Conservation Display Case 800mm by 500mm by 1600mm High with Humidity Control in Gallery White Lacquer

A sealed case with a silica gel well and laminated UV filtering glass throughout, for a group of light sensitive objects shown together, with a gel well big enough to buffer the whole volume.

Conservation display is a different job from retail display and the specification reflects it. Laminated UV filtering glass takes out essentially all the ultraviolet, which is what fades a watercolour and embrittles a textile. A sealed case with a silica gel well buffers humidity, so an object inside it does not follow every swing of the room around it. Materials are chosen for what they give off as well as what they look like, because MDF and some adhesives release acids that will tarnish silver and corrode lead inside a sealed case, which is why the interior of these ones is lined and sealed rather than simply painted.

Specification

• Dimensions: 800mm wide by 500mm deep by 1600mm high overall
• Display surface: internal display area 760mm by 460mm
• Construction: sealed carcass with an aluminium honeycomb deck and a foil vapour barrier behind the lining
• Finish: 18mm moisture resistant MDF sprayed in a two pack polyurethane to RAL 9010, which is the white almost every gallery in the country paints its walls
• Load rating: 140kg on the deck
• Levelling: four M10 levelling feet with 20mm of travel, recessed so nothing shows and nothing catches a toe
• Security: museum lock as standard, keyed to your existing suite on request
• Delivery: crated, kerbside on a pallet unless you book the two person service, which we recommend
• Weight: approximately 96.0 kilograms
• Glass: laminated UV filtering as standard, transmission under 1 per cent below 380 nanometres
• Air exchange rate: under 0.3 volumes a day, tested on every case
• Humidity: a silica gel well under the deck, holding 2kg of conditioned gel, accessible without disturbing the object
• Materials: tested to the Oddy method, no acid emitting board or adhesive inside the seal
• Lighting: no lamp fitted, and a fibre optic gland is provided if you want one, because a lamp inside a sealed case is a heat source
• Documentation: a case data sheet with the air exchange test result

What you get

• The sealed carcass with the vapour barrier and lining fitted
• The laminated UV filtering glass case, crated separately
• An aluminium honeycomb display deck
• A silica gel well with 2kg of conditioned gel
• A museum lock with two keys
• A case data sheet and the Oddy test certificates
• Levelling feet, gaskets and a fibre optic gland

Setting it up

The base arrives flat packed and the glass arrives assembled in its own crate. Build and level the base first, then two people lift the glass on. Do not lift a glass case by the top rail. The gasket seats itself under the weight of the glass, so leave it for an hour before you load the case and check the door line again after a day.

Specifying it

Size the case to the object plus the space around it rather than to the object. A rule that works well is a clear 100mm at the sides and 150mm above for anything under half a metre, and more for anything a visitor will walk around. Think about the door before you buy: a hinged door needs swing space and a lift off top needs two people and somewhere to put a large piece of glass. If the case will hold anything light sensitive, take the UV filtering glass, and keep the light level at 50 lux for works on paper and textiles and 150 lux for oil, wood and most other things.