LAUSR

ABSTRACT The conservation treatment of a telescope belonging to the collections of Cavour Castle in Santena, Italy, is described. It is valuable both as a material testimony of the diffusion of scientific progress and as a rare example of a japanned telescope, providing evidence for the use of this decorative style in Piedmont between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Historical research was necessary to solve some questions regarding the manufacture and dating of the telescope. Comparison of the data and information collected with those of similar scientific instruments indicated with manufacture in northern Italy in the eighteenth century. The pigments and binder were identified, confirming the Western origin of the red lacquer that embellishes the outer tube of the telescope, applied on a leather support. Three-dimensional mock-ups were used to select the methodology and products for the conservation treatment, including the adhesion of lacquer lifting from leather and the infilling of losses in the japanned layer. The treatment aims were preservation of both the instrument and the traces left on it by time and events.