (particularly bronzes) and advised on the conservation of outdoor sculptures.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Records documenting the conservation career of Tom Chase.  Includes copies of papers written by him, class notes from his graduate program at New York University, information about Asian bronzes, documentation of efforts to conserve outdoor sculptures, and correspondence.  Also includes information about his work for the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), Art and Archaeology Abstracts (AATA), and various other conservation issues.  As well, includes notes and photos for a paper about Aaron Draper Shattuck, a 19th century American artist who patented a stretcher key.  Also includes samples of glass-bead peening, a process examined for its usefulness in cleaning sculptures.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The folders are arranged in alphabetical order.  The samples of glass-bead peening are in Boxes 23-25.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

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

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Gift of Tom Chase.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Shattuck, Aaron Draper, 1832-1928.

 

Topics:

            American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

            Freer Gallery of Art.

            Art – Conservation and restoration.

            Art restorers.

            Bronze sculpture - Conservation and restoration.

            Sculpture - Conservation and restoration.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 11 E 1-5

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:         American Association of Museums: conservation workshop, 1973

 

Folder 2:         American Association of Museums: conservation workshop, 1973: Chase presentation

 

Folder 3:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC), 1970s

 

Folder 4:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC): board member orientation

 

Folder 5:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC): Development assessment and Strategic Plan

 

Folder 6:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC): ethics and standards

 

Folder 7:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC): president’s column

 

Folder 8:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC): president’s correspondence

 

Folder 9:         American Institute for Conservation (AIC): round-table discussion on conservator’s papers, 2003

 

Folder 10:       Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (AATA)

 

 

Box 2:

 

Folder 1:         Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (AATA) and Getty Conservation Center contract

 

Folder 2:         Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (AATA): computerization

 

Folder 3:         Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts (AATA): Indexing Committee

 

Folders 4-5:    Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

 

Folder 6:         Art conservation: national needs assessment, 1970

 

Folder 7:         Asian Cultural Council

 

 

Box 3:

 

Folder 1:         Bronze: Eskimo

 

Folder 2:         Bronzes: Thailand

 

Folders 3-4:    Bronzes: Thailand: Rika Smith project: photos

 

Folder 5:         Bronzes: Thailand: Rika Smith report

 

Folder 6:         Butterworths (publishers)

 

 

Box 4:

 

Folders 1-2:    Chase and Franklin paper: “Early Chinese Black Mirrors”

 

Folder 3:         Chase and Hutt paper: “Aaron Draper Shattuck Patent Stretcher Key”

                        [see also Col. 814 at this repository]

 

Folder 4:         Chase and Hutt paper: “Aaron Draper Shattuck Patent Stretcher Key”: photos

 

Folder 5:         Chase, Tom: committee work

 

 

Box 5:

 

Folder 1:         Chase, Tom: “Composition of Oriental Bronzes,” 1983

 

Folder 2:         Chase, Tom:  correspondence

 

Folder 3:         Chase, Tom: curriculum vitae

 

Folder 4:         Chase, Tom: “An Introduction to Outdoor Bronze Corrosion and Treatment”

 

Folder 5:         Chase, Tom: “Lead Isotope Ratio Analysis of Chinese Bronzes,” draft, 1988

 

Folder 6:         Chase, Tom: lecture, University of Michigan, 1990

 

Folder 7:         Chase, Tom: paper on Sassanian silver

 

Folder 8:         Chase, Tom: paper on Sassanian silver: photos and prints

 

 

Box 6:

 

Folder 1:         Chase, Tom: paper on spectral radiometry

 

Folder 2:         Chase, Tom: papers

 

Folder 3:         Chase, Tom: papers on bronzes

 

Folder 4:         Chase, Tom: quotation permissions

 

Folder 5:         Chase, Tom: talks, lectures, papers

 

Folder 6:         Chase, Tom: testimony to U.S. House of Representatives

 

Folder 7:         Cherry amber

 

Folder 8:         China-Smithsonian agreements

 

Folder 9:         Chinese bronzes

 

 

Box 7:

 

Folder 1:         Chinese bronzes: “Discover” show

 

Folder 2:         Chinese bronzes: photographing inscriptions

 

Folder 3:         Chinese bronzes: St. Louis Art Museum

 

Folder 4:         Chinese bronzes: Taipei

 

Folder 5:         Chinese Egyptian blue pigment

 

Folder 6:         Connelly, Michael David: “Effects of Air Abrasives on the Surface Texture of Metals” [thesis]

 

Folder 7:         Core drilling

 

Folder 8:         Corrosion ideas and models

 

Folder 9:         Curry, David: data and plotting programs

 

Folder 10:       Department of Energy hearings, 1979

 

Folder 11:       Freer Gallery

 

 

Box 8:

 

Folder 1:         Freer Gallery: correspondence

 

Folder 2:         Freer Gallery: correspondence: Singer, Paul

 

Folder 3:         Freer Gallery: handling of objects

 

Folder 4:         Freer Gallery: visit of Emperor Akihito

 

Folder 5:         Gemology

 

Folder 6:         Glass-bead peening: hardness test, May 1985

 

Folder 7:         Glass-bead peening: notes

                        [see also boxes 23-25]

 

Folder 8:         Gold in China

 

Folder 9:         Hua Jue Ming

 

Folder 10:       ICOM: Working Group on Reference Materials

                        [see also oversize folder]

 

 

Box 9:

 

Folder 1:         International Sculpture Center: workshop on conservation of outdoor sculpture, 1981

 

Folder 2:         International Sculpture Conference, 1980

 

Folder 3:         International Sculpture Conference: workshop on conservation of outdoor sculpture, 1981: photos

 

Folder 4:         Jade

 

Folders 5-6:    Japan-Smithsonian joint study

 

Folder 7:         Japanese architecture workshop

 

Folder 8:         Lacquer project: Chase paper

 

 

Box 10:

 

Folder 1:         Lacquer project: Urushi Conservation Study Group

 

Folder 2:         Lead corrosion on objects

 

Folder 3:         Loess problem and mold material

 

Folder 4:         Materials Research Society, 1996

 

Folder 5:         Minneapolis Institute of Art: conservation seminar

 

Folder 6:         National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE)

 

Folders 7-8:    NBS corrosion and metal artifacts: meeting papers, etc., 1976

 

Folder 9:         NBS corrosion and metal artifacts: questions

 

 

Box 11:

 

Folder 1:         Object report: Anithythera mechanism

 

Folder 2:         Object report: Drake, Francis (Sir): plate of brass

 

Folder 3:         Object report: “Freedom,” statue on U.S. Capitol

 

Folder 4:         Object report: Japanese bell

 

Folder 5:         Object report: Japanese statues

 

Folder 6:         Object report: Thangkas

 

Folder 7:         ONWI: “Ancient Materials Data as a Basis for Waste Form Integrity Projections:

 

Folder 8:         ONWI Corrosion Project

 

 

Box 12:

 

Folder 1:         ONWI: “Long Term Corrosion of Archaeological Materials”

 

Folder 2:         ONWI: proposal notes

 

Folder 3:         Ormolu cleaning solution

 

Folders 4-5:    Outdoor sculpture: articles on corrosion        

 

Folder 6:         Outdoor sculpture: Baltimore meeting

 

 

Box 13:

 

Folder 1:         Outdoor sculpture: Bronze sculptures

 

Folder 2:         Outdoor sculpture: bronze sculptures: maintenance manual, 1981, prepared by P. D. Weil

 

Folder 3:         Outdoor sculpture: Central Park Conservancy

 

Folder 4:         Outdoor sculpture: “Continuum,” 1973

 

Folder 5:         Outdoor sculpture: copper corrosion

 

Folder 6:         Outdoor sculpture: correspondence

 

Folder 7:         Outdoor sculpture: Gallaudet College

 

Folder 8:         Outdoor sculpture: Gettysburg monument photos

                        [see also correspondence in folder 6 above]

 

Folder 9:         Outdoor sculpture: Gompers statue and von Steuben statue

 

 

Box 14:

 

Folders 1-3:    Outdoor sculpture: “Hiker” project    

 

Folder 4:         Outdoor sculpture: iron corrosion

 

Folder 5:         Outdoor sculpture: National Park Service training course

 

Folder 6:         Outdoor sculpture: notes and tape transcripts

 

 

Box 15:

 

Folder 1:         Outdoor sculpture: papers by Chase and others

 

Folder 2:         Outdoor sculpture: “Theodore Roosevelt” [on Roosevelt Island]

 

Folder 3:         Papers [not by Chase]

 

Folder 4:         Periphery camera

 

Folders 5-6:    Periphery camera: photos       

 

Folder 7:         Photographs, chiefly bronzes

 

Folder 8:         Protective lacquers for metals

 

Folder 9:         Professional relations and certification

 

 

Box 16:

 

Folder 1:         Save Outdoor Sculpture: volunteer handbook

 

Folder 2:         Save Outdoor Sculpture: volunteer video guide

 

Folder 3:         Schrenk, Janet: Benin “bronzes”

 

Folder 4:         Smithsonian Associates: lab tours

 

Folder 5:         Smithsonian Conservation Analytical Laboratory

 

Folder 6:         Smithsonian Conservation Analytical Laboratory: fellowship

 

Folder 7:         Smithsonian Institution: computers in research at the Smithsonian, 1982

 

Folder 8:         Standard samples

 

Folder 9:         Statue of Liberty: restoration

 

Folder 10:       Symposium: “Application of Science in Examinatin of Works of Art,” 1965

 

 

Box 17:

 

Folder 1:         Symposium: “Archaeometry and Archaeological Prospection, 1977”

 

Folder 2:         Vandiver, P. B., and Yener, K. A.: “Tin Processing at Goltepe…”

 

Folder 3:         Veloz, Nick: thesis and correspondence

 

Folder 4:         Washington Conservation Guild: movies

 

Folder 5:         Washington Monument

 

Folder 6:         Work done by Chase while conservation intern, with photos of work

 

Folder 7:         x-ray tomography

 

Folder 8:         Yener, K. Aslihan

 

 

Box 18:  Class and lecture notes

 

Folder 1:         Class and lecture notes: Art history

 

Folder 2:         Class and lecture notes: Art history: China, Korea, Japan

 

Folder 3:         Class and lecture notes: Art history: Spanish art

 

Folder 4:         Class and lecture notes: lab

 

Folder 5:         Class and lecture notes: lab notes

 

 

Box 19:  Class and lecture notes

 

Folders 1-2:    Class and lecture notes: Materials

 

Folder 3:         Class and lecture notes: Materials I

 

Folder 4:         Class and lecture notes: Materials IV

 

Folder 5:         Class and lecture notes: Materials: metals

 

Folders 6-7:    Class and lecture notes: miscellaneous

 

 

Box 20:  Class and lecture notes

 

Folder 1:         Class and lecture notes: Museum training

 

Folder 2:         Class and lecture notes: paintings checklist

 

Folder 3:         Class and lecture notes: Roth notes, etc.

 

Folder 4:         Class and lecture notes: Technology

 

Folder 5:         Class and lecture notes: Technology IV

 

Folder 6:         Class examinations [tests]

 

Folder 7:         Class papers and examinations of art works

 

 

Box 21:           note cards

 

Box 22:           letterpress plates for Chase’s article in Ars Orientalis, volume 7

 

Box 23:           treated toilet balls for glass-bead peening paper

 

Box 24:           glass-bead peening paper: grits, test samples

 

Box 25:           glass-bead peening paper: samples

 

 

Oversize folders on shelf:

 

Folder 1:         ICOM report, 1972: comparative analysis of bronzes

 

Folder 2:         Wadsworth Atheneum