Overcoming Obstacles to Preventive Conservation Projects in Italy: With a Case Study of the Savoy Carriage Collection of the Presidency of the Republic

ABSTRACT

Working on preventive conservation in Italy is difficult but not impossible. After small successes and setbacks convincing museums to adopt elements of preventive conservation in the 1990s, the first author (Rossi Doria) was contracted for 15 years to preserve the historic carriages and associated objects of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy. This required patience to overcome or circumvent obstacles such as an inflexible bureaucracy and the absence of any formal recognition of preventive conservation within the educational and contractual systems for heritage conservation. The key factors in his success were the support of the curators, the financial and planning autonomy of the Presidency, and the obvious need for conservation and preservation of these elegant and complex objects. The program began in 2001 with the recovery of the forgotten collection from inappropriate storage in several locations. The entire collection was surveyed and recorded, not only the carriages but also thousands of harnesses, saddles, clothing, fabrics, weapons and memorabilia. Multiple preventive and interventive actions were undertaken, such as pest eradication for all sensitive materials, environmental surveys, and everyday maintenance, as well as complex treatments for the ornate carriages. Analysis by country of published articles on preventive conservation and of IIC membership both confirm that the topic is not as well established in Italy as in many other countries. Some reasons and solutions are proposed.     

Humidity Control in Historic Buildings in Denmark

ABSTRACT

Historic buildings in Denmark have a high relative humidity (RH) all year, so the interiors are exposed to biological degradation. The acceptable range for RH is 60–70%, which is higher than the usual recommendations for museums and galleries. There are two options for humidity control: conservation heating or mechanical dehumidification. Calculation of the energy performance of a generic building was used to determine which method is the most efficient. Studies of a cottage in Liselund Park, and of two medieval churches in Hellerup and Vemb have confirmed these predictions: dehumidification is less energy consuming than conservation heating in buildings with poor thermal insulation and a moderate air infiltration rate (AER?<?0.6?h^?1). Dehumidification is suitable for historic buildings, where heating is not needed for human comfort. A condensing dehumidifier uses less than half the energy per kg water compared to an absorption dehumidifier. But it does not work at temperatures below 2°C. The combination of a condensing dehumidifier and a little heating to prevent frost is the most energy efficient solution for humidity control. These results are only valid in mild and humid climatic conditions similar to Denmark.     

THE CONSERVATION OF TAPESTRIES FOR MUSEUM DISPLAY

Abstract

A broad outline of the considerations which arise with regard to the conservation of a museum collection of tapestries is given in this paper. The various types of damage to, and deterioration of, tapestries is discussed.

Various methods of washing and dry cleaning, and the equipment necessary for these procedures, are reviewed, and a caution is included as to the necessity of testing all dyes for colour fastness in both water and any solvent used for dry cleaning. The equipment, materials and techniques of repair are discussed; three methods of repair being currently used in museums and specialist workshops — re-weaving, stitching on to a backing and the use of synthetic resins for impregnation and adhesion to a woven support. It is suggested in conclusion that the optimum method of repair in museums is stitching on to a backing. More research must be undertaken into the use of synthetic resins, and re-weaving usually alters the original appearance of the tapestry.

Finally, the need for specialised conservation staff in a museum with a tapestry collection is emphasised.     

The problem of formaldehyde in museum collections

The release of formaldehyde from plywood, particleboard, coatings, and insulating matérials containing formaldehyde-based resins is referred to by the mobile home and foam insulation industries as ‘the odor problem’, but it is a suspected carcinogen.¹ These formaldehyde-containing materials are widely used in the construction of new museums and redesigned exhibition and storage areas; but only recently has formaldehyde begun to be identified as a danger to museum collections. It is widely known that formic and acetic acids, which can be released by wood products, may cause serious damage to lead-containing alloys and other metals, stone, ceramics, shell specimens, and organic materials.² Some of this corrosion, which usually is in the form of a white crystalline growth, may be attributable to formaldehyde, as discussed below. The authors conducted a survey of conservation, industrial, and environmental literature to determine the potential for and the nature and extent of damage caused by the presence of formaldehyde in museum construction materials. Although industrial literature contains much information on the use of formaldehyde and formic acid for alteration of the properties of both organic and inorganic materials, there is little information in the conservation literature about the potential for similar alteration of art materials. This research outlines the potential and actual effects of formaldehyde on works of art, and suggests some methods of avoiding these effects.     

Link It or Lump It

Abstract

Mounting digital images of art objects on a Web site is only the first step in providing patron access to such materials. Libraries and museums have a responsibility to provide not only high-quality digital reproductions but also high-quality access from an integrated library catalog with controlled vocabulary and consistent access points. While some digital collections may have excellent internal searchability and require no more than collection level cataloging in a library's OPAC, others may demand cataloging of individual components of the collection. A particular collection's significance, its potential audience, the types of access required, as well as factors such as its size and cohesiveness need to be considered before becoming locked into a specific Web designespecially when it is that of another institution.

This paper examines several online library catalogs in which records for art objects as well as historical objects and natural history specimens have been merged, with varying degrees of success, and briefly addresses a modest proposal to catalog ceramic objects at the Ohio State University Libraries. The importance of consistent subject access in a merged catalog, regardless of the thesaurus or thesauri used, is stressed. Library consortia and bibliographic utilities may offer an economically appealing alternative for libraries that cannot design and construct their own digital libraries but these external organizations often have limited capability for-or interest in-modifying the design for a particular library and even less interest in cataloging the collections. Libraries, too, must be faulted for simply listing available electronic resources, either alphabetically or in broad subject categories, on a separate portion of their Web page and failing to provide full catalog records in their catalog. Finally, it is emphasized that the current debate over the viability of MARC 21 versus other metadata standards remains largely irrelevant to the importance of continuing to cultivate a monolithic online catalog, maintaining cataloging standards, and not mindlessly developing what amounts to a separate, rudimentary catalog solely for electronic resources.     

Technical Analysis of an Early Painting by Botticelli

Abstract

A study is presented of the growth of sulphidecontaining corrosion products on antiquities in museums. Analysis of the corrosion products suggests that they are dependent on the mode of formation. Techniques for conservation have also been investigated and l-amido-l-cyanoethylene, 2,2-di(sodium thiolate) is recommended for dissolving the sulphide layers, while a treatment with benzotriazole followed by lacquering is recommended for long-term protection.     

The Light-fastness of the Natural Dyes

Abstract

Since the late nineteenth century, museums in New Zealand have intermittently painted Maori wood sculpture matt red in the mistaken belief that they were continuing a tradition of red-coloured carving pre-dating the arrival of the European in New Zealand. Conservation work at AucklandMuseum has restored some of these back to their original surfaces. The article describes the history of the carvings under discussion, the conservation carried out, and some of the ramifications of the results achieved.     

Cueing the Visitor: The Museum Theater and the Visitor Performance

There are an estimated 17,500 museums in the United States. If people think these institutions are pretty much the same once you get inside or that the differences between them are unimportant, it might be hard to persuade them that all 17,500 are needed. Exhibitions can have great transformational power; why don’t they exercise that power more often? Have museums not fully understood exhibitions as a medium? Have we not devoted enough attention to the full repertoire of visitor feelings? Have visitors been telling us this and we have failed to listen? For many people, museums play many roles in their lives; for most others few or none. How can this be? “Museum‐adept” visitors seem to prize museums as theaters in which their own emotional and spiritual journeys can be staged, but what about the non‐museum‐adept? Can the museum‐adept teach us how to realize our medium’s full potential?     

THE CONSERVATOR IN CONTEXT: CROSSING CURATORIAL BOUNDARIES

Abstract

Is the conservation profession dividing into two groups – specialized technicians often working in private practice, and generalists in the heritage sector whose work is often in preventive conservation covering a diverse range of materials? If so are we moving away from conservation specialists, who contribute to the wide range of processes involved with object care and research within particular curatorial disciplines? We examine the increasing distancing of conservators from collections and their curatorial colleagues and will assess how this is reflected in the changing nature of training courses, and the impact this may have on museums in the future. These issues are discussed with reference to the National Museum of Wales, which has recently undergone an externally refereed conservation review. The outcomes of this can be viewed in relation to other institutions employing conservators.     

馆藏动物剥制标本的管理及预防性保护

动物剥制标本作为自然博物馆、高校博物馆、部分综合性博物馆以及科研机构标本馆的重要收藏对象和展示资源,具有极高的收藏价值、展览价值、艺术价值、科研价值和科普教育价值等,但在长期保藏过程中,因受制作工艺、环境条件、人为活动的影响,极易受到损坏。本文论述了馆藏动物剥制标本的常规管理、保藏环境管理以及预防性保护,旨在为我国自然标本管理,特别是为动物剥制标本的管理和保藏工作提供参考资料。     

Evidencing the Case for Preventive Conservation: the Role of Collections Care Documentation

ABSTRACT

Collections care describes actions taken to prevent or limit the deterioration of moveable cultural heritage and ‘collections care documentation’ (CCD) refers to the recording and retention of information relating to those activities. This paper describes the findings of a survey and targeted interviews with staff from a number of U.K. museums, archives and libraries. The results suggest that, while there is much good practice, some organisations face difficulties instituting a framework for CCD which covers all their activities effectively.

Large and small organisations have varying challenges to face; the former with specialist staff working in separate departments and the latter with staff who carry out activities relating to preventive conservation but who may not have specialist knowledge. An efficient documentation structure, which is resilient and relevant to the organisation, can support and improve communication as well as raise awareness of the reasons for and methods of preventive conservation. This paper looks at the reasons why even basic practices can sometimes be difficult to achieve and presents ideas for identifying and overcoming barriers. As preventive conservators argue that specified actions influence the long-term sustainability of collections the evidence that allows verification those claims needs to be retained. In order to do this, a greater focus on what data to collect and why will enable the sector to align CCD with specific research questions.     

An Introduction to “Visualizing Russian History” The Russian Revolution Centennial: Exhibitions,Collections, Audience

ABSTRACT

The Russian Revolution Centennial has called forth many exhibitions of the vast holdings of libraries, archives, museums and other collections. This special issue reviews major exhibitions, the history of the collections and the conceptions and strategies of curators. Revolution’s centennial in 2017 called forth numerous conferences, programs, lectures, publications, and other events. One of the richest avenues of celebration and scholarship was the many brilliant exhibitions organized by archives, museums, and other repositories. The centennial provided an occasion for assessing and for rethinking the modes of presentation and the significance of many types of collections. What to show, how to show it, and for whom became big questions to which curators, archivists, art historians, and many others came up with big answers. These exhibitions and initiatives have pointed the way toward new and welcome collaboration between curators, archivists, historians of art and photography, and political and social historians of the Russian Revolution.     

Vision and Vulnerability: Thoughts on Leadership and Conservation

ABSTRACT

Testimony from colleagues in the cultural sector suggests that there is a common perception of leaders as authoritarian, infallible and invulnerable. However, developing leaders soon come to understand that good leaders often have an authenticity of their own. Being able to embrace authentic leadership in this way requires confidence. It involves accepting vulnerabilities, learning to be comfortable making decisions without all the information, and daring to risk potential failure as the best way to encourage creativity, innovation and learning. Given this dichotomy, is there a potential for the development of leadership in conservation? This paper explores the unique challenges we face as conservators in a changing sector. In it, I reconnect with professional experiences of my own and those I gained as the first conservation fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme as well as examining testimony from others in the profession and the wider cultural sector. The ideas generated are supported by literature from a variety of sources inside and outside the conservation field. Starting from what draws people to conservation in the very beginning and working through to the leadership of the profession, the paper identifies four main areas of challenge for conservation in a twenty-first-century creative economy. These are around a lack of diversity, a lack of confidence, the strength of voice and perception and issues around support, for our decision-making and for the profession as a whole. The paper concludes that a new vision for the future of conservation could not only help rebalance the diverging preventive and remedial specialisms but also be instrumental in the perception, interpretation and preservation of cultural heritage. If we expand our horizons, the bigger picture of heritage and what it can achieve for the society could be crucial to us not only changing but thriving in the modern world.     

Manufacture and Date of a Goryeo dynasty Sutra Box with Mother-of-pearl Inlaid Decoration at the Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam

Currently, about ten Goryeo dynasty (918–1392 CE) sutra boxes are preserved in museums in Korea, Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. This article is the result of an examination of a sutra box in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (hereafter ‘Rijksmuseum sutra box’), which was first introduced to a European audience in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Japanese Society, in 1913–1914. The Rijksmuseum sutra box differs from other Goryeo sutra boxes. With its altered structure and modified motifs, this box bears significant value, not only for the research of thirteenth-century Goryeo mother-of-pearl art, but also for the study of cross-cultural adaptations in East Asian lacquer art. This article investigates the date of manufacture of the sutra box by analysing the manufacturing techniques and its various original and modified parts. For this, an X-ray radiograph was carried out for the first time. As a result, discoveries have been made regarding the structure and decoration of the lower part, which has been modified and is different from Goryeo mother-of-pearl sutra boxes. Finally, this paper reconsiders conservation and repair of Goryeo sutra boxes, as illuminated by an understanding of the original and repaired parts of this box.     

Guideline in Jeopardy: Observations on the Application of the ASHRAE Chapter on Climate Control in Museums

ABSTRACT

This paper provides the climate specifications of several museums in the Netherlands that have been renovated. These climate specifications developed in the last two decades are very similar, and hence demonstrate that not much has changed in 20 years. Since the use of the climate classes presented by ASHRAE often plays a major role in developing climate specifications in Dutch museums, an analysis was made of its pros and cons. Issues concerning the use of the ASHRAE table are presented: the table is used as a list, the meaning of short fluctuations is unclear, and translating the numbers to a control algorithm is troublesome. An alternative table is presented for temperature and relative humidity specifications to overcome these issues.     

Collecting participatory art at the Denver Art Museum

Participatory art is a contemporary movement requiring viewers to take an active part in the artwork, by means ranging from interaction with materials to creative contribution. Artistic developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, such as political and social engagement, led to the rise of participatory practices. Concurrently, museums have reacted to falling attendance and cultural shifts by seeking to create more engaging experiences for visitors. At the Denver Art Museum, this has led to an increased interest in displaying and collecting participatory art. Through case studies of works in the collection of the Denver Art Museum, Walking in Venus Blue Cave (2001) by Ernesto Neto and ¿Being Home? (2009) by Rupprecht Matthies, this paper explores the conservation of participatory artworks in museum collections, including their maintenance on display, long-term preservation of their interactive nature, and the possibility of involving communities in conservation actions and decision-making.     

Fred Wilson,PTSD, and Me: Reflections on the History Wars

Abstract Our relationships with our audiences have proved parlous. But if history is destined to be contested, where should museums be in that contest and how do we get there? Fred Wilson's Mining the Museum has turned out to be a path not taken; Enola Gay was a cautionary tale. But we should have these fights in museums, where the national narrative is blocked out and staged, because of how museums teach us, opening hidden windows on cloaked realities. Museums can start by becoming clearer about what they think they are doing when they make an exhibition. Exhibitions can have a profound effect on visitors at many levels but it doesn't happen very often. Is that because visitors seek another kind of experience from what we typically offer?     

Art and National Identity: Some Museums in Prague

In histories of the art museum, Prague has only a minor place. Yet at one crucial early moment, Prague played an important role in what we might call the prehistory of European public museums. There is a close link between art museums and nationalism. One necessary condition for being a country, it might be said, is that its people have a distinctive artistic tradition and therefore reason to build a museum in which to house it. What, then, is the relationship between Prague’s art museums and the identity of the Czech people?     

Beyond Science: Implications of the LSIE Report for Art Museum Education

Abstract The Learning Science in Informal Environments report holds great potential for creating change among those who work in the field of science education. But to what extent can it inform other sectors of the informal education world? This article explores how the LSIE report might influence research and practice in art museums. By comparing the report to a recent study in art education, the authors point out areas of overlap and divergence relative to content and skills, identity, and communities of practice. We suggest several implications for how art museums and science museums might learn from one another. A call to action is made for further research and discussion about common learning goals and outcomes for the art museum experience.