Conservation

There are two different type of conservation: remedial and preventive.

Remedial (or 'interventive') conservation is the process of cleaning and making sensitive repairs to objects to reveal original surfaces, restore meaning and strengthen fragile components. This process makes objects much more stable and therefore more able to withstand being on display and handled.

Preventive conservation is the control of the physical environment in which objects are displayed and stored, in order to prevent degradation of the materials from occurring in the first place. Objects require a stable relative humidity and temperature within certain specifications, dependent upon their materials. Visible light, ultraviolet light, other pollutants and insect pests need to be controlled to maintain the collection.

Set of drawing instruments

Initially, it appeared that the leather on the upturned side of this small box of instruments had been over-exposed to daylight and the leather had faded. However, on closer inspection, it appeared to be soiled from an accumulation of dirt over a number of years.

George III silver microscope

This very ornate silver microscope had been the casualty of a very poor attempt at cleaning it, leaving it unevenly tarnished, the iron components corroded and a great deal of residual cleaning product left in the intricate details.

A well-travelled camera case

This leather case is part of T.E. Lawrence’s archaeological camera kit, on display in the Basement Gallery in the Museum. The camera itself is in very good condition, but this case had a number of problems, particularly the long split along the hinged lid. This was in danger of becoming completely detached, so intervention was required.

A crumbling lamp

During a search for other objects, this rather problematic lamp was discovered by our collections manager, who brought it to the attention of the conservation team. It was clearly in a bad way, with much of the front section fragmenting and delaminating into the tissue paper it was wrapped in. A small box was made to prevent further damage to the already fragile material while a conservation plan was formed to prevent the problem escalating.

A wet and mouldy chemistry set

This unfortunate object was found in a very poor state in storage. At some point, it had got wet and then slowly dried, leaving the pasteboard and paper box damaged and in a fragile state. Mould had started to grow not only on the exposed surfaces but between the pasteboard and paper covering, and the pot of carbon powder within the set had deposited a good portion of its contents all over the interior.