This paper presents the research and conservation of two plastic mirror frames by the celebrated mid20th century French designer Line Vautrin, which were encountered by the authors at the same time in private practices in New York and London. Vautrin’s prolific oeuvre in early 20th century semi-synthetic plastic is largely owned by private collectors; research showed that her favourite material ‘Talosel’ was patented by her and was in fact cellulose acetate (CA) sheet manipulated in various ways invented by Vautrin. The large volume of Vautrin’s work in Talosel resin is threatened today by the material’s inherently unstable aging characteristics and the lack of art historical reference to Vautrin. This case study discusses in detail the materials used by Vautrin, their inevitable degradation and the approach used to conserve one heavily deteriorated mirror so it could be hung on a wall again, despite knowing that it will only have a relatively short lifespan
