Saving Riau Islands manuscripts · Saving Riau Islands manuscripts Alsointhisissue Sixteen new internships advertised Winners of the Cardiff poster competition The whys and hows of

Saving Riau Islands manuscripts

Also in this issue

Sixteen new internships advertised

Winners of the Cardiff poster competition

The whys and hows of recording CPD

THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONSERVATION • MAY 2010 • ISSUE 28

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insideMAY 2010Issue 28

2NEWSCardiff conference report

4PROFESSIONAL UPDATEFrom the Chief Executive;rebirth of the TCC; all aboutCPD; the future for educationand training

12PEOPLE

14THE NEW INTERNSHIPOPPORTUNITIES

16AT RISK MANUSCRIPTS ININDONESIACollection care with the helpof the British Library’sEndangered Archivesprogramme

19GOING PUBLICConservators’ views onactivities involving the public

21TALKING TO THE PUBLICOne conservator’s view onworking in public

24GROUP NEWS& Graduate Voice: CF10’swinning student posters

26REVIEWS

32IN PRACTICEThe conservation of a Gothicclothes press

35LISTINGS

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Institute of Conservation1st floorDownstream Building1 London BridgeLondon SE1 9BG, UK

T +44(0)20 7785 3805F +44(0)20 7785 3806

[email protected]@icon.org.ukwww.icon.org.uk

Chief ExecutiveAlison [email protected]

Conservation Registerinfo@conservationregister.comwww.conservationregister.com

ISSN 1749-8988

Icon NewsEditorLynette [email protected]

Listings editorMike [email protected]

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Cover photo: A Jawi manuscript(Oath of Allegiance between theMalay Sultan and the Bugis Viceroy)with royal seals of the sultanate ofthe Riau islands in Indonesia dating1845; part of a private collectionworked on in the British Library'sEndangered Archives programme.This original manuscript is damaged,laminated and shows signs of earlierrepair

Disclaimer:Whilst every effort is made to ensureaccuracy, the editors and Icon Boardof Trustees can accept noresponsibility for the contentexpressed in Icon News; it is solelythat of individual contributors

Deadlines:

For July 2010 issue

Editorial: 28 May

Event listings: 28 May

Adverts: 18 June

It seems to be generally agreed that Icon’s Cardiffconference was really quite a success. I’m sure I’m notalone in hoping that our Board of Trustees will besufficiently encouraged by the very positive feedback theyhave had to consider making it a regular event in theconservation calendar. You will find various reports andreferences to the conference throughout this issue,including a tribute to the winners of the student postercompetition. (Contenders for any future student postercompetition had better take a look at the internshipopportunities offered on pages 14–15.) It is also fitting thatthis year’s winner of the Plowden Gold Medal, DavidWatkinson, hails from the conference venue of CardiffUniversity.

Another strand which threads through this issue is that ofpublic engagement. In her fascinating piece, SophieSarkodie reports the outcome of asking conservatorsabout their experience of reaching out to the public. Thenas a nice illustration of this, we have Theo Sturge’s views onworking in front of the public. Even the In Practice projectwas conducted under the public gaze (though a decisionto move the piece of furniture in question to a workshopwould not be one to take lightly!).

Lynette Gill, Editor

ICON NEWS • MAY 2010 • 1

Icon is registered as a Charity inEngland and Wales (Number1108380) and in Scotland (NumberSC039336) and is a CompanyLimited by Guarantee, (Number5201058)

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CroesoCynnesCaerdydd!

splendid museum galleries over the course of the evening.

In a packed lecture hall the following day, a wealth of papersdelivered a broad interpretation of the conference themes ofsustainability and evidence-based decision making. Everyonewill have taken away different memories and highlights: be itthe reflective talk on the Conservation Management Plan forCardiff Castle; the lessons of the British Museum’s six-weekexperiment with conservation work under the public gaze; therelationship between a deteriorating painting on a HamptonCourt Palace staircase and its micro-climate; the three-tiered(basic/good/best) benchmarks for sustainability in collectionscare or the jaw-dropping descriptions of behaviour by visitors

The event got off to a cracking start with the eveningreception in the grand halls of the National Museum, wherecanapés and wine circulated freely. Welcoming speeches weredelivered by the Welsh Assembly’s Minister for Heritage, thePresident of the Museum (see picture), Ian Freestone,Research Professor in Archaeological Science at CardiffUniversity and, of course, Icon’s own Chair of the Board ofTrustees, Diane Gwilt. Adding to the sense of occasion, thereception also provided the launch pad for the publication ofthe National Heritage Science Strategy’s vision and strategydocument. This was announced by Sarah Staniforth, Chair ofthe project’s steering group over its past eighteen months ofwork. It was an added bonus that we were free to browse the

And Icon received a very warm welcome to Cardiff indeedwhen 370 members and supporters converged on the city at theend of March for CF10, the first ever Icon conference.

Speakers take questions in the lecture hall at session end (l) Sarah Lawrence and Heather Perry from Cynon Valley Museum &Gallery; (centre) Icon Trustee Kate Frame; (r) Michael Hall andMuditha Nanayakkara from Meaco

Paul Loveluck CBE, President, Board of Trustees, AmgueddfaCymru – National Museum Wales

©2010

DavidPearson

©2010

DavidPearson

©2010

DavidPearson

©SamanthaGreatbatch

Meaco

Measurement&ControlLtd

What you thought‘It was a very good conference and the praise was repeatedby the people I spoke to all around!’

‘I did find it stimulating as it is not often there is a gatheringconcentrating more on approaches to conservation as awhole rather than specialisms. I look forward to the next one’

‘The venue, choice of papers, organisation and food wereall excellent. The evening receptions were most enjoyabletoo – ‘a jolly good party’ I overheard someone say’

These are typical of the comments received by theorganisers and Icon News. In addition, 175 feedback formswere handed in at the end of the conference and analysis ofthem shows that 97% of us thought that it was a good (40%)or very good (53%) conference. Frequently mentionedhighlights were the reception and tours at Cardiff Castleand the opportunity to network and meet fellow colleaguesfrom all groups, not to mention the excellent food. This ison top of praise more generally for the variety of papersand speakers and the good organisation and managementof the event overall.


unable to control their urge to touch paintings and artefacts.This is to mention only a few and, happily, a number of thepapers will appear in the Journal of the Institute ofConservation in due course. Mid-way through the morningproceedings were interrupted to bring the good news,greeted with spontaneous applause, that textile conservationtraining in the UK is to be re-established at GlasgowUniversity later this year, following the depressing closure ofthe Textile Conservation Centre last autumn.

During the breaks, the trade fair and the student postercompetition offered more food for thought, whilst talking tocomplete strangers in the coffee queue provided the pleasureof realising how much we all have in common whether wespend our professional lives behind a bench, a microscope, alectern or a desk, working on a delicate or a vast scale, onsingle items, vast collections or even on budgets, tenderingand planning.

Noise levels at the second, grand reception in Cardiff Castlewere, if anything, even higher than on the previous evening:we were all well into our stride by now catching up with oldfriends and making new ones and in between raids on thesplendid buffet supper a series of guided tours were laid onto different parts of the newly conserved Castle in all itsexotic, over the top exuberance.

On the next day most of us no doubt loyally attended ourown Group sessions but there were some fascinating topics in

other Groups’ schedules and a pick and mix approach, albeita recipe for chaos, would have been tempting. It also seemedas if our dispersal into separate Group sessions might havecaused the atmosphere of community generated by the eventso far to dissipate. But this didn’t happen as we reassembledat break times and at the very last afternoon’s tea break we allcame together to cheer the award of the student postercompetition.

Terrific support from a great many quarters made theconference a success: Cardiff University, the Castle and arange of other Welsh institutions; the commercial sponsorsand trade fair participants, the Steering Committee, theTechnical Committee, the Student Poster Competitionorganiser and judges, the Group Co-ordinators and all theCardiff student volunteers. And orchestrating all this talent,commitment and hard work was conference organiser, IconTrustee and teacher at Cardiff University, Jane Henderson. Sheis to be congratulated on a job well done.

Detail of the lavish decoration in the Castle apartments

The Norman Stronghold at Cardiff Castle

At the reception at Cardiff Castle

©2010

DavidPearson


Meaco



Meaco


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FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVEMy impression of Icon after my first month as Interim ChiefExecutive is of a very busy and complex organisation. We aredoing a huge amount with a small team of dedicated staffand the active involvement of a large number of members. Itis my aim to keep you updated on some of these activities, sothat you have an idea of how your subscription is being spent,and also on the staff responsible, so that you know whom tocontact.

Last year, we were able to start a Capacity Building Projectfunded by English Heritage. The project will develop theConservation Register as an information service and make itmore user-friendly, thus serving both the public, the culturalheritage sector and the profession more effectively. Work is infull stride thanks to the able administration of DubravkaVukcevic and the support of AnnMarie Newbigin, who ismanaging the project.

More capacity building, but this time with an internationalfocus, is the CHINDEU project, which gives access tocollections of Chinese and Indian works on paper in Europeancollections and, vice versa, to European works on paper incollections in India and China. Icon was one of seven partnersfrom seven countries contributing to CHINDEU. The projectaims to increase awareness of the existence of thesecollections as well as improving their preservation throughsharing of expertise. Icon Trustee Penny Jenkins has workedtirelessly on a voluntary basis and, along with former TrusteeVelson Horie and Icon staff, ensured that Icon’s part of theproject was a success. Among Icon’s contributions was hostingan international seminar in London attended by all partnersand a number of Icon members. The video recording of theseminar is available along with more information about theproject on www.chindeu.eu. A virtual library of the collectionscan be found on http://data.chindeu.org/. This is an ongoingproject and members are encouraged to add to the data.

This is an ideal moment to review Icon’s website and bringall our sites under one design banner. Our website has servedits purpose very well since Icon was founded five years agoand we don’t have major changes in mind. But theCommunications Committee, chaired by Board member KateFrame, has been looking at ways in which we can use it moreeffectively to support what Icon is aiming to do. As our maincommunication and advocacy tool, it needs to be moreaccessible to people outside of the conservation profession,so as to encourage new members to join to supportfundraising.

The National Strategy for Conservation Education andSkills is one of the main strands of our advocacy campaign. Iam leading on this, with the support of the ProfessionalStandards and Development (PSD) Committee, and hope topresent it to the Board in June. We are very keen to involveexternal stakeholders in the development of the strategy andso we are holding a consultation meeting in London on 9th

July hosted by Camberwell College of Arts for everyoneinterested in the training and education of conservators andothers in our field. Further information about that meeting willbe available shortly. We will also be uploading the strategy toour website to make it more widely accessible.

On the subject of education and training, Icon wishes topromote CPD courses that meet the needs of conservators atall stages of their professional development. Courses need tobe easily identifiable in terms of their relevance and level. ThePSD Committee, chaired by Trustee Chris Woods, has recentlyagreed a validation system for short courses developed bySusan Bradshaw. This is a light-touch method that asks theorganiser to assess the course against three criteria that relateto the professional standards.

It is very exciting that the 18-month extension to our HeritageLottery Fund Bursary scheme for internships has begun.Carol Brown and Gillian Drybrough have secured fourteenplaces funded by the HLF and six Externally FundedPlacements; these are advertised on page 14–15. TheConservation Technician’s Qualification has been successfullypiloted twice and we are currently seeking partnershipfunding to continue offering the scheme.

More exciting news is that Trustee Louise Lawson and herworking party have revived the Conservation Awards. Withthe funding remaining from the gift of Sir Paul McCartney weare running the ‘Valuing Excellence Conservation Awards’which will include the Conservation Award, The CollectionsCare Award, and The Student Conservator of the Year Award,along with the Award for Research and Innovation funded bythe Anna Plowden Trust, and the Digital Preservation Awardfunded by the Digital Preservation Coalition. The applicationsgo live on the Awards website on 31 May and the winners willbe announced at a ceremony in early December. So if youhave completed a project in the UK between the 31 March2007 and 31 July 2010 please consider entering for an award.

Finally, many of you attended our very successfulConservation in Focus Conference held at Cardiff Universityon 24 to 26 March – in fact 370 people attended, farexceeding our projections. The conference was organisedalmost entirely by volunteers and has produced a profit. Iconowes Jane Henderson and her committee a debt of gratitudefor their commitment of an enormous amount of time andenergy to the conference. The feedback has been verypositive, as you can read on page 3. The format of oneplenary day followed by a day of specialist sessions organisedby the groups appears to have worked well and could be themodel for future conferences. At its June meeting, the Boardwill be reviewing the Conference and starting to plan the nextone! Your comments and ideas are always welcome.

Alison RichmondInterim Chief [email protected]

professional update


&Albert Museum proposing to build a satellite exhibitionspace in Dundee, the scope for cross-disciplinarycollaboration between these two University Centres ofExcellence is huge.

If you want to express your concern at the implications of theUK losing this flagship facility, please consider writing to thePrincipal of the University of Dundee: Professor Peter Downes,University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN or contact theDundee Studio on [email protected].

RESEARCH GRANT FOR TNAThe Collection Care department at The National Archives hasbeen awarded a post-doctoral Fellowship by the Science andHeritage Programme to investigate preservation environmentsfor parchment documents.

The Fellow, Dr Lee Gonzalez, to be based at Kew, willexamine what happens to parchment under a range ofenvironmental conditions. This will enable better guidelines tobe developed for storing parchment in the future – amuch needed – resource with wide application both withinand beyond The National Archives.

The prestigious award, worth around £285,000, will enable theFellowship to be supported for three years from June 2010.The research project builds on a successful partnership withCardiff University and aims to contribute significantly to theevidence-base for managing parchment collections.

The Science and Heritage Programme is jointly funded by theAHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and EPSRC(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council).

NHSS UPDATEThe National Heritage Science Strategy steering group publish-ed its ‘vision and strategy’ at the end of March, launching thepublication at the opening reception of our CF10 Conference inCardiff. The document outlines two strategic aims:

• to demonstrate the public benefit of heritage science andincrease public engagement and support for it

• to improve partnership within the sector and with others byincreasing collaboration to help practice make better use ofresearch, knowledge and innovation and to enhanceresources, funding and skills.

The key recommendation for the delivery of the vision is thecreation of a National Heritage Science Forum to assist in theimplementation of these strategic objectives. As the nextstep, major institutions within the sector will be invited tocome together to support the creation of the Forum.

Our vision and strategy for heritage science is a crisp six-pageread and is available on the website (www.heritagesciencestrategy.org.uk) or in hard copy from the Chantry Library.

GOOD NEWS IN GLASGOWJust in case anyone hasn’t yet heard the good news: textileconservation teaching and research in the UK rises from theashes and is reborn at the University of Glasgow! The firststudent intake is planned for this September (2010) offering a2-year Masters in Textile Conservation and a 1-year Masters inDress and Textile History as well as opportunities for doctoralresearch. The new centre for Textile Conservation, History andTechnical Art History will focus on multidisciplinary object-based teaching and research that encompasses conservationand the physical sciences as well as art history, dress andtextile history.

This is also good news for Scotland, in that it will be the firsttime that conservation training has been undertaken there.Nell Hoare and the Textile Conservation Centre Foundation(TCCF) are to be commended for the enormous amount oftime and effort they have dedicated to securing textileconservation education at masters level in this country.

The new Centre will inherit existing library intellectualproperty and analytical equipment from the TCCF, so thatstaff and future students will be able to draw on the keyphysical and intellectual assets built up over more than thirtyyears. Students will also have the opportunity to work with thewealth of textile collections held by Glasgow Museums, theNational Museums of Scotland and the University’s ownHunterian Museum and Art Gallery. New academic posts willbe created and the Centre will work closely with theFoundation to establish a global research network in textileconservation, textile and dress history and technical art history.

The TCCF is also offering a limited number of bursaries in thefirst years of the textile conservation programme and afundraising campaign is already underway to raise furtherfunds for the new development including additionalstudentships and new research projects. Potential studentswho would like to receive updates on the development andcourse details should email Ailsa Boyd at the University ofGlasgow at: [email protected] [email protected]

BAD NEWS IN DUNDEEEarly April saw the announcement of a 90-day review whichmay result in the closure of the internationally recognizedBook & Paper Conservation Studio at the University ofDundee and redundancies of all six staff.

The considerable merits of the Studio were very welldescribed in the April Iconnect e-briefing and it is ironic thatthis should be happening just as Glasgow Universityannounces the establishment of its textile conservation coursewith the words ‘this is a tremendous opportunity for theconservation profession in Scotland, the UK andinternationally’. With Glasgow likely to attract textileconservation students from all over the world and the Victoria

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THE VALUE OF HERITAGE TOURISMQuantifying the value of cultural heritage may seem like aphilistine approach but is essential to bolstering argumentsfor resources in difficult times. So welcome to a new reportfrom the Heritage Lottery Fund which sets the value to the UKof tourism motivated by an interest in heritage at over £20bn.Investing in success: Heritage and the UK tourism economyshows that the heritage tourism sector, including historicbuildings, museums, parks and the countryside, directlysupports an estimated 195,000 full-time equivalent jobs andmakes a bigger contribution to UK GDP than sectors such asadvertising and car manufacturing. The report also concludesthat tourism has the potential to be one of the fastest growingsectors of the economy over the next decade, and thatheritage will be vital to that growth. The full report can befound on the news pages of the HLF website: www.hlf.org.uk

HERITAGE CRAFTS ASSOCIATION LAUNCHA new body, The Heritage Crafts Association, was formedrecently to protect, promote and record heritage craft skills asa fundamental part of our living heritage in their own right,not merely in terms of the objects they produce or theirconservation value to old buildings. At its launch, HCA Chair,Robin Wood, explained that heritage artifacts are usuallypreserved well for people to see in museums and galleries;contemporary crafts are looked after and promoted by theCrafts Council and the heritage building crafts are supportedby English Heritage and others. But the skills required tomake the craft items which go into the buildings, – furnituremaking, upholstery, picture framing, basket making, bowlturning, book binding and more – have no overallorganisation to support, promote and speak up for them.More information can be found at www.heritagecrafts.org.uk

JOURNAL NEWS

New Editorial Panel MembersJanet Berry, Editor of the Journal of the Institute ofConservation, is delighted to welcome two new membersonto the Journal’s Editorial Panel. Dinah Eastop PhD MA FIICACR is a freelance conservation consultant with a wealth ofexperience in textile conservation and in conservationeducation and research. Formerly a Senior Lecturer at theTextile Conservation Centre (until October 2009) Dinah is nowa Visiting Research Fellow, School of Humanities, University ofSouthampton. She is also an Honorary Lecturer at the Instituteof Archaeology, University College London and a member ofthe international advisory group for ICCROM’s CollectionsUnit. Sophie Rowe MSc ACR is an organic artefactsconservator, currently working in conjunction with MuseumConservation Services Ltd., Duxford. Sophie has worked for avariety of museums in the UK and in Denmark, and haspresented papers at conferences and published articles onorganics conservation, most recently the use ofcyclododecane in conservation.

The next deadline for the Journal is 31 August 2010 forarticles relating to book and paper conservation. If youare interested in submitting an article, please contact JanetBerry at [email protected]

LIBRARY NEWSA very busy couple of months here in the Chantry Library! Inmid April the library hosted the CPD (Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment) training workshop run by AccreditationManager Susan Bradshaw. This turned out to be a veryenjoyable day – plenty of discussion, activities andpresentations....and the weather was even warm enough forthe participants to have lunch in the courtyard gardenalongside the library. The following day we had a visit fromRegional Co-ordinators Lorna Calcutt and Fiona Macalister,and Carol Brown, Training Development Manager, with agroup of Icon interns who gave lively, and extremelyinteresting, presentations on the projects they are currentlyinvolved with. It was a great opportunity to find out how theprojects were progressing, and share ideas and experiences.

Book of the MonthAmongst the new ideas and suggestions coming out of therecent library survey was a request for a Book of the Monthpage on the library website, where details and a review of acurrent topical book on conservation issues could be postedeach month. This sounds like an excellent way to encouragedebate, providing a platform for online discussion and thesharing of ideas and different points of view. A sort of onlinereading club if you like! I have a few ideas for titles to get thisinitiative off the ground but one of the key factors will be formembers to put forward book titles (or journal articles) theywould like to see featured on the website. I plan to post thefirst book up on the website at the beginning of June, so ifanyone has any suggestions, please email me at:[email protected] or call 01865 251303

Recent books added to the collection include:The Mysterious Marbler by James Sumner (with an historicalintroduction, notes on the English marbling tradition, andthirteen original marbled samples), New Castle, Oak KnollBooks, 2009 ISBN: 978-1-58456-269-6

Editorial Panel members at a recent meeting. Clockwise from left:Dinah Eastop, Joanna Kosek, Jane Eagan, Vicki Humphrey,Sophie Rowe, Mike Corfield, Lara Artemis, Janet Berry (Editor),Sandra Smith. The four Panel Members absent from the photo areSpike Bucklow, Kate Colleran, Ruth Honeybone and Jake Kaner.


Conservation and Access, IIC (International Institute forConservation of Historic and Artistic Works), LondonCongress, 2008.The 22nd IIC Congress was held in London from 15th to 19thSeptember 2008. Abstracts: http://www.iiconservation.org/publications/congress/london_index.php

Textile Conservation: Advances in Practice edited by FrancesLennard and Patricia Ewer, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford,2010. ISBN: 13: 9780-75-066790-6

Photocopies of journal articlesA quick reminder that we supply photocopies of chaptersfrom books or journal articles and conference papers, whichare held in the library collection. Icon members are entitled toclaim ten free articles each year, so please quote yourmembership number with your requests.

For further details of new resources and a full listing ofall journal articles received over the past two months,check out the library blog at:http://chantrylibrary.wordpress.com/

Ros Buck (Librarian, Chantry Library)

CPD IS ALL ABOUT YOU!Continuing professional development (CPD) has differentmeanings at different times and it is something that youprobably undertake on a regular basis but you don’tnecessarily give it that tag. It is only when there is a triggermoment that CPD becomes a conscious reality, such as:

• for accredited members, receiving the CPD recall letterthrough the post from Icon,

• applying for a new job or contract and using yourprofessional experience to demonstrate that you are theright person for the job,

• learning something from an activity in the workplace, from acolleague, an event or reading an article and then writingsome notes in your CPD log.

Recording and planning your CPD can help you focus onwhere you personally want to take your career and how tomaintain the position you have already achieved. Itencompasses all aspects of learning and is not confined tocourses or attending conferences. Sometimes it may be asbeneficial to find time in your day to take up a form ofexercise as it is to discuss treatment options with colleagues.

A written record reminds you of what you have learned andachieved over a period of time, how you have contributed tothe profession and areas where you would like to improve. ACPD log can be used like a diary to jot down what you havelearned from that event or article etc and it doesn’t need totake a great deal of time. This focus on your achievements isuseful when it comes to applying for a new job or in yourpreparations for a formal appraisal. It can also highlight whereyou need to gain more experience or encourage you to findsome time for yourself away from the workplace. Not least,

completing a log or the more formal PACR review formprovides practice in effective communication and form filling,increasingly essential requirements for a professional intoday’s workplace.

An updated ‘CPD Guide’ is available from the Icon websitealong with an example of a completed CPD review form (goto Accreditation/CPD and click on continuing professionaldevelopment). Accredited conservators who have beenrecalled this year have been asked to use the CPD Reviewand Action Plan Form 2010, which is also on the website. Evenif you are not accredited the form provides a useful way torecord and monitor your CPD.

How CPD is monitored for ACRsACRs recalled for a CPD review send a completed reviewform to PACR administration. The review is read by two PACRaccredited CPD readers who do not know the reviewer andwho are not from the same specialism. Each reader completesa simple tick-box report sheet and may offer additional briefremarks which are returned to the reviewer.

At CF10 in Cardiff recently, Fiona Macalister ACR presentedher role as a CPD reader. She explained that for her CPD isabout being committed to continual learning and loggingand reflecting on learning and development. CPD readers arelooking for:

• Commitment to CPD.

• Self awareness and reflection.

• Considered approach to future development.

• Contribution to the profession; and

• that the questions on the review form have been answered.

The requirements of a reader are to be fair, non-judgemental,committed to the development of others and able to providestructured, useful feedback.

As well as these general points there are some more specificaspects that can help make a review successful. In particular,written reviews should avoid the use of technical language,jargon and acronyms which can be difficult for the readers,who are from a different specialism. Similarly, the use of theword ‘ongoing’ in the action plan (see Section 5 of the form),can be woolly; it is more useful to make the timing specific forthe goals identified in the plan.

Improving the review processEach year the CPD readers meet to discuss the review processfor that year and any agreed changes and improvements areadded to the CPD Guide. Importantly they want to ensurethat the process is working effectively and there is consistencyamongst the readers. They also look to see if anyimprovements can be made to help reviewers. One result ofthis reflection has been the request that all ACRs recalled thisyear use the standard Review and Action Plan Form referredto earlier. Other formats make it very difficult for readers toensure consistency.

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Completing the review formThe documents on the Icon website give you more detailedguidance on completing the form but here are a few pointersto consider:

• Section 1 – Make sure you describe your work in context,i.e. divorce the work context from a job description.

• Section 2b – Having put in a great deal of effort to describeyour activities and projects don’t forget to be specific aboutwhat it is you have learnt. Stating that you ‘have learnt a lot’,is not helpful for anyone. Time thinking about what newskills or understanding have been achieved is never wastedfor personal development.

• Section 3 – Remember that attending or contributing toIcon Group events/committees may well count as goodCPD.

• Section 4 – Readers do not have access to your past reviewsand so it is useful to refer to your previous action plan.

• Section 5 – Remember that the action plan is for you to citeyour personal goals and needs, perhaps acquiring a newskill, finding time to improve fitness, improving or practisingleadership skills by registering for a short course orvolunteering to organise group activity. Avoid confusingthese with job related goals (such as finishing a project) orlisting equipment required, neither of which are personalgoals.

Most importantly, remember that CPD is a way for you to takecharge of your personal and professional development, toreflect and plan throughout your professional career nomatter how that changes.Susan Bradshaw Accreditation Manager

CPD BURSARY REMINDERSDon’t forget the deadline ofJune 14 for your applicationto the Anna Plowden Trustfor help with the costs ofattending courses orconferences. Details of theawards were on page of 7/8of the last issue of Icon News or consult the Trust’s websitewww.annaplowdentrust.org.uk. If you miss this one, the nextdeadline is September 13.

The Clothworkers’ Foundationalso offer financial support toenable qualified conservatorsto attend conferences,seminars and events of benefitto their work and careers.

Applications are welcome forbursaries of up to £1,000towards travel, registration andfees, and reasonable accommodation and subsistence costs.

Applicant’s employers, or applicants themselves (if self-employed) must contribute at least 50% of the cost.

2009 saw bursaries awarded to conservators attending arange of conferences in the UK and abroad including:

• Conservation of wax objects, building conservation masterclass in concrete, and conservation methodology – all atWest Dean College, Chichester

• Stained glass painting techniques at Strawberry Hill inTwickenham

• North American Textile Conservation in Quebec, Canada

• Bleaching in paper conservation at the University of NaturalResources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria

• Low energy climate control in museums and archives at theNational Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen

• Getty symposium on painting conservation at the AmericanInstitute of Conservation in Los Angeles, USA

• Preservation of natural history collections in Leiden, theNetherlands

For further details including eligibility criteria and guidance oncompleting the application, and to download the applicationform, visit the Foundation’s website atwww.clothworkers.co.uk.

CPD COURSES AT WEST DEANSome interesting CPD courses are coming up at West Deanover the next six months. They include the conservation ofplastics under course leader Thea van Oosten and preventiveconservation under the leadership of Linda Bullock and HelenLloyd. Both these courses take place from 28 June to 1 July. Inthe autumn (11–14 October) Jane Fawcett will be leading acourse on the care and conservation of historic floors.

These are all fully inclusive residential courses. For moreinformation about them and other courses in the CPDProgramme, please contact the CPD Coordinator at WestDean College on phone 01243 818219 or email:[email protected]

Plans are also in hand to run the Conservation MethodologyCourse again in December. This course was first run lastNovember as part of West Dean’s Professional Conservatorsin Practice series and was reviewed in January’s Icon News (no26, p28). Look out for more information to follow.

The deadline of 21 May is looming for thesubmission of applications for the second

Clothworkers Conservation Fellowship. ThisResearch Fellowship is worth up to £80,000 over

two years. Details can be found onwww.clothworkers.co.uk

ICON NEWS • JANUARY 2010 • 9

AN UNSUSTAINABLE FUTURE?

Conservation education and training in the UKThe authors, as educators in the higher education sector, setout to debate one of the themes of the recent Iconconference: a sustainable future for UK conservation. Theirstarting point was the recent closure of conservation courses,seen as a sign of a serious and urgent problem, thatconservation education in the UK is unsustainable. Althoughsome courses have reopened and other new courses started –there is news of exciting developments at Glasgow Universityelsewhere in this issue – university funding models can leaveconservation programmes in a vulnerable position. The effectsof closure can be far-reaching; specialist textile conservationtraining in this country virtually ended with the closure of theTCC and the RCA/V&A programmes, and conservationresearch is also affected. The economies of higher educationdo not favour conservation programmes, but the closure ofthe RCA/V&A course perhaps demonstrates a deeper lack ofcommitment to masters’ level education within the sector.

There are other threats to conservation education. Museumwork is becoming more contract-driven with the danger thattreatment skills become underused and undervalued. Majortreatments are being undertaken in the private sectoralthough private conservators are not paid to train. Allmuseums will be affected by the forthcoming spending cuts.Will conservation posts and training be affecteddisproportionately? The focus on five years’ conservationeducation in mainland Europe can affect the ability of UKtrained conservators to work abroad. Finally, we still have tomake the case for conservation and hence for conservationeducation. There is a very real risk that this adds up to anunsustainable future, for conservation training, for theconservation profession and, it could be argued, for themuseum sector. Museums and historic houses cannot makefull use of their collections without trained conservation staff.

Where will our future workforce come from if UK programmesclose? Many conservators will come from abroad and this isenriching, but a two-way exchange is needed, not completedependency on conservators trained overseas. Should Iconre-engage with mainland Europe to ensure that UK trainedconservators can work there? The closures are also leading togreater emphasis on in-house training, tailored to individualsituations, although the courses give students a wider viewand a recognised and transferable qualification. In-housetraining is not a cheap option –how will it be funded? The HLFfunded internships are excellent, but they follow on from orlead into other periods of training.

We need a range of high-quality entry routes including MAlevel training, particularly for conservation departments whichwill include conservators at different levels alongsidetechnicians, interns and volunteers. Pye and Sully’s excellentpaper (The Conservator 2007)* demonstrates the range ofskills needed by conservators today. There is more need thanever for graduates who can research and communicate

evidence from objects, as well as conserve them. We need tomake conservation effective as the agent for making historiesand for social engagement. Our ability to influence the sectordepends on people having the knowledge and skills, and thestatus, to sit at the high table.

Heritage conservation and the provision of high qualityconservation education in the UK are inextricably linked. Wehave come a long way in the last thirty to forty years but theprofession can only be maintained and developed if there is acritical mass of conservators trained at an appropriate level.What can we do? Continue to support Icon, which hassuccessfully raised funding for internships, for example. TheNational Strategy for Education and Skills should encouragedebate and active engagement by all stakeholders. Join thenew Icon Group for Conservation Education and Skills andsupport the dialogue between the courses and theemployers. Support the courses by building up sustainablerelationships, giving lectures and offering placements andpost-training internships. And finally, we can continueactivities to engage both the public and our museumcolleagues in conservation – people will only supportconservation if they know what it involves.

Frances Lennard, Alison Richmond, Mary M Brooks andDinah Eastop

LEVANTINE FOUNDATION NEWSThe UK based charity, TheLevantine Foundation, currentlyinvolved in preserving the libraryat Deir al Surian, has announcedthat it is expanding its activitiesin Egypt into the training oflocal museum personnel inconservation. Driven by theshortage in Egypt of skilledconservators to careappropriately for Egypt’s vastheritage, especially of paperbased artefacts, the Foundation has set up an internationalboard of experts to advise on the content of training led byElizabeth Sobczynski, Chief Executive of the Foundation. Theboard draws on expertise from Egypt, Europe and the USAwith Dr Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities,Egypt acting as honorary Chair.

Following a pilot course at the Coptic Museum in Cairo inMarch 2009 TLF was successful in gaining grant funding fromthe Sawiris Foundation for Social Development through AlAhram Beverages to deliver two intensive training courses inApril and October 2010.The courses are being organised inpartnership with Leiden University in the Netherlands, TheSupreme Council of Antiquities and The National Library &Archives in Egypt.

The programme will provide a unique educational opportunityto communicate an understanding of conservation issues and

* Available from the Chantry library

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preservation techniques. It will target conservators, curators,librarians, museologists, monks and nuns caring for monasticcollections and unemployed graduates. The primary goal is toassist with the preservation of Egyptian cultural heritagecontained in the leading public and private collections.Secondly, it is to address pressing social development needsin the region by increasing local capacity in fields associatedwith conservation and museology programmes.

Training of local museum conservators will cover preventativeand interventive conservation theory and practice. It willdevelop a high level of manual skills, together with sensitivityto and understanding of the techniques being used, as well asa respect for the disciplines they require.

Deir al Surian: Conservation CampaignThe 6th Century monastery of the Syrians houses an importantcollection which includes Syriac MS (the earliest dating from400 AD) as well as MS in Coptic, Arabic and Ethiopic. TheLevantine Foundation has been working to preserve thiscollection (parts of which are in the British Library) since 2002.

An international team of conservators led by MarzenaSzczerkowska, senior book conservator, Verso Conservationand Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Gniezno, Poland willonce again be at the monastery this spring working on theconservation and refurbishment of the collection. In addition,there will be two MA students from the Camberwell Collegeof Arts and West Dean who are going to undertakeconservation of selected manuscripts as part of theirpostgraduate project.

Conservators interested in participating in futureconservation campaigns with TLF should send their CV toElizabeth Sobczynski by 31 July, email:[email protected] or write to The LevantineFoundation, 106 St George’s Square, London SW1V 3QY

BL INTERNSHIP NEWSFor the past twelve months, the British Library ConservationDepartment has hosted three interns, Sarah Bashir, ArthurGreen and Florence Malo. The completion of theseinternships marks the third year of the British Libraryprogramme of funded internships in Book Conservation. TheBritish Library recognises that there is a specific need for thedevelopment of conservation graduates in conservation, andso supports interns by providing opportunities to develop

practical skills. These particular internships were fundedthrough the Radcliffe Trust, Ernest Cook Trust and theHeritage Lottery Fund.

During their time at the library, each of the interns wassupervised by a British Library conservator. The interns workedon a variety of projects throughout their internships includinga scrapbook collection of 19th century newspaper clippingscompiled by a Victorian bookbinder; a 17th century volume ofmaps lined on silk and a Seder Haggadah.

As well as working on these projects, the interns have beenable to participate in other learning opportunities including aworkshop on the treatment of Iron Gall Ink and a conferenceon Advances in Paper Conservation Research.

The interns worked hard throughout their year and the BritishLibrary wishes them well in their new careers.

A NEW PRODUCTDenise Troughton from Conservation By Design drawsattention to a new material in the conservation field:

In recent years, the conservation profession has benefitedfrom advances in technology, including solutions to efficientlydigitise entire collections or software to simplify collectionmanagement. The benefits are easy to see – archives andcollections all over the world are now accessible at the click ofa mouse and time spent on painstaking research has beenslashed.

With all these exciting digital developments, you’d beforgiven for thinking that the most fundamental responsibility– protecting and preserving the physical objects – has beenoverlooked somewhat when it comes to research anddevelopment. However, innovations such as Intercept®

technology demonstrate that technical advances are stillhappening when it comes to new, proactive hardware to helpconserve artefacts in our tactile world.

The principal technology was developed and patented byLucent Technologies and Bell Laboratories (USA) and hasbeen used successfully since 1984 as a solution to issueswhich the electronics industry was experiencing with staticand corrosion damage. Using semi-conductor technology, thetechnique transforms plastic into a protective, reactive barrieragainst corrosive gases, fungi and bacteria.

Corrosion Intercept consists of highly reactive copper particleswhich are chemically bonded into the polymer matrix of theproduct to form a preferential corrosion site that reacts andneutralises all corrosive gases that pass through or come intocontact with the film. Lab tests show that hydrogen sulphidetakes ten years to penetrate 12 micron of a 75 micron thickIntercept® film. The DuPont Chlorine Test is even moreimpressive, taking the equivalent of thirty five years topenetrate a 50 micron thick Intercept® film compared withseven days to penetrate a normal polyethylene film of thesame thickness.

Conservation Field Campaign at Deir-al –Surian Spring 2009


Early adopters of Intercept® were a range of aerospace,electronics and military hardware companies, including clientsas high profile and demanding as NASA. However, it quicklybecame apparent that this revolutionary technology hadapplications beyond the obvious hi-tech industries. For manyyears, the Royal Mint had problems preventing the silveringots they use to produce medallions and commemorativecoins from tarnishing, necessitating costly cleaning of theingots prior to the coining process. By storing the silver inIntercept® bags, the Mint was able to eliminate the cleaningstage and still maintain a high quality finished product.

Similarly, the Guggenheim Museum of Art had problemsprotecting bronze and copper sculptures held in storage. Theproblem was twofold: atmospheric corrosion, combined withchemical reactions between differing metals coming intocontact. They found that wrapping their sculptures inIntercept® film was an effective method of protecting their artworks from the ravages of corrosion.

From a conservator’s perspective Intercept® offers a numberof benefits. A wide range of artefacts – including CDs,photographs, film, textiles, paintings, sculptures, books andother works of art on paper – can be simply wrapped andtaped to ensure long term protection lasting up to fifteenyears.

The inert nature of the product means that no harmful gassesare emitted, it is unaffected by moisture, humidity, ortemperature and has a built-in saturation indicator – when thecopper colour turns black it is time to change the package.This easy-to-use indicator provides a significant step forwardfrom molecular sieves or activated charcoal, neither of whichself-indicate and therefore offer no way of knowing whenprotection has expired.

A diverse selection of products is now available, includingpolyethylene film on rolls, film and paper laminate, bags andeven CD inserts. In addition, working in partnership withconservators, we can help to develop bespoke, high qualityapplications of the product to support the painstaking workthey undertake.

In my opinion, the advantages of this material are clear – itoffers excellent protection. Conservators benefit from asolution which is quick and safe to deploy and is fullybiodegradable and recyclable. Good technology always helpsto make the core task at hand easier. With this in mind, I’mconfident Intercept® is a step forward for the conservationprofession which promises to achieve exactly that.

CORRECTIONIn the last issue of Icon News (page 16), the name of GatesSofer was spelled incorrectly. Sincere apologies to her for thiserror and no less sincere congratulations to her again onachieving her accreditation.

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This will include the imminent move to a temporaryConservation facility, while new state of the art workshops arebeing planned and constructed within the New BodleianLibrary building. Having first trained as a conservator in hernative Barcelona, Virginia came to the UK to specialize in paperconservation at Northumbria University. She worked for theBritish Library’s International Dunhuang Project before receivinga Fulbright Scholarship to carry out conservation research atThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She also workedfor other institutions and private studios in the United Statesand Europe, including The Hispanic Society of America, NewYork, and The National Museum of Art of Catalonia, Barcelona.Virginia returned to the UK in 2005 to work as Head of PaperConservation at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwichbefore joining the Bodleian Libraries in January 2010.

David HowellHead of Conservation and Collection CareOxford University Library Service

JOLLY GOOD FELLOWSCongratulations are also due to Icon members SarahStaniforth and May Cassar on their election as Fellows of theSociety of Antiquaries. Sarah Staniforth is Historic PropertiesDirector at the National Trust and before that was the Trust’sHead Conservator. May Cassar is Professor of SustainableHeritage at University College London.

QEST AWARDSThe Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust continues its generoussupport for conservation with two further awards to Iconmembers Toby Gough and Makiko Tsunoda. Toby worked forHistoric Royal Palaces in London before focussing on paperand books and he has spent the past three years at theNational Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh working as aconservation technician designing appropriate mountingsystems for artworks on paper and making handmade boxes

people2010 PLOWDEN MEDAL WINNERCongratulations to David Watkinson,who has been awarded the RoyalWarrant Holder Association’s 2010Plowden Medal in recognition of hissignificant and innovative work inarchaeological conservation throughhis teaching, research and science-based work.

He has worked unstintingly to developand deliver conservation training andeducation at Cardiff University for overthirty years. His research work oncontrolling corrosion in archaeological and historical ironworkis highly regarded and has been widely published, gaininghim international recognition. This has culminated in hisgroundbreaking work on S.S. Great Britain and hiscontribution towards controlling the environment surroundingthe ship and reducing its corrosive effects.

David Watkinson was elected a Fellow of the InternationalInstitute for Conservation at the age of 29 and has had a life-long interest and commitment to conservation. He attachesgreat importance to the sharing of knowledge and research,which is demonstrated by his active participation inconferences and research projects and through serving onmany boards and committees for the benefit of the greaterconservation community.

He has written more than fifty publications exploring heritageconservation and has been involved in training several hundredconservators at Cardiff University who now occupy posts acrossthe globe from Australia through Japan and Korea, to Greeceand Scandinavia, through America and Canada. Many Cardiffgraduates occupy important positions and have a significantinfluence on preservation of world heritage.

His many media appearances have enabled him to bring theimportance of conservation to a wider audience through radioand television news slots commenting on events such as theburning of the Cutty Sark in 2007; in-depth reviews that haveexplored details of the Llandeilo wall paintings and SS GreatBritain and popular programmes such as ‘Flog It’.

The medal was inaugurated in 1999 in memory of the lateHon. Anna Plowden CBE, the leading conservator who wasVice-President of the Association at the time of her death in1997. It will be presented to David by The Duchess ofNorthumberland at the Royal Warrant Holders AssociationLunch in London on June 1 2010.

BODLEIAN APPOINTMENTI am delighted to announce that Virginia M. Lladó-Buisán hasbeen appointed Head of Book and Paper Conservation at theBodleian Libraries in Oxford. She will be managing the team offifteen conservators and technicians, as well as leading themthrough a period of exciting change within Bodleian Libraries.

Toby Gough


to store manuscripts, albums and artists’ sketchbooks. He wins£6,500 to undertake an intensive year’s apprenticeship withthe renowned Swedish master bookbinder, Per-AndersHübner.

Makiko Tsunoda has been working as an assistantconservation technician at Oxford University’s BodleianLibrary, most recently helping with the decant as the Libraryprepares to undergo major renovation. Makiko will use her£10,000 QEST scholarship to obtain a formal postgraduatetraining and degree in book and paper conservation atCamberwell College of Arts.

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) was endowedby the Royal Warrant Holders Association to advanceeducation in modern and traditional crafts and trades in theUK. Scholarships of up to £15,000 are open to men andwomen of all ages and are awarded twice a year. Applicationforms for QEST Scholarships can be downloaded from theQEST website: www.qest.org.uk. The closing date for summer2010 Scholarships is 28 May 2010.

THE CLARE HAMPSON SCHOLARSHIPAWARDThe 2010 Clare Hampson Scholarship was awarded toFrederick Bearman ACR to help him complete the firstcomprehensive study of the history of stationery bindings: TheLaced Overband: A History of Stationery Bindings from1300–1800. Caroline Checkley-Scott, Chair of the Book andPaper Group, announced the successful candidate at theGroups’ session at Icon’s CF10 Conservation in Focusconference in Cardiff.

Icon News met Fred at the UCL Library Services where he isPreservation Librarian.

What does winning this award mean to you?I am really delighted to receive this award. The history ofstationery bindings is a fascinating subject that I’ve studied formany years. The award will enable me to complete theresearch – there’s still a number of scholarly gaps to fill – andthus to have it ready for publication. The grant is also anhonour, particularly because I knew Clare well and have fondmemories of our many meetings when I was working atColumbia University in New York during the early 1990s. Weused to meet at the annual AIC conference where theInstitute of Paper Conservation had a stand: I always lookedforward to Clare’s welcoming smile. For me, seeing Clare waslike a lovely bit of dear old Blighty, and of course we would

Makiko Tsunoda.

have a drink or two at the bar. After returning to the UK in1998, as an IPC committee member I had the added fun ofworking closely with Clare for a number of years. She was fullof light and laughter, with a wonderful gift of always turningthe biggest hurdles into something manageable. Then,shortly after her tragic death, I was given the rather specialcharge of organising the making of the memorial binding forher children. So, you see, gaining this award is quite poignanttoo.

Tell us about your projectAlthough several scholars have written about stationerybindings with laced overbands, none have attempted todetermine where they come from and why. My work hasfocused on tracing the origins of these extraordinary bindingsfrom late medieval Tuscany to the invention of the English‘Spring Back’ stationery bookbinding in 1799. I intend to showhow this Italian binding style spread throughout Europe withthe rise of mercantile banking based on late medieval Italianbanking practice. Also I hope to establish that stationerybindings with laced overbands were of Italian origin and thatthey were copied by bookbinders across Europe.

How will the award money help you?It will allow me to complete my research in various archives onthe Continent, including those in Florence, Montpellier, Paris,Bruges, Gdansk and Tallinn. This is research that I would nothave been able to fund myself. I have already done someinvestigations in the archives of Lucca, Pisa and Prato, whichthe Bibliographical Society kindly funded. However, as thestyle of binding with laced overbands spread North of theAlps into France, Germany, and England many northernEuropean archives hold important material that, until now, Ihave not been able to study.

What is the time scale for the study?I hope to complete my research by the end of 2010 and finishthe text by the end of 2011.

What are your thoughts about disseminating your research?I know that the aim of the Clare Hampson Scholarship is toenable individuals to complete an article to peer-reviewedpublication standard. This is what I plan to achieve. Once allthe research is finished, I aim to offer the work to theBibliographic Society or Ashgate for publication. Ashgatepublished Jan Szirmai’s fine work on the history ofbookbinding: The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding*,and I am sure that the Bibliographical Society, if theyaccepted my manuscript, would be an equally good scholarlypublisher.

Frederick Bearman in Venice

* Available from the Chantry Library

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Heritage lottery funded training bursaries programme 2006–2012

Conservation internships 2010 year 5Educational stipend of £15,250 p.a.

Icon is offering 12 new work-based internships of 12 months’ duration as part of its extended HLF-fundedconservation training bursaries scheme for September 2010. To date, 39 individuals have successfully gone onfrom Icon Internships to employment or further training in the field.13 other interns are currently in placements in Year 4. Icon is delighted that HLF have granted additional supportfor this vital programme.

Icon is also pleased to partner major employers and funders in providing new Icon Internships based on theframework developed over the 4 years of the HLF scheme.

Icon’s programme of internships helps broaden access to careers in conservation and increase the UK’s fund ofconservation skills. Some placements (*) are open to new entrants to conservation from arts, crafts, science orheritage backgrounds. Others are specifically for those who have recently graduated from a conservation course.

Leather Conservation Centre, Northampton – Conservation of Leather Ref 10/01

Plowden & Smith, London – Conservation of Decorative Surfaces Ref 10/02

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge – Preventive Conservation (Coins & Medals) Ref 10/03

V&A, London – Conservation of Furniture Ref 10/04

National Museums Liverpool – Objects Conservation & Public Engagement Ref 10/05

The British Museum, London – Conservation of Eastern Pictorial Art Ref 10/06

Tetley workshop, Devon – Conservation of Carpets Ref 10/07*

Barley Studio, York – Conservation of Stained Glass Ref 10/08*

Canterbury Cathedral workshops – Conservation of Stone Ref 10/09*

Lancashire Conservation Studios, Preston – Natural History Ref 10/10*

The British Museum, London – Facsimiles Ref 10/11*

University of Ulster, Derry – Conservation of Books and Archives Ref 10/12*

Information on all placements and details of eligibility can be found on the Icon website atwww.icon.org.uk. Interviews for short-listed applicants will be held in July. All internships will start in mid-September 2010.

Apply using the form available on the website. www.icon.org.ukForms may also be obtained by e-mailing [email protected] request that – wherever possible – you use electronic format for enquiries and applications.

Icon, the Glasite Meeting House, 33 Barony Street, Edinburgh EH3 6NX

Closing date for applications 7th June 2010


Icon - Museum of LondonInternship in Collection CareFunded by The Clothworkers Foundation2010–2011 12 months

Educational Stipend of £15,250 paA career development opportunity for a conservationgraduate to work on a range of collection care andpreventive conservation initiatives at Museum ofLondon Docklands and its storage facility at MortimerWheeler House. The Intern will be directly involved inthe Museum’s day-to-day integrated pest andenvironmental management programme and in arange of projects including the management ofrecorded media collections, installation of displays andemergency planning processes. There will beopportunities for input into public outreachprogrammes as well as a short research project.

Museum of London – Collections Care (Ref EFP10/02)

Icon – Historic Royal PalacesTextile Conservation InternshipFunded by The Clothworkers Foundation

2010–2011/12 12 or 24 monthsEducational Stipend of £15,636Plus training allowancesHistoric Royal Palaces, in partnership with Icon and withgenerous support from the Clothworkers Foundation,offers a 12 or 24 month internship aimed at recenttextile conservation graduates, based at Hampton CourtPalace. The Internship aims to give invaluableexperience in practical and preventive conservation aswell as opportunities to develop business andcommunication skills. Managed by Icon, this internshipbenefits from mentoring and support networksdeveloped in the wider HLF-supported scheme.Progress towards accreditation is a key objective for theindividual appointed.

Historic Royal Palaces –Conservation of Textiles (Ref EFP10/01)

Icon – North Yorkshire CountyRecord Office - Internship inArchives ConservationFunded by local Trusts2010–2012 24 months

Educational Stipend of £15,250 paThis two-year placement for a paper conservationgraduate is hosted by the County Record Office inNorthallerton with the generous support of theThomas William Varley Roe Trust Fund and the WhitbyLiterary and Philosophical Society. The intern will workon a newly-acquired and discrete collection, theWhitby merchant seamen’s hospital muster rolls. Workwill progress through initial set-up, examination,documentation and conservation decision-making tocomplex remedial treatment.

North Yorkshire County Record Office –Conservation of Archives (Ref EFP10/04 )

Icon – Guildhall Art GalleryInternship in Conservation ofFramesFunded by The Clothworkers Foundation

2010–2011 6 monthsEducational Stipend of £15,250 pa pro-rataThe City’s permanent collection of works of artcomprises over 4000 oil paintings, sculptures and workson paper. This internship offers a chance to learn andgain invaluable experience working within a major artinstitution. The Intern will contribute to the day-to-daywork of a Conservation section caring for paintings andframes, and will carry out examination, documentationand treatment of frames required for exhibition or loan.The placement is aimed at both conservation graduatesand those with equivalent experience in the field.

Guildhall Art Gallery – Conservation of Frames(Ref EFP10/03)

In the many islands of Indonesia, there exists a rich writtentradition of royal, legal, religious and literary texts. Since theearly kingdoms of Srivijaya (eighth to thirteenth century) andMajapahit (fourteenth to fifteenth century), Hindu andBuddhist scripts were inscribed on palm leaves, stones,copper and iron plates and textiles. In the 1400s, Islam spreadto these islands through traders from Middle East and India.Islamic teachings were disseminated through Arabic and jawiscripts throughout the Malay archipelago (the presentcountries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei andPhilippines in South East Asia).

Unfortunately, most of the treasures of this literary heritagedid not survive over the years due to age, natural disasters oracts of war. Being in the warm and humid tropicalenvironment of South East Asia and because of the lack ofpreservation awareness, many of these cultural heritagetreasures deteriorate rapidly and are destroyed. Anopportunity to save some of the written heritage of the RiauIslands arose with the British Library’s Endangered Archivesprogramme, which is supported by the Arcadia organization.The Riau Archipelago in the Malay Archipelago spreads overa vast geographic area between the islands of Sumatra,Singapore and Borneo. During the nineteenth century, theseislands were part of Netherlands East Indies and wereconsidered the core area of Malay language and culture. Itwas also the Malay kingdom capital of the Johore Riau empireafter the Portuguese conquered the trading empire ofMalacca in Peninsula Malaysia in 1511.

This Endangered Manuscripts project aims to preserve thecontent of rare items by making digital images and archiving

them. These manuscripts are found in local museums,religious centres, cultural centres and the homes of privateowners in these islands. Images of the manuscripts will bedeposited in the local and international libraries where accessis freely available for research and reference. The work wasundertaken by a team consisting of Dr.Jan van der Putten,Associate Professor of the Department of Malay Studies at theNational University of Singapore, Mr. Aswandi Syahri, anIndonesian historian, and Mr. Alex Teoh, a conservationconsultant.

THE MANUSCRIPTS COLLECTIONSCollections of manuscripts in the Riau islands mainly compriseof hand-written documents on religion and philosophy, magicand divination, literature, poetry, history and legal treatises.Most of these manuscripts were written on European paperimported as desired trading items since the arrival ofEuropean traders and colonist in the 1500s. This can be seenfrom the various watermarks and countermarks of themanuscripts which includes ‘NEDERLANDS INDIE, NANYANGEXTRA STRONG MADE IN ENGLAND, ER & Co Made inAustria’ and others. There were also some interestingwatermarks in local scripts such as Malay, Jawi and Chinese,e.g. ‘KARADJAAN LINGGA RIOUW, GUTHRIE & CO with jawiand chinese text’, indicating paper that was specially orderedfrom Europe.

Another form of traditional writing medium is the Indonesianmade bark wood paper called daluang. It is made from theinner bark of the Seah tree (Broussonetia papyrifera) through

Collection Care forEndangered Manuscriptsin Indonesia

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Alex Teoh on saving endangered manuscripts from the islands of the RiauArchipelago with the help of the British Library’s Endangered Archivesprogramme

Digital archiving

Training workshop


a process of stripping, pounding, flatting, washing, drying andcutting to desired dimensions. The daluang provides thickand strong paper used in many religious manuscripts andbooks. There is also a history of leather book binding inIndonesia since the eighteen century. Using locally tannedleather, manuscripts and books were bound at various culturaland religious centres in the island of Java and Sumatra. It isdecorated with blind stamping and tooling and in some caseswith gilding. This tradition of bookbinding in the regionseems to be of Middle Eastern origin.

The manuscripts and books are often in poor condition dueto age and poor storage and handling. Individual manuscriptpages are usually torn, water stained and with yellow-stainingcellotape repairs. Often papers are held together with ironpaperclips or staples which corrode and stain. Anotherfrequent phenomenon is corrosion from iron gall ink. Bookssuffer from loose sewing, mould and pest infestation. Leatherbooks are worn and powdery and many suffer from tight,deformed structure. The objects are also inappropriatelystored as they are usually squeezed in tight PVC plastic bagsand kept in some tight drawer corners or exposed to sunlight.

THE APPROACHThe team focused on identifying relevant collections ofmanuscripts on a few islands in the Riau archipelago. Effortsto get the cooperation and agreement to photograph theseprivate collections were a major challenge and needed much

convincing. Appeals were made to the benevolence ofmanuscript collectors and owners to share their collection forstudies in the Malay intellectual world and for the good offuture generations. The offer of complimentary onsite basicconservation advice and collection care tips for theircollection was a motivating and encouraging factor. This waswell received and the team digitized more than three hundredmanuscripts over a period of fourteen months.

Statistics and studies on teaching conservation in developingcountries over the past years have shown limited results. Thisis due to many factors like a lack of funds for conservation,limited laboratory facilities, unavailability of conservationsupplies, etc. Suggestions to overcome this limitation includemass education, adapting teaching to local conditions andcreating cheap and practical techniques to save the heritageobjects. This is the approach the team took in this project.

A seminar entitled ‘Appreciation and Conservation of RiauManuscripts’ was held in the regional capital of thearchipelago. This was well-attended with participants fromlocal museums, libraries, government representatives andprivate collectors. Topics presented included the history ofpaper, paper making, causes of deterioration, the science inconservation and the importance of collection care in thelocal language and in layman’s terms.

During visits and photo-archiving sessions at a collector’svenue, on-site advice on conservation and collection care wasprovided. Special emphasis was placed on promotingpreventive conservation like the use of locally available herbsas pest deterrence, storage in clean and well ventilated areas,proper handling procedures and so on. Some in-situconservation work was carried out as deemed necessary andpractical for the collection which often included surface

On-site advice on basic conservation

Re-housing of books

Conservation in-situ

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cleaning, removal of stains caused by sellotape, removingrusty metal staples, treating mould and pest infestation andrehousing manuscripts into archival sleeves. For religious andcultural centres, UV filters were also installed on display casesand glass book cabinets.

With this program, the team achieved the objectives ofarchiving and protecting these endangered manuscripts andthe opportunity to educate the collectors on basicconservation practices and the importance of collection care.

The author trained at Camberwell College of Arts, Universityof Arts, London, completing his post graduate diploma inconservation in June 2007. Since returning to Asia, he has setup an independent conservation practice, providingconservation and restoration of paper and books services tomuseums, archives and private collectors in Singapore,Malaysia and Brunei. He can be contacted [email protected]

Bibliography

W. Mourey, Problems of Teaching Conservation in Developing CountriesMeeting of the ICOM Committee for Conservation Working Group on Trainingin Conservation and Restoration. 6–10 October 1996, British Museum

M. Plomp, Traditional Bookbindings from Indonesia. Materials and DecorationsBijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde, Manuscripts of Indonesia 143(1993), no.3, Leiden, 571–592

Russell Jones, European and Asian Papers in Malay Manuscripts : A ProvisionalAssessment. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Manuscripts ofIndonesia 149 (1993), no.3, Leiden, 474–502.

ConditionLeather cover is worn with cracks and some loss around corners, folds and spine area

Text block is detached from covers and sewing is loose

Paper pages (European paper) are soiled, water stained, partially torn and bumped around the edges

Presence of pest infestation marks.

End papers are yellowish, weak and torn

TreatmentPaper is surface-cleaned and tears repaired

Text block is re-sewn to original sewing structure

Leather covers and envelope flap is repaired with toned Japanese tissue

Leather covers are cleaned and consolidated with Klucel G

CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF A ISLAMIC PRAYER BOOK

UV filter installation

The team in Bintan island, Indonesia


There is a growing obligation on conservation departmentswithin the UK to become accessible to the public, as part of amore widespread government strategy to give culturalinstitutions an outreach role within communities. In response,many conservation institutions have started publicprogrammes, and have received government funding to doso. So far, conservation institutions have primarily focused ongathering data regarding visitor numbers and satisfactionsurveys for their public programmes to ensure that theobligations of funding are met for continuing grant support.However, as yet there is no comprehensive data or monitoringof feedback in relation to either conservators’ opinions or thegeneral impact of public events on the conservator’s workduties. There is also no existing comprehensive data currentlyavailable comparing the success of different public events –either from the point of view of visitors or of conservators. Ithink that it is important to gauge the conservator’s opinionon public activities – conservators themselves are in theunique position to assess accurately which activities they feelbest educate the public about the true nature of conservation,and how realistic these activities are for fitting into their dailyworking lives. For my MA dissertation I concentrated ondistinguishing the conservator’s perspective on their newpublic role, analysing existing public access programmes andseeking to identify the most successful model for outreachwithin the parameters of a conservator’s role and the public’slearning. I did this through a worldwide survey, and wanted toshare some of the results.

An ‘interactive’ spectrum was devised for the survey, toillustrate a scale of public activities engaging physically with aconservator and cultural heritage objects. The purpose of thespectrum was to investigate, within a range of publicactivities, where the ideal balance lies between successfullyeducating the public about conservation and allowing theconservator to work safely and efficiently. My assumption wasthat the most interactive activity (i.e. volunteer work) would bethe most inconvenient to the working conservator (due totime taken from normal job duties), but the most engaging forthe public; and that the least interactive activity (i.e. websitesand e-learning) is the most convenient to the conservator butleast educational for the public (because of a lack of directengagement).

A survey for conservators worldwide was conducted using anonline facility. This was to gauge opinions on the specificpublic access activities that conservators’ respective

institutions run, drawing on their experiences. Theconservators rated the public activities within the spectrum asa successful way to educate the public and rated the activities’practical function alongside of their main work duties. Thecompleted surveys were gathered mainly from the UnitedStates, Canada, the UK, Australasia and Europe through linkson the larger conservation organisation websites. There wereninety responses.

The survey answers were detailed and extensive in responseto the open questions, indicating an interest in the subjectmatter and the importance of these issues to conservators.96% of the conservators feel it is part of their job role tomake conservation accessible to the public and 100%think the public need to know more about theprofession. Over half of the conservators involved inpublic outreach are voluntarily taking part. This is a verypositive response, and one that I did not predict.Conservators do seem willing to share their knowledge andexplain their duties, despite the time and effort this takes. Thereasons why conservators think it is important for the public tounderstand more about conservation were collected, the mainone being:

• To emphasise the importance of conservation and toimprove the public perception of the profession.

This includes greater awareness among museum colleaguesas well as the general public.

Other benefits for public access given are:

• for funding

• to remove any misconceptions about conservationtreatments and dissuade unethical practice

• for public identity and greater awareness of community andculture

On average conservators spend 5–11 hours per monthon public outreach. Presently, seminars and lectures arethe most common way of communicating with the public.

When asked about the interactive spectrum, the surveyrespondents indicated that the most popular activities interms of both enthusiasm of conservators and education ofthe public are towards the least interactive end, but not at theextreme. Activities such as exhibitions, lectures/seminarsand tours are accepted as the best choices, withexhibitions being the most popular. Conservators also feltthat a stronger web presence than exists presently would be

Conservators’Opinions on GoingPublicSophie Sarkodie ACR, paper conservator at the British Library, setsout some findings about conservator engagement with the public

educational to the public. 86% of respondents and theirinstitutions take part in a range of public activities, ratherthan just one. This emphasises the importance of acombination of events and activities to educate the publicsuccessfully about conservation, especially when an engagingactivity (i.e. tour/consultation) where questions are allowed ispaired with a more theoretical resource (i.eexhibition/website). Therefore the overall recommendationfrom the survey would be to combine an activity which has aninteractive element allowing conversation with one thatrequires less time and concentrates on presenting accurateinformation to the public.

The most interactive activities with the public such asvolunteer work and observation rooms were not as popularwith conservators. It was an unexpected result to find thatoverseeing volunteer work is presently such a widespreadactivity in conservation institutions. It is the second most usedtool of public engagement, alongside of tours. This does notmean, however, that the activity is approved of by theprofession – conservators in the survey are least enthusiasticto oversee volunteer work, and also think that this is themost ineffective way of educating. There were negativecomments regarding security of the collections in relation tovolunteer work and supervision. Another reason for not usingvolunteers, is the undermining of the profession. Oneconservator states ‘this gives wrong signals to theadministration: “if you have volunteers, why should we hireconservators?”‘ The general feeling seems to be that weshould be emphasising the complexity and cross-disciplinarynature of conservation, rather than seeming to work againstthe profession by informal training of the public.

Observation rooms also incited some negative comments,most saying that unless there is other written information and

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explanation present, these prove difficult for the public to seework being carried out and to understand what is happening.

Alternative public activities that have been suggested byconservators already instigating them are:

• A ‘preservation caravan’ touring the country, givingconservation/preservation advice

• Timed demonstrations within the conservation environment

• Presence at trade fairs and events by setting up aninformation stand

• Adding conservation elements to standard museum andgallery exhibitions

• Careers advice service

• Teaching at local colleges etc.

When asked what overall positive and negative experienceconservators found from public outreach, two overwhelminglypositive aspects are:

• The increased understanding and support of conservationthat results from these activities

• The public’s enjoyment of an interactive experience

There were also positive comments within the survey aboutconservators learning from the public activities, showing thatrespect for the public and two-way learning can be rewarding.

The largest criticism was:

• The time and disruption of activities within the working day

There were many comments alongside this which indicatedthat even though more interactive activities such as tours,open days and lectures do take more time, it is important toinclude these as it is the most effective way to communicatethe complexities of conservation.


Working in front of the public ‘ticks the boxes’ for theNational Trust and is part of their Conservation in Actionprogramme. I like to do it as it adds interest to the visit forsome people. It provides an opportunity to educate thepublic about conservation and to explain why touching sometypes of object in an historic property can cause damage.Sometimes it works, but at other times it does not. Whatworks? What does not work?

Proximity to the public makes a huge difference. If the worksite is right on the visitor route, and the public have to passclose to you, they do not have to cross any sort of thresholdto get to you. They can stop and look and - if they wish -engage, or they can walk on by. Walking across a room to seewhat you are doing can be quite inhibiting to some people asit involves a commitment, and they may prefer to avoid itrather than risk having to extricate themselves fromsomething that does not interest them. Even working on theother side of a table can be a barrier.

Learning to read the body language of the visitors is essential.This is particularly important if the numbers are quite small.Do they want to engage with you? Have you got eye contactand a smile, or are the shutters down? Giving an unwantedspiel can have a negative effect and waste your time whenyou could be carrying out conservation.

What types of objects are visitors interested in and able torelate to? I am a leather conservator, and the object that mostpeople can relate to easily is a chair. If you present the publicwith a chair seat full of holes and splits with a scruffy surfaceand put a finished chair alongside, they can instantly see thatyou have made a difference. It opens the door to questionslike why conserve it rather than just replace it with new leather.Some people will engage with a more complex object,however others will shy away.

How do people respond? I was recently working at PlasNewydd on some chairs that I had conserved twice before.They are located around a table in a narrow room that has awonderful Whistler mural painting on the wall. It is a picture tostop and linger over as it contains a lot of detail. By this stageof the visitor route people are starting to get weary and theylean on the back of a chair with their hand on the top, this hascaused visible deterioration of the leather. The chairs haveleather on the front and rear faces of their backs as well as onthe seats. The leather is stretched over the frame, and the rearof the back is very vulnerable to being pushed in by thumbswhen gripped as there is no underlying upholstery. I wasmaking leather antimacassars to try and give protection to thetop sections, although it was not going to protect againstknees pushed in lower down. I explained to visitors why I wasdoing it, and hence why we ask people not to touch parts ofthe collection, as well as explaining how I was doing the workand working the leather. Some smiled, and said they had justbeen asked not to touch one of the chairs, and said they now

understood why. On one occasion, at another National Trusthouse, I was explaining how damage had been caused bytouching, and a lady lent over and poked her finger throughthe hole in the leather. I was fairly blunt, and she was ratherupset. I had to learn to be a little more diplomatic, and it wasa reminder that visitors want to learn more about an object bytouching it.

It is very useful if the public come round having been told atthe entrance that I am working on site. Those who enter theroom and say ‘here is the leather man’ have a clear interestand will engage more quickly. At Attingham Park the stafffollowed through after my visit and had a display about what I,and other conservators, had been doing at the property.

Extra interest can be added by having photographs of relatedwork. I have an A4 flip over display stand that will go on atable, or if there is room I put up a small display about mywork. I also have handling samples. These can encourage thepublic to engage with the work as it gives an intermediarylevel of interaction without direct initial contact.

I do not understand why as a profession so many of us arepoor communicators and are not confident in talking to thepublic about our work. It takes a bit of practice to find out atwhat level you can communicate your enthusiasm for your job.If you watch the visitors’ eyes, you will soon see when theystart to glaze over, and learn to get the balance right. I’veseen people agree to talk to the public and then put up ahuge barrier of tables, ropes etc. and then wonder why theyfail. Research at several National Trust properties has shownthat seeing conservation in action really adds to the visitorexperience. Get out there and promote our profession, weneed to do more of it!

Sturge Conservation StudioEmail: [email protected]

Theo Sturge talking about his work at Attingham Park.

Talk to the public!Theo Sturge ACR reflects on his experience of promoting conservation

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news fromthegroupsETHNOGRAPHY GROUP

A quick update from our group to let you know the latest!We have recently had to say goodbye to our Events Planner,Helene Delaunay. She is going to be a mom for the secondtime – thanks so much for all of your hard work Helene!However, we have had three new arrivals in the last severalmonths – Pieta Greaves (AOC Archaeology), EmmaSchmuecker (Plowden and Smith), and Emilia Ralston (TheHorniman Museum). Our current committee consists of:Chair: Arianna Lea BernucciTreasurer: Emma SchmueckerSecretary: Kate JacksonEvents Planner/website coordinator: Pieta GreavesEvents Planner: Emilia RalstonOrdinary CommitteeMember: Monika HarterFor more information on our current committee members,please see our group page on the website.

We had a very successful joint session with the Textile Groupon Day 2 of the Icon CF10 conference in Cardiff. The sessionwas brilliantly moderated by Sherry Doyal (British Museum),who initiated dynamic and intriguing dialogues among theaudience. Of course, much of this was inspired by the variedrange of fascinating subjects that were covered during theday. We will upload the power points from the day onto ourwebsite in the near future. Many thanks are owed to SherryDoyal, Maria Jordan and the rest of the Textile andEthnography Group Committees for all of their hard work.

We are planning another Ethno Crawl in London for June, justin time to enjoy the sunshine! Stay tuned for an advertisementnear you!

Finally, registration is already open for our basketry workshopand conference in September 2010. The workshop will behosted by Kew Gardens and given by Sherry Doyal andBarbara Wills (British Museum), while the conference willfeature papers from both national and internationalconservators and representatives from Native Americangroups. (See our group website for more information.) Placesare going fast, so please register as soon as you can.

FURNITURE & WOOD GROUPIcon’s Furniture and Wood Group is pleased to announcethat, following a call for new committee members and asuccessful general meeting held at CF10, the Group is toresume normal activities. Interesting events and articles are inthe pipeline, so watch this space. Thank you to all whoexpressed interest and support during recent uncertaintysurrounding the future of the Group.

SCOTLAND GROUPThe April re-launch of our pub group meetings was a greatsuccess – with a good turn-out across the conservation

disciplines. The next one will be Thursday 9 September,5.30pm onwards in the Wash Bar (on top of the Mound inEdinburgh). We hope to see you there!

The events team is working on a number of events for the restof 2010 including talks and visits – keep an eye on the websiteand the ISG email update for details as they are finalised. Wewelcome any suggestions for future visits or activities. Pleasecontact Kirsten Elliott on [email protected].

An ISG leaflet was recently completed, and the first look atthe finished product was at the CF10 conference at the end ofMarch. It was well received, and the Committee will continueto distribute the leaflets as widely as possible in order topromote the work of Icon and ISG.

The ISG Committee is keen to support all events of interest tothe conservation community that are held in Scotland, andensure that information about those events is disseminated tomembers. An excellent example of this is the forthcomingconference organised by Historic Scotland in conjunction withNational Museums Scotland on Heritage Science in Scotlandthat will be held on 7 September 2010. Watch this space, theISG webpage and the email updates for further informationon this event, and others of relevance.

The Icon Scotland Group CommitteeChair: Linda RamsayVice Chair: Kirsten ElliottSecretary: Amanda ClydesdaleTreasurer: Audrey WilsonVice Treasurer: Gill KeayEvents team: Helen Creasy, Erica Kotze, Kirsten Elliott and

Elizabeth MainPublications/ Stephen Umpleby and Ruth Honeybonepublicity team:Ordinary Committee Members:

Sophie Younger, Julian Watson,Mo BinghamIcon Scotland Member of the Board of Trustees:

Louise LawsonObservers: Carol Brown, Craig Kennedy and

Clare Meredith

TEXTILE GROUPMarch 24-26 saw the Icon Conference 2010 – Conservation inFocus take place at the University of Cardiff. The Groupsession run jointly with the Ethnography Group took place onthe 26th and was very ably chaired by Sherry Doyal, Head ofOrganic Artefacts Conservation at the British Museum. Pleasesee a review of the day by Sarah Owens on page 26.

Following the announcement at the AGM of the three newcommittee members and student rep, we would very muchlike to welcome Lynn McClean from the National Museums ofScotland, Louise Squire from Louise Squire TextileConservation and Rosamund Weatherall from the NationalTrust’s Textile Conservation Studio as new committeemembers and Sophie Downes, a second year student at theUniversity of Lincoln and an assistant conservator at the Landi


Company as student rep onto the Textile Group Committee.We all look forward to working with them in the future.

By now most of you will have heard the brilliant news that theTextile Conservation Centre Foundation will be joining forceswith the University of Glasgow’s Department of History of Artto establish a new textile conservation programme within theUniversity’s Robertson Building, with the first intake ofstudents planned for September 2010. We would all verymuch like to thank Nell and her team for their very hard workand determination in bringing this to such a successfuloutcome and we wish them all every success in the future.

March saw the publication of Textile Conservation: Advancesin Practice, edited by Frances Lennard and Patricia Ewer andpublished by Elsevier. The book demonstrates thedevelopment in the role and practice of the textileconservator and captures the diversity of textile conservators’

Graduate VoiceOne of the engaging features of CF10 was the presence of somany of the younger generation of conservators and this was,of course, encouraged by the Student Poster Competition.

First, a word of praise is due to the conservation students atCardiff University itself, who acted as volunteers at theconference. They were indefatigable behind the scenes,sorting things out, tidying up, running around lecture theatreswith microphones and being models of cheerful helpfulnessto anyone who had a query or problem.

The Poster competition saw seven short-listed posters ondisplay and a lot of thought had clearly gone into them all.Picking up the two conference themes of evidence baseddecision making or a sustainable future for conservation, they

covered diverse subjects from an innovative material forbacking mosaics; a survey of repair methods for conservingtransparent papers; pigment analysis on a 1907 illuminatedmanuscript; the treatment and interpretation of a Victorianbustle found inside a chaise-longue, and – surely the winnerof any best title award – Rust Never Sleeps.

But there could only be two prize winners, one of whom wasselected by a panel of judges chaired by Trevor Proudfoot ofCliveden Conservation, whilst the other was awarded on thebasis of voting by conference participants.

Thanks to Conservation by Design, who sponsored thecompetition, each winner received £150.

work. It focuses on four major factors which have influenceddevelopment in textile conservation practice since the 1980s:the changing context, an evolution in the way conservatorsthink about objects, the greater involvement of stakeholdersand technical developments. The book includes case studiesfrom around the world and assesses the conservation ofobjects in some of the world’s major cultural institutions.

Events to look out for in the coming months includeUpholstery: History & Techniques at Hampton Court Palace,18–19 November. There are also visits planned to The ChantryLibrary and the Ashmolean on June 4, the new galleries andtextile stores at the Museum of London on October 4 and avisit to Albert E Chapman, Upholsterers in London, so lots tolook out for! For further details and information please checkthe groups web pages and Listings.

Prize Giving!L. to r.: Helen Wilson, Icon ChairDiane Gwilt, Denise Troughtonof Conservation by Design andBrannah Mackenzie

24

Winner of the judges’ award was Helen Wilson for her posterDeveloping chemically unstable model textiles for treatmentevaluation. Helen writes:

I first became aware of art conservation when I read amagazine article written by a ceramics conservator. The articleappealed to me because it highlighted the simple aim topreserve objects for future generations to enjoy. After years ofwatching antiques programmes and growing up in an artisticenvironment I already felt a passion for objects of the past,and conservation reinforces that ‘connection’. In addition,since both my scientific and artistic skills could be used toappreciate and investigate objects’ aesthetics and history, Ichose my A-levels with a career in conservation in mind.

During my Masters degree in Chemistry at the University ofOxford I wrote a thesis on the chemistry and current treat-ments for paper containing iron gall ink. The following year Icompleted the Icon/HLF Conservation Science Internship withDr. Nicholas Eastaugh at the Pigmentum Project.

In October 2008 I started a three year PhD projectinvestigating and developing non-aqueous remedialconservation treatments for iron-tannate dyed organicmaterials. This AHRC/EPSRC Collaborative Doctoral AwardScience and Heritage Programme PhD is co-located at theUniversity of Manchester and the British Museum. The BritishMuseum has many iron-tannate dyed objects within itscollection as the dye has been used worldwide for thousandsof years. The dye accelerates the degradation of the colouredsubstrate, significantly decreasing the dyed object’s lifetime;for example, the dyed areas of many Maori piu-piu(ceremonial skirts) in the British Museum’s collection haveliterally crumbled to dust.

My sincere thanks go to the conference organizers for givingme this opportunity to present my research, to the judges forchoosing my poster for the prize and to Conservation byDesign Limited for their generosity.

Helen Wilson


The people’s prize went to Brannah Mackenzie for Gelatinefor Paper Repair. Brannah writes:

I have always taken pleasure in books and it was whilestudying for an MA in Scottish Historical Studies at theUniversity of Edinburgh that I became increasingly aware ofthe importance of books not only for their contents but alsoas historical artefacts. I graduated in 2002 and following aperiod working in the hospitality and service industries I choseto pursue a career in book conservation. I spent a yearvolunteering with the National Trust for Scotland, through theProjectScotland scheme, to gain experience. During this time Iwas also fortunate enough to gain direct experience of bookconservation at Book and Archive Conservation Services Ltd. inEdinburgh. In 2007 I was accepted onto the Conservation ofBooks and Library Materials programme at West Dean Collegesubmitting my MA Conservation Studies thesis, on which myposter is based, in September 2009. I went on to be an intern

Brannah Mackenzie

at the Leather Conservation Centre in Northampton and I amcurrently a book conservation intern at the British Library.

The size at which we can reproduce their posters here cannotdo them justice. Look out for them on the Icon website(www.icon.org.uk), along with the five runners-up.

26

CONFERENCES

CF10:CONSERVATION IN FOCUSIcon Ethnography and Textile Groups jointsessionCardiff University March 26 2010

This joint Group session was entitled ‘Fromtop to tail: accessories from around theworld – Investigation and Research’. SherryDoyal, Head of Organic ArtefactsConservation, Department of Conservationand Scientific Research at the BritishMuseum, invited and introduced thespeakers, ensuring that presentations kept totime and breaks were taken with the otherIcon groups in order to maximize networkingopportunities.

The morning session commenced with theresearch and preventive conservation ofpainted hide robes at the EthnologicalMuseum, National Museums Berlin,Germany. The session was briefly interruptedby the recent wonderful news, announced byFrances Lennard, Freelance TextileConservator, about the future of the TextileConservation Centre’s work at GlasgowUniversity. We then continued with paperspresented on the conservation of threeHawaiian Ahu`ula (feathered cloak), theinvestigation into the degradation of linseedoil and polyurethane finishes of leather andthe loan preparations of iconic objects, withspecific reference to a Fau (featheredheaddress) from Tahiti.

The afternoon produced further interestingconservation issues and treatments, withpapers presented on mounting approachesto hats for the exhibition ‘Hats: AnAnthology by Stephen Jones’ a collaborativeexhibition between the Victoria &AlbertMuseum and Stephen Jones, the treatmentof two 12th century Egyptian Caps, and theconservation treatment of a ceremonialsword and scabbard from Historic RoyalPalaces. The session concluded with theconservation treatment and display of a pairof slippers from the Museum of Greek FolkArt.

The papers presented covered a broadspectrum of topics, from innovativeapproaches to treatments (such as the use ofa modified jelly bag stand in thehumidification treatment of one of theEgyptian caps) to the transportation anddisplay of complex artefacts. Papersincluded exhibition challenges, wheresolutions were required to stabilise objectswhilst being culturally sensitive. Research toprovide further insights into objects and thesignificance of the findings was highlighted.Of particular concern were the risks toconservators from handling and treatingpotentially harmful artefacts. Harmfulsubstances and remains of endangered

species within collections and the storageand exhibition preparation implications ofthese discoveries were discussed.

As a current Icon/HLF Textile Conservationintern, presently based at the NationalMuseums Scotland (NMS), I had travelledseveral miles from Edinburgh to Cardiff toattend the conference. This was a majorinvestment and one I feel was completelyworthwhile. The two days provided theperfect environment to meet old and newfaces and to discuss issues relating toconservation and the wider cultural sector.The dinner reception at Cardiff Castle was aparticular highlight and provided a relaxedopportunity to meet others from across theconservation disciplines and to learn moreabout the recent conservation undertakenon the magnificent Castle interiors.

During my Icon/HLF Internship I have hadthe opportunity to document and conserveethnographic textiles for the Royal MuseumProject (NMS). The session was thereforeextremely beneficial, informative, thoughtprovoking (and at times humorous) andprovided a perfect collaboration of thesetwo specializations – ‘from top to tail’.

Sarah OwensIcon/HLF Textile Conservation Intern

CF10: CONSERVATION IN FOCUSIcon Scotland Group sessionCardiff University March 26 2010

The Icon Scotland Group session was allabout Emergency Planning andManagement. The first speaker, DavidMassey from the University of Coventry, gavea general introduction on this subjectfocusing on the UK perspecive and on howmulti agencies within the UK deal withemergencies. He highlighted the priority ofhuman welfare but also emphasised theimportance of business continuity and theneed for integrated emergencymanagement which goes beyond the merephysical threats to artefacts. David stressedthe importance of not only having a plan butalso deciding at which point that plan shouldbe activated, and establishing who isresponsible for this. Besides that thenecessity for consultation and familiarizationto make the response effective wasunderlined.

This theoretic opening to the topic wascomplemented by the next talk: LouiseLawson looked at the specific needs of theRiverside Museum in Glasgow, as she wasasked to develop an emergency plan for theMuseum’s new premises. In her talk Louisetook the UK perspective approach andapplied it directly into a heritage contextusing the figure of eight emergencyplanning model. She emphasised clarity asbeing one of the key elements for thedevelopment of a working emergency plan.One drawback of this planning phase was

that the new museum would be unfamiliar tostaff posing a greater risk to tacklingemergencies.

This paper was followed by a workshopsession on developing and improving anemergency plan led by El Parker. Questionsflagged up in this session concerned thepotential control centre of an emergency, thevarious stakeholders affected by anemergency and the all important reviewprocess. This short brainstorming sessionbetween colleagues from other institutionswas very useful and was an opportunity toexchange views with colleagues. The smallerauditorium was ideal to encourage theseprofessional discussions and gave theopportunity for a more in-depth dialogue.The participants enjoyed this approach - itwas very effective in shaking off theindolence that sometimes tends to creep inwhen confronted with the heaps ofinformation during a conference!

The main conclusion of this session was thata working emergency plan demandsinvolved and informed staff. Aside fromtechnical considerations it is goodcommunication that stands out as one of thekey ingredients for the successful planning.

Nicole StahlConservator, The McManus: Dundee’s ArtGallery and Museum

REDEMPTION: TAPESTRY PRESERVATIONPAST AND PRESENTMetropolitan Museum, New YorkDecember 6-8 2009

This Symposium was held to celebrate thecompletion of a project that had spannedthirty five years – the conservation of an earlysixteenth tapestry entitled ’Christ is Born asMan’s Redeemer’.

The tapestry is one of a set of ten known as‘The Redemption of Man’, now dispersedaround the world, and measuresapproximately 4 x 7.85 metres. At somestage it had been cut into four irregularpieces. In 1974 the conservation began onthe basis that the pieces would be rejoinedand that the tapestry would be restored (notjust stabilised). The painstaking work wascarried out meticulously with full re-warpingand re-weaving. Missing areas werethoroughly researched using other tapestriesfrom the set as well as contemporary artsources such as prints and panel paintings.Great lengths were taken to ensure that thematerials used were as close as possible tothe original. The completed tapestry is nowon display at The Cloisters.

The presentations were grouped intosessions spread over two days covering thehistory of the tapestry and its conservationand then more generally about conservingimage and structure; wet cleaning; supportsystems and display and, finally, science andconservation. The speakers represented a

reviews

Overall, the event was most enjoyable andstimulating – not to mention the Christmasshopping opportunities in New York!

Alison FairhurstTextile Conservator, The Landi Company

VISIT

GLASGOW MUSEUM RESOURCE CENTREIcon Scotland GroupFebruary 11 2010

Twenty members of Icon Scotland Groupvisited the Glasgow Museum’s ResourceCentre, situated on an industrial site inNitshill within a few minutes’ walk of the trainstation. After a greeting from Polly Smith,Senior Conservator, Art Group, we weregiven a short description of the building, itscontents and remit by David Thomson,Senior Preventive Conservator. Theconstruction had been in two phases, thefirst providing storage and someconservation studios, and the second addingmore storage, offices and additionalconservation studios. The store holds over800,000 objects. David explained that publicaccess is one of the main functions of theCentre but that this also created problemswith the climate controls, as the needs of thepublic and the needs of the objects aresomewhat different.

Harry Dunlop, Learning and Access Curator,went on to explain just how open this accessis. The Centre provides tours that can betailored to group needs so school children ofall ages can explore subjects such as theseaside, transport or the portrait, forinstance. The objects are grouped in ‘pods’of various sizes all of which have goodaccess with level floors, lifts and large doors.There are scheduled public tours of thestores every day of the week.

The first pod visited held the paintings, all ofthem on roller racking that seemed tostretch into the middle distance. Harryexplained that the paintings are stored byperiod, school and subject so a groupstudying a particular subject can be shownpaintings by pulling out the relevant rack.Word has it that this is the largest museum

painting store in Europe! The next pod heldthe natural history collection where we weretold about a moth problem that had affectedsome of the objects in the store. Thisshowed the importance of goodhousekeeping and the need for a quarantineregime. The Centre has freezers to help withthis essential work and is constantlymonitored.

We were shown pods containing theethnographic displays and decorative arts.The Centre staff answered the manyquestions that the group asked as we movedonto the transport pod. This section holdsthe displays from the Glasgow TransportMuseum that is currently undergoing re-development. Visiting the large workshopcontaining a full size steam engine that isbeing conserved was a highlight. TheGlasgow-built engine had been in service inSouth Africa until the 1980s and returned toGlasgow for permanent display.

The tour ended with visits to theconservation studios for paper, paintings andframes. The conservators showed usexamples of work they are involved in anddiscussed the methods they use. We sawwork in progress on frames and paintingsbeing prepared for a forthcoming GlasgowBoys exhibition. Polly Smith explained therecord keeping that is mandatory, andindeed essential, in order to keep track of allthe objects that could be moved around thebuilding between storage, conservation,photography, research and onto outlyingmuseums.

After a welcome cup of tea about half thegroup moved onto a Glasgow restaurant fordinner.

Scotland Group would like to thankeveryone at the Resource Centre for aninteresting and informative afternoon.

Nick WrightNick and Lucy Wright, Picture Restorers.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEWIcon Book and Paper GroupLondon November 10 2009

The Herbarium Library Art & ArchivesDepartment at Royal Botanic Gardens Kewholds important botanical collections and iswidely consulted for both national andinternational use. Book and Paper GroupMembers were fortunate to have theopportunity to visit the Marianne NorthStudio and Gallery at Kew. The participantswere book and paper specialists althougheasel paintings, framing and textiles werealso represented.

Jonathan Farley, Senior Conservator andHead of Library, Art and ArchivePreservation, started our visit by introducingthe Marianne North (MN) collection and thebackground to the restoration and re-building work that the MN Gallery required.

range of nationalities from all over Europeand North America and establishments frommuseums to private practice.

In between the public sessions was aScholars’ Day which involved a trip to TheCloisters to actually see the finished tapestryfollowed by an afternoon spent in the TextileConservation Laboratory at theMetropolitan. There, many examples oftapestry woven textiles were shown, not justthe large scale wall hangings one mightimagine. It was interesting to learn aboutalternative approaches to display andhanging mechanisms as well as theconservation methods themselves.

One of the aims of the Symposium was toprovide a platform for discussion concerningthe change of attitudes and opinions in theapproach to tapestry conservation duringthe time taken on this particular tapestry.The programme for the event was so packedthat discussion only really took place in smallgroups during meal breaks. Consequently,the full benefit that could have been gainedby having such a gathering of people was, tosome extent, lost. However, what washighlighted was the fact that throughoutEurope and North America there are anumber of differing attitudes as to thecorrect methods of conservation, supportand display of tapestries (such as to strap orto provide full support; to use natural orman-made materials; to re-weave or re-warpand couch; to hang flat or support onslanted boards). All seem to adequatelysatisfy the perceived requirements of theorganisations concerned without any onesystem standing out as being more correctthan another and which, therefore, should beadopted by everyone. One thing that didcome across universally was that allparticipants would have liked the luxury ofsuch a long period of time over which tocomplete a project with sustained interestand support from the client and theopportunity to research and analyse sothoroughly.

As far as is known, there are no plannedpost-prints of the Symposium but theMetropolitan Museum has made many of thepresentations available as videos on line athttp://www.youtube.com/user/metmuseum.

At the Metropolitan Museum’s textile conservation studio

28

Marianne North (1830–1890) must have beenan extraordinary and formidable woman. Shetravelled the world painting the indigenousflora, and created incredible paintings(mainly oil on paper) that form the MarianneNorth collection at Kew. She donated all thepaintings to Kew on the condition that shewas allowed to build a gallery in the RoyalBotanic Gardens (RBG), Kew in which thepaintings were to be displayed. One of hermany attributes appears to be the ability topersuade others to accord with her wishes,including the architect James Fergussonagreeing to design the gallery and Kewagreeing to have it built in the RBG.

The MN collection comprises 833 oilpaintings on paper, with some being oils oncanvas, and oil painted door panels anddoor surrounds. Even the coving in thegallery has stencilling by MN. Not only wasMN deeply involved in the visual aspects ofthe gallery but also in its overall design andconstruction, for example during buildingrenovation work a void was revealedbeneath the floor of the inner galleryshowing that the floor height was altered tomake it level with the main gallery.

A number of years ago it was found that themethod of fixing framed paintings directly tothe wall surface (mirror plating), encouragedfungal infestations due to the ‘dead air’space behind the frames. It was soondecided that a new mounting method hadto be devised to prevent this fromhappening again, and the dado was pulledforward allowing for an air flow to bedeflected into a 25mm space behind thepaintings. From this point, the next stage ofrenovation was to carry out a full in-depthsurvey of both the art works and building.The Heritage Lottery Fund and a furtherseven charitable trusts were approached assources for funding, and in additionindividuals or organisations are encouragedto ‘adopt a painting’.

One year on a huge amount of work hasbeen completed: the MN building has beenstripped back and reconstructed; a separateconservation studio built; staff have beenrecruited and interventive conservation workon the collection is well under-way. A two-year period has been allocated for allconservation work to be carried out.

Aissa Seidi, the Supervising Conservator forthe project, gave a visual presentation that

introduced us to the conservation problemsand treatment strategies devised for thepaintings. We then visited the purpose-builtconservation studio, situated in the mainbuilding at Kew, where we met the otherpaper conservators. Aissa supervises a teamof five full-time staff comprising herself,Emma Le Cornu, Helen Cowdy, Rachel Smith(all paper conservators), and Eleanor King(Conservation Technician).

In addition to working on the paintings inthe conservation studio, Aissa and her teamgive talks to the general public. Theirsuccess in raising awareness and publicisingthe ‘adopt a painting’ scheme is anindication both of their skills as conservatorsand as ambassadors for the profession.Research is carried out as necessary tounderpin and inform decisions. Otherspecialist conservators are contacted asnecessary.

The paintings, oil on paper (with a lot ofimpasto), were varnished about ten yearsafter they were first exhibited. The bindingmedia used by MN was minimal; she was notan experienced oil painter when she firstbegan recording flora but her increasingproficiency can be seen across thecollection. It is thought that she chose paperas the primary support for ease of transportduring her travels. It is a cotton wove paper,had white gesso ground and may have comepre-prepared. This had been adhered to apoor quality secondary support (mixed fibreboard, with a paper-facing). Each frame hada tertiary (plywood or hardboard) backing.MN chose glazed frames: black mouldingswith gilt slips made from silver leaf withshellac layer over. In some instances itappeared that the ‘gold’ had oxidised.

Conservation treatment of the paintings wasrequired as deterioration was evident from,for example, damage caused byatmospheric pollution from Battersea powerstation (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide)and environmental fluctuations due to lack ofclimate control in the MN Gallery. Allcontributed to cracking, losses and flakingmedia; blanching and blooming of thevarnish in particular over red, white and bluepigments (not all and not uniformly).

The main activity for the conservators isremoval of the acidic secondary support,which is why it was felt that paperconservators should be employed. Removal

of the secondary support boards sometimesrevealed previously hidden annotationswhich were recorded, and as these boardswere removed they were replaced witharchival quality materials. De-acidification(alkali buffering) of the primary supportpaper was considered necessary and‘Bookeeper’ (magnesium methoxide) wasconsidered to be the best non-aqueoustreatment. The final treatment is surfacecleaning. Generally the varnish was in goodcondition and was not removed. Howeversurface dirt had contributed slightly to lossof visual quality and clarity of the images.Saliva was the preferred substance used tosurface clean the varnish.

Aissa and the other conservators were ableto discuss and show us all aspects of theconservation treatments and willinglyanswered our questions. It was a delight tosee conservators ‘at work’ (although aspaper conservators we all understood thepotential for despondency when faced with800 plus backings to be removed!). Theconservation work on the paintings is well-documented with written reports, detailedmeasurements and digital images.

After lunch Jonathan took us into the Librarywhich has many examples of MN’s printedpublished works and also houses her letters.We also saw some of the more unusualobjects in the Library collection such as‘nature prints’, whereby a wet piece of paperwas pressed with the botanic specimen toproduce an imprint into the paper. Thesewere compared to botanic specimens whichwere simply dry pressed and mounted.

We then walked through the RBG to theMarianne North Gallery where we were ableto fully experience the extraordinary effect ofthe astonishingly vibrant-coloured paintingfacsimiles as they are hung in the methoddevised by MN, one immediately next toanother, with only the black frames isolatingone image from another, with no free wallspace. The hanging arrangement is basedon genealogy, where there is a radiation outof lesser plants from the main genus. Theinside of the gallery is completely covered inpaintings including the door surrounds.Originally even the ceiling was covered witha map from the Stanford Map Co. Jonathanwas on hand to answer our questions aboutthe building, its reconstruction work andconservation. His extensive knowledge andenthusiasm inspired us all and his anecdoteswere an added bonus.

On behalf of all the participants I would likesincerely to thank Jonathan Farley and AissaSeidi along with the other conservators whogenerously gave us their time, experienceand wonderful anecdotes making this both avery informative and enjoyable visit. Ourthanks also to Joanna Payne for organisingsuch an unusual and interesting visit.

Fiona Butterfield ACRPaper Conservator (Private Practice)Aberdeen

In the Marianne North Gallery In the Studio


The morning session continued in the bookstudio, where each of the tutorsdemonstrated, in turn, their preferredconsolidant and choice of application. Asbook and paper conservators it was veryinteresting to hear from Nicola how some ofthe consolidants are used in a differentdiscipline from our own. It was alsointeresting to see how the two disciplinescan influence each other.

After lunch we paired up and took turnsvisiting each tutor to see in closer detail, andget hands on experience of how they eachuse their chosen consolidant. It was anopportunity to examine the equipmentclose-up, and to try some of the techniquesourselves so that we could get a feel foreach solution and method. PaintingConservator Nicola Costaras had earlierdemonstrated a method of applying asolution of isinglass and honey throughtissue facing to consolidate a panel painting.During the practical session, she guided usthrough application of Lascaux 4176 using abrush and a syringe in consolidating crackedpaint layer.

With Paper ConservatorMerryl Huxtable,we got to try our hand at consolidatingfragmentary paint areas with the 2-brushmethod of application. One brush was heldin each hand, one wet with ethanol and theother with the consolidant isinglass, and thesolutions were applied in quick succession toeach other. The alcohol serves to break thesurface tension of the substrate and allowsthe consolidant to be drawn into and/orunder the paint layer via capillary action.

Head of Paper, Books and PaintingConservation, Alan Derbyshire, gave us anoverview of the history of English miniaturepainting and explained his 1-brush methodof application. In a small plate, ethanol was

added to a 2% solution of methyl cellulosedissolved in water and applied onto orunderneath an area of cracked paint layer.When the treated area was a little drier,silicon release paper was used as a barrierfor pushing down tented areas.

Ethyl hydroxy ethyl cellulose in lowconcentration (0.25–0.5%) is a consolidantpreferred by Paper ConservatorMichaelWheeler. He employs the 2-brush method ofapplication, as described earlier, to reattachflaking areas and notes that a nebulisercould be used to apply the same consolidantonto powdery paint.

Paper Conservator Susan Catcherintroduced Funori, a general name for agroup of seaweeds, as a consolidant. Theraw material was soaked overnight, cookedand prepared into a solution for applicationonto a large-scale wall painting. The solutionwas brushed on with large Japanese brushesand through a facing of rayon paper (85%wood pulp, 15% rayon) onto the pre-humidified substrate and allowed to dry.

The day concluded with a discussion overtea and cake in true conservation style. Theworkshop was beautifully structured andorganised and was an extremely valuablechance to learn techniques from a group ofvery experienced conservators. A big thankyou to our five tutors for sharing theirknowledge and some handy tips, to MariaVilancour and the Book & Paper Groupevents sub-committee, and to JaneRutherston and her colleagues for putting somuch work into a very successful andenjoyable day.

Catt Baum The National ArchivesLucy Cheng Cambridge University LibraryDeborah Farndell Cambridge UniversityLibrary

WORKSHOP

CONSOLIDATION WORKSHOPIcon Book and Paper GroupVictoria & Albert Museum March 5 2010

Ten conservators, from private practice andinstitutions and from both disciplines ofbook and paper conservation, gathered atthe V&A for a workshop on pigmentconsolidation. Expectations were high andwe were not disappointed.

The morning session included a PowerPointpresentation by Mike Wheeler, with someinput from the day’s other tutors MerrylHuxtable, Susan Catcher, Alan Derbyshireand paintings conservator Nicola Costaras.The presentation was a comprehensiveoverview of the fundamentals ofconsolidation and some of the optionsavailable in terms of consolidant andtechnique. Some of the consolidantsmentioned include methyl cellulose, ethylhydroxy ethyl cellulose (Bermacoll), isinglass,gelatine, funori, and Lascaux 4176.Techniques involving the use of brushes,tissue facing, syringe, nebuliser and airbrushwere not elaborated on during the lecturebut were amply demonstrated during latersessions.

There was also an overview of the kind ofthings to consider when choosing aconsolidant, such as the effect on therefractive index of a pigment, or the need fora matte or shiny finish, as well as absorptioninto paint layers and substrates. Each tutorfocussed on a particular interest orspecialism – Indian miniatures, portraitminiatures, illuminations on parchment,wallpaper and paintings – so we got a veryrounded picture of different applications fordifferent media, substrates and paintingtechnique, along with the problems that canoccur to the paint layers as a result of themethod of paint application.

Senior painting conservator Nicola Costarasapplying isinglass through tissue facing ontoa panel painting

Senior paper conservator Michael Wheelerexamining pigments on an Indian painting

Senior paper conservator Susan Catcher andworkshop participants applying Funori ontowallpaper

30

Gerard Mercator Celestial Globe 1551 Ø42cms.(GLB.97)The globe is supported by a metal rod withwooden reinforcements at the poles securedwith metal fastenings.

Jodocus Hondius Celestial Globe ca.1600 Ø35cms.(GLB.157)This globe has a branched structure. A bagof lead shot to weight the globe can beseen.

Arnold and Floris Van Langren CelestialGlobe 1589 Ø 32.5cms.(GLB.99)This globe is supported by a turned woodenpillar and evidence of stitching along thejoin is visible.

Benjamin Martin Celestial Globe ca.1757 Ø30cms, (GLB.80)The join is reinforced with cloth. The globeis weighted with lead shot, some of whichhad escaped from the bag which holds it.

TALK

GLOBE SPHERE X-RADIOGRAPHYIcon Book and Paper GroupNational Maritime Museum23 February 2010

Globes are very much about what is shownon the surface, and though undoubtedlythree-dimensional, the nature of theirconstruction is not at all obvious and isprobably not often given muchconsideration.

Paul Cook, in this fascinating talk, ignoredthe visible surface and took us to the darkinterior of a range of globes in the collectionat the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.Before we were shown any x-radiographimages, Paul told us a little about the globecollection, which comprises about 280 items.It is one of the largest collections of globesin the world and arguably the finest.Although there are several engraved metalglobes in the collection and other unusualspecimens, about two thirds of the globeshave a printed paper surface pasted onto aplaster sphere. It is this type of globe thatbecame the focus of a programme to take x-radiographs of as many globes as possiblebefore the x-ray equipment, originallyinstalled in the easel paintings conservationsection, was de-commissioned in 2004.

As preparation for looking at the images,Paul explained the basic method of makinga globe using a variety of models and mock-ups. To summarise, a wood or metal mouldwas used to form two caps or hemispheresmade from paper or thin card. These capswere joined together after an internalsupport, a metal rod, or more usually awooden pillar, was positioned inside and

secured, most commonly with nails. Thehemispheres could be joined at the equatoror around the poles and thus formed arough sphere with a diameter slightly smallerthan that required for the globe. This spherewas then placed in a former of the requireddiameter of the globe and turned whileplaster was applied to build up the sphere.When the required diameter had beenachieved, the globe was smoothed and theprinted paper gores could be pasted down.This was very helpful as it made it easier tounderstand what we were looking at in theimages.

The x-radiographs showed the obvious anduniversal elements of construction, but it was

surprising to see how the inner supportstructures varied. Two of the earliest globesin the collection dating from the 16th centuryexhibited metal rods as inner supports,whereas later globes tended to havewooden supports. These could be singlepillars, or more elaborate branchedstructures. An interesting variety of nails andstaples could be seen. In addition, otherconstituents were revealed, for example,lead weights used to balance globes and, inone case, what appeared to be wax seals. Itis possible that these seals had not beenremoved from the waste paper which hadbeen used to create the inner shell. It mustbe pointed out that when viewing an x-radiograph of a globe, one is looking at the‘front’ and ‘back’ of the globe at the sametime, so locating any interesting features onthe globe can be difficult. The angle atwhich the globe is positioned during theexposure can also make a difference to whatcan be seen. Interesting features at the innersurface may be missed or appear indistinct,if the globe is unknowingly aligned so the x-rays hit the area edge-on where the densityof the plaster will be greatest. The exposuretime also affects the clarity and contrast ofthe image but, as the possible densities ofthe materials in any globe will vary, it is notpossible to give an optimum exposure time.Paul also made the point that while x-rayscan be very revealing there is much that theycannot show, for example, if the paper usedin the making of the inner shell contains textor manuscript.

X-ray images of globes were first taken atthe museum in 1983. The seventy sixdifferent globe x-rays are a remarkable andvaluable record for anyone interested inglobe history. It must surely be the largestcollection of x-radiography images of globesin the world. The images have now beendigitalised and I understand that when aglobe in the collection has been x-rayed, theimages can be seen on the NMM website.

Sylvia Sumira Independent globeconservator

©NationalM

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reenwich,London

©NationalM

aritimeMuseum,G

reenwich,London

©NationalM

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©NationalM

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32

in practiceThe Castle Ward GothicWardrobe ConservationProjectby Fergus Purdy, Furniture Conservator, and ClaireMagill, National Trust Regional Conservator (Glass &Ceramic Conservator)

INTRODUCTIONThe recently completed conservation of the intriguing gothicclothes press located in the Parnell bedroom of Castle Wardhas revealed that it was constructed at an earlier date thanpreviously suggested. Once thought to date from around the1840s, opinion now is that it was made around 1770. Thisinteresting revelation ties in well with the history of the house.During the second Viscount Bangor’s (1750–1827) illness,much of the furniture was removed from Castle Ward by hisbrother Robert. The press is now thought to have been left inthe house as it was too big to get through the door.

The impressive clothes press, or gentleman’s wardrobe,predates the introduction of coat hangers and has shelves onwhich the clothes were folded up and stored. Beautifulmirrored doors, decorated with reverse glass paintings offlowers and borders adorn the three top sections. Thepaintings on the gothic shaped mirror panes may have beencreated by the ladies of the family. The centre section of thepress contains the shelving for clothing, the right hand sidehas shallow drawers and the left hand side when openedunexpectedly reveals a small writing desk. The overall designof the front of the press reflects the architectural articulationof the gothic façade of Castle Ward; this close correlationsuggests that the unknown architect of the house may also

have designed this important piece of furniture, as wasfashionable at the time.

WHY THE WARDROBE?One of the roles of an NT regional conservator, working alongwith the curator and property staff, is to prioritise objects forconservation treatments and secure funding. On this occasiona generous gift from The Royal Oak Foundation had madepossible the treatment of the wardrobe which had been onthe priority lists for some time. The need for treatment wasevident, as its unstable and damaged condition posed a riskto both the object and our staff and visitors. Although alwaysof delicate and fragile design, later alterations to the doorshad led to stresses in particular areas of the frames’construction; subsequent opening and closing by the housestaff and guides had in turn caused breaks to the glass andmirrors. Deteriorated cross-linked putty had increased manyof the strains along the edge of what is particularly thin andbowed glass, and also contributed to many of the breaks.Where the front face of the crown glass had been broken,dust and dirt settled between the crown glass and paintedmirrors. The overall appearance of the press was ‘gloomy’,and the build up of dust and dirt made it difficult toappreciate the fineness of the hand painted floraldecorations.

PRE-TREATMENT INVESTIGATIONSAlthough the damage to the glass and doors was very visible,what was less clear was the full extent of the work required toremedy this. What would it be possible to achieve? Andwhere this would be best carried out and what input /timewould be required from the different individuals involved? Toprovide answers to these questions, it was thought essentialto begin the project with a few days of in-depth investigation,before settling on a definite plan of action. This began whenPat Jackson and Fergus Purdy made a routine property visit toupdate the condition reports on the object, assess thedamage and put forward initial proposal options. Given itssize and complexity, many considerations had to be taken intoaccount, such as the risks entailed in moving it, coordinatingthe work of different conservators, and the possible impact onthe house and visitors.

In the end it was felt that the best solution was to carry outthe conservation in-situ. Although this meant more workprotecting the other artefacts in the room and setting up atemporary studio, it had the benefit of avoiding thetransportation of a large and fragile structure and alsoprovided the opportunity for visitor engagement. Normallythis type of project would take place in the winter monthswhen the property is closed to the public; this projecthowever was purposely scheduled for the summer monthswith the public able to see and discuss the conservation workwhilst it was taking place.

At an early stage it was also identified that the removal of the

Cleaning down woodwork

PeterMuhly


very hard cross-linked putty, necessary to release the glass,was likely to be one of the more challenging aspects of thework. A further visit was made to address this particular issueand to examine the internal structure of the doors. It latertranspired that the door on which we carried out ourinvestigation was the least altered of all, the others when weopened them revealed a very different later arrangement,which presented their own problems.

CONSERVATION TREATMENTSThe four doors of the press were removed in sequence, withthe hinges released from the main body of the press but leftsecured to the doors. The worn screw holes from the hingehousings on the press – one factor contributing to theproblems resulting from opening and closing the doors –were plugged with mahogany plugs using scotch glue, andthen re-drilled to the correct size. To meet with theregulations on hot work in National Trust properties, thescotch glue was heated in a sealed element electric hot waterpot; the introduction of cold working Canadian fish glue offersanother option for such situations. The screws were labelled,and where screws had been missing, replacements ofmatching length and gauge were added to each set.

Those sections of glass and painted mirrors that had beenpreviously identified as requiring removal for conservationtreatment were taken out of the door frames. In cases wherethe mirror was held in with pine glue blocks these were cutalong the line of the glue joint to release them, this was asafer method than introducing moisture to soften the glue insuch close proximity to the exposed surface of the mirroramalgam. Where the glass was secured in place with putty,the putty was softened to allow removal using a fine solderingiron with a customised tip. Smoke alarms were disabled whilstwork was carried out, and a ‘Hot Work Permit’ was obtainedfrom the Building Department for the duration of the work.Once the putty joint had been removed from the back andsides of the glass a fine blade was inserted in the line of theputty at the front, gentle and even scoring of the puttyreleased the glass.

In the case of the blue/gold painted glass panel from thecentre right door the inner oak backing board had also to beremoved. In both instances where these backing boards wereremoved they revealed what appeared to have been anearlier arrangement of polished tin plates with hexagonal cutouts. The oak backing boards also had pencil inscriptionsreading ‘this side to face glasf’. This not only gave clear

evidence that there had always been some form of glasspanel in this position, but also the form of the lettering wouldsuggest a late eighteenth-century date for this work.

It was decided that the removal of glass would be extendedto include those pieces that were either loose in the frame ordamaged sections that could be easily removed. One of thedistinct advantages of working in a close interdisciplinaryteam on-site was that it was possible to discuss the project asthe work unfolded with all involved, and make decisionsneeded to progress relatively quickly. All fifty two mirrors andglass panes were letter coded and laid out on labelled paper.

All of the crown glass was swab cleaned with Boots sensitiveskin washing up liquid, de-ionised water, and in some casesadded 1:10 Acetone. Much of the putty was removedmechanically, rinsed with swabs of de-ionised water. Mirrorswith hand painted floral decoration were swab cleaned usingthe aforementioned treatment, taking care to avoid areas ofhand painting; these were gently dry brushed with a pony hairbrush. Loose amalgam was consolidated with 10% ParaloidB72 in Acetone. Sherds were bonded with Araldite 20:20.Mirrorflex was placed over each of the mirrors to create areflective surface where there were areas of silvering loss, aswell as acting as a dust barrier layer, protecting the amalgam.Following their treatment, the sections of clear glass and theone later damaged mirror on the centre right door were re-puttied into place using traditional linseed oil putty. The doorframes were left for eight weeks to allow the putty joints time

Where front glass has been lost, mirrors have been damaged

The Press Fergus Purdy tidying up, re-puttying work

PeterMuhly

PeterMuhly

PeterMuhly

34

to set sufficiently to hold the glass in place. In two instancesthe glass was held in place with softwood wedges whilst theputty joints set. One missing and one very badly damagedpiece of clear crown glass were replaced using stocks of oldglass.

The keys for the doors were located and new keys cut for thewriting desk and left door locks. Although not alwaysconsidered necessary for pieces of furniture in National TrustHouses, to have the door locks operating again was importantin this instance for two reasons. First, there had been aproblem with doors swinging open, risking further damage tothe glass. In addition the doors are not fitted with handles, itis the key in the lock that fulfils this function and thereforeneeds to be in place for the doors to be opened correctly.The damage to the glazing bars along the outside edge ofthe right door were repaired with two fine mahogany patches,the alterations to this area where a later replacement doorlock has been fitted still leaves a weakness. In order tocounteract this and prevent the centre right door flexing eachtime it is opened, a mahogany brace was secured to the backof the backboard upright where it had been cut through tohouse the replacement lock. The removal of the very poor oldputty joints and the better securing of the mirror at thisposition should also help with strengthening the area.

Loose and detached sections of raised moulding and cock-beading were re-glued in position using scotch glue. Theareas of tenting veneer on the outer edge of the drawer frontswere cleaned with warm water then re-glued with scotch glueand clamped flat under Perspex strips until the glue had set.The mirrors that had been removed from the doors of thepress were re-secured back in place. This was carried outusing small wedge shaped pine glue blocks, as found on theundisturbed sections of the original construction. This meantnot reusing many of the old glue blocks that had beenremoved, as these were of right angle section with onesurface glued to the back of the mirror and causing damageto the reflective surface. These glue blocks have howeverbeen retained. The blue/gold glass panel from the rightcentre door was secured back in place using the oakbackboard, with both the tin plates and paper placed back inthe recess, following conservation by glass conservator PatJackson. It was thought best not to putty this section of glassin, as it was a concern that the putty may have interfered withthe edging used by the glass conservator to secure the newfacing sheet of glass to the old. With both this section ofglass, and with some of the mirrors where the frame had beenaltered at the back, it was necessary to widen the timber

rebate fractionally to allow the glass to fit back in placewithout forcing it. It was considered that the incredibly tight fitof the blue/gold glass panel may have set up stresses thatcontributed to its fracturing. This was carried out with theaccurate marking of the rebate against the glass, to keep theremoval of timber to an absolute minimum. After the scotchglue used for securing the glue blocks had been given plentyof time to set, the backs were re-secured and the doors re-hung.

The interior surfaces of the press were dusted with a hogshairbrush and vacuum cleaner. The polished wood surfaces werecleaned with a dry rub of 0000 grade wire wool. On the lowerdrawer fronts and bracket feet/base mouldings, a smallamount of white spirit was also used to lift the badly scuffedlater varnish. On the areas of the door fronts, where they hadbeen handled a lot, warm water with a few drops of Bootssensitive skin washing up liquid was used to remove theslightly greasy grime. The areas were then rinsed and dried.The small areas of replacements/repairs were toned in usingvan dyke brown water stain and sealed with a simple shellacpolish made from lemon shellac and IMS. The finished woodsurfaces were polished with Harrell’s furniture wax, to build upa good surface sheen

CONCLUSIONThe decision to base the conservation work in the Parnellroom at Castle Ward and allow visitor access during the workwas, we feel, the right one. Having produced feedback formsto quantify visitor experience, the results were very positive.Far from running the risk of compromising conservationstandards, as might be feared, such an approach given properplanning and provision not only helps promote conservationbut can be in the artefact’s best interest as well. The smallamount of additional time required to present the work to thevisiting public was well justified by the benefits it brought.Working in-situ had the added benefit of enabling the projectto be recorded in photograph and film as it progressed. Thisin turn, with the posting of a short video of the project on theweb, has extended our work with public engagement andadvocacy of conservation.

Acknowledgements

Property staff at Castle Ward; NT Regional Staff

Fay Bailey; The Ward family

Helen Lloyd; John Hartley; Peter Muhly; Pat Jackson

The Royal Oak Foundation

The video can be found at http:/vimeo.com/user1092574

Repaired original glass Claire Magill engaging with the public

PeterMuhly

PeterMuhly


Full details of all the eventslisted here can be found on theIcon website www.icon.org.uk

19 MayPACR Introduction to Mentoring,LondonFurther details via the Icon website

21–23 MayIcon Ceramics and Glass Group‘All Things Bright and Crumbly, AllProjects Great and Small’Venue: The University of LincolnCost: £100 members (£220 non-members,£65 students)Contact: [email protected] details via the Icon website

27–28 May4th International ConferencePreservation and Conservation Issuesin Digital Printing and DigitalPhotographyVenue: Institute of Physics, LondonContact: [email protected] details via the Icon website

27–28 MayIADA Symposium 2010Out of Sight – Out of Mind?Venue: PragueFurther details via the Icon website

4 JuneIcon Textiles GroupVisit to the Ashmolean and theChantry Library, OxfordAn opportunity to visit the newlyreopened museum and the ChantryLibrary – the resource centre for Icon,providing services to members and non-members with an interest in theprofession.Cost: £10Further details via the Icon website

10–12 JuneThe Institute of Historic BuildingConservation ‘Going for Gold’ 2010Annual SchoolVenue: Royal College of Physicians,LondonThe IHBC’s 2010 Annual School willexamine ‘Delivering Excellence inConservation’ and centre on the stand-alone Day School on Friday 11 June.Expert speakers will look at best practicein the provision of of conservation servicesand examine the practical solutionsadopted to enhance and improve ourplaces.For details and to book visit www.ihbc.org.uk/gold2010 or call 0131 558 1854

11 JuneFED and Yorkshire RegionalConservation NetworkThe Conservation of IndustrialYorkshire – Spreading the MessageVenue: Kelham Island Museum, SheffieldContact: Keith Crawshaw on [email protected] details via the Icon website

22 June, 6.30pmIcon Paintings GroupDealing with Disaster: Fire, Emergencyand Salvage at Hampton Court PalaceVenue: Icon Offices, LondonSpeaker: Christopher Stevens,Superintendent of the Royal Collection,Hampton Court Palace.The Royal Collection Salvage Team,trained in the rescue of works of art, hasbecome the model used by many otherinstitutions both national and international.Cost: £5 (£10 non-members)Contact: register by 18 June with ClareFinn on email [email protected] or tel020 7937 1895

Icon Offices: Please note that manyevents are now being held at the IconOffices at 1st Floor, DownstreamBuilding, 1 London Bridge, LondonSE1 9BG. Security clearance for entryinto the building must be arranged inadvance so please follow anyinstructions included in the listingsentry. The Icon website providescomprehensive directions on how tofind the offices – from the home page,go to 'About Icon' and then to the'Find us' page.

listingsSeptemberIcon Ethnography GroupBaskets and Related MaterialsSymposium and 3-day practical workshopled by Sherry Doyal and Barbara Wills inconjunction with the Royal BotanicGardens at Kew.Further details via the Icon website

22 JulyIcon Archaeology and Metals GroupsPortable XRFVenue: Institute of Archaeolory, UCL,LondonOne day symposium on Portable X-RayFlorescence analysis and equipment.Presentations and open discussion willfocus on how this technology is beingapplied in the field of conservation as wellas what the benefits and limitations are.All welcome. For further information seeGroup web pages, or contact Clair Chope([email protected])

September tbcIcon Textiles GroupVisit to New Galleries and Textile andCostume Stores at the Museum ofLondon.With presentations on the store’s refitproject and specifications for the boxesused. There will also be opportunity tovisit the recently opened galleries and thetextile and costume store.Cost: £5Further details via the Icon website

1–3 SeptemberSociety of ArchivistsConservation Training ConferenceVenue: Ramada Hotel, ManchesterConference theme: We are what we keep:challenging tradition in appraisal andaquisition. Speakers on preservation andconservation include Prof Tim Wess, DavidDorning, Caroline Peach, Hayley McHaffieand Jenny Hodgson.Further details via the Icon website or goto www.archives.org.uk/the society/theconference2010

8–10 SeptemberSociety of Glass TechnologyAnnual ConferenceVenue: CambridgeFurther details via the Icon website

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October tbcIcon Textiles GroupVisit to Albert E Chapman,Upholsterers, LondonCost: £10

4 OctoberIcon Textiles GroupVisit to New Galleries and Textile andCostume stores at the Museum ofLondonIncluding presentations on the store’s refitproject and specifications for the boxesused. There will also be opportunity tovisit the recently opened galleries and thetextile and costume store.Cost: £5Further details via the Icon website

6–8 OctoberBig Stuff 2010Venue: The Imperial War Museum,DuxfordOn the conflict and avoidance of conflictbetween the display and conservationrequirements of large technology objectswithin the museum setting.Contact: Chris Knapp ACR, ConservationManager, Imperial War Museum, Duxford,email [email protected]

11–15 OctoberICOM-CC Metal WGInternational Conference on HistoricMetals ConservationVenue: Charleston, South Carolina, USA

4–7 NovemberCostume Colloquium II: Dress forDanceVenue: Florence, ItalyFurther details via the Icon website

16 NovemberChurch Buildings Council ConservationForum 2010Conservation Issues Caused by thePresence of BatsVenue: The Guard Room, Lambeth Palace,London, SE1 7JUContact: Debbie Cunningham on tel: 0207898 1863Further details via the Icon website

15 SeptemberIcon Stained Glass GroupColleges, Parishes & Villas, StainedGlass Conservation in the South ofEnglandVenue: Cripps Auditorium MagdaleneCollege, Cambridge, CB3 0AGSpeakers: Chloe Cockerill -Heraldry/Stained Glass, Martin Harrison -Victorian Stained Glass, Prof. Joost Caen,Prof. Sebastian Strobl and Elise Learner –International Conservators.Cost: £78 (£88 non members)Contact: Peter Campling on email:[email protected] or tel: 01603891505 for a booking form.

20–24 SeptemberIIC Istanbul CongressConservation and the EasternMediterraneanFurther details via the Icon website

23–27 SeptemberIPH Congress 2010Venue: Angoulème, FranceThree main themes for the event; Side-industries and crafts connected topapermaking, Paper Economy and Trade:national and international interactions, TheUses of Paper: gestures, words, expertise.Further details via the Icon website.

28 September, 6pmIcon Book and Paper GroupFakes & Forgeries in Archives andLibrariesVenue: Icon Offices, London;Speaker: Dr Brian H. DaviesThe lecture deals with the variousmethods that have been used over thecenturies both to create forgeries and todetect them. Until the mid-19th century,forgeries were often revealed by criticalcomment forcing an eventual and detailedconfession. Nowadays, increasinglysophisticated scientific analysis, coupledwith an understanding of how thetechnology of writing and printing haschanged, is able to detect anyinconsistency with alleged provenance.Cost: £10 (£15 non-members, £6 students)Contact: register by 24 September withMaria Vilaincour on [email protected].

18–19 NovemberIcon Textiles GroupWorkshop: Upholstery – History &TechniquesVenue: Hampton Court Palace, SurreySpeaker: Lesley Wilson – a freelanceconservator working on public and privatecollections specialising in upholstery andthe historic development of upholsterytechniques and materials.Cost: £130Further details via the Icon website

WinterConservation Matters in WalesScary ObjectsVenue: Cynon Valley Museum, AberdareCase studies of work on scary ordangerous objects or on work thatpresents safety challenges because of thelocation.Contact: [email protected]

19-23 September 2011ICOM-CC 16th Triennial ConferenceVenue: Lisbon , PortugalFurther details via the Icon website.

• Visit www.icon.org.uk for moreevents and full details of all theentries listed here. There is alsolots of information about shorttraining and CPD coursesavailable from a variety ofproviders. On the website Homepage choose Events and Careers& Training and follow the links.

• More PACR information andbooking forms are in theAccreditation/CPD section.

ICON NEWS • NOVEMBER 2005 • 3

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Documents

Saving Riau Islands manuscripts · Saving Riau Islands manuscripts Alsointhisissue Sixteen new internships advertised Winners of the Cardiff poster competition The whys and hows of