AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Objects and Research and Technical Studies Joint Session, May 9, “In Their True Colors: Developing New Methods for Recoloring Faded Taxidermy” by Beth Nunan and Judy Levinson

After 70 years on  permanent display, the taxidermy at AMNH got a much needed renovation. It was beautiful to see the artistry behind the construction and design of the original dioramas. This talk focused on the fading and discoloration of the fur and hair of the animals. The care that was taken in reproducing details from actual locations in the field was amazing- such an elaborate process. The background paintings are true works of art. It is wonderful to see that they are being maintained. There are a limited amount of actual materials used, such as evergreen branches and grasses. The rest was replicated for the dioramas.

So in 2003 there was a survey done of the dioramas and this resulted in a reduction of heat and light in the display areas by moving from theatrical lights to fluorescent and tungsten and screening of UV. In 2010, through a citywide effort to reduce energy use by 50% they moved to LEDs, metal halide, and T8 fluorescents- still screening out UV. However, they haven’t been able to reduce the light levels from 50 and 65 fc to an acceptable conservation level of 5 fc because of the desire to replicate the natural environment. The lights stay on even at night! Beth and Judy can give you the name of who to contact to help them in their campaign to shut off those lights!

AMNH hired an artist to recolor the taxidermy. They chose the colorant based on the solvents needed (these were restricted because the painting had to be done in open galleries with limited fume extraction), reversibility to not prevent future treatment, light fastness, Tg, application method and appearance. Water based acrylics were eliminated because of the low Tg and difficulty for re-treatment. They were leaning towards Orasol dyes and XSL pigments due to these criteria, but he taxidermist had to be won over from their usual use of acrylics. Luckily they were successful!

Finally, Beth carried out light-fading tests to determine which would be the best colors to use. Samples were colored and sent to Paul Whitmore for microfading tests. The microfadeometer is limited by a threshold and this is not equivalent to the real light exposure they will get in the dioramas. So out of view of the visitors they have put samples for future comparison with areas that are covered to block out the light.

The authors got a lot of thoughtful questions about the amount of degradation of the hair (a lot), if a special brush was used for grooming (yes),  if the dyes were applied with ethanol (yes), if they could turn off the lights at night (they wish!, please contact the museum to push for this), and what was used for the yellowed fur (XSL pigments had the best covering properties).

40th Annual Meeting, Objects and Research and Technical Studies Joint Session, May 9, “The Qero Project: Conservation and Science Collaboration Over Time” by Emily Kaplan

After hearing about this project in the past couple of years, I was looking forward to learning more about the evolution of this 16 year collaboration and some of the observations and conclusions that have come out of it. I applaud the original participants (including conservators: Emily Kaplan, Ellen Pearlstein, Ellen Howe and Judith Levinson) in their ability to continue their involvement over the past decade and with various geographic and institutional changes. Analytical participants include the MFA Boston, the Met, Yale, MCI, and University of Barcelona. Emily spoke about the benefits of working on this project over an extended period of time- for example, they are taking fewer and smaller samples now, there is increased collaboration, and improvements in technology have moved them from paper to an electronic shared database.

This project came about when Emily was a post-graduate fellow at the NMAI (when it was in NY), the Brooklyn Museum of Art was preparing for an exhibit, and the Met received a large gift. Several exhibits and publications came out in the early years of the collaboration. Some of the goals were to study the imagery depicted and the polychrome techniques as this was of interest to the conservators, but also to better understand the people, production and use. Qeros are drinking vessels used in the Andean region for consuming fermented beverages. They are sometimes made in pairs, but few still remain together, and have been made from a variety of materials including wood and metal. Qero actually means both wood and cup. They have been described and illustrated in colonial chronicles, sermons and legal documents. Qeros are still used today as this tradition persists.

So far they have identified organic and inorganic pigments: orpiment, cinnabar, cochineal, indigo, copper greens and carbon black. These all have potential local sources. There has been a renewed interest in Qeros and an authoritative book came out in 2002 by Thomas Cummins. The qeros have been dated stylistically and categorized into four periods (sorry I didn’t write down all the dates and I wish I had a photo of this slide): the Inca period (1425-1532) having incised decoration, the early Colonial period (1600-1650) having small areas of polychrome and incised decoration, the Mid Colonial, and the late Colonial.

The most recent research has focused on the white pigments. Three types were identified: cristobalite, anatase and white lead. They are also doing lead isotope analysis and finding two sources for the lead. Apparently lead ore was common in the Andes, but it wasn’t used as a painting material until after the arrival of the Spanish.

I loved seeing the images of a workshop on working with mopa mopa- a resin that was noted as a binder in early literature. Through working with the mopa mopa Emily could see how it was applied to the surface after being pulled into strips, laid on the surface and then heated.

It was nice to see the benefits of an extended project like this one. I’m sure Emily would appreciate knowing about Qeros in other collections if you have any!

 

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting – Angels Project, May 8: Practical Conservation at the Sandoval County Historical Society

 

Sandoval County Historical Society

I love Angels Projects. There is nothing precious about them. They are practical, down-to-earth conservation projects in which the rubber meets the road, and they give AIC members a chance to reach out to ordinary people who care passionately about their unique collections. On May 8, 2012, several new Angels earned their wings at the  Sandoval County Historical Society, working side by side with volunteers to preserve archives, rolled maps, photographs, and oil paintings.

Sandoval County Historical Society is located in Bernalillo, New Mexico, in the home of artist Edmond DeLavy. DeLavy studied illustration at the Pratt Institute in New York, and following World War II, he moved from Maine to homestead the Bernalillo property: two and a half acres of what had been Santa Ana Pueblo lands. (The tribe is now buying back the surrounding land; they own the successful casino next door.) Before DeLavy’s death in 1989, he bequeathed his adobe home and studio to the local historical society.

Photo displays at the Sandoval County Historical Society

Its collection includes dozens of DeLavy’s original paintings and hundreds of photographs documenting the local Spanish villages and Indian pueblos, many of which have been mounted on posterboard. The historical society also collects archival documents, genealogies and family histories, bound volumes for its library, and maps. Its all-volunteer staff includes Martha Liebert, who acts as the archivist, and Dirk van Hart, who has been single-handedly digitizing the society’s photographs. Many of these photos are themselves copies of family pictures belonging to the local people, who often burn the originals after the deaths of those depicted. Often, the Sandoval County Historical Society retains the only images witnessing to the Spanish or Indian heritage of the surrounding families. The posters that illustrate this heritage travel to local schools and service organizations to educate and instill pride in today’s Sandoval County residents.

Last Tuesday, about fifteen volunteers with AIC’s Angels Project joined the society’s volunteers to begin the task of organizing and re-housing its maps, oil paintings, and archives. One team hauled the paintings from their storage closet, where they had been stored in groups in large plastic bags, and rewrapped them individually where necessary. Another team gathered the rolled maps for flattening and rehousing in a map case. A third team, which included me, gathered the society’s most-used archival documents and transferred them from acidic bankers’ boxes to new folders and polyethylene sleeves in alkaline boxes.

Paintings after rehousing

As is often the case with Angels Projects, we worked with few tools and a narrow assortment of supplies. We were forced to be creative, and to make efficient use of the short time we were given. The team rehousing the paintings lined them up against the walls and selected the most vulnerable images–for example, those without frames–to wrap in paper. They then returned the paintings to their storage closet, ensuring that no canvases were in danger of denting or stretching. Without a humidity chamber, the map team resorted to mechanical flattening, using stones in polyethylene sandwich bags as weights. Over the course of the morning and afternoon, they gradually unrolled and rehoused all of the society’s rolled maps, which are now stored flat in a dedicated case.

Volunteers examine the flattened maps.

In the archives team, faced with mountains of paper, photos, and newspaper clippings, we debated about how we could be of most use. Should we start an Excel database of each folder? Each item? Should we attempt to reunite loose materials with the folders where they belonged? Where should we start? And how could we include the society’s volunteers, who were desperate to help? Eventually, we decided to begin with the most used materials, and to spend our time removing staples, paper clips, and sticky notes. We rehoused items that had been fastened together in polyethylene sleeves, and we moved sticky notes to sheets of acid-free interleaving folded around the originals. When folders were overstuffed, we subdivided them into new archival folders, and we kept records of the types of materials found in each folder.

More importantly, we sat down with the volunteers and gave them a basic overview of archival maintenance. We explained how fasteners and sticky notes can damage paper and photos in the long term, and offered suggestions for their removal and replacement. We also discussed possible options for cataloging the collection and for storing and backing up its digital images. All afternoon–after a delicious home-cooked lunch of deviled eggs, enchiladas, salads, cakes, and pies provided by the volunteers–we worked side by side to improve the housing and organization of the society’s archives.

Volunteers rehouse the Sandoval County Historical Society archives.

The day was a tremendous success, and we all left feeling that we had made a big difference. The work was a reminder that sometimes we need to set aside our conservation ideals–the clean benches, the lab coats, the high-tech gear and the high-brow jargon–for simple conversations. We need to explain what we do and why, in plain language, without condescension. We need to empower other cultural caretakers to do whatever they can for their collections. In short, we need to make colleagues and friends.

Like all Angels Projects, the work with the Sandoval County Historical Society opened a short window in which to build long-lasting  connections. We helped its volunteers preserve their own cultural heritage, whether they are rehousing their collections themselves or calling a conservator for advice, guidance, or to undertake a complex treatment. Next year, be an Angel! It might be the best outreach project you’ll ever undertake.

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Book and Paper Session, May 11: “New Book and Paper Conservation Products and Processes from the Heritage Science for Conservation Laboratory” by John Baty

According to John Baty, he’s got a dream job: working side by side with conservators in a book and paper lab that bridges the gap between scientific analysis and bench work. You might call it practical science, or treatment-driven analysis. In either case, Baty argues that the Heritage Science for Conservation Laboratory–part of the Department of Conservation and Preservation in the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University–is a model the rest of us should follow. Plus, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded lab has developed some cool toys we can use in our own paper-based research.

For Baty, the collaboration between chemists and conservators is key. (How’s that for alliteration?) This meeting of the minds has led the HSC Lab from fundamental research into the degradation mechanisms for cellulose to the production of tools that can help other conservators and conservation scientists in their work–particularly if they are engaged in studies that make use of accelerated aging. During his talk, Baty introduced three of these tools and the data that support their usefulness.

The first technology he discussed was the range of common-ion effect buffers that can be used to maintain a given pH in paper. These buffers, which take advantage of the equilibrium between a weak acid and its conjugate base, establish a narrow pH range that resists change, even after accelerated aging. Research at the HSC suggests that phosphate buffers added to paper remain effective after 42 days of accelerated aging, even at higher temperatures. In aging studies, these buffers can be used to minimize the number of variables acting on the test papers as they age. In theory, such buffers could also be used to maintain a pH range that would slow the deterioration of ir0n-gall ink or prevent color shifts in pH-sensitive dyes and pigments.

The HSC has also developed a new vessel for accelerated aging, after noticing hairline cracks and other failures in the vessels currently in use. The new closed tube, which features a glass-on-glass seal, was developed in collaboration with conservator Bill Minter. It can withstand high pressures without losing moisture, and because it has no gaskets, its contents cannot be contaminated by residual polymer chemistry or offgassing from faulty seals.

Finally, Baty introduced a calibration kit that will allow scientists and conservators to calibrate their X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) or Near Infrared (NIR) spectrometers for nondestructive paper analysis. The kit contains paper targets uniformly coated with specific salt concentrations.

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting, Joint Sessions: Objects + Reseach and Technical Studies, May 9, Some Unusual, Hidden, Surprising or Forgotten Sources of (Possible) Sulfur Contamination in Museums and Historic Buildings

Presenter: Paul Benson

Sulfur is well known as an agent of deterioration associated with atmospheric pollution, but sulfur was, and still is, intentionally introduced into buildings as part of the construction process, and is a part of some objects in museum collections. This presentation by Paul Benson was tremendously informative about how sulfur may be hiding in plain sight and damaging collections.  The talk provided examples of the use of sulfur past and present, and provided an example of effective control of sulfur used in the construction of an exhibition space.

Molten sulfur is an excellent electrical insulator. It has very good adhesive, handling, and casting properties that make it a good fill material. It goes through a flexible stage when cooling and it expands slightly (3%) on setting. In the US plaster ceilings were repaired with molten sulfur until the 1920s and buildings built before 1940 may have sulfur behind the surface of the walls as an insulator or fill material.   Conservators carrying out CAP surveys should be mindful of these possibilities.

There are unsuspected modern uses of sulfur as well. Used as an inexpensive filler in Chinese-manufactured dry wall imported to the US between 2001 and 2009, it caused extensive damage and reconstruction. Sulfur with additives is used instead of Portland cement in Canada because it has considerable shorter set time.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum discovered that the cause of severe mottling of bronze sculptures was sulfur applied behind the  numerous travertine sides of display cases integrated into the structure of the walls.  This situation was successful remediated by removing each piece of travertine, and applying  Marvelseal® with Beva®.

Sulfur has been used as a fill material in bombs. Police forensics use sulfur to take very accurate casts of footprints in snow.  These objects may be stored for long periods of time and contaminating other evidence.

Molten sulfur has been used since antiquity as an adhesive.  Pliny may have described its use as an adhesive for glass (depending on the translation). Sulfur was used as an adhesive in Rome, Greece, and Byzantium. All stones in the Thetford treasure at the British Museum were set with sulfur.  Sulfur was used to secure iron rods holding together elements of stone sculpture.

Sulfur can be found as an inlay material in furniture marquetry particularly in the sixty years from 1760 forward.  Sulfur will take on the appearance of mother of pearl with repeated heat treatments and can be found as “pearl” inlay on guns and  guitars.

Objects may be made of sulfur. “Spences Metal” is an iron-sulfur alloy used in the years around 1880. It can take a high polish and imitate a variety of metals. At the time hoped to be in inexpensive replace for bronze. “Ebonite” was made of rubber with 30-40% sulfur and was used to manufacture buttons and casters for furniture among other utilitarian objects that may be in museums of attached to objects in a collection.

Sulfur has been found in an historic clock cast around the weight to hold it in place. The “lead”  of German pencils made before 1770 is a combination of graphite mixed with sulfur. Coins may have been cast in sulfur lined plaster casts.  And among the seemingly innocent items that might be in a conservation lab sulfur is present in Plasticine® and pencil erasers.

This presentation provided a useful warning about possible contamination from sulfur present in unpredictable places and provided a wide range of examples to guide in hunting for an unseen source of corrosion.

Creative Endeavors and Expressive Ideas: Emerging Conservators Engaging through Outreach and Public Scholarship – Outreach in the Galleries

ECPN interviews emerging conservators involved in in-gallery conservation treatments 

Allison Lewis, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum, University of California, Berkeley

Tell us a little about yourself-your background, where you’re working now and what you do in your current position?

I have an MA from the UCLA/Getty Conservation program and work at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Many of my current activities include outreach related to a conservation-themed exhibition.

What form of outreach are you using? If it is an online tool, please specify which platform (Blogspot, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.).

The outreach activities are part of the ongoing exhibition “The Conservator’s Art: Preserving Egypt’s Past” (through June 2012). The exhibit seeks to provide visitors with insight into the field of conservation, using the Hearst Museum’s collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts as a lens through which to illustrate contemporary conservation practices. My “Conservator’s Art” outreach activities are twofold. Since the opening of the exhibition, I have been undertaking a gallery residence, working in the gallery three days a week. I carry out treatments at a lab station in the middle of the exhibition, where visitors are invited to observe and to ask questions. When tours visit the gallery, groups typically stop at the lab station for 15-20 minutes of discussion.  Although each conversation is unique (influenced by the nature of the particular treatment being performed that day and individual visitors or tour groups), I try to touch upon exhibition themes including preventive conservation, reversibility, documentation, and the contrast between early twentieth century restoration practices and current approaches to conservation.

In conjunction with the gallery residence, I maintain a WordPress blog where I describe specific treatments or technical studies of Egyptian material, and answer questions. Sometime during spring 2012, the blog will be migrated to the museum’s website (Drupal).

Who would you say is your target audience?

The general/non-specialist public, all ages.

What were/are you trying to achieve using this form of outreach? Was it met or solved using this particular approach or tool?

Both forms of outreach seek to provide interactive “behind-the-scenes” access to conservation work that is undertaken at the museum and beyond, and to increase awareness about conservators’ roles and the value of preserving material culture. As interactive elements, the gallery residence and blog are intended to enhance visitor engagement with the exhibition, and provide a sense of personal connection to usually anonymous conservators. (In addition to having a conservator in the gallery, the exhibit also includes pictures and biographies of conservation staff. These are also meant foster a sense of connection between visitors and conservators, and to provide information about the kinds of backgrounds that conservators have.)

Is there anything you would do differently, or any recommendations you would make to other conservators who might want to use your approach / tool for themselves?

Visitors are far more likely to stop at the lab table and interact if the conservator assumes an approachable demeanor, by making eye contact and, and sometimes verbally inviting visitors to ask questions.

Conservators working at such a lab station must be comfortable with frequent interruptions. Because of the unpredictable nature of visitor volume and interaction, I perform phases of treatments that require especially intense concentration during hours when the gallery is not open.

Having sufficient time to “field test” the laboratory station would have allowed us to make minor design improvements. The lockable Plexiglas clamshell lid of the laboratory table creates a sound barrier that impedes conversation between the conservator and visitors at certain angles. The lighting, currently provided by multiple small lamps of varying intensity and color temperature, can be challenging for treatments that involve color matching.

Have your outreach endeavors produced any unexpected outcomes or benefits?

Visiting elementary, high school and college groups have taken a special interest in both the gallery residence and blog. According to the education department, many teachers now specifically request tours that include a conversation with the conservator, and the blog has been utilized by classes as preparation for and follow-up to gallery visits. Due in part to positive reactions to the blog, the museum has included a blogging platform in the redesign of its website (see below), and plans to continue publishing regular conservation-related blog posts after “The Conservator’s Art” exhibition closes.

Check out Allison’s conservation blog at:  http://conservationblog.hearstmuseum.dreamhosters.com/

…and in the future at:  http://hearstmuseum.org/blog

Rose Daly, Phoenix, AZ

Tell us a little about yourself-your background, where you’re working now and what you do in your current position?

I am the owner of Art Conservation Services LLC in Phoenix, Arizona.  I am a conservator with a M.S. from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.

What form of outreach are you using?

The project I am focusing on for this ECPN poster on outreach is a project that was featured in the print and online version of the Kansas City Star newspaper, and in artdaily.com, an online newspaper.  The project engaged museum visitors with a conservator and was also featured on the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art facebook page.  The project was an important collaboration between the Marketing department, Education department, Conservation, Preparations, Curatorial, Security, and Visitor Services. For a description of the project please see the press release included in the file TapestryCleaning.pdf

Who would you say is your target audience?

Museum visitors, and the local community in Kansas City.

What were/are you trying to achieve using this form of outreach? Was it met or solved using this particular approach or tool?

Raise awareness for conservation.  I feel the project was successful, but to raise awareness is not something that only needs to be done once or twice.  In other ways, this project was a way for me as a conservator to experiment by combining needed conservation maintenance (vacuuming the Phaeton Tapestries) with a public outreach project (daily talks were scheduled where I could interact with visitors, a table was set up with a variety of interactive manipulatives including examples of silk, wool, a loom, and a petrie dish of dirt that was removed from the tapestries.)  Outreach is important to raise awareness about the need for conservation of artifacts and the need for a professional conservator and the profession of conservation.  This project was a good fit because I was willing to be put on display as an exhibition, interact with museum visitors, and I made myself available for a photographer from the Kansas City Star who was interested in featuring a picture of this project in the newspaper.

Is there anything you would do differently, or any recommendations you would make to other conservators who might want to use your approach / tool for themselves?

Working inter-deartmentally was pivotal to the success of this project.  The Marketing department at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has some exceptional staff including Kathleen Leighton, Communications and Media Relations Officer at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, who I worked with to write the press release, and who assisted the photographer from the Kansas City Star, Allison Long, who came to the museum to take my picture for the Kansas City Star edition on June 23, 2011.  Kathleen is adept at speaking to the press, she was a news anchor for 12 years for WKBWTV in Buffalo, New York and she gave me a number of hints to make me feel more comfortable in front of a camera.   In the education department I worked with Emily Black, Interpretive Planner, Digital Media at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, to determine the materials that we should use for a table of manipulatives that would allow museum visitors to interact with materials that were similar to the materials used for the tapestry. Emily Black also assisted in writing content about the project and creating information that was included on the table of manipulatives to explain the conservation project and teach visitors more about tapestries.

Have your outreach endeavors produced any unexpected outcomes or benefits?

It was fantastic to work collaboratively with so many different departments in a museum, and to see the excitement this project created among museum visitors.

Checkout the ArtDaily article featuring Rose and the phaeton tapestries cleaning: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=48552

Melissa King, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Tell us a little about yourself-your background, where you’re working now and what you do in your current position?

My name is Melissa King and I am a pre-program intern at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MFA). I graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and have been a pre-program intern at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, and the Northeast Museum Services for the National Park Service. In 2010 I also participated in the field school for the “Gabii Project,” a University of Michigan excavation of a Roman Republic city close to Rome. My experience in conservation has been mostly with objects but I have worked with paper as well. I am also a professional pet portrait artist.

My work at the MFA has been primarily to assist in a project to conserve two Etruscan stone sarcophagi dating to the 3rd Century BCE from Vulci, Italy. I have been creating detailed condition diagrams with Adobe Photoshop, assisting in the research of the history of the objects, including past treatments, and I have helped in the surface cleaning of both of the sarcophagi. In collaboration with museum scientists, we have been performing a technical analysis of stone composition and original paint remnants from the two pieces. In February, I assisted in a presentation about the project to a limited number of museum members who had signed up in advance to be permitted into the gallery.  Because of the size and condition of the two sarcophagi, it was decided to have them remain in the gallery, which created a unique opportunity to share the process with visitors of the museum.

What form of outreach are you using? If it is an online tool, please specify which platform (Blogspot, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.).

The project is entirely visible to museum visitors as part of a special exhibit series entitled, “Conservation in Action.” The 1,300 square-foot Etruscan gallery was transformed into a conservation studio with a Plexiglass enclosure to allow visitors to view the process from beginning to end. The Etruscan sarcophagi conservation project has provided the museum with the opportunity to continue its mission of preserving the collection while creating new educational opportunities for visitors. Gallery wall-text within the viewing area describes the project and the conservator posts daily updates on a whiteboard visible to the visitors.

Public exposure of the project is further supported through lectures and tours. Conservators give presentations to museum visitors as part of the museum’s gallery learning program and more in-depth tours are given to students and museum professionals. Additional project information with periodic updates is presented on the museum’s website and the museum’s Facebook page often posts photo updates of the “Conservation in Action” projects, which has proven to be a great way to galvanize public interest.

Who would you say is your target audience?

Museum visitors

What were/are you trying to achieve using this form of outreach? Was it met or solved using this particular approach or tool?

As an institution, this project has been useful to generate interest in visiting the museum. The “Conservation in Action” projects have been extremely popular, and because the treatments are ongoing, museum guests may be inclined to revisit the museum in the future to check on their progress.

As conservators, we appreciate this project because of its inherent ability to inform the public about conservation and galvanize support in our efforts as professionals. Our work is to ensure the longevity of cultural heritage, and in this difficult economic climate, we need the support of allied professionals and the public to help with our mission.

Is there anything you would do differently, or any recommendations you would make to other conservators who might want to use your approach / tool for themselves?

The use of social media can be a very useful tool in a project such as this. As we continue on with this project I believe it would benefit us to reach out to other platforms such as twitter and tumblr.

Have your outreach endeavors produced any unexpected outcomes or benefits?

Both the Boston Herald and the Harvard Crimson have published articles in their respective newspapers on this particular project. A New York Times journalist was inspired to write an article, “Mosaic Restoration as Performance Art,” when she visited the museum and witnessed a past “Conservation in Action” project at the MFA that involved the conservation of a 3rd century AD Roman mosaic floor from Antioch.

To learn more about Melissa’s Conservation in Action project go to:

MFA website: “Conservation in Action: Etruscan Sarcophagi” http://www.mfa.org/collections/conservation/conservationinaction_etruscansarcophagi

MFA Facebook album: “Conservation in Action”: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150475274752321.367989.28314922320&type=1

New York Times Article: “Mosaic Restoration as Performance Art” http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/arts/design/29mosa.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

40th Annual Meeting, Wooden Artifacts Session, May 11 “Training the Next Generation of Furniture Conservators”, Mark Anderson, Steve Brown, MaryJo Lelyveld, Jonathon Thornton, Antoine Wilmering, Debbie Hess Norris, Moderator

This was a panel discussion moderated by Debbie Hess Norris on where the future of furniture conservation training lies. WAG Program Chair Stephanie Auffret began the discussion by describing the current situation, in which very few students are being trained in furniture conservation in the US currently. In preparation for the discussion, Stephanie sent a questionnaire to the panel participants, current educators in furniture conservation, and current practicing furniture conservators. The questionnaire asked about expectations of core competencies for recent graduates in furniture conservation, opportunities to develop these competencies, and where potential employment opportunities for recent graduates might lie. The questionnaire identified a broad range of core competencies which a recent graduate in furniture conservation ought to have, including knowledge of the history of furniture, a scientific understanding of wood and other materials used in furniture making, good hand skills, knowledge of preventive conservation and documentation, as well as a structural understanding of furniture.

The panelists then gave very brief presentations. Steve Brown, professor of furniture making at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA, described the furniture training program, which includes knowledge and handling of hand and power tools, and a progressive series of furniture making projects, including a tool chest, a chair, a table and a case piece. He showed typical examples of furniture made by NBSC students, and described the emphasis of the program on developing hand skills.

MayJo Lelyveld described the absence of furniture conservation training opportunities in Australia, and described how most conservators tasked with caring for furniture there have come from othher areas of specialization and have had to develop their skills on their own, or from non-conservators with knowledge of woodworking techniques. For treatments involving a high level of woodworking skill, they have to turn to these non-conservators to participate in the treatment.

Mark Anderson then briefly talked about the furniture major at WUDPAC, describing how few majors there have been in recent years. WUDPAC requires that its furniture majors demonstrate a certain level of competency in wood working, a requirement that does not exist for any of the other majors. WUDPAC has graduated very few furniture majors since this requirement was instituted, illustrating that it is very difficult to assemble all the prerequisites at a sufficiently high level of achievement to get in to Winterthur and also gain experience in cabinet making.

Ton Wilmering talked about some of the training programs in Europe, and that they exist at more varied academic levels, briefly discussing his own training.

Jonathon Thornton talked about the Buffalo program, indicating that they train furniture conservators their as well. He emphasized that good hand skills were important for ALL conservators, and that developing them in one area or another could come a little later in a conservator’s training.

Debbie then opened the discussion up to the floor, and my ability to take careful notes took a back seat to my interest in the conversation. The following is more my impressions of the conversation than a strict recounting. Tad Fallon pointed out that the first CAL class occupied many of the institutional positions that are still available, and that the institutional job opportunities haven’t been that great. Jonathon Thornton said it’s like the pig in the python (or something like that), a big bulge in the middle, but it’s skinny at both ends! Steve Brown said that a visitor to NBSS once commented that she wished she had a job which didn’t require any thinking, illustrating an attitude about furniture making which is all too prevalent (sometimes even among other conservators, and especially other museum professionals, in my opinion).

The discussion seemed to center more and more around whether and how much training in furniture making a furniture conservator needs. Jonathon Thornton pointed out that furniture conservators have a host of tools, techniques and materials available to them not typically used by the traditional furniture maker, including casting in polymers and digital reproductions, which conservators do and should use. Ton Wilmering related the discussion back to the wood panels of panel paintings. He described that many museums (and conservators) accept cracks in panel paintings when they would never accept tears in easel paintings. He thinks this is because the conservators responsible for the panel know they don’t have the wood working skills to repair the crack.

Mark Anderson again discussed Winterthur’s difficulty in finding students with the preparation necessary to get in to the program and the woodworking skills necessary to major in furniture, and suggested that students didn’t need to arrive at Winterthur with those skills, nor did they need to go to NBSS to get them. There was some discussion from the floor that areas of subspecialization (marquetry, carving, etc) are not usually perfected by even those students who DO have wood working skills before they get into school. Others pointed out that much of the work done by most furniture conservators involves surface treatment rather than structural work. I believe a largely unspoken, but underlying current in the discussion, was that there are not a large number of institutional jobs in furniture conservation in existence in the US right now. Mark did say that an institutional job was the ambition of most conservation program students. This may be part of the problem in recruiting students into furniture conservation, but the problem will only compound itself when current institutional furniture conservators retire and their institutions are unable to find people trained to replace them. The positions will be eliminated and there will be even fewer jobs available, and more furniture collections will be in the care of people without the training to undertake complex treatments.

Debbie wrapped up the discussion by suggesting that WAG needs to plan a way forward. She had a wide-ranging list of suggestions. Perhaps WUDPAC could send potential furniture majors to NBSS for the summer between their first and second year, as they are currently doing with some book and paper majors to the NBSS bookbinding program (an idea which occurred to me as well during the discussion). WAG might undertake demographic studies about where furniture conservation positions exist, and how close those in those positions are to retirement. The data collected could be used to help develop grant proposals to improve the professional development opportunities for various woodworking skills. She encouraged discussions between WAG and FAIC to work on developing more PD courses. She also suggested that WAG hold a roundtable discussion among furniture conservation educators, both US and international, to discuss current practices and how things might be developed, and how job opportunities might be increased. She offered that WUDPAC and Winterthur would be willing to host such a discussion. Debbie being Debbie, she left us all feeling hopeful for the future, with a renewed sense of purpose and willingness to roll up our sleeves and get cracking. Let’s hope we can build some momentum and accomplish some of the things on Debbie’s list of suggestions.

40th Annual Meeting, Wooden Artifacts Session, May 11 “Conservation Training at the Forbidden City”, Antoine Wilmering

Ton Wilmering, Senior Program Officer at the Getty Foundation, spoke about the the World Monument Fund’s new conservation training program it has developed at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China as part of its collaborative conservation program for the Qianlong Gardens in the Forbidden City. The gardens, a series of 27 pavillions and courtyards built by the Qianlong Emperor between 1771 and 1776 within the Forbidden City are an extraordinary example of Qian Dynasty decorative arts, and reflect the emperor’s broad cultural tastes and knowledge. I had the privilege of seeing the traveling exhibition of furniture and other objects from the Qianlong Gardens at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA in 2010, and the furniture and interiors on view were beautiful, exhibiting incredible craftsmanship.

The World Monument Fund is focused on funding projects with capacity-building components, and in conjunction with their conservation program in the Qianlong Gardens, in 2009 they established an new training program in the Forbidden City known as Conservation Resources for Architectural Interiors/Furniture and Training, or CRAFT. The program is designed to provide on-the-job training in both traditional craft practices and modern conservation techniques and science. Participants were selected from among current staff members of the Forbidden City complex, and include carpenters, collections care specialists, curators, architects and scientists. Current craft practitioners in China often have little knowledge of past techniques or history, and the program was designed to introduce them to craft history using historic Chinese cabinet making manuals. The program focuses on critical thinking as well as hand skills, and areas of study include scientific principles, history of conservation ethics, worker safety, drawing and drafting using both traditional and CAD techniques, materials technology, tool making, and joinery.

The program has made efforts to include Chinese faculty wherever possible, and Chinese wood species specialists and organic and inorganic chemists have taught in the program. The WMF found that many of the resources and people needed in the program were available in Beijing (in fact lots of conservation literature has been translated into Mandarin), but the WMF needed to make the connections with local libraries and scientists to bring them into the project. Other participants in the training program have included Susan Buck (cross-section analysis), and Chris McGlinchey (adhesives), and Behrooz Salimnejad (gilding) among others, as well as Ton, Rick Kershner and Greg Landrey, who the WMF brought in initially to design a space for the program and develop the curriculum.

Ton pointed out that the furniture on view in the traveling exhibition from the Qianlong Gardens which came to the US had not been worked on by participants in the CRAFT program. Instead, the Forbidden City bureaucracy had contracted out the restoration of that furniture, and it often involved practices that conflicted with modern conservation ethics. I was interested in the cultural differences exhibited by the Chinese participants. Ton told how the students all liked to work together on a project, showing a picture of four students sitting around a table, cleaning it with swabs together.

Ton also talked about the difficulties the program has experienced. Because the participants are employees working in the Forbidden City (remember, the program is on-the-job training), they are frequently called away to their regular jobs, which can be disruptive. Continuous supervision of the program by a trained conservator has also bee difficult. Many of the original participants have had to – or have chosen to – drop out, and currently about half the original class are still participating. Interestingly, it is the carpenters and architects who have stayed, not the collections care specialists.

After talking about the CRAFT program, Ton briefly discussed another initiative the Getty Foundation is involved in, to facilitate the transfer (and retention) of skills and knowledge in the structural conservation of panel paintings. Many of the most skilled practitioners in the conservation of these wooden panels are approaching retirement age, and the Getty Foundation has begun a 6 year initiative to set up apprenticeships with these practitioners for post-graduate, mid-career and senior conservators of wooden artifacts. The program is designed to have a broad geographic distribution, to include participants in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as the US and UK, presumably.

 

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting – Objects Session, May 11, “Made in L.A.” by Rachel Rivenc

The original topic of this talk shifted from the analysis of sculpture created by the “Finish Fetish” artists using ATR (attenuated total reflection) to a discussion of the materials and methods of fabrication employed by three of these artists: Craig Kauffman, John McCracken, and Larry Bell. Though not accepted by the artists themselves, “Finish Fetish” was a name bestowed upon a group working in the L.A. area in the 1960s referring to the cool, yet pristinely finished surfaces that were characteristic of their art. Rachel noted that care must be given to preserving the signature surfaces, thus any analytical investigations required the use of non-invasive techniques only. The materials examination was augmented by interviews with artists when possible, as well as archival documents.

Craig Kauffman, one of the first artists to use plastics in the L.A. art community, converted industrial fabrication methods into his practice. Heavily influenced by Marcel Duchamp, his early work involved painting, typically with clean lines, on the back of acrylic sheets composed of poly(methyl methacrylate), confirmed by ATR analysis. By 1964, he had begun shaping the acrylic sheets by vacuum forming, collaborating with a manufacturer. The acrylic was heated in an oven until it softened, then shaped on a mold to create shallow reliefs. Kauffman’s sketches reveal plans for fiberglass molds with wooden supports, which were especially necessary for his later experimentations with depth and complexity. The transparent shells were subsequently painted, using thick rubber masks to create crisp lines. Later, he created a feathered look by spraying the paint over a cardboard mask, which served to soften the lines. He eventually shifted from solvent-borne acrylic-based paint, an ethyl methacrylate/methyl acrylate co-polymer, to nitrocellulose paints, since the solvent-based paints caused the substrate to craze and crack.

Rachel went on to discuss the technique and materials of John McCracken, who is reported to have said he wanted his sculptures to look as if they were “made of color.” They generally consisted of wooden planks coated in a layer of fiberglass, followed by a primer and various layers of paint, later switching to polyester resin application instead of paint. To make grooves in the surface, he would mask the lines with painter’s tape, then coat exposed surface in the polyester resin mixed with pigment. He consistently jotted down ideas and sketches before producing technical drawings, and even kept a notebook recording the varying temperatures and amounts of catalyst used for the resin as he experimented, making note of how it affected the working time, as well as the properties of the resulting work. Regardless of the conditions, the application of resin to the surface of the planks required an experienced and steady hand in order to avoid the evolution of bubbles in the resin layer (as any novice conservator embedding their first few paint samples for cross-sections knows!). The final step involved sanding of the surface to a smooth sheen.

The last artist Rachel broached was Larry Bell, who worked not with plastic, but with glass. Originally a painter, he would add mirrors to his compositions to introduce volume, eventually deciding that he wanted to work exclusively with volume. He worked often with plywood, mirror parts, and paint, though he increasingly favored glass, such that his paint became instead the effect of light as it was manipulated by the glass. In 1962, he began experimenting with the vacuum deposition of thin films to the glass, soon after which he bought a secondhand machine to execute the process himself in 1966. This purchase allowed him the freedom to create larger panels, which also corresponded with a shift into more environmental art. The vacuum chamber heated the metal under vacuum to a temperature at which the metal vaporized and was deposited on the surface of the glass as a micron-thin film. The three metals most commonly used by Bell were aluminum, silicon monoxide, and nickel-chromium alloys, otherwise known as ‘Inconel.’ The thin film of metal influences the way light is reflected, refracted, and transmitted through the glass. Bell also experimented with changing the temperature and combining metals, all while monitoring the chamber through a window to assess the changes. Rachel noted that Bell, the only artist alive of the three discussed, is actively involved in the conservation of his work, providing conservators with replacement panels when they break.

The above represents but a small portion of the project embarked upon by the GCI (Getty Conservation Institute), a study of the materials and working methods of these and other artists active in the LA area during the postwar period who borrowed from modern industry. The study is a part of both the Pacific Standard Time initiative that included a recent set of exhibitions across Southern California sponsored in part by the The Getty. It also represents the GCI Modern and Contemporary Art research initiative. Future plans include a publication to disseminate the work, a short video, and an exploration of practical applications for the information gained, such as ways to mend cracked and chipped polyester and acrylic resin. Ultimately, the research of Rachel and her colleagues, Emma Richardson and Tom Learner, will hopefully help facilitate treatment decision-making for conservators working with modern and contemporary artwork.

40th Annual Meeting, Wooden Artifacts Session, May 11 “The Establishment of Collaborative Platforms in Protecting and Conserving of the Global Cultural Heritage”, Dr. Hany Hanna

Dr. Hany Hanna, who is the General Director of Conservation for the Helwan, El-Saf and Afteh Sectors of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, delivered a general call for increased levels of attention on a local, national, regional and global scale to the protection and conservation of global heritage. While his talk did not relate to wooden artifacts specifically in any way, it was directly related to the theme of the Annual Meeting as a whole, and since Dr. Hanna specializes in the conservation of wooden objects and has spoken to our group in the past, no doubt he felt WAG was the appropriate venue for his talk this year.

Dr. Hanna began by defining cultural heritage as including both the tangible and intangible. Tangible heritage includes:

  1. Cultural
  2. Natural
  3. Cultural Landscapes
Intangible heritage includes:
  1. Practical experience
  2. Knowledge
  3. Skills
He pointed out that cultural heritage is priceless for humanity as a whole, as well as for nations and groups. It both strengthens identity within groups, as well as respect for and appreciation of other groups. Dr. Hanna discussed the fact that while great strides have been made on a global scale in protecting our global cultural heritage through education, advances in technology, and the development of new facilities and international partnerships, more must be done to protect cultural heritage form man-made and natural threats. In general, he called for more training, more investment in research and education, as well as facilities to carry out this research and training, and more international cooperation and partnerships.
At the same time, Dr. Hanna encouraged self reliance on the part of governments, NGO’s and universities in individual countries. His point seemed to be that while networking, cooperation and partnerships are vital for the preservation of global cultural heritage, local action and raising local public awareness are the most effective means of achieving preservation goals of emergency preparedness and recovery, risk and damage assessment, and reconstruction and restoration.
In general the ideas and approaches outlined by Dr. Hanna are completely in accord with the thinking of the US conservation community. But it was encouraging to hear them being expressed by a colleague from Egypt. Dr Hanna made two points which were somewhat more surprising. He called for what amounts to an international certification program, validated by local governments but defined by professional organizations, which would include measures to protect against malpractice. I for one had not heard this idea suggested before, and I’m not sure US conservators are ready to embrace such an idea, given our recent decision on a US certification program. But it may reflect the different experience of Dr Hanna in the practice of responsible conservation.
Dr. Hanna also called for the integration of cultural heritage and conservation issues with other economic sectors, suggesting that this would aid social and economic development. This seems to me to be essentially the same argument the Anne-Imelda Radice made in her address to the general session. But in discussing this, Dr. Hanna suggested that conservation training needed to be based “on every day life on a wider level”.  By this I took him to mean that conservation training needs to be related to and made relevant in the lives of the people living with the cultural heritage the training program is intended to protect. This seems an eminently sensible suggestion, and relates Dr. Hanna’s talk to the next talk in the WAG session by Ton Wilmering, discussing the World Monuments Fund’s new conservation training program in the Forbidden City in Beijing China, which I will discuss in my next blog.