Scroll and Key Tomb

Scroll & Key Secrete Society Bronze Doors, Richard Morris Hunt, 1869, New Haven, CT. Cleaning the bronze doors.

Scroll & Key Secrete Society Bronze Doors. Cleaning the bronze doors during conservation treatment.

Historical Significance

Scroll & Key is the second oldest senior secret society at Yale University. The society was founded in 1841 and its exotic tomb was designed in 1869 by the noted Beaux-Arts architect Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895), co-founder of the American Institute of Architects (1857) and founding member of the National Sculpture Society (1893). Hunt’s other works include the base for the Statue of Liberty, and the façade of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
 
The ornate, Spanish Moorish tomb was built in 1870. The A notable feature of the tomb is its prominent, bronze, entry doors with geometric designs.

Conservation Treatment of the Bronze Doors

• ŸUnification of the aged patina.
• Replacement of inappropriate ferrous hardware with brass hardware.
• Application of protective wax coating.