Dieter3

So, Dieter, how did it go?

~TS

So far so good - I can only treat 4 cases at a time with the space I have available. I've been running them at -20C for right around 100 hours or so. Both wood and pasteboard cases seem to be able to take the treatment with no ill effects - no apparent warping, cracking, color changing, nothing. After treatment, I places the cases into fresh plastic bags so I could monitor them for any new appearance of holes, wood dust, critters, any signs of life. So far nothing. I'll just keep monitoring them, and maybe declare victory at the end of summer as I'm hoping the warming would induce them to hatch out or come out of hiberation, what have you, by that time.

All I know is any item I get from now on is getting the treatment before it goes anywhere near anything else!

Stu and Gar - thank you both!! :)

These are apparently replicas according to the seller, though I'm not sure if everything is replica, or just parts - what indicators to look for to make such a determination?

That is a very nice piece!

Actually saw a set of 4 documents on auction that sold for around 12,000 yen - one of the documents was a boxer rebellion medal document - it had a hole in it, some staining and wrinkling from what I could see, but geez! Divided 4 ways, that's what, $35.00 or so for the document? Being so new to this, I've only ever seen one for sale on eBay amonth ago or so and it went for $400+! (Albeit, it was a nicer document too...) Wish I could have bought that set of 4 and landed that one!

These must be extremely difficult to come by. How do the earlier versions vary (sounds like box and rivets are different??). I wish I could have understood all of the details, not sure what the history was and such. Sure is gorgeous though!

Undoubtedly many of you saw this item for auction last month. I don't even know if this was authentic or a copy, authentic? Anyway, for those of you that didn't see it, I figured I'd post these pics. as I think this is a gorgeous piece. It sold for ?5,000,000 which if I understood correctly was considerably less than the original price for which the selling owner acquired it. One would not pay this much for a copy, would they??? Anyway, enjoy!

There was another one on eBay that went for $250.00 as well - though it was just the medal, no box - it was in really nice condition. I'm going to hold out for an "excellent" condition piece with nice case - hoping I'll come across one when I have the cash on hand! Always my problem, a day late, and a dollar short....

Good news so far, -20C doesn't seem to have had any ill effects on the cases....I did move them from freezer to refrigerator to allow to warm up more slowly, don't know if this is really necessary but I thought warming too quickly might not be the best approach....

Dieter3...the stand you see it sitting upon is acrylic and available quite inexpensively from a fellow I am acquainted with over on the WAF. I do not have his particulars immediately at hand but will add them in here later today.

This picture I am going to attach now has nothing to do with Japanese awards but will show you the stands in greater detail. They fit almost all TR and Japanese awards I have come across.

Regards,

Stu

Thanks Stu, these would be nice for a few medals I have that are sans cases. :)

Looks nice! I'd like to know more about the little stand upon which it sits!

Sweet! I'm attempting to keep a database of realized prices for the various Japanese orders and medals. I've not seen one of these for sale, may I ask what the price was (ballpark is fine!)? Is it a recent addition? Last question, w/ or w/o case? Thanks!! If I'm being too nosey, just tell me to go pound sand!! :blush:

Museum curators - one of whom I aspire to be some day - would scream in horror at the notion of ANY chemical treatment, no matter what the package says about "harmless" to silk, wood, babies, etc.

Typically, new acquisitions of cloth, leather or wood received by a museum are placed in a freezer for anything up to 3 weeks. I'd say a minimum 7 days, not 72 hours, just to be safe. Then winkle out any dead bugs, eggs, larvae and 'frass' (bug s**t to the non-entymologists ) visible - using a good magnifier helps. Finally, store in a place where they won't get exposed to more wildlife. Bugs is what museum people have nightmares about!

Good luck.

Peter

Do you know how the items are packed prior to going into the freezer, and at what temperature are the items kept??

Reaching ultra-low temperatures is not a problem - I've got -20C thru -80C freezers at my disposal. No plans for fumigation gases!! Though I do have access to other gases like Nitrogen and chambers in which I can deprive the environment of oxygen - though from what I'm gathering this type of treatment could take many, many weeks.

I will contact some local conservators and a museum or two to see what they might do/recommend with their textile collections to prevent or treat this condition. Stogieman, can you elaborate on that doll collection - how was it treated???

If the freezing proves too damaging or otherwise unsuccessful, or I can't undertake other methods, I'll have to go the "gas" route....

At long last! They've arrived. Showa medal is in better shape than the 2600th Anniversary, case is too as you can see, but both are in really good condition overall (at least I think so!). I'm pretty pleased overall.

Would love to find a Taisho Enthronement with a case next!

From a lady's Showa Enthronement medal. It looks like an "S", but at the same time, it looks like it could be something else. I was thinking something like the hiragana character "ね" What do you guys think? Might be a bit of an imaginative stretch lookig at a perfectly computer generated character, but these characters often get squishy, especially when on non-flat surfaces with worn dies. What do you guys think?

You're right, without a positive ID it'd be tough to come up with a perfect strategy. Pretty sure we have it down to the family of beetle so I'll do some more research on controlling this group, what the life cycles might be, etc. I do know some of the beetles do indeed wait until warmer months to hatch and then do their thing. And now that it is warmer, they may have been triggered! Granted our house has never dropped below 70F so not sure if these critters are experiencing what could be normal cycles for them anyway.

I might just try one case down to -80C just to see what happens. We do store cardboard boxes and paper at this temperature, not sure if they are "special" material boxes or not, but they are made for the purpose of going into ultra-low temp. freezers. They don't seem special. I doubt any of these little dudes would survive -80C, but I'm not sure if these cases will either.....

Will try for the -20C first for half a day and examine the cases, then go for a day. take it small steps at a time, in the meantime watch the collection lie a hawk for any new appearances and try to catch living specimens if possible. I'm hoping I never see one again!

Remove contents before doing anything to boxes.

Oh, most certainly! I've got my test cases pulled out, bagged and ready to go. I'm inspecting my collection twice a day now, waiting for some other little pest to show his little self - any more, I'll try to take 'em alive!!

Cross fingers, hope cases don't warp or un-glue themselves.....

I'm located in the SF bay area (peninsula) also, and its mostly mold and mildew I'm usually combatting. I've heard of furniture restoration places using the walk-in fridges to remove wood beetles, so a ziplock/freezer might work for at least 3-4 days. I guess I'd be more concerned about the wood expanding after it being taken out or the affect of the low temp on the glue.

Depriving them of oxygen may work, but you'd probably want to include an insecticide.

http://www.heritage.xtd.pl/pdf/full_valentin.pdf

http://www.prespest.com/beetles.htm

Alternatively, maybe you can put them all into a large, sealable plastic bag, and have the local terminex guy provide some of the fumigation gas that they use for tenting homes (or put them in a friend's house that's being fumigated?). I would think those airtight clothes storage bags (where one uses a vacuum to compress it) might do, as they come in large sizes...

Yes, a bit concerned about the glue too, or wood warping somehow. I'll have to try the cases I don't care so much about and just see what happens.

I also have access to apparatus at work that can be filled and sealed with gases, I have nitrogen on hand. I was reading that info you linked, it does take time, but might be worth it! Freezing would be faster of course - if the test cases survive, I guess I'll go that route one at a time and just see how they progress.

Thanks for the replies all, if anybody has further advice, please keep it coming!

Perhaps some of you have been following this:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=37200

But if not, to summarize - I discovered two bugs among my medal collection - they look to have affected both pasteboard and wood cases (2600th Anniversary, Showa Enthronement, 1914-1920 War). No silk damage. Not sure what exactly they are, but they are clearly a threat to my collection and I've gotta go on the offensive!! These little dudes must have travelled from Japan in one of my medal cases!

You guys are familiar with the materials from which these cases are made - what do you think about placing the cases into a plastic bag with a dessicant and then placing in a freezer overnight? I can freeze anywhere from -10C to -80C, was thinking maybe -20C??

Desperate for advice. :o

I must clarify - when I say case - I'm referring to the actual medal cases (that they came in) - not a type of display box.

So along that would have been my next question - you suggest heat, not sure that'd be a good idea. These are all japanese medals - so the cases are of wood or pasteboard with the material lining (felt?? Not sure what it is.....). I'm wondering if the bugs themselves came from Japan as this has been the source of all of medals except two (but those two show no signs of bugs....)

I was thinking of obviously removing the medals and placing the cases into a zip-loc with a small dessicant packet, then into a freezer. I can range from -10 to -80C. Wondering if the wood/pasteboard/linings will hold up to freezing, maybe down to -20C??

I have a couple of "crappy" cases that I could try as a test, if they get messed up by the freezing, they're already messed up in other ways so the loss would be acceptable. I've gotta rip everything out of the same and do a close inspection - there are other items in there of wood that need inspecting.

Ideas???

Definitely not bed-bugs. Entomologist had a quick look under a scope, pretty sure they belong to the family Anobiidae, possibly of the genus Petalium.

Difficult to say from the photos, but these could be bedbugs. Have you ever detected tiny bite holes on your skin? May be itchy, may be not, many people are allergic to those and react more, but many people are not.

Anyway, probably it's a good idea to show the corpses to some pest specialists and maybe have them spray the house. IF that's bedbugs, it's not safe for the human health.

Nope, nothing like that. No bites, no itching, haven't ever seen these devils anywhere except among the medals. I don't think these are bed bugs. Whatever they are, based on the hole in one of the cases - it looks like an exit hole, not an entrance hole. My guess is there must have been an egg or larvae inside the wood, then the little bugger developed into an adult and chewed his way out!

I've got an entomologist at work I'm hoping to show them to and get an ID.

Might be that cotton stuff they are trying to lay eggs in or something?

Nope, that stuff's not actually with the medals or in the safe - just a background I used for them.....

This is about as good as I can do with my camera. As you can see, they're roughly 2mm in length. More rounded than this - flattened these dudes a bit when I killed them. Is this at all useful?