Pinpointing pigments on marbled paper - Icon · scheme. We know that the profession generally feels...

Pinpointing pigments on marbled paper

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Tools can be cheap and effective

Volunteering can broaden your education

Comparing professions: archaeology and conservation

THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONSERVATION • NOVEMBER 2013 • ISSUE 49

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Are you thinking of joining the Conservation Register?

www.conservationregister.com

The Conservation Register is the recognised source for finding

For further information and full details on the requirements for inclusion in the Conservation Register visit:

museum, the Council for the Care of Churches;

An individual entry providing full contact details and including

An opportunity to showcase examples of work to potential clients;

Provision of information on the accreditation and skills of you and your staff;

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ICONnewsNOVEMBER2013Cover:01234 31/10/13 15:25

inside NOVEMBER 2013Issue 49

2 NEWSThe CEO on the PACR review;a new clock register;comparing archaeology &conservation; the NigelWilliams prize

12PEOPLE

14A GRAND FOUNTAINEpisode 2 of this Paisleyproject

16SHOPPING INPOUNDLANDInexpensive materials can dothe job well

18A VOLUNTEER’S DAYGetting to grips withcollections care at OsterleyHouse

20AROUND & ABOUTDigitising, disassembling,celebrating a sculptureanniversary, performing inpublic

26REVIEWSPaper making, silicon mouldmaking, using the vacuumtable, the Country House

31 IN PRACTICEA preliminary investigationinto marbled paper pigmentswith In Training on conservinga bridal crown

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Institute of Conservation1.5, Lafone House, The Leathermarket, Weston StreetLondon SE1 3ER

T +44(0)20 3142 6799

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

Chief ExecutiveAlison Richmond [email protected]

Conservation Registerconservationregister@icon.org.ukwww.conservationregister.com

ISSN 1749-8988

Icon NewsEditorLynette [email protected]

PrintersCalderstone Design & Print Limitedwww.calderstone.com

Design Rufus [email protected]

For recruitment and all otheradvertisingRebecca Hendry020 3142 [email protected]

Cover photo:Marbled paper from a mid 18thcentury French paper binding - thesubject of preliminary pigmentanalysis in In Practice on page 31

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 January 2014 issue

Editorial: 29 November

Adverts: 12 December

From the Editor The review of our professional practiceassessment scheme – commonly known asPACR – is nearing completion and some of theinteresting issues to emerge from it arereflected in the opening articles from our CEOand Susan Bradshaw, our ProfessionalDevelopment Manager. I am amazed and

impressed by the sheer number of accredited conservators –well over two hundred of them – who voluntarily contributetheir time and labour to operate the scheme. It is their effortswhich make ACR the hallmark for high quality, ethicalconservation and Icon the home of the professionalconservator. It is also remarkable that the entire operation iscoordinated by just Susan with one and half other colleagues.

The Nigel Williams prize is open for entries again, so come onall you ceramics and glass conservators, write up your projectsand submit them. There is a student prize as well this timearound. To spur you on, Lynne Edge ACR has written a pieceabout how important winning the prize was to her and herbusiness.

Lynette Gill

ICON NEWS • NOVEMBER 2013 • 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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professional updateFrom the Chief Executive

ICON’S GOLDEN EGGAlison Richmond ACR FIIC comments on the outcome ofa recent review of our professional practice assessmentprocess (PACR)

Something to be proud of Icon’s professional accreditationframework, PACR, is rigorous, itis robust, it works well. PACR hasbeen going since 2000 when thefirst conservators were fast-tracked and we have justundertaken a secondQuinquennial Review of thescheme. We know that theprofession generally feelspositive about it.

Assessing practitioners againstprofessional standards meansthat our profession is open toeveryone. There is no single

route into the profession – a graduate route, say, or anapprenticeship or the requirement for a degree from aparticular course – one can come at it from any angle. Theimportant thing is to meet the professional standards at the’Proficient’ level.

Setting up our profession in this way is an amazingachievement that we should all be proud of. When I talk topeople about Icon, amongst all of the things that we do,people latch onto accreditation. They understand that PACRis the lynchpin of our professional development. It is whatmakes us a professional body.

Something to nurtureIt appears to be the case that accreditation has been workingso well that we have been taking it for granted. The enormousvolunteer contribution of the Accreditation Committee,assessors, CPD readers and mentors and the PACRManagement Board is all co-ordinated so seamlessly by Iconstaff, that we forget that PACR needs to be nurtured in orderto thrive. The Quinquennial Review carries out a health checkon PACR, takes stock of what we have achieved since the lastReview and sets the agenda for the next five years. TheReview has revealed some home truths: that Icon at thehighest level needs to acknowledge and work to embedPACR at the heart of Icon.

Something to shout aboutPACR is still considered by some as an ‘optional extra’. Not allconservators are convinced that PACR is an essentialcomponent of their career or understand that becomingaccredited is the point at which one becomes a professionalconservator. This may be because the benefits are not clear orhave not yet materialised, for example in higher salaries foraccredited professionals.

The Review has also highlighted the fact that accreditation is

not widely known amongst employers and is almost unheardof at the level of institutional directors. While Icon’s recentConservation Labour Market Research indicates thatemployers are willing to support PACR, by contrast the lowresponse rate from employers to the Review study indicatesotherwise.

The loudest message coming from the Review is that moreeffort should go into promotion – a campaign, in fact – toeducate employers, large and small, public and private, aboutthe value of accreditation. Time for this has to come fromsomewhere and we have been urged to review, at the sametime, the input of both staff and volunteers to make theprocess more efficient and thus free up more time forpromotion and marketing. A major shift in awareness has tooccur if we are going to ensure that accreditation is perceivedas the industry quality mark that we know it to be.

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SOME PACR FACTS AND FIGURES PACR: a way of demonstrating a recognised standard ofprofessional expertise in the care of cultural heritagebeyond qualifications gained from training

Professional Standards: the foundation stone of PACR,providing published common standards created by theconservation profession

Participating bodies: Icon, ARA (Archives and RecordsAssociation) and BHI (British Horological Institute)

Administration: undertaken by a small Icon team: theProfessional Development Manager (Susan Bradshaw), apart-time Accreditation Officer (Shulla Jaques) and aProfessional Support Officer (Kath Whittam)

The PACR Management Board*: its 6 membersrepresent the three participating bodies. Its job is theoverall management and policy setting of PACR.

The Accreditation Committee*: reviews applicationsand accredits members. Its 17 members represent allthe conservation disciplines and both private andinstitutional practice.

87 Assessors* assess an applicant’s professionalpractice against the Professional Standards. Betweenthem they cover all the conservation specialisms anddifferent types of practice.

59 PACR mentors* advise and guide PACR applicantsand Pathway members towards submitting theirapplications.

50 CPD Readers*: provide feedback to accreditedmembers on the reviews they submit periodically todemonstrate their ongoing learning and professionaldevelopment (cpd)

* All these roles are filled by volunteer accredited members,who undergo training for their tasks and whose support forand commitment to the profession is exemplary



Susan Bradshaw, Icon’s Professional DevelopmentManager, sets out some thoughts arising from thereview

Taking it forwardThe PACR Quinquennial Review2013 was undertaken byexternal consultants. Theirreport was considered in earlySeptember by an Advisory Panelwhich was set up for thispurpose to represent a widerange of perspectives within andoutside Icon. The purpose ofthe Panel’s meeting was toprioritise recommendations, toform a strategy, delegateactions and consider theresources required toimplement actions. The aim is

for the Icon Board of Trustees to consider itsrecommendations at its meeting on 2 December and foractions in due course to be incorporated into Icon’s BusinessPlan for 2014–16.

Some messages from the Review surveySince the last review took place in 2007/08, the landscape ofthe profession has changed significantly. Icon itself is a muchstronger, confident and organised professional association.This is reflected in the high response to the Review surveysent out to Icon members in June. It was a credit to theReview team and to Icon members and demonstrates anencouraging level of engagement. On the other hand theresponse from employers was very low, a fact which wasthought to be significant by the Advisory Panel.

There were no great surprises in the survey, though some ofthe findings were disappointing or perhaps harsh: inparticular, the perception of accreditation as a ‘closed shop’,even though considerable efforts have been made to avoidthis. Part of this may come from some members ofparticipating bodies mistakenly perceiving conservationmembers to be an ‘elite’ group. There will always be a smallpercentage which finds change difficult but, on the otherhand, an archivist from ARA reported that PACR has aprestige value in the wider ARA membership and accreditedconservators are held in high regard.

It’s up to us all One strong theme in the Report is that delivering keymessages about PACR could and should be the role of Icon’smembership as a whole and not just the Icon team. Forexample, the fact that the PACR process is flexible and shouldattract conservators from both public and private sectors isnot being fully communicated. This is something that can bedone now by all ACRs – to advocate accreditation as widely aspossible.

Lobbying One recommendation for institutional members is to workwith their Human Resource (HR) professionals to shapeaccreditation to fit with their internal HR procedures. Althoughthe Icon team informs job advertisers about accreditation, itmay be too late at this stage of the recruitment process toinfluence the role specification. Members are thereforeencouraged to promote accreditation internally, before fillingvacancies reaches the final advert stage. Conversely, thoseapplying for positions could ask about how the organizationor business supports professional development and itsunderstanding of Professional Standards.

Private practitioners can be proactive in illustrating how thebusiness addresses the Professional Standards, in order todemonstrate the competences that non-accreditedconservators may not have. Promotion is also linked to therole of ambassadors and endorsement from otherorganisations and professional bodies.

Owning our ‘golden egg’ One of the clearest themes of the Quinquennial Reviewsurvey was to bring accreditation more fully into the Icon fold.PACR is owned by Icon and its membership. It is something touse and be proactive about in demonstrating to employers,clients and anyone engaged with heritage conservation. Asthe report states, it is Icon’s ‘Golden Egg’. As noted in the2012/13 CLMI report on the conservation workforce,employers are impressed by the rigour of the PACR process.Therefore the apparent separation of PACR from Icon shouldbe rectified and the association with the Icon brand should bestrengthened. Central to Icon is high professional standards,which form the basis of accreditation. Being ‘professionally’accredited is key and should be synonymous with credibility.

The new Pathway schemeIcon’s new initiative, the PACR Pathway, has attracted onehundred and twenty members. Signing up to the Pathwaydemonstrates a commitment to working towardsaccreditation, starting from as early as initial qualificationthrough to the time the participant is ready to apply foraccreditation. The PACR-trained mentors are now fullyengaged in supporting Pathway members. The value andcommitment they bring benefits not only the person planningtheir personal development towards ACR status but also thementors themselves, as it aids their own professionaldevelopment.

A lifetime’s learningThe value of continuing professional development can beunderestimated; it is there to demonstrate the continuity ofone’s level of ability. PACR is not a ‘one off’ achievement – it isongoing and a crucial part of the PACR framework, in order todemonstrate how an individual grows throughout their career.Even if one is approaching retirement, learning is still a keypart of a professional’s life. It will not look the same as forsomeone in their mid-career and will address different needsbut it is still showing continuous professional development.

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THE CLOCK REGISTERThe Clock Register (www.clockregister.org) has just made itsdebut on the internet as a conservation register for clockprofessionals and enthusiasts. It offers the infrastructure foreveryone interested in clocks – conservators, collectors,dealers, tutors, students, curators, auctioneers, in shortanyone who cares about clocks – to contribute information foreveryone’s benefit today and for future generations. The moreclocks that are entered, the more valuable this new resourcewill become.

Developed with a lot of enthusiasm, but born out offrustration, The Clock Register appeared as the brainchild ofMarc ter Kuile, a West Dean College clock graduate. Workingon many different clocks for clients from his workshop athome, Marc explains:

‘I missed the ability to find quickly who had worked on a clockbefore, who had owned it and what a previous conservatorhad decided to act upon and why? Just as a doctor wants toaccess the medical history of his patients, so should a clockconservator have all previous work on that clock at hisfingertips. This way, the conservator can more easily come upwith an accountable, and preferably reversible, approach tothe conservation of that clock. At the same time, a collector,dealer or auctioneer will gain respect and credibility if a

clock’s pedigree can be verified and explained. Manymuseums already offer information about their collectionsonline. That’s great. What’s missing, though, is an overarchingdatabase that will hold information about all clocks, regardlessof their ownership, nationality or physical whereabouts. This isthe reason The Clock Register has sprung up. I see it as afurther professionalization of the way we work and organiseourselves as clock professionals. In particular, it will enhanceour reputation vis-à-vis our clients.’

Marc realised that if this type of information is tracked overtime and stored in a database that everyone – interested in,or working with, clocks – can access, a hugely valuableresource will be created. For now, and for future generations.

The Clock Register stores more than one hundred and fortyitems about a clock including conservator work reports,ownership history, photos and sound recordings. You cansearch The Clock Register with Google-like searches forwhatever minute detail you need to know about a clock. Theservice is free (you only have to register atwww.clockregister.org) and aims to store information about allclocks in the world.

The site’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page is a goodplace to find out more about this service.

AWARDS NEWS FOR SCOTLAND

Awards availableThe Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust’s Paper ConservationFund aims to help accredited museums in Scotland, inparticular small and medium-sized independent ones, to workwith conservators to undertake projects that conserve theircollections of works on paper. Projects can be treatment,surveys, training courses and skills development workshops.The fund awards £6,500 a year in two rounds (July andJanuary) and aims to support up to six projects a year.

The Trust is particularly keen to fund a training course formuseum staff/volunteers in paper conservation and successfulapplications for courses will be awarded 100% funding.

Please note that the next deadline is the 30 November 2013.For an Application Form and Guidance, please [email protected].



CONSERVATION METHODOLOGY &MANAGING CHANGEConservation methodology and managing change is awelcome repeat of the very successful course reviewed in IconNews issue 26. Inspired by ICCROM’s Sharing ConservationDecisions course but tailored to the concerns of UKconservators, this West Dean course, run in collaboration withIcon, takes place 2–5 December. It explores the relationshipbetween theory and practice and is essential training for allconservators.

The course will examine the study of ‘the object’ in thecontext of differing global cultural values and, with referenceto a wide range of case-studies, will examine howconservation decisions are made and the role of theprofessional conservator in the process.

COLLECTION CARE TOOLS The Museum of London has developed a series of CollectionCare E-Learning Tools which have been funded by ACE (ArtsCouncil England). They cover the basic principles ofEmergency Planning, Pests, Handling and Packing and arefree to use at the web address below. The message from theMuseum is: please feel free to share them and spread the word.

www.museumoflondon.org.uk/collections-research/conservation-collection-care/

NEWS FROM THE GROUPS

Archaeology GroupThe Icon Archaeology Group would like to take thisopportunity to update our membership on changes to thecommittee agreed at this year’s AGM. We would like to thankKarla Graham, who stepped down as chair, Sharon Penton,who stepped down as treasurer, and Rob Lewis, who steppeddown as communications officer, for all their hard work. BothKarla and Rob will be staying on as ordinary members; Sharonis remaining as a co-opted member. We would like to thankexisting members Beth Werrett, Evelyne Godfrey andDeborah Magnoler for taking up the roles of chair,communications officer and head of the events teamrespectively. We would like to welcome Sarah Morton astreasurer and Alaina Schmisseur, Ellie Rowley-Conwy andBronwen Roberts as the new events team. Thank you to allmembers of the committee for your continued commitment

Awards announcedThe June Baker Trust, which helps conservators in Scotland, ispleased to announce the awards that it has been able to giveout this year:

• Zoë Lanceley: £100 towards the costs of a three-day leatherconservation course in Glasgow for textile conservationstudents

• Rosie Chamberlin: £200 towards the costs of travel to andfrom a textile conservation student summer placement

• Nick Wright: £275, towards the cost of attending theBAPCR meeting in London ‘The Picture so far…50 years ofPaintings Conservation’

• Hal Jacob: £275 to attend the ‘Metal 2013’ conference inEdinburgh

• Will Murray ACR: £150 towards the costs of attending the‘Metal 2013’ conference in Edinburgh

The June Baker Trust was set up in 1990 to help individualsworking in the conservation of historic and artistic artefacts inScotland, or training with the intention to do so.

Awards are available towards travel, attendance atconferences and on short courses, purchase of equipment, orother suitable projects. Awards are made once a year, in June.

LETTER TO THE EDITORI am writing to say thank you for including the article by JaneHenderson in issue 48 of Icon News (‘Intervention’), as it reallymade a connection with me and, I am sure, with many otherjob-seeking conservators.

I am not a recent graduate, but have an MA, an internship,plenty of experience volunteering at various museums/statelyhomes, and a recent freelance project. I have, however, yet toachieve success at a museum job interview. I haveencountered most of the problems outlined in Jane’s articleand was heartened to hear these being highlighted bysomeone who is impartial and therefore less likely to bedismissed as having ‘sour grapes’. Jane has, in short, giventhe interviewee a voice.

I would add one particular bugbear, which is the non-paymentof expenses to attend these interviews. When we are beingasked to pay anything up to £100 or more for a train journey(plus time off from any work we have), it would be nice to belet down a little more gently than with a standard email fromthe HR department.

With the pitiful amount of posts actually being advertised, it ismore important than ever that interviewees get the relevantfeedback they need in order to build upon their performancethe next time. I hope employers take note and realise thattheir institutions are also under the spotlight here. Howsomeone is treated when they are invited to interview is areflection on the organisation itself, and I have (sadly) foundmyself re-evaluating some of my views after the experience.

Many thanks again for printing Jane’s article, I hope it givesheart to my fellow job-seeking conservators.

Name and address withheld

Intense debate at the last Conservation Methodology course


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Metals GroupThe Metals Group committee welcomes a new member -Katrina Redman of Hall Conservation Ltd.

We are planning a group tour of the Cutty Sark in Greenwichfor May/June 2014. For planning purposes we need to get anidea of the number of people interested in participating inthis event, which is expected to cost around £15 per person. Ifyou are interested in attending please email Jacqui Ready([email protected]) to express your interest; there isno commitment at this stage. More details to come.

Textile Group The Textile Group now has a facebook page. This provides anopportunity to keep up with news and events but it is also aforum for discussion enabling the sharing of thoughts andideas. Photographs of events attended can also be posted.Do have a look and please contribute anything that you feelwould be of interest. The page can be found by searchingIcon textiles group.

A very successful visit to Toye, Kenning and Spencer inBedworth, Warwickshire, took place in September. A review ofthe afternoon can be found on page 29. Thank you toRosamund Weatherall for organising this event.

Also very successful was the study day held at Ham Houselooking at the conservation of the late 17th century wallhangings from the Queen’s Antechamber. A review of thisevent will be in the next issue of Icon. May Berkouwer, whohas carried out the conservation treatment on the hangings,and led the day, was delighted with the positive feedback shereceived.

Thank you to everyone who submitted abstracts for nextyear’s forum, under the theme of, ‘Joined up Thinking:Textiles and the Historic Interior’. The committee are busyselecting speakers and organising the event so look out forfurther information soon, confirming the date and venue.

WINNING THE NIGEL WILLIAMS PRIZEI trained in the Conservation of Ceramics, Glass and RelatedMaterials at West Dean College, Chichester, 1990–1992.During this period I was incredibly fortunate to have NigelWilliams as one of my external tutors. Nigel was always soopen, generous and passionate in disseminating his vastknowledge and experience. He had the fantastic ability toexplain techniques simply and with clarity; I learnt so muchfrom him. To this day I still use some of the unwrittentechniques he shared. It was fitting in 2002 that an award wasestablished in his honour to celebrate excellence in theConservation of Ceramics, Glass and Related Material.

In March 2008 I left my position as Section Head of Ceramicsand Glass Conservation at the National Museums Liverpool toset up in private practice. Soon after, I began work on theproject for which I won the award in 2010: the Conservation ofa World War I/II Glass Opus Sectile War Memorial. It was clearfrom the outset that this project would present manycomplexities and challenges, not least that very littlereference material existed on the conservation of this type of

and welcome to what will certainly be another successful year!

We are pleased to announce that the annual ArchaeologyGroup Christmas event will be held at Birmingham Museumand Art Gallery on Friday 13 December 2013 (afternoon only).The theme for this year’s talks is The Good, The Bad and TheUgly. A visit to the conservation department and to one of thelocal pubs for a pre-holiday toast will be part of this friendlyevent, within the festive and vibrant setting that isBirmingham at Christmas. Look out for more information onthe Icon Archaeology web pages closer to the date. Contact:[email protected]

Book & Paper GroupAs you all know I will be leaving the committee at the end ofDecember and therefore this is my last piece for News fromthe Groups. This has been an intense period for me and therest of the committee and I am in many ways looking forwardto my ‘retirement’! But I am very pleased to say that our newChair, Isabelle Egan, will start her role in March 2014, after aninterim period in which Victoria Stevens has kindly agreed tostep in as Acting Chair. Isabelle is an experienced member ofthe committee, with a firm grasp of the challenges faced byour profession in the present climate. One of her mainpriorities will be to respond to the increasing demand foraccess to professional development opportunities by buildingon the excellent track record of the Co-operative TrainingRegister (CTR). I and the rest of the committee have everyconfidence that Isabelle will be an active and effective Chair,and a strong advocate for the interests of Book & PaperGroup members.

The CTR sub-committee has co-opted two more enthusiasticconservators: Maartje Schalkx and Sarai Vardi, who willprovide much-needed assistance with the current CTRprogramme and will help to organise the 2015 Book & PaperGroup Conference.

The response to online registration for the Innovation inConservation Mounting workshop was outstanding, and theeighteen available places were fully booked in less than fiveminutes! All 135 places for the evening lecture with HughPhibbs have now also been filled. These are very good signsand point to a desire for more events along the same lines.We hope to be able to run a similar workshop next year.

A film of Richard Wolbers’ lecture The use of Gels in AqueousConservation of Paper is now available to view on the Book &Paper Group section of the Icon website.

If you have any questions for the committee, or ideasregarding projects, or if you would like to attend a committeemeeting as a special guest or to raise a specific issue, pleaseremember that you can contact me [email protected]. Our next meeting will be on 6December at the Chantry Library. The committee memberswould like you to feel that they are approachable, and wouldreally like to hear from you.

Stefania Signorello ACR, Book & Paper Group Chair



glass panel. From the early stages of the project I was mindfulthat it may well fit the criteria of the Nigel Williams Award andso I kept detailed digital images and notes as workprogressed.

When it came to applying, I collated and edited all thisinformation to present the project as clearly and concisely aspossible. The application process provided a greatopportunity to reflect upon the work achieved, new thingslearnt and areas of skills and knowledge that could bedeveloped further. Given all the pressures that private practicepresents, I had to be very disciplined with my time in order toearn a living and achieve the application deadline. I found theapplication process to be rewarding on both a personal andprofessional level.

My business has certainly benefitted from winning this award;I sent out a press release, gained local press coverage anddetailed it on my website; all of which has generated morework. In itself, the award is a great testimonial. Recently, I havereceived work from a client in South America; he informed methat the award was a major factor in his decision to send thework to me.

As conservator-restorers, the nature of our work is ofteninward looking and we seldom ‘blow our own trumpet’. Wecould do much more to showcase the tremendous skills,knowledge and expertise that exist across our profession. TheNigel Williams Award is one way in which we can demonstratethe amazing work that is carried out day to day throughoutour discipline. I would urge and encourage conservators in

both the private and public sector to apply for this award. Indoing so there are tremendous benefits to be gained; it canhelp raise your profile, the profile of your business ororganisation and enhance its reputation by promoting thegreat work you are doing.

Lynne Edge ACR EDGE Conservation-Restoration Services

The call for entries for the 2014 Nigel Williams Prize can befound on page 11

LIBRARY NEWSIcon has a valued asset in the Chantry Library and theassociated Beatrix Chantry Fund, established in memory ofJudith Chantry. Recognising that the restricted fund thatsupports the Chantry Library would run out in the next fewyears (depending on the rate of expenditure) the Board ofTrustees of Icon commissioned a Task & Finish Group, whichincluded the Library & Information Manager, two Trustees andmembers of the Library Advisory Committee, to consider thefuture of the Library. The Group reported in June 2012recommending that the Board consider a number of optionswhich included: doing nothing and running down the fund;adopting a proposal to review the role of the Chantry andextend the Beatrix Chantry Bequest; reducing the operatingcosts of the library to extend the bequest by approximatelytwo years; and finding a new home for the library that wasaccessible to members.

At this time, the Trustees decided, in order to informthemselves fully on the T&F Group’s proposal to develop a‘Chantry Learning and Research Centre’, to commission aresearch project. The Brief was:

‘to provide a business plan and a compelling case forfinancial support, including a review of potential fundingsources, for developing information and learning resourcesfor Icon’s members and allied professionals (for example,heritage scientists and conservation educators) nationallyand internationally…. This project would produce abusiness plan that will include a sustainable model to fundthe delivery of new and enhanced access to learningresources.’

At the same time, the Board decided to reduce theexpenditure of the restricted fund by reducing the hours ofthe Library & Information Manager.

The Trustees met on 25 September and considered the reportas well as my recommendations. While the Trusteesacknowledged that there were many positive ideas fordevelopment, including a new web platform and e-learningportal, research-to-user services and on-line courses, theBoard concluded that the proposed business plan carries toomuch uncertainty and risk for Icon to attempt at this time. Thereasons for this were: we could not rely on external grants forthis sort of activity in the current climate; the business planrelied on increasing membership income for which there is noguarantee; there was not a convincing case that the marketexists to justify the huge investment involved to develop theproposed services. It is therefore the view of the Trustees that

The Glass Opus Sectile war memorial after conservation in-situ at StJames Church, West Derby, Liverpool


there is no sustainable business plan. It has also beenrecognised for some time that in order to keep the ChantryLibrary with even the current level of service beyond 2015requires a commitment of funding that cannot be justified forthe small number of users. Therefore, the difficult decisionwas taken, with deep regret, to cease the operation of theLibrary. At this point, the Trustees are considering the nextsteps following on from this decision. For the time being, interms of services to members, it is ‘business as usual’.

I would like to thank the members of the Library AdvisoryCommittee, Kate Colleran, Jane Eagan, Michael Williams, andNancy Bell for their help, commitment and hard work overmany years.

Alison Richmond, Chief Executive

COMPARE AND CONTRASTKenneth Aitchison examines the similarities anddifferences between professional archaeology andprofessional conservation

In 2012-13, research wascarried out into the UK’sprofessional labour marketsof both archaeology andconservation, two similarlysized and comparable partsof the wider cultural heritagesector. The archaeologicalresearch was undertaken byLandward Research Ltd andthe conservation study wasundertaken by Icon, theInstitute of Conservation.Both research projects wereled by me.

How many peopleThe first point of reference

for these studies was the estimated head-counts: how manypeople worked in these sectors. There were estimated to be4,792 people working as professional archaeologists in the UKin 2012-13 and 3,175 conservators. Of course, some of thesepeople will have been counted by both surveys – at leasteighty eight people are archaeological conservators.

Changes over timeThe way the data on archaeologists were gathered wasconsistent with the three previous Profiling the Professionsurveys, and so reliable time-series datasets allow us to seereal changes over time. From the first Profiling the Professionsnapshot in 1997-98, archaeology grew and grew until the2007-08 survey captured data at the peak of the economicboom – and by 2012-13, the economic impacts of the post-2008 changes meant that archaeology as a profession hadshrunk considerably, having reduced to being smaller than itwas even ten years previously.

Some previous work had been done estimating the size of

professional conservation, but the way those numbers hadbeen gathered – and the target populations they covered –varied. There had been no data collection exercise since 1998,and the estimated total population presented then wascomparable with 2012-13, perhaps suggesting thatconservation was a slightly smaller profession than it had beenfifteen years before.

Professional association membershipsIn June 2013, the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) had 2,151corporate members (plus 908 non-accredited Student orAffiliate members), representing 44.9% of the profession.2,051 conservators were full members of Icon – so Iconmembers make up 66.7% of professional conservation (inMarch 2013, the total membership of Icon was 2,357,including 306 student or trainee members).

So the majority of working conservators were members oftheir professional association, and very nearly half ofarchaeologists were members of their professionalassociation.

PayThe median salary (50% of individuals were paid more thanthis and 50% less) for archaeologists was £26,000 – andremarkably, that was exactly the same figure that wascalculated as the median salary for conservators. Bycomparison, £26,500 was the median figure for the UKworkforce as a whole – and the median for all professionaloccupations was £36,359.

So archaeologists and conservators are rewarded verysimilarly, and slightly less well than the whole UK workingpopulation – and far less than the professional occupationswhich both sectors would like to be compared with.

Gender and ageThe ‘average’ archaeologist was aged 42 in 2012-13; five yearspreviously, the average age of a working archaeologist was 38.This suggests that the workforce, while much smaller innumber, had not been refreshed in terms of who worked inthe sector – people leaving archaeology at the end of theircareers had, by and large, not been replaced by youngpeople coming in at the start of their working lives. Most(54%) archaeologists are men, but over time, the percentageof archaeological jobs that have been held by women hasbeen increasing (fifteen years before, 65% of archaeologistswere men). Most archaeologists under the age of 30 arewomen. By contrast, 65% of conservators in 2012-13 arewomen – and this profession is also becoming ‘more female’– forty years ago, in 1973, 62% of conservators were men; in1987, only 40% were. And by comparison, the average age ofconservators is 43.

QualificationsIn both professions, it is normal to be a graduate. 78% ofconservators hold at least one degree, as do 93% ofarchaeologists. Indeed, it is increasingly normal forarchaeologists to hold post-graduate qualifications, with 47%holding a Masters degree or higher.

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Attitudes to trainingWhile individuals are highly qualified, organisationalapproaches to training are patchy.

In conservation, the overwhelming majority of organisationsidentify training needs for individual members of staff, withnearly as many identifying organisational needs. But mostorganisations in conservation do not have a training plan or atraining budget. Only a minority record how much time isspent in training or evaluate the impact of training onindividuals, and even fewer evaluate the impact of trainingupon the organisation. The overwhelming majority encourageindividuals to engage in their own continuing professionaldevelopment.

In archaeology, organisations typically identify training needsfor individual members of staff and for the organisation as awhole and they also encourage individuals to engage incontinuing professional development. They are likely to havea training budget but they do not normally have a formaltraining plan. While they will normally record the amount oftime employees spend on training activities, they then do nottypically evaluate the impact of that training on either theindividual or the organisation as a whole.

So – in both sectors, employers recognise that there areneeds; in archaeology there will normally be a budget to helpaddress these needs, although that is not the case inconservation – and in neither sector is it normal for there tobe a training plan. So money is spent in an unplanned way,and then the impact of that spend is not then evaluated, soorganisations cannot tell whether this expenditure hasrepresented value for money or not.

Attitudes to businessWhile there are many similarities between the two sectors,attitudes to business is one where there are real differences.59% of archaeologists work in the private sector, as do 38% ofconservators, but the degree of engagement with the market,together with the understanding and attitudes thataccompany that differ significantly. A telling comment from arespondent to the Conservation LMI survey showed confusionover what is income, what is profit (and no doubt what iscashflow) ‘We are a non-profit organization. We don’t have“income” as such.’

A revealing figure – not reported in either report – is that ofthe 241 practices (organisations or individual conservators)listed on the Conservation Register maintained by Icon,approximately 75% do not present website addresses. Bycontrast, only one of the 73 IfA Registered Organisationslisted on the IfA’s Directory does not have a website (and thatis because that organisation has been recently incorporatedinto another business on the Register). Unlike archaeologicalpractice, conservation has a limited engagement withtechnology and its use as a promotional tool, which musthamper opportunities for business development.

The futureSlowly and unsteadily, a post-crash rebound is underway. Botharchaeology and conservation collectively and cautiouslyexpect to grow over the next three to five years – but there is

not a sense of this taking place in the context of these beinghigh-growth industries. Business models in both sectors arechanging in line with expectations of low levels of growth –such as commercial practices delivering increasing numbers of‘community’ projects to ensure turnover rather than surplus,alongside an increase (or return) of social enterprises as acommonly adopted model for new practices.

The bigger picture Many of the issues identified in archaeology and conservationare shared by professions across all of ‘cultural heritage’ butcollective work across the entire sector would be difficult, asindividual professionals do not typically associate themselveswith such a broader ‘cultural heritage sector’. Instead theystrongly identify themselves with their own individualprofession, which they do not see as a subsector of a greaterwhole. If pan-sectoral work is a non-starter, then joint workingbetween closely related professions – such as archaeologyand conservation – could strengthen these areas. It might alsosupport skills development overall if means were found forspecialists to share their expertise – but this is going to behampered by the problems in the ways that training isplanned, budgeted and delivered in both sectors.

OpportunitiesThere are still real opportunities – qualifications can bealigned. If comparable vocational qualifications are placed onthe Qualifications and Credit Framework – such as the EDILevel 3 NVQ Certificate in Archaeological Practice, which is onthe QCF, and the Conservation Technician Qualification, whichis currently not – then there would be potential for newentrants to the cultural heritage professions to go throughworkplace learning experiences that would first introducethem to the broader experience of working in culturalheritage and then to specialise in specific, technical routes.These learning and skills accreditation experiences could thenpotentially be formalised as Apprenticeships

Shared training opportunities and communication activitiescan enhance understanding between the professions; andarchaeology and conservation can lead the way across culturalheritage, as we already have the extremely unusual crossoverof some people – archaeological conservators – who haveshown that they understand and appreciate the needs andapproaches of working embedded within two professions.

Kenneth Aitchison is Icon’s Skills Strategy Manager andExecutive Director of Landward Research Ltd

[email protected] [email protected]

This article will also appear in The Archaeologist, Issue 90,Winter 2013.

ReferencesAitchison, K. 2013. Conservation Labour Market Intelligence 2012–13. Icon –the Institute of Conservation. http://tinyurl.com/Icon-CLMI

Aitchison, K & Rocks-Macqueen, D. 2013. Archaeology Labour MarketIntelligence: Profiling the Profession 2012–13. Landward Research Ltd.http://tinyurl.com/IfA-ALMI



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After reading Frankie Halahan’slife of a Trustee in the lastissue, I felt ‘what more could Ireally say that would be ofinterest to the membership’?But I soon realised that it’sdifferent for everyone. Myexperience as a relatively newTrustee (so far two years) hasbeen challenging, rewarding,occasionally frustrating andsometimes sad. Nonetheless, itis still one of the mostnecessary roles within anyprofessional body with charitystatus – to ensure that ourvoice is heard when making

the case for safeguarding our cultural heritage and that ourprofession continues to develop yet remains intact.

I should begin by telling you about my own experiences asa conservator. I left Camberwell nearly twenty years ago andsince then have always been lucky to find work in the fieldof book and paper conservation, both in the public andprivate sectors. I have been a collection care manager fornearly five years now looking after the UK ParliamentaryArchive’s collection. I have always been involved inconservation beyond the ‘working day’ whether it ismentoring new conservators, researching conservationpractice either for training or for committee basedinitiatives, or my recent advisory editorial work on thevellum and parchment issue of our Journal.

I love collaborative working and have managed to use thisto achieve various conservation goals. Conservation to me isa profession with a strong sense of vocation and I believe itdraws those who want to ‘safeguard’. I became a Trusteewith this ‘safeguarding’ principle in mind. I was keen to usemy communication and change management skills to helpadvocate the profession beyond ourselves to those inpower who make decisions that affect the preservation ofour heritage and, in turn, our profession. I really honestlywanted to make a change. Ultimately the role of a charitableTrustee is having responsibility for ensuring that the charityis solvent, well-run and delivering outcomes for the benefitof the public, and as part of this we do spend a great dealof time helping the CEO develop strategies and standardsthat are going to secure our profession into the future. Iwanted to help embed the need for conservation – to makeus a necessity and not simply a luxury to the outside world.

Is being a Trustee what I expected or not? I recently pulledout my election manifesto to see if I had reached some ofthose goals and ideals – and realised that I had achievedthem in some way. In essence, becoming a Trustee was thenext step for me to help get the conservation message outthere. So in many ways being a Trustee is what I expected.We do make those high level decisions that will have aneffect on how others perceive us as a valid profession and

are constantly aware of the positive and negative impact ofdecisions made that affect our members.

Nonetheless the amount of involvement for an Icon Trusteeis more than necessary, with many of us chairing agroup/committee, regularly reviewing how we can improvemembership services, as well as leading on various tasksand initiatives – we are all voluntary. The Book and PaperGroup committee asked me recently ‘why do Trustees getso involved?’ As with the Groups, so far the Board has beenmade up of conservators (elected Icon members or co-opted) who have an in-depth understanding of theconservation landscape. I think in reality we are so involvedbecause it is in our nature (we are an investigativeprofession!) to scrutinise and want to help wherever we can.We have a dedicated bunch of Trustees, many of whom aremulti-skilled, but we need a balance with more people fromoutside (including non-conservators) who can manage rathercomplex areas of governance, such as finance, marketing,communications and of course those who are great atfinding funding. We haven’t done so badly, but we canalways do more in all these areas and hopefully we will soonhave the mix of skills we need on the Board. We arepresently looking at a governance review, which should helpmanage this better, including the process of communications,supporting the office and final decision making.

I still find myself catching my breath with what we have todo. I am presently chairing the JIC Task and Finish Group*(my mug shot seems to be a regular image at themoment!), which again is very challenging but necessary ifwe want to have the Journal fully prepared for the futureand of relevance to all our members. In addition to strategybuilding, as a Trustee, we plough through decision makingon various work streams managed by the Icon office,including budgeting and prioritising.

The evolving nature of the work we do presents so manychallenges. The areas now that really matter to me are toensure that we focus on outreach and developing diversitywithin the profession wherever we can. We have vastlystrengthened our education strategy and the numbers intraining but we need to begin to re-address the balance,matching those educated with jobs (where they have notbeen lost in these austere times); this can only be done byreaching out to our stakeholders, including the public, andreminding everyone that we are needed to keep ourheritage alive for that bit longer!

I never get bored being a Trustee – frustrated occasionally –but never bored! I only have another year to go and reallyam just getting my head around the complexity of the rolebut of course can stand for re-election. I could do with moretime but it is amazing what good you can achieve even ifothers don’t always realise it; in such a short time we canstill make a difference.

* The Journal of the Institute of Conservation Task & FinishGroup is undertaking a review of the Journal’s performanceand future direction.

strategically speaking

Icon Trustee Lara Artemis writes about your Icon from her perspective

Lara Artemis


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All her friends and colleagues wish Jenwell in her retirement; we will miss hersound advice, her extensive knowledgeand above all her calm, sensible,pragmatic and supportive approachboth to conservation and to life.

Dr Chris Caple Senior Lecturer inArchaeological Conservation

When the MA in Conservation coursewas re-launched in 2009 Jen becameresponsible for teaching the practicalconservation skills aspects of the course.She has continued in these roles up tothe present - the end of the summer of2013 when the latest cohort of studentswent off to their industrial placements.

In her time at Durham Jennifer hasconserved thousands of objects, writtenand published papers in conservationconferences, written and editednumerous artefact reports and helpeddevelop the conservation skills of amultitude of students. She has beenactive in developing the professionalstanding of conservation throughout hercareer. When we introducedprofessional accreditation in 1999,Jennifer was amongst the first cohort ofsenior conservators to be created anAccredited Conservator Restorer. Shehas subsequently supported theprofessional association in maintainingthe professional standards as anassessor on the CPD review panel.

Though Jennifer is stepping back toenjoy a well earned retirement, she willcontinue to write occasional objectreports for Durham ArchaeologicalServices. and the University isappointing a new conservator tosupport the MA in Conservation atDurham and undertake conservation forDurham Archaeological Services andother archaeological units of the NorthEast of England.

At the end of September Jennifer Jonesretired as the archaeological conservatorat the Department of Archaeology atDurham. After thirty four years she getsa well earned rest from the demands ofstudents and archaeologists, theircorroding ironwork and their crumblingpot.

Jennifer’s initial degree was inarchaeology from the University ofLondon. Then from 1976 to 1979 shewas one of the first five students whotook the Postgraduate Diploma inArchaeological Conservation, which hadjust been started in the Department ofArchaeology at Durham, run by JaneyCronyn. Jen’s dissertation was on theconservation of coins, an interest whichhas stayed with her throughout herworking career.

She subsequently started to work in thedepartment at Durham undertakingconservation for English Heritage (EH)sites in the north and east of England.This continued until 2003 when EHbegan gradually reducing its supportuntil the post passed over toArchaeological Services, University ofDurham (ASUD), later DurhamArchaeological Services, in 2005. Finally,in 2008 English Heritage support ceasedaltogether, by which time Jen wassupporting the excavation work ofDurham Archaeological Services both asconservator and finds manager, as wellas undertaking commercialarchaeological conservation contractsfor the archaeological units andmuseums of the north east of England.

peopleRetirement

Jennifer discussing theconservation of an orientalceramic with Angelica IsaAdaniya, a student on the MA inConservation of Archaeologicaland Museum Objects course,August 2013.


Icon’s CEO Alison Richmondwrites:-I was very sad and shocked to hear thatDavid Bell, the Chief Executive of theNational Association of Decorative &Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS), had diedsuddenly in September at the age of 50.David was a great supporter ofconservation and of Icon. We met oftento discuss how our organisations couldwork more closely together. He was fullof ideas and pushed through somereally innovative ones at NADFAS.

Working with Tate, NADFAS supporteda programme for teenagers to getbehind the scenes at the museum andlearn about conservation. ‘Why saveanything?’ was a success but David waskeen to multiply the effect of thisprogramme and when he died NADFASand Icon were working with HistoricRoyal Palaces on a project that woulddevelop the schools programme into anonline interactive.

David was always very excited about thepotential to reach more young people.Consequently, NADFAS has set up amemorial fund in David’s name toencourage young people to developand enjoy a career in the arts,conservation and related disciplines. Ifyou would like to make a donationplease visit the NADFAS websitehttp://www.nadfas.org.uk/david-bell-memorial-fund

In appreciation


HumidityLight

Ultra-violetTemperatureDewpoint

www.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk

Conservation StudiesStone, wood and related materials, decorative surfaces.

Traditional methods and laser cleaning techniques.

BA (Hons) and Postgraduate Diplomas


This Category A listed cast iron structure stands over tenmetres tall and its dismantling had to be carefully plannedfrom the outset. While the eccentricity of the AestheticMovement-influenced design is certainly attention grabbing,the twenty metre diameter pool proved to be the greaterchallenge. Made up from over- and under-lapping plates, alsoin cast iron, each was bolted to the next with ½” wrought ironbolts, all hand forged and carrying the Whitworth screwthread which had rapidly become standard during theCrimean War. Before its introduction most manufacturers hadtheir own screw form, making the interchanging of partsextremely difficult.

Paisley’s Grand FountainDisassembly: Jim Mitchell ACR continues the story started in the lastissue

The bolts (over one thousand) were beyond recovery but eachhad to be removed without damaging the surrounding castiron. We achieved this by drilling a clear pilot hole througheach of them to their full length, then ‘washing’ away thewrought iron bolt material using a ‘cooler’ pencil flame of oxy-propane gas. This required immense patience andconcentration, taking over three weeks to release, numberand metal-tag every plate.

The hundreds of constituent parts of the structure must beseparated, one from the other, to ensure that all of theinterfaces are treated. Each numbered part was thereforeallotted its own Conservation Record Sheet (CRS) both in

The pool floor is partially removed One of the walruses: undignified but safe

The masonry kerb revealed: the only foundations found

14


paper and digital form, which will follow the part through theconservation process, giving its location, number, name (to anagreed nomenclature), condition, proposed treatment, paintsampling record, actual treatment / repair and so on. Thisrecording was and is vital in creating a long term record of thework but also in slowing the process down to allow careful re-assessment of the dismantling strategy as it progressed.

As the base of the cast iron barnacled ‘rock formation’ aroundthe fountain was excavated, the only evidence of any attemptat a foundation was revealed in the form of an ashlar masonrycircle. Within that, a loose mortar and rubble screed carriedthe iron plates and indeed the central core of the fountainitself. The two hundred floor plates were removed insequence towards the central core then scaffolding erectedaround the main structure to allow dismantling.

We shouldn’t forget the four, 1.5 tonne iron walruses whichhad to be lifted away in the process. These chaps do look abit sad with their moustaches and tusks removed in some1980s’ safety purge.

As Historic Scotland (HS) and the Heritage Lottery Fund arethe key funders, their interest and enthusiasm for the projecthas been encouraging. In fact Renfrewshire Council arrangedfor senior HS conservation staff to give a talk in Paisley TownHall, telling the story of Glasgow iron foundries and, inparticular, the Sun Foundry which produced the 1867 fountain.

Next time we will talk about the dismantling of the mainstructure and the revealed hints as to Daniel Cottier’s amazingcolour scheme.

Below, the ‘rock work’ and interlocking iron floor and, above, theirdismantling in progress



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Shopping in ‘Poundland’David Odgers ACR and Art Conservator Claudia Fiocchetti suggest abudget shopping trip as a precursor to cleaning alabaster historicmonumentsIn the summer of 2012, two freelance conservators ClaudiaFiocchetti and James White, working under the guidance ofOdgers Conservation Consultants, undertook conservationwork to the monuments in the Clopton Chapel at Holy TrinityChurch in Stratford Upon Avon.

The Chapel contains two significant 16th and early 17thcentury alabaster monuments to William and Anne Clopton(1590) and Joyce and George Carew (1629). The condition ofthe monuments was generally good but they had in the pastreceived a number of coatings of wax (probably beeswax).This has attracted a lot of dirt particularly from gas lighting inthe Chapel in the late 19th century; as a result, in places, the

underlying stone was completely obscured behind a darkbrown layer of dirt. The situation was particularly bad on thehorizontal surfaces and at low level where accessibility meantthat more wax had been applied.

Small-scale cleaning trials were carried out with the intentionof removing the dirt and thus revealing the alabaster. Therewere a number of polychromed areas and cross sectionalanalysis of these showed that there had been a number ofrestorations to the Clopton monument but that the Carewmonument had never been painted until the restoration in1892.

Detail of alabaster base of monument to William and Anne Clopton showing surface magnified x150 before and after cleaning

Detail of cushion of monument to William and Anne Clopton showing surface magnified x150 before and after cleaning; polychromeresidues have been retained but the surface wax removed



Of the solvent cleaning trials carried out to the plain alabaster,the most effective solvent was a 2% solution of ammonia inwater. However, this was not completely satisfying as it had aninconsistent finish and took a long time. Alternative methodshad to take account of the facts that alabaster can be slightlysoluble if left too long in contact with water and that solventstend to reduce the sheen of the surface produced as a resultof the original finish and subsequent polishing.

It was found that the best cleaning result was obtained byusing different kinds of micro-porous sponges wetted withwarm water; spontex sponge, PVA sponge and melaminefoam (aka Sponge Eraser). These all ensure that no waterremains on the surface and they also produced no reductionin surface sheen. The Sponge Eraser was the most effectivebut initial research on the internet (see references below)suggested that they might cause some abrasion of the surfacedue to the action of the melamine ‘hooks’ that make up thesponge.

A microscopic investigation (using x150 USB microscope) wastherefore undertaken to view the effect of the melamine foamsponge on the alabaster surface. No damage was visible andit obtained the same level of cleaning reached with ammoniain a more homogeneous way and in much shorter time.

Conservators rightly always ensure that they are using theappropriate methods and materials. However, the use of thissponge also highlighted another issue. As a profession, wecan sometimes be guilty of over-complicating our treatmentsand overlooking materials that are readily available and havebeen the subject of extensive industry research. As examples,

one of the best ways of cleaning polished granite is amaterial called Bar Keeper’s Friend (a readily availablecleaning product formed of very weak citric acid, pumicepowder and surfactant), and Autosol (available from allgood car spares shops and consisting of 2-ethoxy ethanoland pumice powder) has been used for many years forconservation cleaning of a variety of materials. Themelamine sponges used for cleaning the alabastermonuments in the Clopton Chapel were bought inPoundland where they are sold for £1 under the name ofClean Zone Sponge Eraser.

For further information on the use of melamine sponges,please refer to the following online articles:

http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/texcons/2005/11/msg00015.html

http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2012/0277.html

http://home.howstuffworks.com/magic-eraser1.htm

http://www.basf.com/group/corporate/en/literature-document:/Brand+Basotect-Case+Studys—The+Magic+Eraser+made+from+Basotect-English.pdf

http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2007/0235.html

http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2012/0317.html0

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Reconstruction Conservation

ConsolidationRestoration


Taking light readings and cleaning mouldy drawers: the varied tasks of a conservation assistant volunteer

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In March this year, I began working as volunteer with theConservation Assistants at Osterley House, a National Trustproperty in Middlesex.

My role as a conservation volunteer covers many elements ofpreventive conservation, such as integrated pest management(IPM), managing daylight and the daily care of collections withdeep and routine cleaning.

MOULD ALERTRecently, a severe mould outbreak has been discovered on awooden display cabinet in Mrs Bunce’s Room, located on thebasement floor of the house. Not only had the mould grownon the inside and outside of the display cabinet there wasalso evidence of mould on the wooden floor. Both the displaycase and floor are historic, so it is important that the correctcleaning treatments are undertaken to ensure that no furtherdamage can occur.

The cause of the mould outbreak is due to incorrect RH andtemperature in this room as a result of its basement location.Rising damp from a drain underneath the wooden floor hasresulted in the growth, which was fluffy and white inappearance.

The Conservation Assistants, Hajira Mohamed and KateMcCormack, highlighted the problem to the team and theRegional Conservator for the Trust was consulted for adviceon how best to clean the display cabinet and floor.

It was suggested that we first dry clean the mould using ahog’s hairbrush and vacuum to collect its spores and thenmonitor the object for some time, keeping an eye for any

further growth. Failing this, it has been suggested that we usepropanol-2-ol to prevent any further growth.

SPRINGING INTO ACTIONThe task of cleaning such a large piece of furniture has to beundertaken in a few sessions. We began cleaning the lowerhalf of the wooden display cabinet first, on the outside andinside, as well as the three drawers inside the cabinet. Usingthe brush, I gently swept the mould towards the vacuumhead, all the while wearing a 3M face mask, essential whendealing with outbreaks of mould, of course, to ensure that nospores are inhaled. After cleaning the three drawers and lowerhalf of the cabinet, the drawers were placed back inside andthe doors left open, to allow a good airflow around theobject. The next stage will be to clean the upper half.

A VARIED ROLEThis is just one of the many tasks I have undertaken whilstworking at Osterley House; every day varies and that is what Ifind exciting about my role with the Trust. Recently, there wasevidence of carpet beetle in the world famous Tapestry Room,which required the Conservation Team to vacuum the carpetusing a special mesh. This was another really usefulexperience: carrying it out during opening hours, it was agreat way to talk to visitors about the importance ofpreventive care.

Whilst taking light readings, which have also been doneduring visitor hours, I often get asked what I am doing, and Itake great pride in explaining what a light meter tells us andthe reasons why we do this.

A day in the life of aConservation AssistantVolunteer at Osterley HousePuneeta Sharma broadens her conservation education


The mould in close-up The infected display case

The lower half of the display case before and after


REAPING THE BENEFITI am currently studying MA Paper Conservation at CamberwellCollege of Art, undertaking my final year. Working for aNational Trust property has allowed me to gain a thoroughunderstanding of how preventive conservation works, whilstundertaking various tasks myself. I would highly recommendto anyone interested in collections care to sign up as avolunteer with the National Trust as a Conservation Assistant;not only is it extremely rewarding but you learn a great dealabout the history of each historic house.

I would like to thank the wonderful house team at Osterley fortheir continued support and kindness whilst working as avolunteer and undertaking research for my master’s projects.A special thanks to Hajira Mohamed and Claire Reed for thecountless questions they answer for me, with a smile everytime.


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In-Gallery Conservation Event Over four days in August at Birmingham Museum and ArtGallery the conservation team – Hoard Conservators DeborahMagnoler, Cym Storey, Cardiff student Chi-Chun Lin, HoardConservation Project Manager Pieta Greaves ACR andCollections Care Officer Deborah Cane ACR – demonstratedin view of museum visitors the conservation process on thenewly discovered objects of the Staffordshire Hoard.

The first step of the event was relocating the conservation lab

up into the galleries to give a real behind the scenesexperience; we were now ready to let in the visitors.

We had some fabulous questions and discussions about theconservation and the hoard. Everyone was very interested tosee the thorns in action and experience the excitement ofobjects being revealed after more than 1400 years. Populardiscussions featured the numerous theories surrounding thehoard and the astonishing technicality of the Anglo-Saxoncraftsmen. Further information and conservation blogs can befound at www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/blog/

around and about

Conservation team ready for action

The conservation set up ready for the demonstrations Pieta discussing the object and conservation

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Supporting sculptureconservationThe Gabo Trust celebrates its silver anniversary this year andits role in supporting sculpture conservation was never moreneeded as museum funds and education grants aresqueezed.

The Trust was set up to celebrate the sculptor Naum Gabo(1890–1977), a pioneer in the use of experimental and newmaterials such as plastics. As we know, these materials presentchallenges to their long-term preservation and the Gabofamily founded the Trust to promote the conservation ofmodern and contemporary sculpture, the education ofsculpture conservators and the funding of research intosculpture conservation.

As well as grants to purchase specialist equipment, the Trustprovides grants to attend conferences and other professionaldevelopment opportunities, along with bursaries for post-graduate internships. Research projects funded have includedpatination, staining on white marble and the degradation ofplastics. Currently the Trust funds an annual bursary insculpture conservation at the City and Guilds Art School,where Jennifer Dinsmore ACR is a tutor on the course andherself benefitted from a Trust award to study stone sculptureconservation in Italy. Icon Trustee Frances Halahan is another

former beneficiary of a Gabo Trust Travelling Scholarship.

A recent new direction for the Trust has been to provide pro-active support for institutions by funding the work of qualifiedconservators to assess collections and makerecommendations for their care. Last year saw an extensivesurvey of the National Gallery of Scotland’s sculpturecollections and a second survey is planned with Pallant HouseGallery in Chichester. A major initiative to celebrate the Trust’stwenty fifth anniversary will be to extend this programme to

A Gabo Trust conservation intern, Melanie Rolfe, examining an X-rayof Tate’s cast of Degas’ Little Dancer

Sculptures of modern materials can pose extra challenges: heresynthetic resin and powdered stone in a 1959 sculpture


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benefit other regional museums, which, similarly, do not havea dedicated sculpture conservation team.

In the quarter century since its foundation the Trust has madein excess of seventy five grants totalling over £375,000 and wehope that it will continue to thrive, so that sculpture canbenefit from a similar munificence over the next twenty fiveyears.

Museums ShowoffIf you fancy yourself as something of a performer or just likethe sound of it, then why not go along to an open mic eventfor people who work in, study or are interested in museums,libraries and collections. It takes place every other month,usually in London but occasionally at other venues around thecountry; Cambridge, Norwich and Manchester have featuredthis year. The next event is in London on 2 December. You canfind out about how it works athttp://museumsshowoff.wordpress.com/about/

The Pentillie conundrumCornwall’s own Richard III conundrum has finally beenresolved. In 1713, Sir James Tillie, resident of Pentillie Castledied. Sir James requested that he not be buried, but remainseated in his chair looking out over the view. The projectincluded dismantling, conservation and re-construction,including re-carving of damaged sections and works torebuild and recreate damaged parts of the carved monumentdepicting Sir James.

And during all this work further investigation took place to thevault beneath. There, untouched for over three hundred years,was found a leather chair, complete with bones - presumablythe man himself. The conservation works to the monumenthave been carried out by staff from Cliveden Conservationwith much support from the Coryton family owners. Theproject was shortlisted in the Best Craftsmanship employedon a Heritage Rescue category of the English Heritage AngelAwards 2013, which celebrate the efforts of local people whohave saved historic buildings and places.

Gabo Trust beneficiary of a travelling scholarship award

Mausoleum of Sir James Tillie, Pentillie Castle, Saltash, Cornwallbefore conservation work

The Scottish Ten team scan the sails of the Sydney Opera House

The Scottish Ten go to SydneyBack in November 2011 (Icon News 37) we covered theinitiative to do a 3D digital scan of all five of Scotland’sUNESCO-designated world heritage sites, along with fiveother international sites, of which Sydney’s famous OperaHouse is one. It is the only modern building included in thishistoric, global project and the work of surveying it inside andout by a team of laser scanning experts got underway earlierthis year.

The Scottish Ten scheme is an ambitious five-yearcollaboration between Historic Scotland, experts in 3Dvisualisation at The Glasgow School of Art’s Digital DesignStudio and the not-for-profit digital heritage organisation



Sir James Tillie’s Mausoleum: conservation work completed


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CyArk. The Opera House joins Mount Rushmore, India’s Raniki Vav (The Queen’s Stepwell) and China’s Eastern Qing Tombsas the fourth international site to be preserved for posterity.

The innovative, interactive rendering of Australia’s mostfamous building was timed to coincide with its 40thanniversary celebrations in October. It will providecomprehensive building-management and conservation datato help preserve the Opera House for future generations,along with an unparalleled opportunity to engage with its 8.2 million annual visitors in entirely new ways.

October also saw the launch of the CyArk 500 Challenge to anaudience of representatives from over thirty countries inLondon. The challenge is a global call-to-action to digitallyrecord five hundred cultural heritage sites across the worldwithin the next five years. The Scottish Ten provides a modelothers can learn from and the 3D data it provides is alreadybeing used to conserve, manage, promote and interpretheritage assets for current and future generations.

More information about the project and the technology, alongwith lots of stunning images from: www.scottishten.org

Chainsaw, 1990s. Homelite. Component count: 268

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A point cloud image of the Sydney Opera House



9th ANNUALGENERAL MEETINGThe 9th Annual General Meeting of the Institute ofConservation will be held on Monday 2 December2013 at 17.00 at the Chancellor’s Hall, University ofLondon, Senate House, Malet Street, London,WC1E 7HU.

Please see map at http://goo.gl/maps/dJhYH

AGENDA

1 Welcome and Introduction by the Chair JuergenVervoorst

2 Apologies for absence

3 Minutes of the 8th AGM on 3rd December 2012

4 Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for yearending 31st March 2013

5 RESOLUTIONS

Ordinary Resolution 1 – To receive the Trustees’Annual Report and Accounts for the Year ending31st March 2013.

Ordinary Resolution 2 – To authorise theTrustees to appoint the auditors to serve until theend of the next Annual General Meeting.

Ordinary Resolution 3 – To authorise theTrustees to decide the remuneration to be paidto the auditors.

Extraordinary Resolution 4 – To change Articlesof Association 11 and 12 and delete Article ofAssociation 22.3 so that the Articles would be asshown in a draft previously made available tomembers.

An explanatory memo and copy of the draftarticles can be found on the Icon website athttp://tinyurl.com/k6cmmf3

6 Results of the Elections to the Board of Trustees

7 Close of formal meeting

Following the close of formal business, there willbe an update and discussion on the developmentof the new Code of Conduct for Icon

Members are invited to stay on afterwards for aglass of wine

Simon Green, Company Secretary

November 2013

Things come apartThings come apart: a teardown manual for modern living* is abook about objects like no other. Published this year byThames and Hudson, it showcases the preoccupations ofphotographer Todd McLellan and his unique photographicvision of the material world.

As a child he took his toys apart; now his approach is moremethodical. Fifty objects, rejects of mass consumption, aredisplayed piece by piece, exploding in midair, or meticulouslylaid out against a neutral background with every singlecomponent of each object revealed. For even the smallest ofobjects it can take three days or more to disassemble andthen compose the tableau of the parts.

The book moves from small objects to ever larger ones andsimpler to more intricate. From swiss army knife to sewingmachine, accordion to aeroplane, there are one hundred andseventy five colour illustrations and a component count ofalmost 22,000 pieces. The book is a challenge to ourdisposable culture and disassembling the objects, many ofthem once treasured and now neglected, in order to createthese montages serves as an act of homage to show theirintricacy and quality.

The chapters of photography are interspersed with four essaysby people who work within the world of disassembly in oneshape or another. One of these – Taking Apart The Past – iswritten by Icon member Penny Bendall, a freelance ceramicsconservator. Her detailed explanation of the techniques,decision-making processes and ethics of conservation bringsthe subject to a readership with which we might not normallyengage. So three cheers for Penny seizing an opportunity tocommunicate our messages to the wider world!

* ISBN 97805005167680

Accordion, 1960s. Argus. Component count: 1465

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reviews

archaeologist tells you they have found aprehistoric boat and they need your help,this is the book you will reach for.

Jacqui Watson*Panter, I and Spriggs, J (1996) ‘Conditionassessments and conservation strategies forwaterlogged wood assemblages’, in P.Hoffman,T.Daley, T.Grant and J.Spriggs (eds) Proceedings ofthe Sixth ICOM Group on Wet OrganicArchaeological Materials Conference: York 1996,185–201

CONFERENCE

INNOVATION AND INVENTIONIcon Archaeology Group Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds 7 June 2013

The Icon Archaeology group held a highlysuccessful one day conference, focusing onnew and underused methods forarchaeological conservation. Thepresentations inspired enthusiasticdiscussion and insight into concepts which,although familiar to other specialities, arenot widely used in archaeologicalconservation. The topics includedtreatments, tools and on-site conservation.

Ellie Rowley-Conwy from the RoyalArmouries Museum discussed the removal ofmicrocrystalline wax pigmented with

lampblack from iron objects in the ColonialWilliamsburg collections. Ellie reflected onthree treatment methods and theiroutcomes, including methods used at otherinstitutions. Hannah Stallard discussed theuse of Vetwrap, a self-adhering, rubberbandage used at UCL to secure objectsduring adhesive curing. It is an inexpensive,reusable short-term material; however it isunstable and eventually embrittles. Hannahprovided an excellent alternative totemporary consolidants, particularly forceramic vessels.

Cymbeline Storey from BirminghamMuseum & Art Gallery discussed the use ofdry-ice blasting, which has been used toremove adhesive and clean objects withsmoke-damage. Cymbeline’s presentationdocumented tests on ceramic tiles, as well ashealth and safety concerns with using dry-ice. Carmen Vida, a UCL student onplacement at the Museum of London,investigated the use of room temperatureacetone-rosin on waterlogged wood.Carmen compared the method to heatedacetone-rosin, emphasising impregnationrates and health and safety; she alsodiscussed the results of a condition surveyon objects treated with this method thirtyyears ago.

Beth Werrett from Wiltshire Council CMASexamined the use of solvent gels inarchaeological conservation, providinginsight into a useful technique which couldbe easily replicated and modified. John Pricediscussed the use of steel bases to liftobjects from archaeological sites; providingstability when carrying the object from site.

Holly Marston, a Durham University studenton placement at the York ArchaeologicalTrust, discussed the use of flexibleophthalmic scalpels. The presentationshowed numerous uses for the scalpels,whilst highlighting problems with cost andprocurement. Theo Sturge, a leatherconservator in private practice, discussedusing BEVA 371 for gap-filling leather. Thepresentation included a demonstration ofcasting BEVA from a mould, highlighting its

BOOK

CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICALSHIPS AND BOATS – personal experiencesPer HoffmanArchetype Publications 2013ISBN: 9781904982821

This slim and beautifully illustrated bookexplains how to deal with large projects ofwaterlogged wood from excavation topresentation in a museum gallery based onHoffman’s own research and experience withthe Bremen Cog, as well as advising andcollaborating on many projects in Europe.The chapters take you through the differentphases of a large-scale project, highlightingthe issues that need to be addressed at eachstage and offering practical suggestions thathave been used to deal with problems byincluding case studies.

Most of the book is a synthesis of Hoffman’sown work, which means that the chapter onwood evaluation, (Chapter 2), is probably theonly text most conservators need on thesubject, although a reference to using theSibert drill* would have made it complete.Similarly, the chapter on polyethylene glycol(PEG) impregnation covers most variations ofthe technique using both immersion andspraying systems and is full of practical tipsand advice on how to choose the bestmethod for your project.

There are individual chapters on the use ofsucrose, lactitol and melamineformaldehyde, methods that have rarelybeen used in UK but could be useful in manycountries where the cost of PEG isprohibitive or in hot humid climates wherePEG creeps. Freeze-drying is covered, but bya different group of authors and doesn’thave the same easy dialogue of the otherchapters. I found this chapter difficult tofollow and with less detail about thechemicals and concentrations used. It wouldalso have been useful to have moreinformation on the oxidation of ironsulphides, as these are a serious problem formany projects.

Once the timbers have been conserved, thenext monumental task is the presentation ofthe structure in a museum environment, andchapter 10 includes a variety of surfacetreatments, re-shaping methods anddifferent support cradles that have beenused. Once installed in a museum, the woodwill still need to be monitored to keep aneye on how it reacts in its new environment,and examples of the problems that mightoccur, with how to avoid some of them, isincluded along with a long-term care plan.

This book is very accessible to read, as Per isconsistently encouraging despite the factthat many of the projects included in thecase studies must have been very strenuousand stressful for the teams involved. So,when the phone next rings in theconservation lab and an excited

The group gathers for a demonstration by Theo Sturge



Another visitor to the Leeds RoyalArmouries Laboratories

Rag women cutting and sorting rags (top) and washing and cutting rags (below). FromJérôme de LaLande, L’Art de faire Le Papier, Paris, 1761

use for replicating embossed surfaces.

Overall, the presentations and discussionsprovided an excellent insight into the varioustechniques used in individual laboratoriesand practices, and encouraged thedelegates to be creative in theirconservation methods. The positive andenthusiastic atmosphere at the conferencemade attendance a joy.

Holly MarstonEmerging Conservation Professional

TALK

FIRST OF ALL RESPECT YOUR PAPER Independent Paper Conservators’ GroupFreemasons’ Hall, London 8 October 2013

It was appropriate that it was Peter Bower,the one man wikipedia of paper, wholaunched the new series of evening lecturesto be organised by the IPCG; he wouldcertainly be able to recognise in any piece ofpaper in a conservator’s hand a huge wealthof information about its history, provenanceand manufacture. The talk, as heacknowledged, was an idiosyncraticselection of his knowledge of Europeanpaper making; but each nugget wasindicative of a whole gold mine.

Peter took us through a brief history ofpaper making with small digressions, anyone of which I am sure he could haveeffortlessly expanded on: the importance ofthe water used in governing the tone of theresulting paper, the development of the‘best invention ever’ the Hollander beaterand how, by the 19th century, there wereseventeen different grades of rags boughtand sold in a huge international trade in thevital raw material for paper making. Sortingthe rags was perhaps the worst task of thestinking, back-breaking and risky process ofmaking paper. It is something to marvel at:that pristine white sheets were the endproduct of such a dirty business.

The vatman, at the top of the hierarchy ofworkers, would have served anapprenticeship of seven years; his final exam

would be to make six imperial sheets in aminute, of exactly the same weight. This wasobviously a feat of strength but, moresignificantly, it was also a tremendous feat ofskill: each time the mould was dipped intothe pulp, the concentration in the vat wouldchange, so each dip needed to be different.

Paper makers have always beencounterfeiters and the trade in paper hasalways been global: mills in France putwatermarks in their paper to suggest that itwas made in Holland or Britain. Watermarkdates may provide an indication of the firstyear in which a paper was manufactured butthe same moulds were used for yearswithout changing the date.

Whilst they can never be entirely trusted,

watermarks can provide crucial evidence ofthe authenticity of artworks. Until recently,there were only 137 works by Jacques leMoyne de Morgues (c.1533–1588), an artistwho had travelled to the New World, knownto exist. Twenty four new drawings emerged,and then a further eighty, which lookedstylistically right but for so many to appear ofan artist whose canon was so small, it wassurely likely that they were forgeries. Peterwas able to demonstrate, by comparing thepaper and watermarks of the known workswith the new, that they were the real deal. Incontrast, a collection of drawings from the1920s on Hahnemühle yellow paper wereanalysed. There were tiny inclusions ofoptical brightener in the paper which could


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only mean that it had been made after 1945:the drawings were forgeries.

Peter showed several images of paper millsincluding Cozen’s view of Vietri, on papermade at Vietri, He would love to know of anydrawings of paper mills for a future dreamproject of an exhibition about paper making.He also promoted membership of the BritishAssociation of Paper Historians for anyoneinterested in any aspect of paper history.

The evening, in the palatial Robing Room ofthe Freemasons’ Hall, was well attended andthe venue was ideal for the socialisingfollowing the talk, with refreshmentsgenerously provided by Conservation-by-Design. The only aspect to be improvedupon: the height of the screen, as those inthe rows furthest from the front had theirview obscured.

Clare Reynolds ACRPaper conservator at the Museum of Londonand in private practiceIPCG, the Independent Paper Conservators’ Groupwas set up twelve years ago to create bettercontact between conservators who workindependently or alone. IPCG is independent ofIcon or any other professional organisation andthere are no charges for being a member.Meetings and workshops are mostly mid weekevenings in London but we also have day trips toinstitutions, studios and manufacturers and havealso started a series of open lectures. We have hadmany workshops on practical subjects eg.cyclododecane and gels and have been on two-day trips to studios and laboratories in Paris. IPCG’sown Google Group site allows members to contactthe whole group and encourages informaldiscussion of treatments and materials. If youwould like to know more about the group or wishto become a member contact Laila Hackforth-Jones at [email protected]

WORKSHOPS

SILICON MOULD WORKSHOPIcon Ceramics and Glass Group Ashmolean Museum 7 September 2013

It was an early start to a Saturday morninggetting up at 5.30 a.m. and heading off toThe Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for asilicon mould making workshop. The Iconsponsored event, taught by Dana Norrisand Kenneth Watt, walked participantsthrough the process of making siliconemoulds from deciding on the orientation ofthe mould to casting. Kenneth and Danaalternated demonstration of the processfrom beginning to end, even presentingseveral case studies during setting periodsto show where they’ve used this processprofessionally.

The silicone mould process requires threeprimary materials: modelling wax, siliconerubber and plaster. Kenneth and Danaprovided these materials and acorresponding supply list. They alsorecommended which materials to use when

under less of a time constraint. I personallyfound this very useful as someone who is stilllearning the range of supplies available andwhich materials are better for specificsituations.

We found every aspect of the coursefascinating. Although we have taken mouldsbefore, this was our first experience of siliconmould making. After working through eachstage of mould making we felt happy thatwe had a good grasp of the processes andwould be able to use them in our work.

The 9–5:30 schedule was ideal, as it enabledparticipants to experience the entire processfrom beginning to end without rushing.There was plenty of time for discussion andone-on-one assistance. As tutors, Dana andKenneth were friendly and helpful, providingadvice and assistance as required anddemonstrating each stage with aprofessionalism that inspired confidence.Additionally, the tea breaks and luncheonprovided allowed time for casual discussionsand mingling with the other participants.

The workshop was an amazing value, and wewould fully recommend it to anyoneinterested in silicone moulds, whether youhave any experience with them or not. TheAshmolean Museum was a wonderful hostand ideal location, and Kenneth and Danacouldn’t have been better instructors. At theend of the course, all of the participantsasked if the two would offer more classes inthe future, a request we reiterate here!

Kate Becker Intern, Museum of London

Sarah Delves Conservator in PrivatePractice

THE USE OF VACUUM IN PAPERCONSERVATION Icon Book and Paper Group CTR courseCamberwell College of Art July 2013

This two day course covered a multitude oftopics and techniques available to paperconservators using a suction table. AlanBuchanan, an engineer, private conservatorand lecturer at the college, lead the course.Students travelled from the US, Belgium,Germany and various parts of the UK toattend and added to the sharing of

techniques and knowledge.

After we introduced ourselves and heard thewelcome from Alan our class began. Alandiscussed the benefits and drawbacks of thevarious models and described how eachfunctioned. We then broke into smallergroups of two and three and practised thetechniques presented on four differentsuction tables.

Day one was spent humidifying and washingobjects on a suction table. The pros andcons of various techniques were discussed.After lunch we lined our samples. We thenexperimented with various solvents andadditives to aid the washing treatment. Onday two we removed adhesive tape carriersand their residue, followed by repairs withtissue and in-filling with coloured pulp. Ashort period was available at the end todiscuss individual works, previous problemsencountered and possible solutions.

This course was very beneficial due to theinformation gained and the opportunity toexperiment with a selection of four differentsuction tables. Throughout, Alan stressedthat we were not finished when we left andwould need to continue to use and perfecttechniques learned to gain the most benefit.Pulp in-fills were particularly difficult andrequire a finesse we were not able to masterin such a short time. However, the systemdeveloped and utilized by Alan creates abeautiful and honest repair that certainlydeserves the time spent to perfect its use.

Talitha Wachtelborn MA, Paper Conservator

Demonstration by Kenneth Watt at the Silicon Mould Workshop

Alan Buchanan’s pulp infill colour charts,helping to select the exact tone of pulp forinfill



VISIT

TOYE & CO. Icon Textile GroupBedworth, Warwickshire 9 September 2013

Toye & Co. is one of the country’s oldestfamily-run businesses, established in 1685,when the Toye family, Huguenot refugees,arrived in England. Settling in BethnalGreen, they resumed their family trade –making gold and silver wire, lace,embroidery, and weaving. By the 19thcentury, the company was specializing inribbons, later in silk banners for tradesunions and friendly societies, and also inMasonic regalia.

Toye & Co. was granted a Royal Warrantafter the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Withmetalwork production located inBirmingham’s jewellery quarter and textileproduction at Bedworth, the company alsocreates honour badges and ribbons,including military and civic awards.

Icon’s Textile Group organised a visit to theBedworth factory, which specializes in narrowfabric weaving, embroidery, manufacture ofcaps, and mounting of medals. Bedworth is

in the environs of Coventry, an historic centrefor silk weaving. In fact, by the 1820s almostone quarter of Coventrians were employedin ribbon production. Toye & Co. have amagnificent surviving example of a 19thcJacquard loom in their factory.

Our tour began with a collective gasp ofdelight as we saw the ribbons being wovenin a variety of colours and styles and muchtime was spent taking arty shots of threadsand bobbins. Synthetic fibres dominate theproduction, for their strength, durability andcost, but silk ribbons can also be woven ondemand. The uses of Toye’s products arewidespread, including fashion, uniforms, thedefence industries and for furnishing medals.Plain ribbons are given a moiré effect byrunning them through ribbed copper rollers,applying heat and pressure. Silver and goldbraids are also produced, with multiplestrands plaited together at an unnervingspeed to create trimmings for formal dress.Another machine spins metal wire into purl(also known as bullion) and gives it a silkcovering in the process.

We moved on to see where hats, caps andberets are made, many of which incorporatethe ribbons, embroidery and badges from

elsewhere in the factory. Toye & Co makeheadgear for the armed services andemergency services, corporate clients andcaps for international sports appearances.From cutting, to piecing, decorating,steaming and quality control inspection, wesaw each stage of the process, with one ortwo longing glances thrown at the hugearray of wooden hat blocks in the corner ofthe room.

Our last port of call was the medal mountingworkshop. Both contemporary and historicmedals are dealt with, often involvinginteresting family histories or grievingrelatives. Military and civic medals areidentified, refurbished with new ribbons ifnecessary, and mounted into presentationframes for safekeeping and display.

The two hour visit flew by, and was muchenjoyed by all, which just leaves me to thankall the staff at Toye & Co. for their time andtheir patience with our intense questioningof every process and every product!

Katy Smith Textile Conservator Victoria and Albert Museum

COURSE

THE NORFOLK COUNTRY HOUSE:Collections and networksThe Attingham Study Programme 2013Norfolk 12–20 September 2013

For the cognoscenti of the cultural heritageworld the profession may be divided intothose who have ‘done’ Attingham and thosewho have not. Those who have benefitedfrom attending any of the three annualcourses offered by the Trust are bonded bythe Attingham experience.

My first experience of Attingham was in 1995when I took part in the Summer School.Since Attingham’s foundation in 1952, theSummer School – the flag-ship course – hasenjoyed outstanding success and is highlyregarded by museums, universities andhistoric preservation societies throughoutthe world for its careful selection ofmembers and sustained academic standards.The aim of the eighteen day course is toexamine the architectural and social historyof the historic house in Britain and itsgardens and landscape setting and study thecontents of these buildings – their paintings,sculpture, furniture, ceramics, silver, textilesand other applied arts – as well as theplanning, decorative treatment and use ofthe interiors. But the primary purpose of theschool is to bring together a range ofinternational professionals from differentdisciplines to stimulate debate on problemsrelating to the conservation and presentationof the country house and its contents.

All of the Attingham courses requirecommitment and energy and the SummerSchool is particularly demanding because ofits sheer length and intensity but it is

The 19th century Jacquard loom at Toye & Co.


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perhaps the most valuable and magical ofthe Attingham courses. It is aimed atemerging and mid-career heritageprofessionals and it was a career-definingcourse for me as it gave me anunderstanding of how other specialistsapproach their work and how conservationdecisions depend on contexts. I look back atmy summer school experience with greataffection and happy memories and still enjoythe loyal friendship and support of theAttingham Class of ’95. In fact we are nowplanning our twentieth anniversary.

But one can only attend the summer schoolonce. However I have been fortunate inbeing able to continue my connection withthe Trust by attending two of the Attingham

Study Programmes. The Study Programmesoffer a shorter and more detailedexamination of a particular region or period.I gained a partial grant to attend the study ofThe Country House in the Netherlands whichwas held in 2010, and this year I wasfortunate to gain a further grant for a placeon the 2013 Programme: The NorfolkCountry House: Collections and Networks.

The thirty scholars who took part in thisyear’s programme came mainly from theUSA and the UK but others came fromRussia, Switzerland, The Netherlands,Canada and as far away as Australia andNew Zealand. The group, together withcourse leader Dr Andrew Moore and courseadministrator Kate Morgan, and visiting

lecturers, stayed at the Duke’s Head Hotel inthe centre of Kings Lynn. We learned aboutthe importance of Kings Lynn for the regionand its international trading links.

Every morning we left early on a privatecoach to follow an intensive programme ofmainly private visits to country houses in thenorth Norfolk area. Such is the statusenjoyed by Attingham that the groupenjoyed a whole day at Holkham Hall asguests of the Earl and Countess of Leicester.The scholars were informed aboutmanagement issues of the entire estate andlearned how revenue from the farm, leasingof the caravan park and revenue from carparks were essential for the survival of thehistoric house and its contents. The long dayended in true Attingham fashion with a winereception in the Marble Hall, a delightfulflute recital in the Saloon and dinner in anhotel on the Holkham Estate.

We also visited a wide range of privatecountry houses of various sizes and fortunesand engaged in all of the issues which facefamilies tasked with taking on themanagement of the splendid but expensiveproperties. The highlight of the trip wasvisiting Houghton Hall to view the hangingof Sir Robert Walpole’s paintings, which weresold to Catherine the Great and are on loanfrom Russia for a special exhibition. Againwe enjoyed a private visit to the house andgardens – and as part of the eveningreception visited the private apartment ofthe Marquess of Cholmondeley. Thesespectacular rooms and the modern art theycontain would put the Saatchi to shame –and is perhaps a reminder that good artcannot be commissioned by committees.

I would like to encourage Icon members toconsider applying for a place on anAttingham course – full and partialscholarships are available. But beware it willrequire stamina!

www.attinghamtrust.org/

Helen Hughes ACR FIIC

The Saloon at Houghton Hall – with paintings on special loan from theHermitage Museum to reconstruct Walpole’s original hang

Attingham scholars being greeted by the house manager at the Entrance Hall of HolkhamHall

Attingham scholars in the grounds ofSheringham Park

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IDENTIFICATION OF PIGMENTS ON18TH CENTURY FRENCH CURL WITHTURKISH SPOTAbigail Bainbridge, Book Conservator & Lecturer inConservation Science at Camberwell College of Arts,discusses her preliminary exploration of the pigments onmarbled paper

The binding that provides this case study is a mid 18thcentury French paper binding. This marbled paper bindinghad at some point been cased between boards, which Idisbound and put back in something closer to its originalformat.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDThis period of French bookbinding is particularly interesting,due to the sudden availability of contemporary sources andstyles which were on the verge of changing with 19th centurydemands for speed and economy. Whilst before the 18thcentury, there were very few texts explaining the trade secretsof bookbinding, the Enlightenment created an interest amongacademics in detailing and explaining the ‘mechanical arts’.The 1751–1772 Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné desSciences des Arts et des Métiers, edited by Dennis Diderotand Jean-Baptiste le Rond d’Alembert, included over ahundred articles on bookbinding, not to mention the relatedsubjects of papermaking, board making and paper marbling.In 1772 René Martin Dudin followed with a text onbookbinding and finishing, as part of the series Descriptionsdes Arts et Métiers (1761–1788). Smaller texts and mentions indictionaries were also published.

With one exception, the 18th century publications thatemerged were thus not the work of a bookbinder explaininghis own craft but that of an academic, after some timeobserving and asking questions of the binder. Whilst in somerespects, the descriptions are quite detailed, in others theymiss a complete understanding or give conflictinginformation: the style of binding described in most of theEncyclopédie seems of the higher end, while the edge

in practice

Detail of the marbled paper under investigation

decoration described is a simple red edge, one of thecheaper options. Furthermore, the unknown author – in thiscase – describes using brazilwood for these edges, while sofar, my XRF analysis of book edges has identified onlyvermillion.

Figure 3 XRF spectrum of red; the Ag peak in this and all otherspectra is from the instrument

Figure 2 Red under modified Van der Kolk test

Figure 1 Red under plane polarised light


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THE THEORYAnd so, in order match reality to these sometimes unreliablehistoric witnesses, I attempted to identify the pigments on thisexample of marbled paper.

The marbling of the binding is typical of mid to late 18thcentury France: blue, yellow, and green on a red ground, withwhite ‘Turkish’ spots and a counter-clockwise curl. Despite awide variety of available colours, French curl is virtually alwaysred, blue, and yellow, sometimes with green and/or black, andsometimes with ‘Turkish’ spot. The red, as on manycontemporary French curls, has somewhat lifted, leaving apink stain on the paper and particles of red have becomelodged in the other colours. The green, blue, and yellow donot appear to be lifting.

According to the marbling article in the Encyclopédie, bluewas indigo; red was ‘la laque plate’ or brazilwood, boiled thenadded to calcium oxide; yellow was ochre and green wasochre mixed with indigo.* i

Searches for blue, red, yellow, and green in other articles inthe Encyclopédie yielded the following relevant pigments anddyes:

~ Blue: azure, smalt, Indian blue, indigo, lapis lazuli, lapisarmenus, and Prussian blue

~Red: carmine (cochineal boiled with alum and water),vermillion, brazilwood or ‘tanner’s red’, and realgar

~ Yellow: Naples yellow and the following dyes: ‘tanner’syellow’ made from berries (rock buckthorn, la grained’Avignon); a high-quality dye made from weld (la gaude);one made from turmeric (lesser quality); one made from theBay Rum tree (le bois d’inde) and the lowest quality one madefrom savory (la sariette).

~Green: usually made from yellow and blue mixed; otherwise,verdigris, terre verte and copperas. ii

Diderot identifies his source in this article as the elderly widowof a marbler, which leads one to believe the information maybe out of date in addition to the questionable accuracy ofsome information in the Encyclopédie. iii

THE ANALYSISIn an attempt to verify the information he provides aboutmarbling pigments, and to understand the extent of variancein reality, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and polarised lightmicroscopy (PLM) were used to analyze the four colours onthis sample. PLM samples were taken from the gutter of the20th century rebinding, where the flyleaves had been tippedonto the marbling and had dislodged flakes of colour.

Red: Brazilwood or carmine? Under crossed poles the sample was black (isotropic), whichnarrowed down the possibilities considerably to alum-basedlakes, consistent with the lack of elements such as Hg or as inthe XRF spectrum (Figure 3). Conchoidal fractures (Figure 1)

Figure 4 XRF spectrum of yellow Figure 5 Yellow under crossed poles

Figure 6 Yellow under modified Van der Kolk test Figure 7 Yellow under plane polarized light



and refractive index (RI) greater than 1.66 (Figure 2) confirmedthis; lack of fluorescence under UV eliminated madder lakes.

The XRF data bears this out; the high level of calciumcompared with other spectra of pigments on the same papermay be the result of precipitating the dyestuff, whethercochineal or brazilwood, on chalk or other ground calcium-based white material with which the colour would bemordanted. Because both would be extracted with alum (K,Al), which would also appear in the paper size, it is notpossible to distinguish between carmine and brazilwood withthese methods.

Yellow: probably yellow ochreThe yellow is precipitated, indicated by the clusters of smallparticles under magnification (Figure 7), and anisotropic(Figure 5) with a RI over 1.66 (Figure 6), which eliminatesNaples yellow and yellow lakes. XRF data (Figure 4) furthernarrows down the possibilities to yellows with high ironcontent: raw sienna or, as Diderot suggests, yellow ochre.

Green: terre verteHomogenous particles (Figure 11) mean that the colour wasnot mixed from yellow and blue; anisotropism (Figure 9) and aRI lower than 1.66 (Figure 10) limit the possibilities to verdigrisand terre verte. It is most likely the latter because the XRFspectrum (Figure 8) showed high levels of iron and negligibleamounts of copper. This is consistent with the lack of anyapparent copper corrosion on the paper.

More work neededUnfortunately I was unable to identify the blue pigment so willnot attempt any guesses here. At the time, I did not haveaccess to a modern FT-IR spectrometer which would allownon-destructive analysis, but would help distinguish betweenbrazilwood and carmine and may help identify the blue aswell. Further research is obviously required to make anyconclusions about the use of these pigments in marblingoverall, but it was an interesting start.

* Black was carbon black mixed with indigo and violet wasbrazilwood, carbon black, and indigo but because none ofthese patterns involve black or violet, these will be ignored forthe moment.

i Diderot, Denis, ‘Marbreur de Papier’, in Encyclopédie ou dictionnaireraisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, ed. Denis Diderot and Jean LeRond d’Alembert, vol. 10 (Paris: [Chez] Briasson, David, Le Breton, and Durand,1765), 72.

ii Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, eds., Encyclopédie oudictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Paris: [Chez]Briasson, David, Le Breton, and Durand, 1751).

iii Richard J Wolfe, Marbled paper: its history, techniques, and patterns : withspecial reference to the relationship of marbling to bookbinding in Europe andthe Western world (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990).

Figure 8 XRF spectrum of green Figure 9 Green under crossed poles

Figure 10 Green modified Van der Kolk test

Figure 11 Green under plane polarized light


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The finished bridal crown on its display mount

The conservator tying the crown to its support

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MY PLACEMENT’S CROWNING GLORY Gabrielle Flexer conserves a Norwegian bridal crown forher student placement project

IntroductionThis summer I finished a nine month placement at ManchesterMuseum and subsequently my conservation degree atDurham University. Reflecting on my student placement andin talking with experienced conservators I have come toappreciate the luxury of the time we students have to absorbourselves in the history, research and treatment of complexobjects and I’ve loved every minute of it!

One such project I had the opportunity to work on was aNorwegian Bridal Crown which was transferred to ManchesterMuseum from Salford Museum in 1969. The condition of theobject meant that it was un-interpretable and was recorded inthe transfer records as possibly Indian in origin. I spent threedays trawling museum image archives before a fortuitousencounter with an old postcard from my Dad gave me thecomparative example I needed to identify the object as abeaded bridal crown from the Hardanger region of Norwaytypical from the 1800s onwards.

The crown consists of two distinct sections: a fabric headband decorated with glass beads, edged with ribbons ofwoven metal threads and trailing silk ribbons from the back.On top of this sits a complex metal crown resplendent withbead work, silver and gilt ornaments, woollen tassels and yetmore metal threads.

Condition and IssuesThe main issue with the object was that its damaged structuremade it difficult to interpret and certainly not suitable fordisplay. The structural wires of iron and copper had brokenresulting in many loose pendants and beads and much of themetal crown was detached from the headband. The objectwas also dirty, its bright colours masked by thick black dirt andthe silver pendants heavily tarnished.

The many different materials combined in the object madetreatments quite complex as the individual treatments for eacharea could have detrimental effects on the surrounding materials.

My aim was to restore the object to a state that could bedisplayed and easily interpreted as ceremonial headwear byvisitors. To achieve this a mount would have to be created toallow the metal crown to be supported in its original positionwithout risking damage to the fabric headband. The detachedpendants and beading would need to be repositioned withthe possibility of replacing missing parts. Of course the firstjob was a through recording leading to analysis and cleaning.

AnalysisBefore considering cleaning the metal threads, analysis oftheir condition was carried out with an SEM (scanning electronmicroscope) at the National Conservation Centre, Liverpool.This revealed traces of silver on the threads used on theheadband, strictly limiting the possible treatments to gentledry cleaning with a soft brush so as not to remove anyremnants of the silver coating.

There are four shapes of pendant hanging from the crown:geometric roses, oak leaves and tear drops made of coppersheet gilded in silver or gold and diamonds made of beads.As many of the pendants had come loose, comparativeexamples were examined and matched with the few pendantsstill in their original position to determine the probablelocations of the others. This analysis also highlighted thataround a quarter of the pendants and beads were missing.

ConservationCleaning

Much of the bridal crown was cleaned with dry cleaningtechniques while the thousands of glass beads were cleanedwith water and IMS mix. The tarnish was removed from thesilver pendants using precipitated calcium carbonate in waterwhich gave a very pleasing finish without scratching thesurface. Consolidation was required for the flaking enamelling



Assembly and storage

Once the support structure had been made and replacementparts sourced and produced I could begin to reform theoriginal shape of the metal crown and rebuild thearrangement of beading and pendants. The beading wasrestrung with polyester thread and the crown was attached tothe metal support with nylon fishing wire. Once complete andsecurely attached to the support, the crown could be liftedfrom its temporary Plastazoate base and placed in positionabove the headband completing the treatment of the object.

A hat box with collapsible sides was created to house theobject and the new mount whilst in storage. To minimise thesize required for storage and for added protection theribbons were rolled round a support of Plastazoate and Tyvek.

My final task was to complete a beading diagram to detailwhich of the pendants and beads were and were not in theiroriginal position and which had been replaced so that futureconservators or researchers could fully understand the workcarried out on the object.

ConclusionWhilst completing my placement I was given the opportunityto work with an amazing collection and a fantastic team ofexperienced conservators always willing to provide advice andassistance and to experience life in the ‘real’ world as amuseum conservator. I enjoyed the challenges of working

The crown as I found it in storage The many loose pendants

A close up of the beaded fabric and metal threads making up theheadband

The flaking red lacquer on the metal threads used in the crownthrough the microscope

on the metal threads of the crown for which Paraloid B72 wasused, unfortunately the fragile surface meant that these threadscould not be cleaned at all before or after consolidation, so thebright red colour remains masked behind the dirt.

Support

A head form to support the headband was created frombuckram covered in wadding and fabric. A stainless steelsupport for the crown is fitted to the top and a Perspex standholds it aloft to allow the metal weights on the end of theribbons to rest on the table surface. As the support wasrequired for indefinite support of the object, the Perspexstand was made to be removable so that the mount could beused for both storage and display purposes.

Replacing lost elements

Replacement beads and pendants were felt necessary notonly to give the object a more complete look when finishedbut also to ensure the crown was evenly weighted on all sides.It would also allow the integration of original pieces whoseconnections were missing rather than risk them beingdisassociated by remaining loose. To make sure thatreplacement parts did not distract the eye or risk beingmistaken for original components, transparent/translucentmaterials were used. Clear plastic beads of appropriate sizeswere bought and pendants were cut from sheets of styreneand misted with micromesh abrasive.

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EDX spectrum of the surface of a sample of metal thread from the headband showing traces of silver

alongside the team on time critical projects such as theredevelopment of two permanent galleries and collaboratingwith the education team to complete various engagementprojects for visitors. Above all, however, I feel the opportunityto really explore all aspects of projects such as this Norwegianbridal crown has allowed me to more fully understand thediverse aspects of conservation. Of course the museum hasbenefited too with a beautiful object now ready and suitablefor display.

Fig. 5

Replacement pendant made of styrene compared to the original

The crown prepared for storage with the ribbons rolled in tyvek.

Three geometric rose pendants, one before cleaning and a goldand silver after cleaning

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I would like to thank all the conservators and staff atManchester Museum and Whitworth Art gallery for their helpand assistance on this object and all aspects of my placementand Siobhan Watts at the National Conservation Centre,Liverpool, for her assistance with the material analysis.

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