[Nhcoll-l] vintage tanned hide slippage

[Mathis,Verity L]

Hi all
I received this inquiry from a colleague not on this listserv, and offered to inquire on her behalf, partly because I also have interest in the answer as we have at least one hide with a similar problem in our collection.  Please see below her email, and feel free to send any guidance my way, that I can compile and share with her.
I believe I know the answer already, but do you have any tips on preserving fur that is slowly slipping on a vintage tanned seal hide? I have looked around, and aside from re-tanning, I couldn't think/find anything. It isn't slippage in the traditional way (whole chunks) but single strands at a time from all over.  They had a beetle problem a few years ago and have since had the fur issue. The leather is in decent shape, and I don't see any beetle damage on the hide itself. It was in a drawer with problem specimens, though, so I am sure it was at least "admired" by a beetle or two. Before transferring everything to a proper curation cabinet, they froze the hide (and everything else in the specimen collection). There are currently no more beetles or other pests that the naked eye can see.  There is no temperature or humidity control in the cabinets, and I am currently leaning toward this as the main problem, but to be honest, I'm grasping at straws.
Many thanks
Verity
******************************
Verity L. Mathis, Ph.D.
Mammal Collections Manager
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
1659 Museum Road
Gainesville FL 32611
Phone: (352) 273-2114
Email: vmathis at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:vmathis at flmnh.ufl.edu>
FLMNH Mammals Website: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/mammals/
Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/vlmathis
Google Scholar for FLMNH Mammal Collection: https://tinyurl.com/flmnh-mammals

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20230317/c466b8c6/attachment.html>