from Beamish Museum.
In October, I began my final module of my first year; Conservation Practice. In this module, I’ve been given historic objects from several different museums and private clients. These objects are composed of a wide variety of materials from different periods and cultures. It’s my responsibility to propose, plan and implement conservation treatments that improve their condition.
Initially, each object is carefully recorded, examined and analysed to determine what materials it is made of and to better understand the deterioration I observe. This allows me to make informed choices on treatment which will allow these pieces of history to survive for years to come.
This process of examination can produce some surprising results. One of my first objects was a set of mid-20th Century diatoric teeth from Beamish Museum, County Durham. These were originally thought to be a set of real teeth but through some investigative cleaning, visual analysis and some collaboration it was found that these were fact artificial teeth. Through further collaboration with a member of the Bioarchaeology department, it was found that they were not even cast from real teeth!
For me, these little discoveries are one of my favourite aspects of this module. Conservators work intimately with objects and examine them in great detail. I relish the idea that the work I carry out can inform our understanding of the history of these objects and support the interpretation of them.
Another important aspect of this module is developing our skills in decision making and collaboration with those whom these objects belong to. As well as working with museum staff, I have been fortunate to have been assigned an object form a private client in the form of a mid-20th Century rubber mat advertising ‘Gibbs Dentifrice’, a solid block of dental cleaning product that was the precursor to modern toothpaste. This mat sat in the doorway of the chemists that belonged to client’s great-grandfather and is an important part of his family heritage.
This object has allowed me to develop my skills in interpreting what the client wishes to achieve through the conservation process and to develop and propose treatments that are sensitive to their wishes.
Many objects present technical challenges through their treatment, and none more so than another object I’m working on; A 1950’s-1980’s glass Christmas ornament from Beamish Museum. When it came into the lab it was in 52 separate sherds, some 0.1mm thick!
The ornament will be carefully reassembled and adhered together with areas of loss filled with a material that is identifiably different to the original glass but is aesthetically sympathetic to the object. Reassembly and restoration such as this enables viewer to appreciate the object as it appeared during its original use.
This module pulls together all the different elements of theory and practical skills I have learnt through the course so far. Over the next few months I’m really looking forward to developing my skills by continuing with the treatments of these objects and overcoming the challenges they bring.
Mark.