01010 iconnewsmay08 cover:67740 cover 29/4/08 15:38 page 1 · real possibility of us exporting the...

ICON NEWS • NOVEMBER 2005 • 1

THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONSERVATION • MAY 2008 • ISSUE 16

The Great Lakes cometo the Pitt Rivers

Also in this issue

Year 3 for the HLF internshipscheme

Salaries review and guidelines

Yorkshire wallpapers preserved

01010 ICONnewsMAY08 Cover:67740 cover 29/4/08 15:38

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01010 ICONnewsMAY08 Cover:67740 cover 29/4/08 15:38

inside MAY 2008Issue 16

2NEWSMessage from the Chair; abold interior and a meteorite

8PROFESSIONAL MATTERSPACR news; a view of theTechnician’s Qualification; thePlowden Medal

13INSTITUTE BRIEFINGSalaries; CTQ Q & A; Year 3 ofthe internship scheme

20 PEOPLE

22HISTORIC WALLPAPERSA European culturalprogramme funded twoprojects in Yorkshire topreserve historic wallpapers

26M’CHIGEENG CALLINGPitt Rivers Museum hosts avisit from researchers andtribal representatives to studya collection

30GROUP NEWS

33REVIEWSBronze; zinc oxide; photos

40IN PRACTICEA York Cathedral windowCHnIX – update on progress

45LISTINGS

48INTERVENTION

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Institute of Conservation3rd floorDownstream Building1 London BridgeLondon SE1 9BG, UK

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

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

Chief ExecutiveAlastair [email protected]

Conservation RegisterT +44(0)20 7785 [email protected]

ISSN 1749-8988

Icon NewsEditorLynette [email protected]

Listings editorMike [email protected]

Production designerMalcolm [email protected]

PrintersL&S Printing Company Limitedwww.ls-printing.com

Design Rufus [email protected]

AdvertisingDP MediaT 0117 904 1283F 0117 904 [email protected]

Cover photo: Deer-skin pouch withquill-work, thimbles and jinglers, anda finger-woven strap incorporatingbeads and pellet bells (1954.9.22).Great Lakes, North America. BeasleyCollection, Pitt Rivers Museum.Photo: Malcolm Osman, Pitt RiversMuseum.

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

Deadlines: For July 2008 issue

Editorial: 30 May

Adverts: 12 June

You’ll find a message in this issue from our Chair andothers about what A Good Thing Icon is! Unusually foran organisation of our sort, most of our funding comesfrom external sources rather than from the membersand their subscriptions. So if more practisingconservators, associated professionals and friends ofconservation were to join up just think how much morewe’d be able to do across the broad range of ouractivities.

Putting this issue together, I couldn’t help reflecting onwhat a varied picture emerges about the health ofconservation training. As we know, two academiccourses are under threat, yet happily we can report on anew one, in stained glass conservation, starting up inYork. Elsewhere, the Heritage Lottery funded internshipscheme embarks on its third year, seventeen more newACRs get their names in lights and the conservationtechnician’s qualification pilot moves into its secondphase. Education and training is just one example ofwhere our voice can be that much more powerful andour influence the greater if we all unite in Icon.

Lynette Gill, Editor

ICON NEWS • MAY 2008 • 1

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It’s good to belong. It is natural and mutually beneficial forpeople with common interests and goals to cometogether. Icon was formed with the idea of creating anatural home for conservation professionals and to createan organisation with a strong sense of identity to which allconcerned with the conservation, restoration, analysis andmanagement of our shared cultural heritage could cometogether to further a common cause.

There is certainly strength in numbers as demonstratedthrough the impact and influence that Icon has developedwith government and other strategic partners such asEnglish Heritage, The Collections Trust and others. It istestament to the success of Icon speaking out as the singlevoice of the profession.

We have had many successes over the last three years andwe have made many friends who are interested in what wehave to say and seek our advice in matters such as policy,education, training and advocacy. We have excellentmembership benefits in our magazine, Icon News,Iconnect our email update service, an updated andaccessible web site and not one but two journals.

We own our own training standard in PACR and we areseeing a steady stream of conservators seeking to attainthe highly valued Accredited status. The standard has alsoattracted attention from other countries and there is thereal possibility of us exporting the scheme at some point inthe future.

What we have not seen, however, is the expected level ofgrowth in our membership and we are not sure why this isthe case. Does our present level of membership accuratelyreflect those practising in the UK? We are not sure as wehave no market intelligence and we need you, themembers, to help. We know that some conservators haveallegiances to other organisations such as BAPCR andBAFRA and we are saddened that they feel unable to joinus to create a strong, fully unified body for conservators,restorers, conservation scientists and managers in the UK.

We hear anecdotal evidence that some people whom wewould expect to join don’t because they can borrow anIcon News or Journal from a friend or pick up aninstitutional copy for free. If you know someone like this,encourage them to join by pointing out the benefits ofbeing in the Icon club. It’s not just about a magazine, it isabout a collective belief in the need for a fully functioning,

structured and effective profession. We need everyonewho is involved with the care, conservation, restoration,analysis and management of cultural heritage to join us.The state of the economy, the London Olympics, TheComprehensive Spending Review, Council Tax levels andmany other factors are impacting upon our sector as awhole and we are working hard to ensure that our voice isheard but we can only do that if we have the membershipto support us. You will have received a questionnaire withyour last Icon News seeking your opinion on what you feelwe should be doing, if you have not already filled it in andreturned it, please do, so that you can be sure your voice isheard.

One area where we have not been as fruitful or effective aswe would have wished is our support of the SpecialistGroups. As a former Chair of the Metals Group Iunderstand that the Groups are the lifeblood of theorganisation and play an important role by providing afocal point for many members. I also understand howmuch work running a Group takes and I want thank all ofyou who contribute so much of your time. The Icon Boardmeets with the Group Chairs twice a year and at our nextmeeting we will be asking them how we can better worktogether to ensure that they are able to deliver addedvalue to the membership through conferences, workshopsand events. In the meantime why not contact your GroupChair and see what help they need or perhaps suggest aconference or workshop theme, I know that they will bepleased to hear from you.

So here’s the challenge: go out there and recruit amember, tell them why you belong and why you think thatthey should join. Perhaps even consider supporting anoverseas member from one of the developing countries; ifyou are in a department why not club together and helpsomeone connect with Icon. We also have a Supporterscategory for those who are not professionals but wish toreceive information and support our cause, so everyonecan contribute.

It is good to belong, to know that you are connected tothe UK’s largest conservation network, that there issomeone fighting your corner where it counts. So go on,spread the word and that word is Icon.

Icon therefore I am

by Simon Cane, Chair of Icon’s Board



REPRESENTATION / ADVOCACY‘I really value Icon’s advocacy role in representing theprofession at the highest level of government for example,and increasingly the media, and related fields’

‘Internationally it represents us as being part of anestablished profession with a high level of standards andstandardisation of our expertise’

‘I am impressed at the level of press coverage that theconservation profession gets now. I feel this is a directresult of Icon profiling what is now a connected body of alldisciplines of the profession. As an Icon member and oneof many, we now speak as a united voice. This press has animpact – perhaps universities are coming forward with aninterest in saving the TCC textile conservation programmesimply as a result’

KEEPING IN TOUCH‘With Icon I am able to keep in touch with the rest of theprofession; so we can use each other’s experiences andexpertise. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I have othersto discuss treatments with, for example’

‘Icon gives me a forum – in fact many – to meet up with myprofessional colleagues and hear about the latest workfrom other specialisms. As a conservation scientist it is thepractical aspects discussed at Icon group forums that helpme make sure that the research we do is relevant to theprofession’

‘Icon’s news about jobs is not only about opportunities, itgives me a picture, a good sense, of movement aroundthe profession. It tells us what is going on withininstitutions as well’

THE AWARDS‘Icon’s conservation awards show the world thatconservation is glamorous (or can be). Such publiccelebration of our successes is unprecedented and withtime would garner press cover. Like any profession, we tooneed the promotion!’

EMPLOYERS‘When all is equal in choosing a conservator for a job Ifavour the one who has an individual membership to Icon.This tells me the candidate has a higher level ofprofessional awareness and professional commitment’

‘For employers ACR is an indication of ‘quality’, aninsurance stamp if you will, or seal of approval’

GUARDIAN OF PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS ‘As the commercial sector plays an increasingly significantrole within the conservation profession, and with thegrowth in project-based job opportunities, there is adanger in becoming side-lined – we risk being seen as adevolved and distinct process, rather than part of thewhole in the study and enjoyment of cultural heritage. Iconprovides a consolidating body capable of presenting aunited voice that argues not simply for conservation as anend to itself, but a self-aware and mature profession,regulating and validating the conduct and achievements ofits membership through the process of accreditation, andkeen to ensure that our shared cultural heritage cancontinue to serve as a valuable resource withoutcompromising its safety’

‘ACR next to my name says to the world that weconservators – like surveyors, architects and doctors – havean agreed set of standards and qualities and theprofessional maturity and confidence to judge ourselvesagainst them. Conservators shouldn’t underestimate theprofessional validation of an accreditation scheme. Thegreater the number of ACRs the stronger our profession’sprofile, inevitably leading to its sustainability. Each of usneeds to encourage others to join this scheme’

‘Icon’s ACR was a personal high for me – it confirmed that Ihave indeed attained a level of expertise and it boostedmy confidence and morale. It reminded me of mycommitment to and love of this profession’

IN SHORT – A GOOD DEAL! ‘Costing less than a couple of cappuccinos a month lookwhat I get – job and people news, group events, right-levelsalary, current technical developments in the journals. Thetopper is free entry to special exhibitions when I flash myindividual membership, what a plus! I look forward to thearrival of eight publications right to my home. People don’trealise what an exceptional deal this is – for less than £6 amonth’

‘….news about conservation, celebration and promotion,public validation of quality work, job advertisements,training, advocacy for all, a consolidated position onissues, support and fun – conservation chatter over drinksin gorgeous places. I’d join!’

What does Icon membership mean to you?Conservators from Historic Royal Palaces and Glasgow’s Museum of Transport gave us their answers:


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around & about

and glazes. This paint scheme was combined with otherstrong, opulent colours in the room: a ‘blue-groundcrimson scroll and roset-pattern Brussels carpet’, ‘costly’pink-striped silk tabouret curtains lined with scarlet tammyand pink silk lining the brass lattice-work cupboard doors.This amazing combination of colours, an exercise inRegency taste, would have combined to create a room ofhuge visual impact, and these textile elements will also bere-created to complete the scheme.

The decision to re-introduce the Regency scheme was notan easy one. Re-painting historic interiors is not reallyreversible: Listed Building Consent had to be sought andthe National Trust Arts Panel needed to be convinced.Despite two trials in-situ it was not easy to visualize theconcept and the impact on the room’s appearance. Wasthe black going to look dark and gloomy? The scheme wasvery challenging to modern–day taste. Even morecontroversial was the fact that it was going to cover up a1972 decorative scheme by John Fowler, based loosely onStuart’s original colours for the room.2 However, this waslargely felt not to be one of Fowler’s more successfulschemes and did not create a suitably rich and impressivefeel worthy of this wonderful architectural space, which isthe climax of the masculine side of the house, traditionallyLord Berwick’s study. Furthermore, the paint analysis haddemonstrated that the black and red graining scheme hadhad a long-lasting significance – it had not been a ‘flash-in-the-pan’ exercise quickly painted out. It survivedsubsequent redecoration phases, when the walls were re-painted (still in shades of grey) but the black and redgraining was carried over.

Re-instating Regency decorAs part of a major project – Attingham Re-discovered – toimprove the presentation of the interiors at Attingham, aNational Trust property in Shropshire, a dramaticdecorative scheme is being re-created in the OctagonRoom. Its defining feature is red graining on a blackground, representing a fantasy exotic hardwood, on all thearchitectural elements of the room.

Over the last seven years, investigation and analysis1

revealed that this striking scheme is linked to the 2nd LordBerwick in the early 1800s, when he overhauled the suite oflibrary rooms on the west side of the house, comprisingthe Octagon Room, West Ante Room and Inner Library,and when he was spending lavishly on decorative schemesand furnishings throughout the house.

Although at first sight consisting of a restrained palette ofgrey, black and cream, it actually comprises ten differentcolours: five subtle shades of grey, three off-whites and twostone-creams. Plus the black itself, which is not a trueblack, but off-black. It was a sumptuous and complexscheme, created with opaque paint, coloured varnishes

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The Octagon Room before redecoration

Redecoration of the Octagon Room in progress



The compelling evidence for the recreation of the 2ndLord Berwick’s decorative scheme, along with itsassociated textiles and contents, ultimately provedirresistible. Its recreation will give a marvellous opportunityto restore a sense of Regency opulence to Attingham andillustrate that layer of the house’s history. The main coloursare already up on the walls3, and the dramatic red graininghas been carried out in front of visitors over the past twomonths to engage them in this exciting transformation.

Sarah Kay, Curator, National Trust.

1 Paint analysis by James Finlay, Lisa Oestreicher & Dr. Spike Bucklow. Textiles:Annabel Westman.

2 Bellerby’s of York were responsible and Charles Hesp and Dennis Jonesactually carried out the work.

3 Re-decoration by Paul Knibb and James Finlay.

New learning opportunities• The Open University in partnership with The British

Museum and York Archaeological Trust is launching anew science short course called Archaeology: TheScience of Investigation (SA188). www.open.ac.uk

• English Heritage and the UCL Centre for SustainableHeritage are launching a new short course ‘ManagingCollections in a Changing Climate’. Course coverageincludes climate change impacts and practical solutions,the pros and cons of different climate change/energysaving strategies; improving energy efficiency,assessment tools and practical case studies. The first onewill run from 23 to 25 July. More information [email protected] or +44 (0) 20 7679 5903

• Conservation in context: projects, money, deadlines,science and heritage projects in conservation looks to bea fascinating one day meeting at the Royal Institution on25 July, bringing together the RI, the Historical Group ofthe Royal Society of Chemistry and a host of speakersfrom across the conservation world, including DavidSaunders; Vincent Daniels; Bronwyn Ormsby; HelenHughes; Angela Karsten; Rupert Harris, Mark Sandifordand others. Listings gives booking details.

History of Hayle Mill Paper conservators will be interested to hear of theforthcoming publication of Paper making at Hayle Mill1808 –1987. The book is sixty eight pages with a text byMaureen Green that is both a readable and technicalsurvey of the 180 years that the Green family madehandmade paper. Boxed along with an accompanyingmap and two portfolios of papers and photographs, thepublication has been made to the highest productionstandards, using a variety of different examples of papersfrom the Mill itself. Available in a limited edition of 200copies for $800 (or $700 for payment before June), it ispublished by Janus Press in Vermont, USA, although a fewcopies will be available from the author in the UK for £400.Contact [email protected]

EH sets out its stallOn 25 April English Heritage published an importantdocument setting out the philosophical foundation for itswork in the 21st century. Conservation Principles, Policiesand Guidance is the result of four years of debate andconsultation. Although intended primarily for EH use, it ishoped that it will be of interest and benefit to many othersinvolved with the historic environment. Download it fromwww.english-heritage.org.uk/conservationprinciples.

MDA re-launchesMDA has announced that from 9 April it became theCollections Trust, a new independent national organisationfor collections. The new brand builds on MDA’s work of thepast thirty years and has been developed to reflect its new,wider remit in the field of Collections Management. TheCollections Trust will continue to be committed todocumentation and information management and over thenext twelve months it will be investing in the developmentof the Collections Link advisory service to provide accessto expertise across an even broader range of professionaldisciplines. (www.collectionslink.org.uk).

Collections ManagementSpecificationOne recent development for the new Collections Trust isits work with the British Standards Institute to develop acode of practice for cultural collections management,applicable to museums, archives, libraries and othercollecting organisations. The aim is to codify an holisticapproach to collections management with a series of

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A section of the graining identified through paint analysis andsubsequently uncovered. It is an unusual pattern and the NT iskeen to know if anyone else has seen anything similar in anhistoric house.


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recommendations relating to good practice and coveringacquisition and stewardship, use and access. It will beapplicable to all types of tangible and intangiblecollections such as books, electronic records, papers andartefacts. Known as a Publicly Accessible Specification, PAS197 for Collections Management is intended to be open toreview in June and published in September.

NMS Conservation LabsA bright new futureThe Department of Conservation and Analytical Research(C&AR) at National Museums Scotland moved three of itssections into new laboratories in a purpose-built £2Mbuilding in Edinburgh. The move of Artefact Conservation,Paper & Textile Conservation and Analytical Researchbrings the Department together with the Engineering &Furniture section at the NMS Collections Centre, afourteen acre site on the south side of Edinburgh’sWaterfront development. The move of the laboratoriescoincides with the start of the NMS ‘Master Plan’, a £50Mre-invention of the Victorian Royal Museum building. TheRoyal Museum will be partly closed from May and reopensin 2011 with sixteen new galleries. The new laboratoriesare being put to immediate use in the investigation andconservation of the collections selected for display, somefor the first time since they were collected.

NMS reaches for the stars In July 2006, the National Museums Scotland (NMS)purchased an iron meteorite as part of the Royal Museumproject mentioned above. The specimen is part of the

famous Muonionalusta fall from Northern Sweden of whichseveral parts of various sizes have now been recovered.The weight of the object is 170kg and is one of the largestparts yet found. The Muonionalusta stones are classified asoctahedrite iron meteorites and contain 8.42% of nickel. Itsterrestrial age is around 800,000 years. During that longperiod it has been slowly and progressively contaminatedfrom the soil.

A few months after storage in a polyethylene bag withsilica gel, the meteorite showed a considerable extensionof active corrosion. Preliminary analytical results of lostflakes from the meteorite’s surface, using SEM-EDX andXRD, showed the presence of akaganeite incorporatingnickel in its structure. Akaganeite (ß-FeOOH) is a wellknown corrosion product on archaeological iron objectsthat contains chlorides from burial soil. During the last sixmonths, the specimen has been immersed in an alkalinesulphite solution for stabilisation. Several measurements ofthe bath showed that the removal is still progressing.

Initially, the curators hoped to put the meteorite on openpublic display. Such an approach is now compromised,considering that exposure to an uncontrolled atmospherecould increase significantly the growth of corrosion. Alloptions regarding the storage after stabilisation and thefuture display in the new gallery are now being examined.

Working on the project at NMS have been Gaëlle Giralt,Lore Troalen, Jane Clark and Theo Skinner from theConservation and Analytical Research Department alongwith Peter Davidson and Vicen Carrió from the NaturalSciences Department. We would be delighted to hearfrom colleagues dealing with similar objects. Contact Gaelle Giralt on [email protected] or Lore Troalen on [email protected]

Gaëlle Giralt

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Calling all accredited conservators. Do you knowsomeone who is eligible for accreditation? They may needsome encouragement to think about submitting anapplication. Why not talk to them about PACR and offeryour support.

All PACR documents are now on the Icon websiteincluding NEW information. Please look at the newlayout of information for Accreditation and CPD. It includesall the relevant PACR documents plus the ‘PACR Review2007 Report and Action Plan’ and a revised CPD policywith a new procedure for accredited members wanting totake time out from practising as a conservator.

PACR APPLICATION DEADLINES

Please remember to send in your Register of Intentionform, together with a non refundable fee of £75 to Icon bythe date relating to the application deadline as notedbelow. No applications will be considered without aRegister of Intention. However if you do not manage tosend in your completed application form as intended –you can transfer to the next application deadline. Theapplication fee is £450 – please refer to theAccreditation/CPD pages on the Icon website to seewhere the money goes.

PACR EVENTS THIS AUTUMN

• Free afternoon clinics for candidates working towards thenext application deadline will be held on 2 October inBristol, 15 October in London and 7 November inManchester (this will include a tour of the John RylandsLibrary).

• Introduction to PACR workshops for those wanting tofind out more about the accreditation scheme will takeplace in London (28 October) and Birmingham (tbc).

• Introduction to Mentoring. An all-day meeting in Londonon 9 December for accredited members who areinterested in supporting other members working towardsaccreditation and for their own CPD. Icon will covertravel costs.

For all these PACR events, please refer to www.icon.org.ukfor further information: go to the Accreditation/CPDsection. For further details please contact Susan Bradshaw,PACR Accreditation Manager tel/fax 01626 824510 or [email protected]

professional mattersREVIEW OF ACCREDITATION

The major review of our professional accreditation whichtook place in 2007 has now been completed. The finalconsultant’s report and action plan are available on theIcon website (click the Accreditation/CPD button on thelefthand menu). The main findings of the report are:

• the need to significantly increase the number ofcandidates seeking accreditation

• the abolition of the requirement for sponsors

• the abolition of separate ‘routes’ for preventiveconservation and for managers, teachers and advisers, sothat all candidates apply under a single route

• the merging of professional standards 3 (ConservationTreatments) and 4 (Preventive Measures)

• the production of a revised and simplified candidatepack and other documentation

• strengthening the mentoring system

• making professional accreditation as close as possible tobeing financially self-sustaining, and raising feesaccordingly

New guidelines for applicants for the January 2009application round will be available in the autumn of 2008.The requirement to have sponsors has been dropped forall applications received after 20 June 2008.

NEW ACRS – CONGRATULATIONS !

Edward Adcock – Management (preventive /libraries &archives)

Aline Angus – Leather conservation

Christopher Augerson – Decorative surfaces & woodenartefacts

Andrew Bush – Conservation adviser ( paper)

Julia Dalzell – Paintings

Natasha Duff – Paintings

Deborah Farndell – Book conservation

Jane Giscombe – Preventive

Karla Graham – Archaeology

Iwan Bryn James – Preventive

Shirley Jones – Archive conservator accredited with theSociety of Archivists

Susan McCarthy – Stained Glass

Sonja Schwoll – Book conservation

Pamela Small – Preventive

Lara Speroni – Books and paper

Jane Thompson Webb – Preventive

Caroline Tragett – Frames and gilding

Register ofIntention

ApplicationSubmssion

AssessmentRound

ResultAnnounced

25 April 2008 20 June 2008 Sept–Nov 2008 Feb 2009

31 Oct 2008 16 Jan 2009 Mar–May 2009 July 2009

14 April 2009 22 June 2009 Sept–Nov 2009 Feb 2010


We have now been through the first stage of assessmentand despite some nervousness, we now realise that wewere far more prepared than we thought. We have beenencouraged by our mentors to ask the question ‘why’more often, and learn to investigate finding the answers toquestions ourselves. Through critical discussion we arelearning to make and apply technical decisions and weboth enjoy the organic way in which the CTQ has allowedus to examine and address our work as ConservationTechnicians.

At the outset we struggled with the lack of formal structurethat one would find with a taught course, but this hasultimately worked in our favour, giving us the autonomy tomanage our own program of learning and to gain inconfidence as a result. We now feel more in touch with ourknowledge and skills and are able to discuss work moreconfidently as we prepare for the next stage ofassessment. Indeed, Gill has found that the CTQ hasstimulated her interest in exploring areas of conservation inmore depth, such as environmental control and textileconservation, and Amy, encouraged by her experiencewith the CTQ, is aiming to pursue further formal study in amasters’ programme, which she may not have consideredhad the CTQ not encouraged her to explore areas ofconservation beyond the requirements of her job.

We appreciate the support given by Icon and TNA inproviding us with the opportunity to take advantage of thisqualification and more importantly encouraging us topursue it creatively – as a true means of personal andprofessional development. We will benefit from thediscussion and self-assessment that is intrinsic to thesuccess of the enterprise as will our department. We areclearly learning from one another as we address eachaspect of the CTQ. We would encourage other techniciansand employers to recognise the mutual benefits, becomeinvolved with this scheme and discover their jointpotential!‘

More information about CTQ can be found on page 13

NEW MA COURSE

Some good news on the education front: a new Mastersdegree in Stained Glass Conservation and HeritageManagement is being offered by the University of York.

This innovative programme, the first of its kind in theEnglish-speaking world, offers an integrated study ofstained glass and its conservation, meeting a perceivedneed internationally for a qualification in this field. It will betaught in partnership with the Archaeology Department.The aim is to offer training for a variety of employment, instained glass conservation workshops, but also in heritagemanagement, arts administration, architectural offices,


CONSERVATION TECHNICIANQUALIFICATION

A Personal View A qualification scheme was introduced in June 2007 toprovide a recognised transferable standard forconservation technicians. The scheme, designed to betransferable across several institutions, was developed inpartnership with organisations representing libraries,archives, and museums. The qualification is gained in theworkplace through an internal and external assessmentprocess; professional mentors provide additional support.Both Gill Lees and Amy Tuffnell, Conservation Techniciansat The National Archives, have enthusiastically taken upthe scheme and their experiences are reported here.

‘The Icon Candidate Guide describes the ConservationTechnicians Qualification (CTQ) equivalent to an A Level orNVQ3 as: ‘…a work-based qualification for people whoundertake basic conservation tasks and provide technicalsupport to conservators’. Each of us had separate reasonsfor deciding to participate in the CTQ, for example Gill’sinterest stemmed from a desire to try new things, learn abroader range of skills and become more confidentprofessionally. Amy became involved so she couldconsolidate her knowledge and experience to enableprofessional progression within the technician’s role. Bothof us felt that undertaking the CTQ was a goodopportunity for personal and professional developmentsince ultimately we wanted to learn, broaden ourknowledge and understanding of conservation, andcontextualise our work, which clearly the CTQ would allow.

The reality of participating in the qualification was fairlydifferent from our initial perceptions. Although we beganwith the idea that it would be a simple skill-based course,we soon realised that it could be as easy or as involved aswe chose to make it, and given we had become involvedthrough a desire to learn the CTQ soon grew into a verypositive motivational tool.

Gill Lees, on the left, and Amy Tuffnell


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engineering offices, administration of historic buildingsand museums. The programme will also be a preparationfor higher research degrees.

The course is designed to appeal to a wide range ofpotential applicants. They will include college graduateswith an undergraduate degree in related fields (e.g., glassconservation, wall-painting conservation, art history,architecture, archaeology). Applicants without a collegedegree, but with exceptional experience or demonstrableskills may also be admitted, subject to an entrance test. Allcandidates should have some previous experience in glassconservation; preliminary placements can be arranged.

This is a two-year programme, including four terms oftaught courses, with two modules per term, a five-monthplacement, and a five-month dissertation. Two moduleswill be devoted to basic and advanced techniques of glassconservation. In each taught term a week-long masterclass

will be conducted by a visiting lecturer. Other fields ofstudy include the ethics and the philosophy ofconservation, history of conservation, art and architecturalhistory, archaeology, materials and materials’ science,building engineering, architectural climate study,administrative training, and heritage and businessadministration. There will be a free choice of art-historicalor archaeological modules in the spring term of thesecond year. Leading conservation studios in Britain,Europe and the United States will host placements,providing valuable work experience, and networks forfuture careers. Variations on the degree are possible forthose who wish to avoid the placement and/or thedissertation.

At least one studentship will be offered, with the generoussupport of the Glaziers Trust. For more information,contact Dr Tim Ayers, Centre for Medieval Studies, King’sManor, University of York YO1 7EP . E: [email protected]

more professional matters

DAVID PINNIGER WINS THE PLOWDENMEDAL

The winner of the prestigious Plowden Medal for 2008 isDavid Pinniger , who is renowned for his work in the fieldof pest management where he is strategy adviser forbodies such as English Heritage and many of the UK’smuseums, historic properties and archives. Activelyinvolved with developing improved insect detectionmethods and alternatives to pesticides for the control ofpests, he is also working with many organisations tocollect and co-ordinate accurate data on pest incidencein the UK. He has presented papers at numerousconferences, lectures widely and is the author of over fiftypapers and publications. David will be presented with theGold Medal by The Viscount Thurso MP at the RoyalWarrant Holders Association (RWHA) lunch in London on3 June. (You can read a review by him of a pest workshopin Malta on page 33)

The Plowden Medal was inaugurated by the RWHA in1999 in memory of the Hon. Anna Plowden CBE, aleading conservator who was the Association’s Vice-President when she died in 1997. A graduate of theInstitute of Archaeology, Anna started her ownconservation company in 1966 and subsequently foundedPlowden and Smith, now one of the world’s largestcommercial conservation firms. She was dedicated to theconservation profession and played an active part in its

development, as well as holding many appointments onsuch bodies as the Victoria and Albert Museum and theCouncil of the Textile Conservation Centre. She waselected to the Council of the RWHA in 1990 and was afounding trustee of the Association’s Queen ElizabethScholarship Trust. (See news below of two more generousQEST awards in the conservation field). She wasappointed CBE in 1997 for her services to conservation.The Gold Medal in her name is awarded annually to anindividual who has made a significant recent contributionto the advancement of the profession or in recognition ofa lifetime of commitment and achievement.

Awards

David Pinniger with enthusiastic students


QEST

The indefatigable Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trustcontinues to support the cause of conservation andrestoration with two more awards. Ben Marks has won ascholarship of £11,000 which will enable him to undertakea three-year apprenticeship in the conservation andrestoration of early square pianos. Rachel Sawicki, fromOxford’s Bodleian Library, has won £10,000 to study for anMA in Book Conservation at West Dean College. Twoyears ago she joined the Bodleian’s Conservation andCollection Care Department as an Assistant ConservationTechnician. She is part of a small group of technicians whorotate through various sections of the department assistingconservators by carrying out work such as minor book andpaper repair, box making and environmental monitoring. Inher spare time she practices bookbinding at home andtakes part in workshops around the country. Winning aQEST Scholarship means Rachel can study on the one yearMA degree in Books and Library Materials at West Dean.In the long term her dream is to specialise and become anindependent consultant in the care and conservation ofEnglish 15th to 17th embroidered and textile bindings.

The closing date for the next round of Scholarshipapplications is 6 June 2008 (www.qest.org.uk)


TAKING REGENT STREET TO JAPAN

Georgia Vossou from the City of Westminster ArchivesCentre recently won a travel bursary from The BritishCouncil and the MLA(Museums Libraries andArchives Council ). This willenable her to take herproject ‘A Mile of Style: 180Years of Shopping in RegentStreet’ as a travellingexhibition to Japan in theautumn, fostering culturalties between the twocountries.

The ‘Mile of Style’ was alsoawarded the 2007/08Archives Landmark Award,through the Archives forLondon and the London Metropolitan Archives. Held atthe City of London Guildhall Art Gallery, it revealed thefascinating history of one of Europe’s most famousshopping thoroughfares, Regent Street. Including a largeselection of archival documents, photographs, advertisingart, fashion designs and vintage costumes, participantswere encouraged to celebrate their heritage with a widerange of educational activities. The project was a uniquecollaboration between the Westminster City Archives, theGuildhall Art Gallery, and The Crown Estate, and alsoinvolved three of the oldest establishments of RegentStreet: Jaeger, Aquascutum and Austin Reed. Hamleystoys, with Dickins and Jones, also contributed andsupported the project.

Georgia qualified in paper conservation from CamberwellCollege of Arts and also holds a MA in MuseumManagement through the Business School of theUniversity of Greenwich. She has lots of experience in thefield, having worked at the Wiener Library, Guildhall ArtGallery, Guildhall Library, library of the Monastery of SaintCatherine in Mount Sinai , Egypt (the second oldest libraryin the world), Lincoln College Oxford, the LambethArchives & Minet Library and the Honourable ArtilleryCompany. She is been working at the City of WestminsterArchives Centre since 2004.

CPD GRANTS AVAILABLE

Also recognising Anna Plowden’s contribution to theprofession, CPD grants are available from the AnnaPlowden Trust. Full details were set out in January’s IconNews. The next deadline for applications is June 16.

Ben Marks

Rachael Sawicki


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institute briefingMEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS

Many thanks to those members who have renewed theirmembership subscriptions promptly. The faster we cancomplete subscription renewals the faster we can move onto working on delivering the services you expect from Icon.In 2007 it took five months to bring in everyone’ssubscriptions and if we are going to be more effective foryou in the future, we need, with your help, to bring thattime down significantly. Thanks also to those memberswho have completed and returned their yellowmembership questionnaire. So far about 75% of memberspaying their subscription are not also returning aquestionnaire. The Icon Board of Trustees will be using theresults of this questionnaire when considering futurestrategy for the organisation, so if you have views on whatIcon is doing, and just as importantly, what it should bedoing, now is the time to share them.

ADVANCE NOTICE

Board membershipAt the 2008 AGM the terms of the following members ofthe Icon Board will end:

Simon Cane (Chair)

Diane Gwilt (Vice Chair)

Alison Richmond

Heather Perry (Wales)

As usual, the official call for nominations will appear in theJuly edition of Icon News and the ballot paper will go outto voting members in September. Eligible Members (atOrdinary and Accredited grade) are invited to think aboutstanding for election and/or to encourage others to do so.Candidates do not need to live or work in the UK, butmust be able to attend four Board meetings per year inthe UK and undertake the other responsibilities of atrustee and company director. There is a limit of £300 perBoard meeting for travel expenses.

The 2008 AGM The 2008 AGM will be held at the British Library, London,on Monday 8 December.

ICON JOURNALS

For the last three years all eligible Icon members havebeen receiving both of our journals. At the time whendecisions were being made about convergence, back in2004, this was felt to be an important way of bringingeveryone together. I hope members feel that this has beena useful exercise but after three years it has really served itspurpose and we do not need to keep it up forever. Indeed

a number of members have complained about receivingjournals they do not wish to read, and have opted out offuture issues. With immediate effect therefore we will bedistributing journals to eligible members (Accredited,Ordinary and Student grades) on the following basis:

� Icon members who are also members of the Book andPaper Group and of other groups will continue to receiveboth journals

� Icon members who are not members of the Book andPaper Group will receive The Conservator only

� Icon members who are members of the Book and PaperGroup only will receive The Paper Conservator only

Organisation members and Subscribers will continue toreceive both journals.

Alastair McCapra Chief Executive

TECHNICIANS’ QUALIFICATION, Q & A

What’s happening, now the first ‘CTQ’ Pilot phase hasfinished?The final meeting of the Phase One partner employers washeld in March and it was acknowledged that a secondphase of piloting should be set in motion from May 2008to May 2010. Icon is now actively recruiting interestedorganisations who want to join the employers’ consortiumin the new pilot; we are grateful for those goodexpressions of interest we have received so far. If you oryour organisation would like to be involved and you havenot already been in touch contact Carol Brown [email protected] .

Is our organisation eligible for Phase 2?Organisations of any size can join the consortium and a feestructure has been developed to reflect the differences inscale. As a partner in the group, you will share jointownership of the CTQ and help determine how it isoperated and developed in future. You will need to beable to reassure Icon that your organisation can deliver thetraining required to meet the standards; at this stage alsoyou should have sufficient staff to provide enough internalassessors and mentors for the number of candidates youplan to put forward.

Am I eligible to apply as a candidate?For the near future, we can only consider candidates fromparticipating organisations; so if you are interested intaking the qualification yourself, please do contact yourmanager and encourage them to get involved and tocontact us. Anyone working in any conservation-relatedcontext, in support of conservators, may apply.


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How much will it cost?Details are in the CTQ prospectus on the website.Organisations pay an annual charge for joining the group,then a fee per external assessment made.

What are the aims of the qualification?The new qualification has been set up to improve careermobility for people working or volunteering in ’in-depth’roles in a conservation context, where there hastraditionally been limited room for career progression. Italso serves to recognise and acknowledge the highstandard of work done by technicians, historic house staff,volunteers and craftspeople.

Where can I find out more about the qualification andstandards?Icon has a new section on the CTQ on its website. Go tothe ‘Technicians’ Qualification’ button in the main menu ofthe Icon website www.icon.org.uk to read more about thescheme.

Read about the experience of two ConservationTechnicians on page 9

SALARIES

New guidelinesIn February 2008 the Icon Board of Trustees approved anew set of salary guidelines. The conservation professionnow has a set of salary guidelines which are morecomprehensive, better researched and more readily usableby conservators and employers than ever before. Weconsidered undertaking a similar review of rates chargedby private conservators, but the overwhelming consensusfrom the private sector was that publishing any kind ofguidelines on rates would be counterproductive, so thisreview only covers salaries.

Benchmarking against other heritage professionsFor a number of years, Icon and some of its predecessorbodies have worked closely with The Society of Archiviststo ensure that we publish the same minimum salaryrecommendation. This policy continues, and as wedevelop closer relations with other bodies such as theInstitute of Field Archaeologists and the MuseumsAssociation we are better able than ever before to ensurethat our own salary guidelines are in line with those ofsister professions. Icon’s new guidelines have beendeveloped in consultation with these other professionalbodies.

Review of advertised salariesOver the last few months Icon Board member RoseBriskman ACR has reviewed all the conservation jobs

advertised in 2007 in Icon News and tabulated the salariesadvertised into four bands. As a result we are now able topublish the following advice and guidance on salaries

i Icon seeks to foster recognition of the responsibilityheld by conservation professionals in protecting andpreserving the world’s cultural heritage. The high-levelskills required for this vital role should be recognised instatus and salary levels. We recommend that theminimum salary for conservators should be £20,895 andconservation technicians should be £17,000. We alsorecommend that the stipend (not salary) for internsundertaking workbased learning be £14,000.

ii For the guidance of employers seeking to determineappropriate salaries for conservators, we provide thefollowing average figures based on a study of allconservation jobs advertised with Icon in 2007:

Newly qualified conservator average £21,115

Qualification and some experiencerequired average £23,443

Professional Accreditation (PACR) or considerable experience required average £27,351

Senior/management roles average £36,971

iii Starting salaries and career progression for conservatorsemployed in institutions should be no lower or morerestricted than for those alongside whom they work.Icon supports the principle of parity across the heritageprofessions when promoting the skills and value ofconservators, curators, librarians, archivists,archaeologists and historic buildings specialists.

ivEmployers are encouraged to assist conservation staffto be accredited under the Professional Accreditation ofConservator Restorers (PACR) scheme run by Icon, theBritish Horological Institute and the Society ofArchivists. Employment of accredited conservators is amark of excellence in a heritage service. Achievementof accredited status by conservators should berecognised when identifying salary levels.

What does Icon do with its Salary Recommendations?1 Make Icon members aware of them so that they have a

benchmark for assessing job advertisements, preparinga case for their own salary reviews, and being moreconfident about asking for more money. The guidelinesare published at the foot of all of our Iconnect Jobsadvertisements. They have also been published in theConservation DistList so that conservators outside theUK have some guidelines when considering coming tothis country for work.

2 Promote the guidelines to employers. We send theguidelines to Heads of Conservation so they have



baseline information when thinking about settingsalaries in their own institution. We also include theguidelines in our specification for job advertisers.

3 Refuse to accept job advertisements which offer salariesbelow the recommended minimum. (We enforce onlythe minimum recommendation, and do not try to makeall advertised jobs fit within the bands we have used inpublishing our research findings). This has been done onseveral occasions in the last two years. In each case wecontact the employer to make them aware of ourminimum and argue for an increase. In some cases thisworks and if does not, so the advertisement does notrun.

4 Offer general advice to Icon members who face salaryreviews

5 On a political level, Icon has lobbied Local GovernmentEmployers, the agency of the Local GovernmentAssociation responsible for dealing with local authorityemployees in England and Wales. We have also securedagreement from the Heritage Lottery Fund to use oursalary recommendations in the guidance they makeavailable to organisations bidding for HLF money. (Apersistent source of frustration has been the number oforganisations receiving major grants from HLF and thenadvertising conservation jobs at ridiculously low rates).Lastly, we have used the consultation by the Departmentof Culture Media and Sport ‘Understanding the Future:Museums in the 21st Century’ to highlight the need forproper salary structures and rates of pay. We have alsoattacked those aspects of the working environmentcommon to heritage institutions which hold conservatorsand many others back – the lack of proper careerstructure, lack of professional development, and anunwillingness to break away from the silo mentalitywhich affects the workforce in many museums andgalleries.

What can’t Icon do?Icon is constrained by two important things – first, itscharitable status, and secondly, its small size. Icon is not atrade union and it cannot, as a charity, act on behalf ofindividual Icon members in pay disputes with employers,organise strike activity or mount campaigns against poorly-paying employers. We recommend that conservatorsseriously consider joining a union, generally Unison forlocal government employees and Prospect for others. Theother constraint is that Icon is very small. We have a corestaff of three in the London office, who are responsible formembership, support to the Icon groups, running theConservation Register and anything else Icon does which isnot explicitly related to internships, training, accreditation,publications or the Chantry Library. With additional

contributions from Icon members undertaking research weare able to maintain the level of activity outlined above,but no more.

What can you do?• If you are the Head of a Conservation Department, use

the Icon guidelines to inform your own decision-makingon salaries for your staff. Ensure that your seniormanagement and your HR Department are also aware ofthem and use them when preparing to advertise jobsand when reviewing salary structures.

• Refer to the guidelines when negotiating your own salaryand when applying for jobs.

• Report to Icon any examples of employers paying belowthese rates so that we can make representations to them(particularly if the posts are HLF-funded or if theemployer claims to be an ‘Investor in People’).

The PaperConservatorContributions Are you working on a project whichwould be of interest to your fellowconservators and which you would like topublish? If so The Paper Conservatorwould be pleased to receive original,well written contributions forconsideration. The deadline for finaldrafts for volume 33, 2009 is 1 December 2008. Abstracts or draftproposals are welcome before that date.Please contact Shulla Jaques, Editor,[email protected].


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SALARIES RESEARCH IN CONTEXT

A personal view Salaries for conservators remain low by comparison withthose in the general labour market. However they are inline with those across the heritage sector, such as witharchaeologists, archivists, and most other staff inmuseums and galleries. The broad picture is not one ofconservators being unfairly discriminated against insalary terms, but of a heritage sector in which salariesare generally much lower than in other sectors.

Conservators have of course commonly beendisadvantaged in that the level of education andtraining required to become a conservator represents aconsiderably higher barrier to professional entry than isfaced by others working in a museum or galleryenvironment. This does not seem likely to change andindeed, as is clear from the recent Single Status Reviewin English local authorities, conservators are much morelikely to benefit from framing their case for highersalaries in entirely different terms. It was refreshing tosee that the SSR process actually led in some cases toconservators’ salaries being uprated, because it provedto be a very useful tool for laying bare the ‘hiddenvalue’ that conservators add to their institution.Significantly, the SSR process took the radical step ofbasically disregarding academic qualifications, years ofservice or other benchmarks commonly used todetermine pay, and asking the simple question ‘Whatvalue does your work add to this organisation?’ In otherwords, it measured ‘outputs’ rather than ‘inputs’.Conservators who were able to articulate how theirwork contributed to the strategic aims of their museumor gallery, relate it to public access and education, anddescribe it in terms of risk management to themuseum’s assets stood a good chance of doing well outof the review process. This is, I believe, an indicator forthe future. Conservators need to talk up their own workin the context of the objectives of the organisation theywork for.The days when one could expect to be paidmore for having studied for longer or gained long yearsof experience are rapidly on the way out.

In the broader context, we should keep in mind twothings which have a bearing on the general trends inconservation salaries. Firstly, the number of peopleemerging from UK universities with a conservationqualification, and secondly, the unusual characteristicsof the UK labour market. If we leave aside programmesfocusing mostly on the built heritage, the UK has twelveinstitutions offering Masters-level degrees inconservation1 and six offering Bachelors degrees2. Arecent study for a European Project on conservationeducation3 suggests that 57% of all conservationtraining institutions in the entire European Union are inthe UK. Not all graduates of these programmes areeligible to work permanently in the UK (though all arefor at least one year after graduation) and not all wishto. However it is clear that well over 150 graduates peryear from these programmes alone are available towork in the UK. Even with a relatively old conservationworkforce and correspondingly high retirement rates,

and with the historic record amounts spent onmuseums, galleries and other heritage, absorbing thisnumber of graduates into the conservation workforce issomething of a challenge. Because the UK has anunusually open labour market conservators who havetrained in many other countries are also free to comeand work here. The ready availability of highly-qualifiedpeople seeking entry into the profession will of coursedo nothing to improve the prospects of salariesincreasing in the foreseeable future. This issue is notunique to conservation – across the spectrum inmuseums and galleries there is no shortage of highlyeducated people willing to work for nothing initially toshow their ‘commitment’ and then work for a pittancethereafter.

One issue which has been frequently commented on,outside the scope of our salaries review, is that whilethere is often ferocious competition for entry-level jobs,many jobs for more senior staff attract relatively fewapplicants. The reason appears to be that such jobsusually require skills other than those involved in thetechnical aspects of conservation – managing staff,managing budgets, managing the outsourcing of work,planning etc. The number of conservators who feelequipped and confident to take on this kind ofresponsibility, as well as interested in doing so, seemsto be relatively small. Unless we can break through thisglass ceiling more effectively, conservation risksbecoming a self-retarding profession. Conservators areeither going to be managed by other conservators, orthey are going to be managed by non-conservators.Most would agree that it is better to have people withtraining and experience in conservation making high-level decisions affecting conservation, rather thancurators, accountants or anyone else. Personally I wouldlike to see many more conservators able to apply atleast for head of conservation jobs, and indeed formuseum director positions as well. Professionals inmedicine occupy positions ranging from family GPs toChief Medical Officer in the government – indeed wecurrently have a surgeon as a Health Minister inEngland. Likewise architects cover all the groundbetween domestic loft conversions and serving on theCommission for Architecture and the Built Environment.If an art historian can run a major national museum,there is no reason why a conservator cannot. In the longterm, improving the salary prospects for conservatorsdepends critically on our profession’s ability to producemany more individuals who can take on these kinds ofresponsibility.

Alastair McCapraChief Executive

1 Buckinghamshire Chilterns, Camberwell (University of the Arts),Cardiff, Courtauld Institute, Hamilton Kerr Institute, Lincoln, LondonMetropolitan University, Northumbria, RCA/V&A, UCL, West Dean(Sussex University), York

2 Buckinghamshire Chilterns, Camberwell (University of the Arts),Cardiff, City & Guilds of London Art School, Lincoln, LondonMetropolitan University

3 European Conservator-Restorers’ Licence (see http://ecpl-project.heritagemalta.org/euromatrixheritage.html)



HLF INTERNSHIP SCHEME

THE THIRD YEAR

We are now recruiting for the third year of the four-yearHeritage Lottery Funded Internship Scheme – it seems likeonly yesterday when we were announcing the advert forYear One! Our first batch of interns from 2006 have provedthe success of the scheme by using their placements asstepping stones on their longer-term career paths. YearTwo interns are all doing well in their placements andstarting to think about the future beyond their term.

The sustainability of the scheme has been Icon’s concernfrom the start, and not just in terms of ensuring that internsmove on to jobs and courses. We are all too aware thatthis is the only funded internship scheme in the UK andthat the funding is necessarily time-limited. Icon hastherefore been working hard to encourage other funders –including employers – to think about committing tooffering internships on a regular basis, fulfilling anexpectation that the HLF scheme will have established forgraduates and new entrants alike. Icon has also beenfocusing on maintaining the network of people involvedwith this scheme as well as other internships – it’s a greatresource of training knowledge and experience whichremains to be used. You will have seen that Icon hasoffered two non-HLF-funded placements in the last yearalong these lines, and we are hoping for more to come inthe next year – establishing our framework as theinternship model in the UK.

This year we are offering ten new places from Septemberacross the UK; we advertised a short stained glassconservation placement earlier in the year as well. Thisyear includes two six-month placements and one for twoyears. The numbers of places in year three are evenly splitbetween those for conservation graduates and those forpeople from non-traditional backgrounds. Please docirculate news of the advert and encourage anyoneinterested to apply – further details of all the internshipsand a page of guidance are on the Icon website and theclosing date is 2 June.

Heritage lottery fundedtraining bursariesprogramme 2006 –2010Conservation internships 2008 year 3Educational stipend of £14,750 p.a.Icon is offering a further 10 work-based internships of 6,12 and 24 months’ duration as part of its innovative HLF-funded conservation training bursaries scheme forSeptember 2008. All graduates from the first year of thescheme have been successful in finding employment orfurther training in the field. The scheme aims to broadenaccess to careers in conservation and to increase the UK’sfund of conservation skills. Some placements (*) are opento new entrants to conservation from arts, crafts, scienceor heritage backgrounds. Others are specifically for thosewho have recently graduated from a conservation course.

12 MONTHS:V&A, London – Conservation of Ceramics (Ref 08/02)People’s History Museum, Manchester –Conservation of Banners (Ref 08/03)Sheffield – Conservation of Archives (Ref 08/04*)National Trust for Scotland, Edinburgh – Preventive Conservation (Ref 08/05)National Maritime Museum, London – Conservation of Metals (Ref 08/06*)Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge – Preventive Conservation (Ref 08/07)Suffolk – Conservation of Stone (Ref 08/08*)

6 MONTHS:Belfast – Natural Sciences Conservation (Ref 08/09*)Guildhall Art Gallery, London – Conservation of Frames (Ref 08/10*)

24 MONTHS:Blickling – Conservation of Tapestry (Ref 08/11)

Information on all placements and details of eligibility canbe found on the Icon website at www.icon.org.uk.Interviews for short-listed applicants will be held in Julyand August. All internships will start in mid-September2008.

Apply using the form available on the website.

www.icon.org.ukForms may also be obtained by [email protected] or by telephoning 0131 240 5038/2. We request that – wherever possible –you use electronic format for enquiries and applications,

The Training Development Manager, Icon, 22–26 George St Edinburgh EH2 2PQ

Closing date for applications 2 JUNE 2008

In February Year 1 and Year 2 interns got together for a tour ofthe Pitt R ivers Museum, where Andrew Hughes is intern inconservation of ethnograp h ic artefacts


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FROM THE LIBRARY

This month I would like to thank Sarah Cove and TonySmith for kindly donating valuable resources from theirpersonal collections. I would also like to thank Helen Pye-Smith, Librarian at The National Archives, for providingduplicate copies of journals to help complete our backruns of several important titles.

If you’re interested in upgrading your informationskills…..This is advanced notice of a half-day course coveringinformation skills for conservators, to be held on Thursday9 October at The National Archives (TNA). The programmehas been successfully trialled at TNA, who have nowgenerously offered to host this event which is free tomembers of Icon.

The course format is a combination of presentations by thecourse leader and practical exercises for all to engage in.Ideally, participants should be familiar with standard Webbrowser software such as Internet Explorer and have somebasic experience of searching for information on the worldwide web.

Places are limited to nine participants, due to theinteractive nature of the session. Please send expressionsof interest (quoting your Icon membership number) to me:

James AndrewsChantry Library, Grove CottageSt. Cross Road, Oxford OX1 [email protected]/Fax: + 44 1865 251 303

Monographs recently acquired by the Library include:

Degrigny, C. [et al.] (eds.) (2008). Metal 07: interimmeeting of the ICOM-CC Metal WG, Amsterdam, 17–21September 2007.

Tubb, K.W. (ed.) (1995). Antiquities: trade or betrayed:legal, ethical & conservation issues.

PH-Cuadernos;18 (2006). La rueda elevadora de agua delas minas romanas de Riotinto: memoria de intervencion.

PH-Cuadernos;19 (2006). Programa de normalización deestudios previos aplicado a bienes inmuebles.

Scottish Lime Centre (2001). External lime coatings ontraditional buildings.

G.B. Geotechnics Ltd. (2001). Non-destructiveinvestigation of standing structures.

Kroustallis, S. [et al.] (eds.) (2008). Art technology: sourcesand methods: proceedings of the second symposium ofthe Art Technological Source Research study group.

Pilosi, L. (2007). Glass and ceramics conservation 2007:Interim meeting of the ICOM-CC working group, August27–30, 2007, Nova Gorica, Slovenia.

Bancroft, F. (ed.) (2004). Constable’s skies.

Chivian-Cobb, H. (ed.) (2007). Constable’s oil sketches1909-1929: the Maria Bicknell years.

Lyles, A. (ed.) (2006). Constable: the great landscapes.

Gregory, I.V. (2005). The human form in Neolithic Malta.

Brown, A.J.E. (2007). The postprints of the image re-integration conference: 15 –17 September 2003,Northumbria University.

Hickin, Norman (1985). Bookworms: the insect pests ofbooks.

Recent journals received by the Library are set out below.For a complete list of recentl y publ ished articles avail abl eat the Chantry Library, visit the website at http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/ipc-chantry/ and follow the ‘New Titles’ link.

• Art Business Today, 2008 (1)

• Conservation: The Getty Conservation InstituteNewsletter, 22(3). Includes ‘The history andconservation of digital prints: research in progress’ and‘Preservation in the digital age: a discussion aboutconservation in libraries and archives’

• Rainer, L. and Bass Rivera, A. (2006). The conservation ofdecorated surfaces on earthen architecture:proceedings from the International Colloquiumorganized by the Getty Conservation Institute and theNational Park Service.

• ICCROM Newsletter, 33

• AIC News, 33(1)

• ICOM News, 60(3-4)

• National Library of Australia News, 18(5)

• Conservation-Restauration des Biens Culturels, 25.Includes ‘L’évolution du concept de restauration auxXIXe et XXe siècles’; ‘Conservation-restauration de lapeinture tibétaine portative roulée’; ‘Les limites dunettoyage et de restauration des restes humains anciens’;‘Enquête menée au Musée national de céramique deSèvres: la perception des céramiques restaurées’

• News in Conservation, 4

• Discover NLS, 7

• AICCM National Newsletter, 105

• The Book and Paper Group Annual, 22. Includes‘Solvent-set book repair tissue’; ‘Big paper, bigproblems: rigid support options for the mounting anddisplay of large format works on paper’.



• The Book and Paper Group Annual, 23. Includes ‘Aninvestigation into the use of blue copper pigments inEuropean early printed books’; ‘An investigation intothe prevalence and chemistry of crystal formations onthe surface of Iron-Gall ink: the preliminary results’

• Guild of Bookworkers Newsletter, 176

• Journal of the American Institute for Conservation,46(3). Includes ‘Optical brighteners in black-and-whitephotographic paper: appearance and degradation;‘Saving Judd’s ‘Untitled 1964’: revival of galvanized steelsingle stack sculpture with red nitrocellulose paint’;‘Analysis of agarose, carbopol, and laponite gelpoultices in paper conservation’.

• Western Association for Art Conservation Newsletter,30(1). Includes ‘”Strip ‘teas” – solubility data for theremoval (and application) of low molecular weightsynthetic resins used as inpainting media and picturevarnishes’; ‘Edge finishing silk crepeline’.

• National Library of Australia News, 18(6)

• PapierRestaurierung Mitteilingen der IADA, 9(1).Includes ‘Side effects of ionic fixatives: colour changesversus artificial and real ageing’.

• AICCM Bulletin, 30. Includes ‘Ultrafast lasers forconservation of heritage artefacts’; ‘Micro X-raydiffraction for painting and pigment analysis’; ‘Practicalimplications of research into non-traditional in-gildingtechniques: loss compensation in conservation of gildedobjects’.

• Print Quarterly, 25(1)

• PH: Boletin del Instituto Andaluz del PatrimonioHistórico, 65

• The Ephemerist, 140

• Guild of Book Workers Journal, 41(2)

• Association des Relieurs du Québec: Le Bulletin, 16(1)

These publications are available to consult at the Libraryand copies are available on request, subject to copyrightrestrictions.

We are very pleased to be able to offer subsidised copiesto Icon members quoting their membership number. Thisservice covers up to ten articles per person, per financialyear. Thereafter copies are charged at the standard rate(25p per copy plus postage). Please contact the librarian –contact details above - who will be happy to provide youwith any relevant conservation literature to help you in yourwork.


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peopleEDITOR EXTRAORDINAIRE !

Jane Eagan, editor of The PaperConservator, has stepped downafter serving both the Institute ofPaper Conservation and Icon forthe last eight years. Jane beganher tenure editing the LondonConference Papers in 1997 andsubsequently published sevenissues of The Paper Conservatorincluding a special issuededicated to Asian pictorial art,regarded as a seminal work inthe field. Her meticulousness,

and drive to get the best from authors has enabled ThePaper Conservator to become the authoritative journal itthe field of book and paper conservation.

Her background in translation has helped non-Englishspeaking authors find a broader readership, and countlessothers have benefited enormously from the thoughtfulinsights of Jane’s editorial red pen. We offer huge thanksand hope you enjoy having your weekends back!

MARIO ALEPPO RETIRES

Mario Aleppo, Head of Collection Care, retired from TheNational Archives at the end ofJanuary after forty years ofservice. Staff were so sad to seehim go that they created a life-size card cut out of him sitting athis desk. So good was thelikeness, and familiar was thesight of Mario toiling behind hisdesk to colleagues passing bymany thought they were seeingdouble!

His leaving was marked withcelebratory drinks, and everyonewishes Mario well for a happy retirement.

IN APPRECIATION

Craigen Weston Bowen 1953–2008

Craigen Weston Bowen, Deputy Director of the StrausCenter for Conservation at Harvard University’s Fogg ArtMuseum and an accomplished rock climber and gardener,died at her home in Lexington, MA, on March 1, sixteenmonths after being diagnosed with cancer. She was 54.

She was born Ruth Craigen Weston on November 10,1953, the daughter of Frederick W. Weston Jr. and the lateRuth L. Weston, and spent her childhood in West Long

Branch, NJ, and Rome, ME. AtSmith College, she double-majored in Art and Astronomy,with a minor in Physics, anddeveloped into a talentedlithographer. After graduating in1975, she began a three-yearapprenticeship in theconservation laboratory at theFogg under Marjorie B. Cohn,specializing in the conservationof works of art on paper andcollaborating with Ms. Cohn onscholarly projects. In 1978, Craigen moved to theWilliamstown Regional Conservation Laboratory at theSterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown,MA, where she founded the paper conservation laboratory,before returning to the Fogg in 1980. Craigen was therecipient of an Indo-U.S. Sub-commission grant to travel toKota, India, in 1987, and made several subsequent tripsthere to treat and study the royal collections of H.H.Maharao Brijraj Singh in the Rao Madho Singh TrustMuseum. In 1994, the Derek Bok Center for Teaching andLearning at Harvard awarded her the Certificate ofDistinction in Teaching. She was also awarded theprestigious Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award by theAmerican Institute for Conservation, which recognizes asustained record of excellence in the education andtraining of conservation professionals. At the time of herdeath, in addition to her role as Deputy Director of thelaboratory, Craigen held an endowed position as Philipand Lynn Straus Conservator of Works of Art on Paper atthe Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies.The Craigen W. Bowen Fellowship was established in herhonor in 2007, to fund the further training of youngconservation and curatorial professionals who specialize inworks on paper.

Craigen was a well-known and avid rock climber andmountaineer being amongst a handful of women who, in asport dominated by men, broke the mold - climbingdifficult routes ‘with authority and style’, words that mightdescribe Craigen’s approach to all her endeavors.Amongst her many interests and talents, Craigen was animaginative cook, expert skier and water-skier, prolificknitter, and implacable organizer and taskmaster. She tookgreat pleasure in gardening, reading, and, later in life,learning to play the piano.

Craigen is survived by her children, by former husbandMark, Andrew and Anna, her partner James, her fatherFrederick, siblings Martha and Frederick and theirrespective families, and legions of devoted cousins,colleagues, and friends. Craigen’s energy, zest for life,enthusiasm for everything she did and summers spent bythe lake in Maine will be sadly missed.



Ellen Ruth McCrady 1926–2008

Ellen McCrady quickly became a familiar name when Istarted my studies in conservation in the 1990s. Throughher publications Alkaline Paper Advocate and The AbbeyNewsletter, both valuable sources for conservationstudents and practitioners alike, Ellen McCrady made asignificant contribution to conservation research andliterature.

In response to findings which showed that nineteenth-century paper was deteriorating because of acids resultingfrom the papermaking process, McCrady launched acrusade to persuade manufacturers to change theirpractice. Her concern was made manifest in Alkaline PaperAdvocate, a publication aimed at users and makers ofalkaline paper which she wrote and published from 1984 to1997. The chief function of the Advocate was to ‘provide aforum for producers and consumers of alkaline paper, whonow find communication difficult because of thecomplexity of the marketplace’.1

For 29 years, from 1975 to 2004, she also published TheAbbey Newsletter, a publication with a circulation of 1,000copies, distributed in over forty countries. It was animportant forum for sharing research about book andpaper conservation and McCrady’s inclusion of bookreviews and listings of relevant publications made itessential reading for conservators of library and archivematerials. Working in the evenings, after her regular job,McCrady produced a publication which was indeed ‘agreat community asset, one person’s gift to us all’.2

In addition to the above, McCrady developed an interestin mould and produced a newsletter entitled The MoldReporter. In her words, ‘knowledge about mold is not onlyfascinating and important, but it is scarce in our field oflibrary and archive preservation’; in characteristic fashion,she set to work expanding our knowledge of this subject.

Ellen McCrady worked at the University of Michigan librarybindery and later the National Archives, the Library ofCongress, and Brigham Young University. In 2002, shereceived the Banks-Harris Preservation Award from theAmerican Library Association given in recognition of ‘thecontribution of a professional preservation specialist whohas been active in the field of preservation and/orconservation for library and/or archival materials. McCradywas also an Honorary Member of AIC. She died on 5March.

Jane EaganOxford Conservation Consortium

Based on obituaries by Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa and Walter Henry,published on the Conservation DistList 21:48, 10 Mar 2008.

1. McCrady, E., Alkaline Paper Advocate 1.1 (1988) 1.*

2. Bark, J., The Abbey Newsletter, 27 (2004) 48.*

*available in the Chantry Library


22

OVERVIEW

Historic wallpapers often make a significant contribution tothe interior decoration of palaces, mansions andresidences but their preservation is difficult and oftenneglected.

Despite their apparent vulnerability, many rooms of historicwallpapers have survived largely intact. These include 18thand 19th century Chinese and flock papers, and themagnificent French Panoramique papers popular from theearly 19th century, as well as more simple designs,preserved accidentally or protected beneath layers of laterdecoration.

Viewed in isolation, these papers can be admired as worksof art, or at the very least, products of great craftsmanship.They are also valuable examples of contemporary designand testaments to the availability and use of both materialsand technology. It is perhaps their role within the historyand context of any given interior that adds the mostsignificant dimension to their function as part of ourcultural heritage.

The aim of the projectThe aim of the project was to undertake conservation onfour historical sites of European importance and also toprovide an example of best practice as the benchmark forconservation work throughout the European Union. Thesesites comprise: The Hellbrunn Palace in Salzburg, Austria;Schaezler-Palais in Augsburg, Germany; Temple NewsamHouse and Harewood House, both in the UK. At the endof the project, the participants focussed on disseminationto the wider international audience, culminating in a jointpresentation at the IADA International Conference inVienna in 2007, workshops, seminars, publications andcommunication to the general public through televisionand the press.

INTRODUCTION

Wallpaper conservation and preservation is a relatively newconcept and has had to develop and adaptmethodologies from elsewhere. The wallpaper conservatormust learn from the experience of wall paintings andtextile conservators as well as architects, historians andarcheologists.

Allyson McDermott describes a programme to enhance the awareness,preservation and conservation of historic wallpapers in Europe. Thisproject was co-funded by the European Commission and forms part ofthe Culture 2000 framework programme in support of culture.

European support forhistoric wallpapers

Harewood House – the carpenter’s barn

Cleaning and assessing sections at Harewood



Principally, no two wallpaper projects are the same. Even ifthe papers may be similar in execution, Chinese orpaysage, printed or flocked, the problems, conditions,environment and project team never are. One day onemay be working in the calm and controlled environment ofa museum, the next on a freezing building site, with all thenoise and chaos that involves.

This project was an inspired concept, an opportunity toshare knowledge and experience with our Europeancolleagues. I would particularly like to thank Markus Klaszand Klaus Behrbohm for their hard work and determinationto succeed, which made the project possible. I would alsolike to thank Anthony Wells-Cole at Temple Newsam andMelissa Gallimore at Harewood for their unstinting supportand enthusiasm.

THE ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE

In the UK we are fortunate in our wealth of grand countryhouses. Many still survive as a testament to success builton Royal favour, commerce, coal, steel, wool and tradewith both the East and West Indies. Great riches providedthe opportunity to build great houses in the countrysideand adopt gentlemanly pursuits such as hunting withhounds, shooting and running vast estates. Our projectsites at Harewood House, Yorkshire and Temple Newsam,Leeds are two such examples: the first still remains in thefamily who built it, the second is now administered byLeeds City Council.

HAREWOOD HOUSE – The ChineseWallpaper

The Project: conservation of a superb 1760s’ Chinesewallpaper hung at Harewood by Thomas Chippendalearound 1772. The paper has been hung in the EastBedroom where it is complemented by Chippendale’sChinoiserie furniture and a restored Chippendale bed. Anaccompanying exhibition will display Harewood’s finecollection of Chinese jade and porcelain as well asfurniture made by Chippendale in the Chinese style.

DescriptionSome years ago, a discovery was made above thecarpenters’ barn on the estate at Harewood: a large roll ofcanvas and wallpaper, covered with dirt and dust andchewed by mice and insects. Archive record, examinationand analysis suggested that these were hung by ThomasChippendale, a leading English upholsterer and designer.The Steward’s Day work book implied that the EastBedroom was only one of several rooms adorned withChinese paper during the period 1769–74. Some of thesepapers had probably been used elsewhere in the 1760s asthey required additions and some restoration to coverwater staining. Analysis of the pigments used showed thisto include Ultramarine and Naples Yellow, typicallyEuropean pigments.

This range of rooms provides a typical, if ratherextravagant, example of the fashion for the Oriental tastefrom the 17th century onwards. Highly decorated papersuch as this was not of course an indigenous Chinesetradition, but seems to have been ‘invented’ by Europeandecorators and their clients to provide a backdrop tofabulous collections of porcelain, ivory, lacquerware andsilks, thus creating the ‘air of perpetual spring’recommended by John Stalker in the late 17th century.

Initially, this would appear to have taken the form ofpanels, cannibalised from screens and ‘got up’ to decoratewalls or sets of export watercolours, mounted onto paintedbackings or embellished with borders such as those fromMilton Park, Hertfordshire and Stoneleigh Abbey,Warwickshire around the 1740s.

The paper at Harewood is an early example of ‘Scenesfrom Life’ paper. The colours are exceptionally bright,giving us some indication of how sumptuous and magicalthese Chinese Rooms must have appeared, particularly incontrast to the heavy textile hangings and panelledwainscot that preceded it. By photographing each sheetindividually, it was possible to create a collage andestablish the form and extent of the surviving papers.

The Chinese wall paper as found Removing old and acidicbacking

After washing and lining


24

Treatment• the paper was surface cleaned using micro vacuums and

soft sable brushes to remove mould, dirt and insectdebris.

• it was transported to the studio where a full analysis andexamination was undertaken to identify pigments, mediaand paper and to devise a safe and successful method ofconservation.

• the linen backing was removed.

• residual glue and dirt were removed mechanically fromthe reverse using controlled moisture, scalpels andpalette knives.

• the paper was faced up using Japanese paper thenwashed on a silk screen/vacuum to remove residual dirt,acidity and to soften the remaining glues.

• it was then removed from the wash, laid face down andthe old, decayed backings carefully removed.

• tears were repaired using Japanese paper and wheatstarch paste.

• missing areas were patched using toned Oriental paper.

• the paper was relined using a variety of Oriental papersin keeping with the original archaeology.

• missing areas and damages were retouched using aselection of conservation quality media.

• the paper has now been re-hung in the newly decoratedroom, where the final retouching was carried out.

TEMPLE NEWSAM

The Project: reproduction of two mid 18th Century FlockWallpapers. Separation, conservation and re-housing ofsome of the large collection of archive fragments.

DescriptionSince his arrival at Temple Newsam, Anthony Wells-Colehas changed it from a soulless and institutionalisedexhibition space to a vibrant and living entity. Usingpainstaking research, and unbridled enthusiasm, he hasgathered together a wealth of evidence and informationand has represented the interior as an inspirational space.

A detail of the ‘Scenes from Life’

Detail of the flock Detail of the fresh print



In particular, he has used wallpapers to show thecollections in their true context, enabling an holisticunderstanding of the effects of fashion and function withina large country house.

Combining archival research, chemical and instrumentalanalysis and examination and understanding of thearchaeology of the interiors, we have been able to recreatemany of the wallpapers for the house in as authentic amanner as possible: carving blocks, commissioning paperand pigments to our own specifications and even cuttingflock by hand, where the project demanded it.

As well as separating, conserving and encapsulating aselection of the huge collection of archive fragments atTemple Newsam, this project has involved reconstructionof two rooms of mid 18th century flock wallpapers usingtraditional materials and techniques. It has also provided avaluable opportunity to revive ancient skills and trainyoung conservators in original techniques.

The techniquesIn summary, these are:

• analysis of the original fragments

• taking artwork: reconstruct the original design and copyso that it is suitable to transfer to the block

• carving a cherry wood block

• joining sheets of hand made, linen paper to form rolls.(Continuous rolls of paper were not available untilc.1830s)

• grounding by hand using circular brushes and a chalk/pigment / animal glue mix

• glazing with a varnish pigmented with carmine. Thiscreates a surface which provides ‘tooth’ for the oil / resinbased printing ink.

• printing the design from the carved block using apigmented oil and varnish mix

• ‘flocking’ the sticky resin design by applying hand cutwool flock using a sealed ‘flock box’

• hanging the finished papers in racks to dry, then shakingthe excess flock off, to reveal the gorgeous designbeneath: always an exciting moment.

I hope that these successful projects provide a templatefor future pan-European co operation.

Allyson McDermott is an Historic Interiors Consultant.Contact: [email protected]

Working on the red flock

Printing the flock

A printed sheet


26

M’Chigeeng calling:virtual and materialworlds converge at Pitt Rivers Museum

European museums with historic collections of cultural andspiritual significance, originating from distant aboriginalgroups, are increasingly working towards making theircollections more accessible to source communities. Inrecent years the Pitt Rivers Museum, the University ofOxford’s museum of Anthropology and WorldArchaeology, has been involved in a number of suchprojects. Copies of thirty two photographs taken in the1920s were presented to the Blood tribe (Kainaiwa Nation)of Southern Alberta 1. The museum also produced a web-based catalogue of objects and photographs fromsouthern Sudan 2, and this project included conditionchecking, remedial conservation, and materials advice on1300 Sudanese objects over a three-year period. A recentvisit from a team of Canadian researchers took theconservation department’s involvement to a new level.

THE PROJECT

The Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study ofAboriginal Cultures (GRASAC) is a grant fundedcollaborative project hosted by the Institute forComparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture atCarleton University, Ottawa, Canada 3. The goals of theproject include increased understanding of Great Lakesculture and rehabilitation of Great Lakes First Nationcultural knowledge.

The strategies to achieve these goals are throughcollaborative research with aboriginal communities,universities, museums and archives, and by virtualrepatriation through community accessible multimediadatabases.

THE PITT RIVERS MUSEUM INVOLVEMENT

As a museum scholar member of GRASAC, Pitt Riverscurator for the Americas, Dr. Laura Peers, mentioned thepossibility of a team visit to study Great Lakes collectionsin 2006, following her involvement in a similar visit to theNational Museum of Scotland. Due to the museum move

Heather Richards and Anne Turner Gunnison discuss the conservationaspects of a four day visit to the museum by researchers and tribalrepresentatives from the Great Lakes Region in Canada, to study objectsfrom the collections.

to the Research Centre 4 and collection moves, the projecthad slipped off the agenda until late October 2007.

This left only six weeks before the researchers’ arrival on10 December for a four-day visit to finalise the object list,retrieve the objects from the museum and two off-sitefacilities, condition check, perform remedial treatments,and photograph the eighty five objects selected. For thisto be achieved, cooperation among the museum’scollections management, conservation, and photographicdepartments was paramount.

Figure 1 Objects from the Shirley Collection laid out in theresearch room.



A spreadsheet was created, which listed the objects bydays, and time of day on which they would be viewed. Forexample, on the second day, all moccasins would beviewed in the morning, and all objects in the Shirleycollection would be viewed in the afternoon [Figure 1].Broken into these categories, the objects were then listedby accession number, description, and permanent location.The list included boxes, which could be ticked when theobject was retrieved, condition checked, andphotographed, and where it was temporarily located.

The spreadsheet was placed on the museum’s server andcould be accessed by involved staff and the progress andwhereabouts of objects updated. The spreadsheet proveduseful when physically separating the objects into labelledtrays according to the day on which they would be viewed,making organizing objects easier. There were times when itwas difficult to update the list fast enough to track quickmovements, but it was useful in tracking such a largequantity of objects.

CONSERVATION

All eighty five objects retrieved for research, werecondition checked. Another spreadsheet, using the samecategorical format as the first spreadsheet, was created.There were boxes to tick for Good, Fair, Poor, and VeryPoor condition according to the set departmental criteria.There was also a box to note problems and observationsand whether the object would be transferred toconservation for treatment. This was an easy, systematicway to approach the condition check of the objects priorto entering the information onto the conservationdatabase.

It was also decided to retrieve any conservation treatmentinformation on the selected objects from the treatmentcard system used in the department from 1970 until 2002and add this to the conservation database. This ensuredthe researchers had an accurate understanding of allconservation work to prevent any ambiguity over materials.

Following condition checking, twenty three of the eightyfive objects required some form of remedial treatment,which amounted to sixty seven hours among three

conservators. In the final week leading up to the visitIcon/HLF intern Andrew Hughes began his internship inEthnographic Conservation and Collection Care with thedepartment and coped admirably with five objects.

The treatments ranged from minimal surface cleaning toremove traces of old insect infestation, to securing largenumbers of loose and detaching glass beads onmoccasins, and supporting lengths of shot silk ribbon[Figure 2].

Although geographically and materially similar, the eightyfive objects were spread across a number of collectionsfrom various periods. This included the large ShirleyCollection purchased by the museum from the Shirleyfamily in 1952, prior to which it had been displayed in thefamily’s house and museum. It is believed that thecollection was assembled by one of two Colonel Shirleyswho served with the British army in colonial conflicts inCanada between 1740–70, making this a very early andimportant collection. Because of their age and use anddisplay while in private hands, the thirteen Shirley objectschosen all required treatment.

One Shirley object was identified in the documentation asgarters, but when retrieved appeared to be one pieceresembling a belt. Under closer inspection it was foundthat the quilled fringe at either end had been bunchedand tied with string and the separate garters had beencrudely sewn together at one end to create one long piece[Figure 3]. Following photographic documentation andcuratorial consultation, the decision was made to removethe strings and unpick the crude central stitching toreinstate the garters as two separate pieces. Some cruderepairs in red wool, presumably dating from the Shirleyfamily period, were left in situ as they are not causingphysical harm to the object and are evidence of theobject’s pre-museum history.

Following conservation, the items were moved to thephotography studio to produce publication standardimages. Culturally sensitive objects, which should only bestudied by appropriate First Nations representatives, werenot photographed.

Figure 2 Anne Gunnison reattaches a silk ribbon to a beaded cap(1996.42.1).

Figure 3 Detail of a pre-museum modification to a pair of garters(1952.5.06) prior to removal. Garters after separation can be seenon the table in Figure 1.


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THE RESEARCH VISIT

On December 10, a team of seven researchers, includingtwo First Nations representatives, Alan Corbiere, thedirector of the Ojibwa Cultural Foundation (OCF) inM’Chigeeng, (Manitoulin Island) and Janis Monture, fromthe Woodland Cultural Centre, Ontario, led by Dr. Ruth B.Phillips of Carleton University in Ottawa arrived at the PittRivers Research Centre ready to begin four exhilaratingand tiring days of study.

Objects were mostly studied one at a time. Theresearchers recorded discussions on a computer database,with handwritten notes, and video recording [Figure 4].

There were three conservators present, along with theresearchers, curator Dr. Laura Peers, and several othermuseum staff, who recorded information into themuseum’s database. Conservation staff had several roles.One was to move objects to and from the research area.We ensured appropriate handling by the researchers. Itwas required by the museum to wear gloves at all times.We were often called upon to turn objects so they couldbe studied on all sides.

While we were there to listen to perspectives on materialspresent and methods of manufacture, by experiencedresearchers, we were also able to provide our own insightsand observations, which came from working closely withobjects. We were able to confirm or deny speculation. Forexample, on two objects, metal triangles thought to be tin,were actually confirmed by conservation to be tin-platebecause of the known presence of iron corrosion on thesurface [Figure 5]. We also brought the Leica microscopefrom the conservation lab to the research room so thatobjects could be examined more closely.

A VIRTUAL VISIT

The highlight of the week was the inclusion of an Odawatribal elder, Eddie King, into the discussion on four objectschosen by Corbiere. King was unable to make the long tripto Oxford from Canada, but from the OCF, through avideo link set up by the Pitt Rivers education departmentand the OCF and KNet, a First Nations broadbandapplications provider, he participated in discussions 5. Thiswas an innovative and exciting way to glean theknowledge of a tribal elder on objects in the collection and

the first collaboration of its kind at the Pitt Rivers.

On a screen in the Pitt Rivers, all in the research roomcould see King. On his end, he could see the objects. Witha remote in M’Chigeeng, King could control the videocamera at the Pitt Rivers [Figure 6]. He was able to zoom inon objects and talk about probable use and meanings andimportance of iconography, colours, numbers, andmaterials.

This type of communication is insightful for theconservation of indigenous cultural objects. By beinginclusive of First Nation opinions and insights, a betterunderstanding and more comprehensive study of theobjects can be achieved and conservation treatments willbe better informed. Eddie King’s enthusiasm to share hisknowledge was an extraordinary opportunity for us to gaina deeper understanding of the objects in our care.

SACRED AND SENSITIVE MATERIALS

There were six sacred items, including human remains,retrieved for the visit that would be viewed solely byCorbiere and Monture, with Richardson and Peers present.These objects were not put in the research room, but werelaid out in a separate collections room. In discussion withCorbiere and Monture, it was determined that neitherdesired or was prepared to view the human remains, sothese remained in storage.

Corbiere wanted to perform smudging, or burning ofgrasses for purification, on some of the objects. This wasacceptable and the fire alarm in the collections room wastemporarily disabled.

Figure 4 Museum staff and researchers at work.

Figure 5 Bag (1952.5.012) with tin-plate triangles. The triangles areunusual in that they are not bent into cones, as seen in Figure 3.

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Pitt Rivers is cognisant of the sensitive nature of objects inthe collection. One of these items, for example, hadpreviously been identified by source community membersas a sacred object. No photos are to be taken of it andmenstruating women are requested not to handle it. As aresult of this visit, one of the objects, which had been invisible storage, has since been removed, as it is thought tobe inappropriate and too culturally sensitive.

RESULTING PROJECTS

Another outcome of the GRASAC visit was conservationresearch projects that emerged from examination of theobjects. This includes the identification of green and redsurface residues on a possibly 17th Century shell wampumbelt. Corbiere, who is particularly knowledgeable aboutwampum, was supportive of future study. Preliminaryinvestigation with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) atthe Institute of Archaeology, UCL, has shown the presenceof mercury in the red residue. This suggests the use of

Figure 6 Eddie King, on the screen, and Al Corbiere discussaspects of an object. The square on the top left hand of the screenshows the object as viewed by Mr. King.

Figure 8 The bison hair bag (1884.69.15A), with iconographydiscussed by Eddie King, is part of on-going study.

Figure 7 A birch bark card case (1935.75.36) embroidered withmoose hair.

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vermillion as an applied pigment on the wampum, anhistorically documented practice 6. Work is on-going.

There was debate amongst the researchers aboutidentification of moose hair and quill on several objects[Figure 7]. By obtaining samples of known moose hair andquill, distinguishing characteristics can be identified, andthe animal fibres on the objects in question can beconfirmed.

There will also be continuing research on a bison hair bag,which had been part of more extensive study prior to thevisit [Figure 8]. While the bag has been long identified asbeing made of bison hair, we want to confirm this. Fibreanalysis and dye identification is part of on-going work.

CONCLUSION

Laura Peers was instrumental in including conservation inthis project and allowing us such a large part in itsorganisation and implementation. It was important toshare with the team our approaches to these objects, whilebenefiting from the team’s and Eddie King’s knowledgeand insights. This visit will be used as a template and hasset a high standard for future visits and collaboration at PittRivers Museum.

The Authors: Heather Richardson, ACR, is the Head of Conservation atthe Pitt Rivers Museum.

Anne Turner Gunnison is a second year MSc student inConservation for Archaeology and Museums at theInstitute of Archaeology, UCL and is an intern at Pitt RiversMuseum.

References

1 Photo-Elicitation Among the Kainaiwa Nation: A Cross-Cultural Re-Engagement with History.http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/museumresearchprevious.html

2 http://southernsudan.prm.ox.ac.uk/

3 https://icslac.carleton.ca/grasac/

4 Richardson, H. (2007) One Last Time with Feeling. Icon News, Issue 9,March 2007. pp.3.

5 http://media.knet.ca/node/3246

6 Personal Communication Dr. Laura Peers and Al Corbiere, 2007


30

news from the groups

ARCHAEOLOGY GROUP

Meet at Newport railway station at 11.30 for bus transportto the ship if you are attending the Group’s AGM and visitto the Newport Ship conservation facility on May 22. This isa last chance to see the UKs largest clinker-builtarchaeological ship, see the 3-D digital recording device inaction, and hear about the imminent conservation plans,before the facility is closed to visitors. The event finishes at4.00pm. Cost: £10 per person (inc. sandwich lunch andrefreshments). Numbers are limited, so contact JimSpriggs, AG Chair, pronto on 01904 632827 or email:[email protected]

BOOK AND PAPER GROUP

The 3rd Annual Meeting of the B&PG at the Art WorkersGuild was attended by about thirty f ive people andprovided members with an opportunity to meet and hearabout committee activities. In addition, Alastair McCapragave us an update on Icon where he discussed the currentsituation with ECCO, recent grant applications and trainingissues.The Chantry Librarian James Andrews talked aboutrecent and planned activities for the library. His efforts haveled to a marked increase in usage showing how a positiveand focused effort to provide relevant services can boostattendance.

Stuart Welch from Conservation by Design CXD providedus with an entertaining account of the early years of hiscareer. He started his business working out of the back of acar and had to frantically sell ½ ton of paper in 30 days inorder to obtain the funds to pay for a further making ofpaper (5 tons this time). Things have changed a bit sincethen. But there are still many problems in the supply ofhigh quality archival materials as signified by the constantsearch for book-binding sewing thread as manufacturersconstantly go out of business.

Two committee members retired at the meeting; HelenLindsay, Chair and Sally Esdaile, Website support. Papersavailable at the meeting included; Agenda, 2007 AMminutes, B&PG Action Plan and a Financial summary of thegroup. The current committee is listed below.

B&PG Committee 2008 –2009Chair Caroline Checkley-ScottDeputy chair Tony BishTreasurer Edward CheeseSecretary Lorraine FinchEvents Maria VilaincourRegional events Megumi MuzumuraWebsite Heather RavenbergPublications Jim Bloxam

Leaflets Penny JenkinsGraduate liaison Isabelle EganClare Hampson Sonja SchwollScholarship Fund

Members Directory Linda EllisVolunteer Fiona Johnstonco-ordinator

CARE OF COLLECTIONS GROUP

The CCG annual members’ meeting was held on 30 Apriland was attended by over fifty members. The annualreport and other relevant papers are posted on the CCGsection of the Icon website and a report on the meetingwill appear in Icon News in due course.

Don’t forget the study visit to Colchester Castle andHeckworth Close store on 22 May. For details email:[email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS GROUP

The ‘Lets Talk About Photography’ series had an excellentstart in 2007 with two highly successful events held in theAutumn. The purpose of this initiative is to promotediscussion and networking about Photography andbetween its various strands: history, technologies, uses andconservation.

Our first talk was hosted by the National Maritime Museum(NMM). A panel of curators and conservators from theMuseum outlined the development of a new strategy toupdate preservation systems for their negative collection.Attendees learnt about the methodology underpinning thedesign of the strategy, including a widespread literatureresearch, and were able to take away detailed hand-outs.Further presentations explained issues arising from thesurvey of the collection, including the risk assessmentsrelating to health and safety, and the systems used torecord and assess condition of the collection. The sessionalso gave participants an opportunity to see examples ofdifferent negatives and condition, and ended with a tour ofone of the Museum’s negative stores.

The second talk took us to the Rothschild’s Archive. Themain part of the event was dedicated to the autochromeprocess, which celebrated its centenary last year. TheRothschild Archive has one of the finest collection ofautochromes in the country and is the largest taken by anindividual British photographer (Lionel de Rothschild) tohave survived, it also has many other fine works includingby Julia Margaret Cameron. Attendees were able to see anumber of examples. A talk by the former director of thearchive explained the autochrome process and, with manyillustrations, described the history behind some of the



images and the man who took so many of them. This leadonto an interesting discussion about the condition andsome of the conservation issues arising. Attendees wereable to take away a catalogue of the Rothschildautochromes published to celebrate the centenary.

‘Lets Talk about Photography’ aims to continue over theyear ahead. Whilst I have stepped down from the PhMGCommittee, it has agreed that I will continue to organisethe series. The success of the series also relies on yourideas, venues and support, so please do let me know ifyou have suggestions or feedback. Details of our first 2008event will be coming very soon!

Àngels Arribas: contact: [email protected]

SCOTLAND GROUP

Icon Scotland Group continues to develop its eventsprogramme for 2008. Having recently organised asuccessful visit to the National Library of Scotland’sconservation unit in March, focus is now on a visit toGraciela Ainsworth’s sculpture conservation workshop anda training day on health and safety for conservators. Thepub group in February was very well-attended and this willnow be a regular event on the first Thursday of every othermonth. Dates for the rest of 2008 are 5 June, 7 August, 2 October, and 4 December. Please see the Group’swebpage for details of all forthcoming events and recentdevelopments.

A grant to support conservators in the PACR process isnow established. Applicants must be full members of Icon,members of the Icon Scotland Group, and living andworking in Scotland. An application form can bedownloaded from the Group’s page of the website or isavailable by emailing [email protected]. Completedforms should be sent to: The Chair, Icon Scotland Group,c/o Icon, 22–26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ.Awards to successful candidates will normally be £100 paidon receipt of confirmation that accredited status has beenconferred. We hope to make four awards a year and, in theevent of multiple applicants, preference will be given toequal distribution between the disciplines. Applications arereviewed by Group office bearers and awards areconditional on achieving ACR status. All applications willbe treated in the strictest confidence.

Committee meetings for 2008 will be held on 13 May, 16 September and 9 December. Time and venue to beconfirmed.

Committee membership is as follows:

Chair: Linda RamsayVice Chair: Kirsten ElliottSecretary: Amanda ClydesdaleVice Secretary: Antonia CrasterTreasurer: Audrey WilsonVice Treasurer: Gill KeayEvents team: Helen Creasy, Erica Kotze,

Sophie Younger, Kirsten ElliottPublications/ Stephen Umpleby and publicity team: Ruth HoneyboneOrdinary Wilma Bouwmeester, Julian Watson,Committee Members: Mo BinghamIcon Scotland Member of the Board of Trustees:

Louise LawsonObservers: Carol Brown and Clare Meredith

STAINED GLASS GROUP

A change in the Construction Industry Scheme took placelast year. This is important information for all self-employed stained glass artists, restorers andconservators.

• Are you self-employed, a private company, or apartnership?

• Do you sub-contract work to others?

• Do you work as a sub-contractor for a main contractor?

From April 2007 the regulations covering the ConstructionIndustry have changed. All aspects of stained glass arenow covered within the CIS scheme, whether newlydesigned stained glass, or old windows that requirerestoration. Previous artistic exemptions and old CIS cards(1999–2007) are no longer valid.

If you are involved in sub-contracting and stained glass youwill have to be registered with the New CIS Scheme:www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cisrmanual/CISR14080.htmYou can check your registration status on line at:www.hmrc.gov.uk/new-cisor phone the CIS helpline on 0845 366 7899.

TEXTILE GROUP

Our main event of the year, The Spring Forum – TheFurnished Room was very well attended on 31 March withsome 120 delegates. Our thanks go to Ksynia Marko for

Mr. Victor Gray, former Director of the Rothschild Archive,discusses autochromes from the collection


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acting as a brilliant Chair; having set the scene with athoughtful introduction she continued to provide seamlesscontinuity between papers, drawing on her considerableexperience of the topic under discussion.

The day saw a good range of talks and is reviewed onpage 37 by Sarah Glenn. We would very much like to thankthe contributors for writing and presenting their papersand posters at the forum which made for a very interestingand informative meeting. Thanks also go to staff andstudents from the V&A and Textile Conservation Centrestudents for their help in organising the event.

The following day members of the Conservation andCollection Care team, Historic Royal Palaces, very kindlyoffered the opportunity to explore some of the issuesraised at the conference by examining the treatment oftextiles in one of the state apartments at Hampton CourtPalace. This provided a brilliant opportunity to continuethe theme in a more practical way and raised further livelydebate and discussion. Our thanks go to Maria Jordan andher team who were so welcoming and gave much of theirtime and were very generous with their knowledge andexperience.

Just to let people know, the post-prints from last year’sForum are in hand and will be sent out soon, we apologisefor the late arrival of these, we have had a few problemswith production but they should be available soon. Wehope to have this year’s post-prints off the press a littlequicker!

A quick reminder for our next event on 14 May – aninformal discussion at the Icon Offices which will focus onthe state of textile conservation and the opportunities thatare available for training, career progression and jobmarket for graduates etc. See web site and Listings forfurther details of this and other events.

Finally we would like to thank Deborah Phipps for hersterling work as Textile Group Secretary, she has workedtirelessly to keep us all on track and made an enormouscontribution to the work of the committee, we will all missher very much! Joining the committee as secretary inDeborah’s place we would like to welcome Karen Ayers.

Next BEER MEETINGThe next beer meeting is on Tuesday 3 June at TheCoal Hole, The Strandhttp://fancyapint.com/pubs/pub599.html

Catt Baum will send out reminders closer to thetime and let you know if there’s a table booked orwhich floor it’ll be on. Contact her (07973 918738)if you have any questions or want to get on hermailing list.



BOOK

METALS AND MINES: STUDIES INARCHAEOMETALLURGY Susan La Niece, Duncan Hook and PaulCraddock (editors)Archetype Publications, London 2007ISBN 978-1-904982-19-7 250 pages £45.00

This book contains a selection of twenty fiveacademic papers from an archaeometallurgyconference in April 2005, organised tocelebrate the career (and retirement) of Dr Paul Craddock as a materials scientist atthe British Museum. Throughout a mostproductive career, Paul Craddock hascontributed significantly across academicboundaries; especially concerninginterdisciplinary topics for ancientmetallurgy. The conference, Metallurgy: atouchstone for cross-cultural interaction wasa wide-ranging event over three days listingsome forty five papers and seventy threeposters in its programme. The selection ofpapers published from the conference ispresented as four representative themes inthe book: mining and smelting; copper, tinand bronze; brass and zinc; and iron andsteel. There is also a sub-theme onexperiments in archaeometallurgy with anumber of contributions includingreconstructions of iron smelting.

Usually, there seems to be little overlap forconference audiences betweenarchaeometallurgy and conservation; andthis would seem to have been the casehere, too. Nevertheless, I would recommendthis book as a single source for aconservator interested in following recentresearch in archaeometallurgy. In fact, theintroduction of four pages written by PaulCraddock would also serve as a worthwhilereview in itself covering the most significantarchaeometallurgical achievements; notingthe role of British Museum participation inthe research as well as providing a good listof forty one references.

In reviewing the contents of Metals andMines, I will highlight several aspects ofmetal objects and metallurgical remains thatwould seem to be of professional interest toconservators; especially for scientificdocumentation and technical studies ofmuseum objects. A number of posters andpapers were presented at the conferenceconcerning patination, tool marks andcorrosion of phosphoric iron as well ascopper-arsenic alloys. However, thesepapers and posters were not selected forthe publication. Only a few direct links withconservation for archaeology and museumsare represented in selected papers in thebook.

A most apparent conservation link wouldseem to be represented in ‘Early Chineseferrous swords from the British Museumcollections’ by M.L. Wayman and C.Michaelson as well as ‘Crucible steel inmedieval swords’ by A. Williams. Theseexcellent contributions documentmetallographic properties of steel swords todetermine production methods. Thecomplexity of materials selections for theseswords becomes clearer with the newevidence. Another worthwhile link is the newevidence for alloy use in ‘The beginning ofthe use of brass in Europe with particularreference to the southeastern Alpine region’by I. Istenic and Z. Smit as well as ‘RomanBrass and Lead ingots from the WesternMediterranean’ by G. Weisgerber.Documenting brass compositions and thescale of production/trade by date is relatedto identification of expected alloycompositions encountered for specific metalartefacts types. Aspects of metal typologyand decoration are also prominent in’Copper-based metal in the Inland Nigerdelta: metal and technology at the time ofthe Empire of Mali’ by L. Garenne-Marotand B. Mille. There are most significantpapers on ’The origin and invention of zinc-smelting technology in China’ by ZhouWeirong and ‘Preliminary multidisciplinarystudy of the Miaobeihou zinc-smelting ruinsat Yangliusi village, Fengdu county,Chongqing’. Also possibly linked toconservation, the classification of technicaland functional aspects of crucibles seemsrelevant for investigative cleaning; see‘Towards a function and typologicalclassification of crucibles’ by Justine Bayleyand Thilo Rehren. There are many othernotable papers on important aspects ofmining, extractive metallurgy andinterpretation of metallurgical remains. Asingle index for the book is provided tonavigate through topics occurring in thevarious papers.

It would seem unproductive now, todemarcate strict boundaries betweenarchaeometallurgy and conservation in abook review of these selected papers frominterdisciplinary conference proceedings.Intellectually, perhaps the investigation ofancient metallic artefacts should representmore of a continuum with selected researchtopics. With a wider selection of themesfrom the conference, perhaps conservatorswould find the book more directly relevant.Metals and Mines: Studies inArchaeometallurgy is excellent as amanageable, archaeometallurgy publication,but some of the breadth of the conferencehas been excluded.

John Merkel, Ph.D.

Institute of ArchaeologyUniversity College, London

WORKSHOP

PEST WORKSHOPMalta February 2008

International Academic Projects have runmany successful pest workshops andseminars over the last few years and thelatest was held in Malta in February 2008.Organised by Dr Martina Caruana, theDirector of Heritage Malta’s Institute ofConservation and Management of CulturalHeritage, in collaboration with the Agency’sHuman Resources Department, theworkshops were held in their splendidfacilities at the old Naval Hospital in Bighi.There were so many people interested inthe two-day workshop that it was run twicein the week with over twenty peopleattending each one. The course was run byentomologist David Pinniger andBirmingham Museums collections caremanager, Jane Thompson-Webb. There wasa good mix of curatorial and conservationprofessionals and students, which alwayshelps interaction and exchange of ideas.The workshops included practical sessionson identifying insect pests and pest damageand a survey of gallery and storage areas atthe Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa. At theend of the survey, participants produced aset of guidelines for short and long termIPM for the Museum.

Malta has a very wide range of fascinatingmuseums and collections with attendantproblems of insect infestation encouragedby the Mediterranean climate. It was veryinteresting to find a species of carpet beetle[Anthrenus flavipes] with very large and hairyblack woolly bear larvae and also offurniture beetles [Anobium] which aredifferent from those in the UK and northernEurope. There was a lot of enthusiasmgenerated by the workshops which will be

reviews

Larvae of furniture carpet beetle Anthrenusflavipes

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followed up by Heritage Malta staff inplanning a Maltese pest data base, pesttrapping surveys and evaluation of practicalinsect control techniques. It is hoped thatthis valuable collaboration between the UKand Malta will be continued in the future.

David PinnigerConservation Entomologist

VISITS

PROPORTION LONDON Icon Textile GroupLondon 11 February 2008

The visit was a chance to see the workshopand showroom of mannequin suppliersProportion London since their take-over ofGems Wax Figures. The two companies stillwork independently with Proportion makingmainly fibre glass full body mannequins andpapier mâché torsos including therenowned ‘Workshop Collection’. Gems stillmake the made-to-measure fibreglassbodies with the optional lifelike wax heads.

The morning was a tour around theworkshop in Walthamstow, which was afascinating insight into the hand-madeelements of each mannequin; there were nomass production machines. The guided tourby Antonia d’Marco, the sales director,showed us each stage in the process ofmaking the mannequin on the Proportionside. The first stage was to create a claymodel of the shape required, a silicone castis taken from this shape and this two- piecemould is layered with fibre glass. When onehad been created the two halves of thesilicone mould were layered with fibreglasssheets and resin and combined to makeeach element from torso to arms and hands.

Once dried these were hand tidied andsanded by hand to create a perfect modelbefore being coated with a total of fivelayers of cellulose paint. This whole processfrom making the mould to the finish for awhole body mannequin with head takesabout ten weeks. These are mainly for largepiece work.

In contrast the papier mâché ones can bemade and dried in one and a half days.These are made in a similar way by layeringrecycled card into the mould with a type ofPVA to join them. The two half moulds arejoined and a final layer is applied inside tocover the join. This is left for twenty minutesto dry before being removed from themould and left in a heated room for one dayto dry. The mannequin is then sprayed witha layer of glue before a thin layer ofwadding is applied and a machine madecover is applied and slip stitched up theside for a smooth finish.

The Gems area is separate and showed themore intricate and detailed work available inthe made-to-measure side of the business.Sam had photographs of an Indian tribe thatshe was making replicas of. The sizes had tobe exact and it showed the amount of timeinvolved to create the correct size of thetorsos as they had to fit their clothing. This

was an interesting project as all the modelsare still alive and trying to create asympathetic replica can be a challenge.

The next area was hair and make up. Thisshowed the detail and lifelikeness that couldbe created with a wax head. These can takeup to four days to create as all the hair isstitched on in rows like hair extensions. Thisis compared to a fibreglass one that will onlytake half a day as the hair is only glued onand there are limited variations available.

The afternoon was spent at the showroomat Dallington St which was set up as asophisticated club with glitter ball andmirrors with mannequins dressed and madeup in different poses to show thepossibilities available. We were also able toview their portfolios of work for differentclients.

The visit highlighted the fact that they are allhand made and when we order amannequin they are all made to order: thereis no stock waiting. They work for a varietyof clients including Ted Baker, Marks andSpencer and Bravissimo ordering up to fivehundred mannequins at a time – all made toorder.

If possible it is always best to give them asmuch time as possible for an order as they

Removal of papier mâché mannequin frommouldHeads during hair and make-up

Showroom full of mannequins

Fibre glass mannequin during preparation

Course participants carrying out the survey in the Maritime Museum

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will always try and fit it in around anotherlarger one.

Thanks are due to Proportion for allowing usto visit their premises and to DeborahPhipps for organising the visit. It was aninteresting and fascinating visit and hasgiven me a lot to think about when orderingmannequins in the future.

Claire Golbourn, Textile Conservator

The National Trust, Textile ConservationStudio

THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT AND ITS ARTCOLLECTION – A TOUR GIVEN BY FIONAMCDOUGALL, ART CURATOR/EXHIBITIONS MANAGERIcon Scotland Group 25 October 2007

What is it about the Scottish Parliamentbuilding I find disturbing? Is it its lack ofsymmetry, the organic and abstract shapesthat jarred rather than engaged my interest– too eclectic and ugly against theRenaissance splendour of Holyrood and toolike the debris found on my home beacheson Islay? Perhaps discovering the ScottishParliament’s art collection could redeem myuninformed perceptions? So an ‘old’ thinkerwent to meet the new Scottish ParliamentBuilding and art collection and, indeed, the‘old’ meeting the ‘new’ proved to be atheme throughout our tour.

Remarkably, the site itself juxtaposes boththe loss and rebirth of political power inScotland because Queensberry House (built1667), which was once the home of the 2ndDuke of Queensberry, a key signatory of theTreaty of Union in 1707, now forms part ofthe Parliament structure. Another historicallink is made through the inclusion of the‘Arniston Stones’, which were previously partof the pre-1707 Scottish Parliament building.

The Parliament was opened officially inOctober 2004. The principle that thereshould be an art strategy for the newbuilding was endorsed and an Art SteeringGroup was established. At this early stageover eighty artworks were chosen but thecollection has continued to develop throughnew acquisitions and loans in subsequentyears. The key ideas and themes behind theart are around identity, the importance ofour relationship to the sea and the land andwho we are as the people of Scotland. Aswell as paintings, photography andsculptures, furniture was also commissioned,and a number of official gifts have alsofound homes at Holyrood.

The difficult decisions about what toacquire, purchase, borrow and display arenow taken by a cross-party committee, theArt Advisory Group, which comprises bothMSPs and external experts. Scanning theobject list available on the website (viahttp://www.scottish.parliament.uk/), it is

noticeable that some of the founding piecesare by great Scots such as Ian HamiltonFinlay and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. HamiltonFinlay’s piece is a deconstructed boat–‘Coble’ - which is colourful, layered andintriguing in its meaning.

The art works also include gifts fromgovernments such as Catalan, Holland,Norway and Dublin. My favourite is theIcelandic ‘Granite Egg’ (2004), perching on apad of lava rock. It can be seen as a symbolof the friendship between the twogovernments as the pink-footed goosespends winter in Scotland and summer inIceland. The lettering carved into the egg istaken from an Icelandic saga, ‘with laws theland shall be built’. The lava rock is fromThingvellir, a former site of the IcelandicParliament.

Our tour began with the most symbolicartefact in the collection: a sculpture insterling silver, gold plate and rock crystalthat represents the Honours of Scotland.The old Honours – the Crown, Sword andSceptre – are preserved in EdinburghCastle; here is a new symbol designed infairly abstracted motifs by Graham Stewartand gifted by the Heraldry Society ofScotland. It was to be the only art work wesaw in a case – a forced necessity. Opendisplay throughout the rest of the buildingallows participation and, yes, the objects doget damaged. There was an initialexpectation that the collection may have afinite lifespan but the culture has sincechanged with the appointment of an ArtCurator. Nevertheless, the principles ofopenness, accessibility and participationhave guided the Parliament’s collection anddisplay policy. Fiona – our guide – has beeninstrumental in ‘looking after’ thecollections; initial surveys of the works havenow been carried out and remedialconservation work commissioned whennecessary. The main areas of concern areaccidental damage and excessive lightlevels. I did notice some environmentalmonitoring equipment but someconservation issues are difficult to resolve ina working environment.

I was very pleased to find textiles piecesdisplayed, not just because I am a textileconservator but also because they are a

superb contrast to the polished greyconcrete walls. I was reminded of my time asa tapestry student at Edinburgh Art Collegewhen standing in front of Maureen Hodges’Field of Endeavour: Territory II, 2004. In thispiece her usual monochrome palette wasbroken by blue Saltires, a play on the crossbeing a mark of the dead and a nationalsymbol.

I was slightly disappointed by the excessivenumber of photographs. The portraits of keyserving members were perceptive and wellexecuted and some of the landscapesbreathtaking, especially Albert Watson’sStanding Stone, the Orkneys, Scotland, 1991and Peter Cattrel’s Highland and Lowlandsseries of sixteen specially commissionedsilver gelatin black and white prints. But Ifound the series by Claire Wheeldon poorlyexecuted in contrived compositions anduninteresting - strange given that she isasking us to be interested in people on themargins of society. It would also be nice tosee more oils and a greater variety of workson paper such as prints, watercolours,gouaches and pastels.

If you are pushed for time when next visitingtry and see my top four: Alison Kinnaird’sPsalmsong – a large glass, light and soundinstallation near the café. The sound is herharp composition inspired by herknowledge of Gaelic psalms. The glassimages and human forms, in various poses,are based on the patterns produced byplaying the notes of the Scottish harp into acomputer at Edinburgh University’s PhysicsDepartment and sampling the sound waves.Also on the ground floor, you will find threelarge relief panels that you just want totouch – Shauna McMullan’s Travelling theDistance. This commissioned work is ofdifferent handscripted lettering in raisedporcelain. The one hundred handwrittensentences have been collected by the artiston a journey around Scotland. Not far awayis Will Maclean’s Voyage of the Anchorites,1996. This relief is a gem – two prone figuresin a simple craft who could be insupplication, dead, in hope or asleep. Thepiece was inspired by the artist’sexperiences as a boy growing up withfishermen, wooden mail boats and thebeauty and power of the west coast waters.

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Glen Onwin’s, Mossers, Rebels and Wolves -Heather forest (coral) tree, 2004: I remembersaying ‘wow’ when I saw this piece. The useof heather to create the forest was symbolic,because it is a plant with many culturalassociations to Scotland. What springs tomind is the battle of Culloden and thehorror of being burnt out of your home bythatch torching. The magical silver bloomover the background was a result of theartist flooding the board with sea water andsalt crystals forming after evaporation. Thisis certainly a piece with impact.

Do I like the building any better? Yes, but itis a building that works for me from theinside, where you see the beautifully craftedmaterials, abstracted motifs and interestingroom shapes and corridor spaces. EnricMiralles, the architect, always spoke of thebuilding ‘sitting in the land’ and most of theseven buildings on the Holyrood siteachieve this, except for the Entrance andthe Debating Building. This steel-framedstructure, I think, would have been betterunder an organic mass like the SalisburyCraig – rather, it is competing against theprofiles of some of the most historicbuildings in Edinburgh.

Thank you to Helen Creasy for organisingthe event and to Fiona McDougall for afascinating tour and for providing additionalinformation for this review. Fiona plans tolaunch an Art and Architecture tour inOctober this year – please check out theScottish Parliament website for furtherdetails in the autumn!

Sophie Younger ACR

Textiles and Preventive Conservator inprivate practice

CONFERENCES

BRONZED OFFIcon Metals Group ConferenceTate Britain 6 March 2008

Delegates arrived en force at Tate Britain toenjoy a day dedicated to all things bronze.The morning session focused on enablingattendees to develop a morecomprehensive understanding of thematerial through an explanation ofpatternmaking and casting methods, whilstthe afternoon tackled the more fundamentalissues to the conservator such as cleaningtechniques and re-patination. Guestspeakers represented some the mostprominent companies/museumdepartments in the field of metalsconservation, providing a thorough overviewof current professional attitudes towards thecleaning, conserving, and re-colouring ofartistic, decorative and architectural bronze.

David Vallance, managing director of the

largest commercial foundry in the UK (G.F.James Ltd), kicked off by offering to impartsome of his vast knowledge of bronzemoulding and casting; no mean feat withfifty four years’ experience to draw from!David took us step-by-step through thefoundry processes, and, since he must haveanticipated how it can be difficult to fathomhow the patternmaker is able to think 3-dimensionally, inside out and upside down,some clear and explanatory imagesdefinitely aided understanding. He thenwent on to explain the considerabledifference between the sand and ‘lost wax’methods of casting. The session certainlyhelped improve understanding of thebehavioural properties of bronze, and alsothe capabilities and limitations of sculptureproduction from a foundry perspective.

In the afternoon, Marissa Prandelli, sculptureconservator at the National ConservationCentre (NML), provided case studies ofseveral projects undertaken by herdepartment, focusing on some of the issuesfound with each of the sculptures prior toconservation, and their subsequenttreatment, in particular, the use of lasers toclean metallic surfaces. Since the projectshighlighted were all outside publicmonuments, the presentation also discussedthe implications of using laser machinery inpublic spaces, such as problems arising fromthe need to use generators, unreliablepower supply, security, and H & S issues.From the ‘after treatment’ images Marissadisplayed to the audience, the results thelaser produces are undeniably impressive,and this led to a lively Q & A session whereindividuals questioned whether the laseractually goes too far down the restorationpath, with all layers, including surface patina,being stripped away to expose bare bronzebeneath. Marissa explained that theapproach of her institution is to explore thepotentials of all the technology available tothe profession, and that it is not appropriateto use lasers to clean bronze sculptures inevery instance. She also explained that thedecision to employ lasers in the treatmentprocess is largely client led, i.e. thetreatment selected is usually dependentupon the finish the person(s) commissioningthe work wish to achieve.

Next, Andrew Naylor (Conservation &Sculpture Consultancy) discussed a projecthe undertook in Belgium on a publicmonument owned by the Ministry ofDefence, but cared for by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission.The Waterloo Memorial had suffered on twofronts over the years; first, from theelements due to particularly harsh weatherin the early 60s which had triggeredaccelerated corrosion to the metal, andsecondly, by two episodes of overzealousand unsympathetic repairs. The previous

repairs included putty being inserted intocracks and later epoxy resins were used toconsolidate corrosive damage. Andrewdiscussed some of the complex issues thathad to be overcome due to the internalweakness of the structure, and how this wasaddressed through the addition of astainless steel frame. Once the sculpturehad been stabilised the previous repairswere replaced with fibreglass and resin fillsand these were retouched with acrylics toenhance the overall appearance of thesculpture.

Brain Hall, (Brian Hall Conservation), thentook us through the conservation treatmentof a series of public monuments onO’Connell Street in Dublin. The sculpture ofO’Connell himself had suffered considerablyduring the First World War, sustaining bothbullet holes and shrapnel damage. Themonuments had previously been shotblasted resulting in severe pitting andshadows due to inconsistent application.Water and detergent was sufficient toremove surface dirt, whereas heavy depositsand surface coatings were to be removedwith acetone. During the process, however,the removal of the surface coatings wasfound not to be providing any conservationbenefit and was not especially aestheticallypleasing. Brian explained how he thenswitched approach and decided to use amix of 30% organic carnauba wax and 70%microcrystalline wax. The bronze was heatedand then the wax mixture was appliedrapidly to the surface. A second applicationof the wax mixture was applied once cold toprovide a seal. This method was found tocamouflage the imperfections in the bronzesustained from previous abrasive cleaningtreatments. Finally the sculpture wasretouched and a further layer ofmicrocrystalline wax provided protection forthe paint layers. Through this project Brianwas able to employ a reversible treatmentthat doesn’t chemically alter the historicalsurface of the sculpture in any way. Asecond project discussed the issues ofremoving graffiti damage from a copperclad pumping station, with the additionalchallenge of trying to provide amaintenance solution should the buildingfall victim to future artistry. After applyingpaint softeners directly to the spray paintand using a high-pressure water jet to cleanthe cladding there were still shadows of thepaint remaining. Brian again utilised the hotwax method, this time three coats of waxwith pigments added (mixed on site toobtain the appropriate colour match) wereapplied cold to the copper cladding thenheated with a blowtorch, taking care not tooverheat the wax. After application the waxwas tested to see if future graffiti attackscould be easily removed. It was found thatsubsequent spray paint introduced over the



coated copper surface could be simplywiped with water/ detergent solutions backto the wax layers.

And finally, Rupert Harris (Rupert HarrisConservation) delivered a presentation onthe various methods of cleaning outdoorbronze monuments, and the pros and consof each. First, he explained the DOFFsystem of cleaning, where steam is ejectedat force through a flared nozzle. The meritsare that it is a mobile unit which is botheasily controllable and manoeuvrable; it isable to access small areas and crevices, andit also provides sufficient heat to be able tomelt and remove wax and paint layers. Theadditional bonus is that it removes surfacecoatings without affecting the bronze or thenatural patina beneath. Rupert alsoexplained that Ultra High Pressured water-jets, which use revolving nozzles, can be agood option for cleaning since the force ofthe ejection from the jet results in the waternever being on the surface of the sculpturefor more than a couple of seconds. It wasadvised that this method was particularlygood for pitted surfaces. Rupert then talkedthe delegates through the JOFF and TORQsystems, which use a rotating vortex andceramic nozzles that can deliver variousamounts of abrasive. Calcite abrasives aremost commonly used since they are theleast abrasive to the surface. Although theresults can be good, there are limitationswith this approach, since it is very difficult toachieve consistency with the application ofpressure to remove thin layers of surfacecoating and therefore it could be arguedthat abrasives are not appropriate for theoverall cleaning of large sculptures. Theycan however be used successfully inlocalised areas of pitted corrosion. Ruperthighlighted the need to inform clients sothat patina is not removed from outsidepublic monuments unnecessarily, given thatthere is a considerable difference betweennaturally developed patina, where thestructure is still stable, and active corrosion.Rupert invited metals conservators to thinkabout what is the right/wrong approach andto take a professional look at what isrecommended as treatment at the proposalstage of a project. If the general consensusis that over-cleaned bronze can be flat andlifeless, can conservators be doing more tomaintain the aesthetic appearance ofsculpture that comes from its natural patina?

In a lively Q & A, the main focus ofdiscussion was on profession wide matters,principally the implications of excessiveinterventive treatment and the subsequentpotential for over-cleaning. Most delegatesseemed to be in agreement that patinationof sculpture sited externally is in most casescontextual and historic; the oxidising of thesurface fundamentally becoming part of the

bronze itself, and that the patina serves todocument the environmental conditions andsurroundings to which the monument hasbeen exposed. The discussion culminated ina debate about the need for educatingpotential clients not always to opt for ‘themost aesthetically pleasing’ conservationtreatments. Since many custodians of publicmonuments could theoretically be forgivenfor the belief that, due to the costimplications of hiring a conservator toundertake work, there should be a dramaticand tangible difference to the sculpturevisually after treatment, therefore, they needto be encouraged to adopt an approachwhereby interventive treatment is onlynecessary when a sculpture is in a state ofactive deterioration.

Reflecting on the day, it was thoroughlyenjoyable and undoubtedly informative.Sincere thanks are extended from theMetals Group committee to all the guestspeakers who agreed to participate andcontribute to making the conference aresounding success.

Fran ClarkeConservator. Museum of Science & Industry,Manchester

THE FURNISHED ROOM – THECONSERVATION OF TEXTILES ON OPENDISPLAYIcon Textile Group Spring ForumV&A, London, 31 March 2008

The theme of this year’s Textile GroupForum was ‘The Furnished Room’, a topicthat includes many textile objects fromcarpets to curtains, bed hangings to wallcoverings and upholstery and more, not tomention the variety of materials used in themanufacture of such objects.

Ksynia Marko chaired the Forum andintroduced the proceedings, highlightingthat through conservation of objects from‘The Furnished Room’, many discoveries canbe made. Points of importance such astechniques of manufacture, indications ofthe social and political context of theobjects, craftsmanship, trends in design andexpressions of status and information aboutmaterials can all be gleaned through carefulexamination and throughout theconservation process. It is important toconsider that objects from ‘The FurnishedRoom’ were intended to be both of practicaluse and of considerable aesthetic value.

From conserving silk and leather wallhangings to in situ analysis of textiles,preventive conservation in the BritishGalleries at the V&A and reviewingconservation treatments of textiles atBurghley House, Hampton Court Palace andGlasgow Museum, the papers givenreflected the wide variety of objects and

materials that could be categorised underthis year’s theme.

During lunch, there was an opportunity toread the conference posters, including thewet cleaning of a large Aubusson carpetand conserving Princess Alice’s cradle.

An issue that re-appeared in all of thepapers given was the ongoing financial andpractical issues that have to be balancedthroughout any project. Patricia Ewerdiscussed some of her experiences inconservation project planning, noting that itis essential for any conservator to be flexiblein responding to new information during theconservation process.

Heather Porter’s paper on the use of aremovable attachment method for re-caningchairs was a fascinating example of how arelatively modern material, carbon fibre,could be utilised in conservation. Theimportance of retaining evidence ofmanufacture (tack holes and impressions ofthe stretched caning) was raised here, andthe creative solution was a successfulexample of the difference betweenrestoration and conservation – the chair wasmade to look caned, without actually re-caning.

Perhaps one of the most important issuesraised by the Forum was that of carefullyconsidering the context from which theobjects came and would be returned aftertreatment. Will the treatment besympathetic to the room or collection inwhich the object will be displayed, as well asin the best interests of the object itself? Theaesthetic value of such objects is veryimportant in the context of ‘The FurnishedRoom’.

Finally, Howard Sutcliffe and MasumiKataoka regaled us with a horror story thatsurely must be every conservator’s worstnightmare. An extremely severe infestationof carpet beetle required immediateisolation and specialist fumigation beforefurther work could be carried out. Theimportance of teamwork and quick decision-making was shown here!

Despite the packed programme of tenpapers, it was a very interesting day,especially considering that objects such asthose talked about provide a large part ofmost textile conservators’ workprogrammes. For a student, the Forum wasa great opportunity to listen to practisingconservators’ experiences, and to gain anidea of what to expect from a future career.

Thanks to the members of the Iconcommittee for organising the very successfulprogramme, to the V&A for hosting theevent, and to all the speakers.

Sarah GlennStudent Conservator, Textile ConservationCentre


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TALKS

THE COMPLEXITY AND AGINGCHARACTERISTICS OF ZINC OXIDEThe October Gallery 25 January 2008

In this very interesting talk Jane Colbourneconcentrated on the history, use andpossible problems of a white pigment usedby artists since the eighteenth century, usingexamples of historic literature and moderncase studies. Jane began with a short historyof the commercial production of thepigment, which is attributed to a Frenchchemist in the 1780s, however it was notuntil the 1830s when Winsor & Newtonproduced a machine-ground version of thepigment called Chinese White that itbecame popular with artists. The pigmentwas widely advertised and there were manyreviews that greeted it enthusiastically:

The artist is indeed indebted to theChemist for the introduction of ChineseWhite… serviceable, permanent, willnot attack other colours.

Painting Popularly Explained 1840

Large scale production took off in themiddle of the nineteenth century with twoprocesses – the Direct from zinc and leadores and the Indirect from metallic zinc. Thepigment was used as a popular addition toa number of paint and ink ranges becauseof its price and apparent stability, and thepositive reviews continued well into thetwentieth century; however Jane went on toshow us that the pigment does, in fact, agebadly and can cause damage to adjacentmaterials.

Zinc oxide is very reactive: the method ofproduction seems to have an effect on thedissipation of radiant UV energy and it ispossible that the tendency of indirectgrades of the pigment to dissipate theenergy through ways other than harmlessluminescence can lead to an increase in thebreakdown of the paint film.

Jane then went on to describe the widevariety of problems that have been noted:the most common being efflorescence andthe formation of hydrogen peroxide.Efflorescence is the migration of organic orinorganic material to the surface of theobject, which leads to the formation of saltsand the rupturing of the paint and papersurfaces. The migration is exacerbated byfluctuating cycles of high/low RH. In thepresence of atmospheric pollution andmoisture, the zinc oxide becomes zincsulphate, which being soluble is able tospread laterally through the substratecausing further damage.

Hydrogen peroxide can be formed by theexposure of zinc pigments to near ultraviolet

radiation, which can produce chalking, ahalo effect or what is known as the ‘ridgephenomenon’. It can also discolour orweaken the support. Chalking is thedestruction of the binder in a pigmentresulting in the powdery appearance ofpigment particles on the surface. The ‘ridgephenomenon’ is thought to be caused bypaper, which has been damaged by zincsulphate, absorbing more moisture andtherefore expanding unevenly and causingridges to form in the support.

Jane also pointed out further problems thatcan occur owing to the highly reactivenature of zinc oxide: it is an amphotericsubstance, which means that it can reactwith both alkalis and acids, so potentiallydamage can be caused by acidic backingboards, alum rosin sized paper or alkalinetreatments. From here she moved on to tellus about possible treatment options.

She advised us not to consolidate flakingpigment if we can see distinct crystals ofsalts on the surface, but instead to considerblotter washing to reduce surface deposits,however if the disintegration of the pigmentsurface was caused by disintegration of thebinder and was therefore chalking, thenconsolidation would be an option.Reframing of an item in a deep mount canhelp protect the paint on a lifted or cockledsurface. An object damaged by peroxideformation can be washed in a dilute alkalisolution and weakened or damaged areascan be supported with alkaline-impregnatedrepair papers.

Jane concluded her talk with a list ofpossible research subjects, including a studyof the link between processing methods, theappearance of the pigment under UV anddegrees of damage to the object.

The post-talk reception was sponsored byWinsor & Newton, who also provided useach with an interesting leaflet on themanufacturing methods that they use fortheir paints.

Rachel ChapmanThe London Library

DOS AND DON’TS OF PHOTOCONSERVATIONThe October Gallery November 16 2007

Why would anyone want to go out afterwork on a dark November night to belectured to about a lot of old photographs?The answer is that Susie Clark knows hersubject and makes it exciting andaccessible. Also because John Purcell, thefriendly Brixton paper merchant, sponsoredthe wine. A little liquid conviviality alwayshelps. The room was packed, and manypeople had come in from way outsideLondon. The reason for such interest is that

practical information about photoconservation is hard to find. The increasingvalue of old photos means that there isdemand for their conservation. Also, thebuoyant art market allows galleries tocharge hundreds of thousands of pounds forsome contemporary photographers’ work.That means jobs for conservators.

Susie encouraged us not to think of photosas complicated traps for the unwary. Therewas a flood of photographic inventionsduring the nineteenth century. Some provedpopular, others stayed rare for variousreasons. Rather than trying to memorisetheir huge variety, Susie suggested that wemight try to understand the evolution of thephotographic processes. By doing so itshould be easier to understand the reasonsbehind the changes. If we concentrate onthe materials and not the particularprocesses, then the subject should seemmore manageable.

After the introduction, what followed was aslide show of spectacular images (yes a slideshow not a power-point presentation) whichSusie expounded upon and brought to life.We started with a seascape by Le Gray. Earlyphotographs needed different exposures forsea and sky, because the extreme sensitivityof primitive emulsions to blue light. LeGray’s print had to be confected from twonegatives. This reminds me of Tate’s largeTurner watercolour of Edinburgh: Turner wasunhappy with his sky, painted a new versionof it, carefully trimmed along the horizonline, and stuck it onto his picture almostinvisibly.

You will not be wanting a blow by blowaccount of all the things she showed us. Inthe hour we heard about Daguerre, FoxTalbot and Fenton with their silver basedimages, then other sorts such as tin types,cyanotypes and Woodburytypes. Alsocarbon prints, the subtle and durableplatinum prints and more besides. Toomuch information to commit to memory, butthat was not the point of the talk. Susie wasaiming to open us up to her passion forphotography, and it came across well. Mostof the audience were paper conservators,and therefore likely to have met some of theproblems of paper-based prints. Susie gaveus useful tips about the behaviour of manyof the items she talked about. Blueprints,more properly known as cyanotypes, werefirst introduced in the 1840s. Their colour isachieved by developing iron salts intoPrussian blue. When displayed in light theyare prone to fading. However, the colourreally does recover in the dark. Nervous

Photo 1 – the water tests to show solubility



archivists may take some convincing of thisone suspects. The early prints are the moststable, because they used blood as their rawmaterial. Alkaline buffers are to be avoidedthough, because high pH is not good forthem. The later blueprints from the 1900sused purer chemicals, and do not last sowell.

Many photographs are drymounted tobackings of mechanical woodpulp, whichgoes brittle. Well-meaning conservators maybe tempted to lift the photo away from theboard. Susie warned us that early shellacstend to turn pink in an alcohol bath, andmay stain the photograph. The drymounttissue forms such a good barrier that often itis best to leave the photo alone.

PVC envelopes were warned against.Although photographs prefer slightly acidicconditions, the very acid breakdownproducts of PVC can hydrolyse gelatine, andcause the photo to stick to the envelope.

At the end of the talk we were reminded ofthe ten things that any interestedphotographic conservator should know:

1 Know your emulsion. Is it gelatine orcollodion? Gelatine swells in water, collodion swellsin volatile solvents.

2 Avoid using water on silver basedphotographs, unless you are convincedthat it is safe.

3. Beware of wet hinges for photographs.The shiny surface shows up any bumpscaused by the swelling of the paper.

4 Do not wet mouldy gelatine. If you washa mouldy photo it may just dissolve away.

5 Avoid alkaline buffers in your mounts, thegelatine prefers a low pH.

6 Never touch the surface of aDaguerrotype, however dusty it looks.

Never put it face down either. It will getscratched.

7 FIRE hazard! Cellulose nitrate explodes at38 degrees C, i.e. if left in the sun ortouching a radiator.

8 Insects love gelatine. Woolly bears andsilverfish particularly.

9 Beware photos in presentation cases. Oldcases are apt to fall open, dropping glassor photo to the floor.

10Avoid proximity to bleaches, floorcleaners, ozone air conditioners etc. Silveris sensitive to all these. Even wool carpetswill slowly cause tarnishing.

11The eleventh point was just to expect andto prepare for the unexpected.

Once she had delivered the tencommandments Susie said she hoped theywould energise us, not put us off, and thatwe should indeed enter the world ofphotographic conservation, but only if wehave an active interest in it. The pitfalls aretoo many to mention.

We are now in mid March 2008. I apologisefor the lateness of the review. It means thattwo photographs have come my way in themeantime, quite unsolicited. One Imanaged to cope with, the other defeatedme. How many of the attendees thatevening have been tempted as a result ofthe talk?

The first photograph was described as a

screenprint, and arrived tightly rolled. Thematte surface did not immediately suggesta gelatine print, but the characteristic browndeveloper stains on the paper suggestedthat this was not screenprinting. The seriousproblem was that the artist’s signature wasin a highly soluble blue fountain pen ink.Any attempt to humidify the roll and flattenit would endanger the ink.

We are warned not to expose photos toharmful chemicals. Is Sandofix a harmfulchemical for photographs? It does not seemto be, but I could not find references to itsuse on them. I applied it diluted 1:5 in water,with a squeezy pipette. It stayed on thesurface, and was minimally absorbed by thegelatine. After ten seconds it was sucked offby pipette, and rinsed with several changesof water. The ink was now insoluble,allowing the photo to be washed in water,and then pressed to flatten it. See photos1,2,3

Having felt triumphant at dealing with thefirst problem photo, I now feel deeplyhumbled by the second. A 1960s’ black andwhite photo with a printed mount, it hadpurple fountain pen ink dripped on it. Cansuch stains be removed? How far is one ableto go with stain removal on a photograph?A problem that would easily be dealt withon an etching may well be insuperable on aphotograph. See photo 4. The photoremains untreated, except by Photoshop toproduce a replica that is good but not goodenough.

Please give us more evening talks such asSusie’s. There is a big audience for them.Would it be possible to organise themoutside London too? Is there a critical massof conservators in Bristol say, or Manchester,or Edinburgh? It is important to lure the oldhands in too, the experts. Introductory talksare important, but working conservatorsneed to be able to share problems andargue about the problems they face.Sponsors please note that your participationwas much appreciated.

Piers TownshendTate Britain

Photo 4 purple ink stains

Photo 2 showing how curly it was

Photo 3 – water drops rinsing off the Sandofix and sitting very much on the surface


in practiceTHE CONSERVATION OF WINDOW CHnIXcontinued

by Helen Bower, Conservator, York Glaziers Trust

This article follows an introductory article about YorkMinster’s Chapter House Vestibule window CHnIX whichappeared in last July’s issue of Icon News. Its aim is toexplain the practical conservation and the philosophyaccompanying the project carried out by the YGT teamover the last year, and to highlight some of the morechallenging issues involved. Fig. 1 illustrates the poorcondition of the glass, set within a heavy andunsympathetic lead matrix.

In 1999 conservation trials were carried out on panels 1aand 2a of this window, but after eight years and with theremaining panels of the window in storage since 2001 itwas felt appropriate to revisit the methodology of thoseearlier trials. The following points relating to those trialswere raised:-

a Elements of the design of ChnIX are unique to thiswindow, particularly in the painting of the backgrounddiamond quarries.

b Interpretations of these designs have not been recordedby John Browne in his ‘History of the MetropolitanChurch of St Peter, York’ 1847 and research has not yetuncovered any other early drawings.

c The earliest available photographs held in the YorkMinster Library are from after the last restoration (1950s)and show the glass at this stage already heavily jumbledand corroded.

d Not enough original glass survives in ChnIX to fullyreconstruct the painted design, however there issufficient evidence to largely reconstruct the originalcut-line.

e The earlier trials were experimental and involved theremoval of all non original infills.

f It is not always possible to be sure of the provenance ofthe glass owing to loss of detail and it is also difficult totell if the surviving fragments are located in their originalpositions.

g A number of fragments of re-located glass found withinthe panels match the dimensions of the clear daylightborders, and give evidence for what glass would haveoriginally been there.

h Original glass from the trial panels 1a and 2a hasarguably been subject to over-cleaning of the delicatecorrosion layer.

After much discussion a new methodology was developedwith the aim of addressing these questions and offering an

alternative approach to that envisaged at the time of theoriginal trial. Thus, the main aims of our campaign werelaid out as follows:-

1 To retain all original glass in its original position wherepossible.

2 To remove extraneous mending leads (10mm section),where technically possible.

3 To restore the fluidity and logicality of the original leaddesign by replacing all the existing 10mm section leadwith a profile closer to the usual original medievalcalmes i.e. 4–6mm.

4 To regain as far as possible the legibility of the cut-line,design and iconography.

5 To make the panels structurally sound by reducing theexcessive weight load caused by the heavy section leadof previous restorations.

6 To conserve glass which is severely shattered andcorroded.

7 To maintain a consistency and balance of approachacross each panel and the window as a whole.

The following aims to show step by step how thismethodology was carried out, and explain the thoughtprocess involved in it.

DISMANTLING

A rubbing of each panel was made to record the leadmatrix, prior to the dismantling process. Although theleads were quite sound it was agreed that the glass itselfwas in such poor condition that it could not besatisfactorily conserved in its present condition. Thereforethe only option was to remove it from the lead structure.The lead sections, 8mm and 10mm thick, are much widerthan the original leads were likely to have been. This,together with a considerable number of extra mendingleads and strap leads (i.e. strips of lead laid across thesurface of a crack) has resulted in a heavy and confusedlead matrix. Dismantling a panel can be quite an intrusiveform of repair and was not a decision taken lightly. In thissituation, however, it would allow easier access to thedamaged glass and therefore allow more satisfactoryconservation treatments to be carried out. This mechanicalprocess was performed very carefully by simply using pliersto pull the lead away from the glass, and scalpels to gentlyease the glass from the hardened leaded light cement.

CLEANING

The stability of the painted surface of the glass was testedunder the microscope in the first instance before anycleaning was undertaken. It was found to be largely stable,but even so, as a consequence of the glass being so fragilethe approach to cleaning remained very much that of

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minimal intervention. Using cotton wool swabs dipped inde-ionised water, only the loose dust and other surfaceaccretions were removed from the glass. No furthercleaning was deemed necessary or safe and great care hadto be taken considering the extreme fragility of most of theglass. If it was necessary to remove any glazing cementfrom the edges of the glass (for example to enablesuccessful edge-bonding) this was done carefully with ascalpel, or for more difficult parts, cotton wool swabssoaked in de-ionised water were placed over the cementto soften it and aid its removal.

DOCUMENTATION

A comprehensive system of documentation diagrams wasproduced throughout the project, recording the conditionof the window both before and after conservation. Eachpanel is documented individually and full photographicrecords are included.

EDGE-BONDING PART 1

After cleaning the glass the nature of the breakagesbecame much clearer. The original tinted glass is in theworst state of deterioration and many pieces havedisintegrated into smaller fragments. (Fig. 2) Initially it wasdifficult to determine how glass in such poor conditioncould be put together again. As was mentioned in theprevious article, the existing epoxy resin methods used atYork Glaziers Trust to repair broken pieces would not beappropriate as they involve more pressure than the fragileglass could withstand. Some thicker pieces with onlysimple fractures were mended successfully with silicone.Some of the more well preserved (usually pot metal)glasses were also candidates for the copper foil method.But this covered only a very small percentage of the glassthat needed repairing. Araldite 20:20 epoxy resin was thepreferred material to use, but how could we practicallymake it work due to the difficult challenges of themedieval glass? We needed to change our way of workingand find an approach that would be less intrusive andmore sympathetic to the glass we were trying to save.

Therefore we looked towards vessel glass conservationtechniques for a solution, whereby the glass is repaired inan upright position (Fig. 3). Very thin and short strips of lowadhesive tape were strategically used to hold togetherdifferent pieces of broken glass. Each edge to be bondedwas scrupulously cleaned first with a glass fibre brush, thenacetone was used to degrease. The pieces were thenplaced upright and made secure with blue tack on a smallglass base. Araldite 20:20 epoxy resin was carefully appliedas a bead across the front face of the crack. As soon as itbecame evident that the resin had run through to thereverse of the glass the excess resin was quickly removedwith cotton wool buds, so as to minimise any staining bythe resin at the edge of the cracks. The resin was left tocure fully before the tape strips were removed and themended pieces were placed back onto the clean rubbingwith the remaining glass.

This method formed the first stage of the process and wasused only for those broken pieces that fitted togetherperfectly. For very complex fractures or broken pieces withrough edges or holes there was a second stage of resininfill, which will be explained later.

CUT-LINING

Edge-bonding as many loose pieces as possible allowedthe next process of cut-lining to be more straightforward,as there were not so many stray pieces of glass to dealwith. The new cut-lines were based on the rubbings of thepanels before conservation. The aim is to return legibilityto the window by making small adjustments based uponevidence from the glass pieces themselves. No changeswere made in the absence of evidence from within thepanel. The cut-lining may result in some stop gap piecesbeing displaced or even removed from the panel.

Over the life of the window several periods of restorationare likely to have created subtle changes in the leadpattern and various new infills of glass have led to someconfusion in the overall design. In this current phase ofrepair we have identified four different categories of glassused as ‘stop gaps’ over the centuries. We have


Figure 1 Panel 8a, reflected light, corrosion damage and breaks,before treatment.

Figure 2 Fragments after cleaning

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when working with such delicate glass that has a veryrough and porous surface texture and will not easily allowthe adhesion of any tape. Only original pieces that wedefinitely know fitted together were bonded together. If noevidence exists to suggest they fit they will be separatedby a small repair lead or copper foil repair if safe to do so.Occasionally, and only where deemed necessary by theconservator have we resined a newly painted infill to anoriginal piece.

The following describes the step-by-step process intandem with the diagram in Fig 4:-

• The loose pieces to be bonded are held together with aminimal number of small strips of low adhesive tapeapplied to the front face, strictly avoiding any paintedsurface

• Turning the pieces over, Melinex®, cut a fraction largerthan the hole the resin will fill, is placed over the gap andsecured with a small number of tape strips

• Cyclododecan wax, a quiescent material primarily usedin paper conservation, is melted over the edges of theMelinex® to form a seal

• The piece is turned again so that it is face up, and wallsmade of dental wax are melted into the open ends ofthe crack

• Resin is applied into the space and allowed to set. Forlarge gaps we have on occasion found it useful to addfumed silica to the resin, which acts as a bulking agent,therefore decreasing the risk of any leakage.

determined an approach whereby some are retained andsome removed, as follows:-

CUTTING-IN AND PAINTING

The new cut-line shows clearly the blank areas wherepieces have been removed. This percentage differs frompanel to panel. New pieces of handmade cylinder glasswere selected, cut and painted to fill these spaces. Muchof the glass is corroded to such a degree that the survivingglass is less than 1mm thick. In some cases therefore wehave used a 1.2mm thin optical glass to match thatthickness.

Infills were painted in a style as close as possible to theoriginal, taking into account the visual effects of thedegradation of the pigment. Where there was no evidenceof the original paint-line, no attempt was made to applyconjectural detail. In these cases colour, tone andappropriate suggestion of pigment was used to harmonisethe insertions with the original. Unlike the previousstippled insertions they do not dominate the design. Allnewly painted insertions were signed and dated by thepainter and are clearly visible on close inspection once thepanels have been re-leaded. They are also recorded on thedocumentation diagrams.

EDGE-BONDING PART 2

Once the cut-lining, cutting-in and painting of new pieceswas completed the second part of the edge-bondingprocess could begin. At this point many of the part-repaired pieces still had rough edges or gaps that neededto be filled, some with newly painted glass infills securedwith resin, or - if small enough - with just resin infills and noglass insertion. The process shown in Fig. 4 has proved tobe the most effective way of avoiding any resin leakage

Epoxy resin application for filling small gaps between broken pieces of glass

Back face

medieval glass medieval glass

close fittingbreak alreadyedge bonded

gap to befilled with

resin

medievalglass

melted cycododecan waxto seal the edges of themelinex

wall of melted dentalwax to prevent resinleakage

melinex® strip covering thegap to be filled, secured withthin strips of tape

Front face

Epoxy resin application for filling large spaces

Back face

medieval glass

melinex sheetglass trays

hole

medieval glass

close fittingbreak alreadyedge bonded

melted cycododecan waxto seal the edges of themelinex

wall of melted dentalwax to prevent resinleakage

space to be fil ledwith resin

melinex strip covering thegap to be filled, secured withthin strips of tape

Front face

Type of stop gap Proposed treatment

Modern tinted antique glasscovered in a heavy stipple ofvitreous paint

To be removed, as this type ofinsertion appears white and is visuallyvery disturbing

Victorian or earlier glass with the paint scrubbed off with acarborundum stone

As above

Medieval glass of variousperiods from other glazingschemes

To be retained as much as possible ifthe colour, tone and texture is broadlysympathetic to the medieval paletteused within the panel, regardless ofthe painted detail

Misplaced original glass fromthe same glazing scheme

To be retained and if possible returnedto its original position, otherwise keptas found

Figure 3 CHn IX 4b: during edge-bonding

Figure 4 Epoxy resin method used

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Appropriately the particular fumed silica we have usedgives the resin a semi opaque bubbly quality whichblends with the texture of the corroded surface of themedieval glass.

• Resin dyes were used only in negligible amounts tomatch pale tinted glass. This method was not used forstronger colours, as concerns remain over the effect thedye may have on the chemical stability of the resin. Afterthe resin has set fully the piece is turned over, and theMelinex® can easily and gently be pulled away from thecyclododecan wax

• The excess cyclododecan can be thinned down with ascalpel stopping just above the surface of the glass. Anyother remnants of wax on the surface will quiesce atroom temperature after a number of days. This thereforeavoids the risk of any scalpel damage to the surface ofthe glass.

PLATING

Many of the edge-bonded pieces have multiple breaksand require further support from a backing plate. We used1.2mm clear optical glass which is cut to the shape of themedieval glass, then fired in the kiln over a calciumcarbonate mould so that it closely follows the contours ofthe original glass. The plates are then sealed around theedges with silicone to create an airtight space, thereforeblocking the ingress of water or microbes which could bedetrimental to the glass. In exceptional circumstances we

have felt it necessary to put both a front and a back plateon the glass. An example is the painted head in panel 5a(Fig. 6). This piece is extremely thin, and consequently theamount of resin between the broken edges is miniscule,thus making a failure of the bond possible in the longterm. Any loose fragments would then still be containedsecurely between the plates. Interestingly, this particularpainted head was double plated in the previousrestoration. The old glue hadcertainly failed and many ofthe pieces were found loosebetween the plates.

We are aware that there aresome negative aspects inusing plates but withoutthem in this instance wewould have almost certainlylost an entire medieval facewhich is critically importantto the design andiconography of the panel.Each individual piece wasdiscussed carefully amongthe conservators as to whether it was necessary to plate ornot. We are currently in the final stages of developing anisothermal protective glazing scheme for this window withthe surveyor of the Minster fabric. This will ensure that nomoisture will affect the resin bonded repairs that do nothave backing plates.

Figure 5 Re-glazing

Figure 6

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RE-GLAZING

After plating the glass is ready for re-glazing (Fig. 5). Theprevious restoration leads were wide (10mm) and clumsy.We therefore introduced 4–6mm leads for re-glazing torestore the fluidity of the original glazing scheme.

Any mending leads still necessary to include oddly shapedpieces were kept to a width of 2–3mm, thus allowing themain leads, which follow the reconstructed original leaddesign, to take precedence. Their positioning was carefullythought out at the cut-lining stage so that the panels arevisually balanced.

SUMMARY

The team at York Glaziers Trust, which includes theconservators and the advisory group we consulted with atall stages of the development of the project, are satisfiedwith the final results of the conservation of window ChnIX.

This particular window has never had any secondaryglazing protection. It was stored in unfavourable conditionsduring the Second World War, and then was in store atYGT for the last six years because it was too fragile toremain in situ in the Minster. It contains some of the mostdeteriorated glass we have worked on.

We have managed to retain and repair as much of the

medieval fabric and other subsequent historical layers aswe possibly could, through developing a differenttechnique of edge-bonding in the workshop. This positivechallenge has helped us to push boundaries andcontinually strive to improve our repair techniques tomatch any given situation.

Overall we have tried to keep the project consistent andbalanced in terms of colour, hue and texture for newlypainted pieces, so as not to be obtrusive, and in terms ofthe lead design and the amount of small mending leads.(Fig. 7, 8)

In terms of conservation philosophy and ethics of repair,we have striven to be as kind to the glass as possible, andat every stage we have kept as much original fabric as wecould, and as many of the stop-gaps as was practicable. Atthe same time we have improved the legibility of thepanels, thus hopefully satisfying both conservators and arthistorians alike.

We have made a conscious decision not to over-clean orover-work the panels so that they could be sympatheticallyconserved and retain their historical integrity.

To date all the panels are at the re-glazing stage. A fixingdate has yet to be decided, subject to the finalisation ofthe design and fabrication of a bespoke isothermalprotective glazing system.

Figure 8 CHnIX 5a Full size transmitted light, after treatmentFigure 7 CHnIX 5a Full size transmitted light, before treatment

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listingsFull details of all the events listed here can be foundon the Icon website www.icon.org.uk

13 May, 6pmIcon Book & Paper GroupDealing with the Model World: the conservation ofglobes.Venue: Icon Offices, London.Speaker: Sylvia Sumira – specialist in the conservation ofglobes. Contact: Please register in advance with Charlotte Cowinon tel: 020 7785 3805 or email: [email protected] by8 May. For further information on this lecture pleasecontact: Maria Vilaincour on email: [email protected].

14 M ay, 6.30pmIcon Textile GroupVenue: Icon Offices, LondonInformal discussion to focus on career progression andthe possibilities in the job market for graduates in textileconservation.Visit the Icon Textile Group pages online for furtherdetails.Please register in advance with Nicole Rode on email:[email protected] .

16 May Icon Care of Collections GroupStudy visit to Colchester Castle and StoreThe Heckworth Close Store is a newly fitted out industrialunit, housing bulk archaeology, costume, social historyand an important long case clock collection. There willalso be a tour of the Castle and a chance to visit theHollytrees period house, the natural history and clockmuseums.Talks will include the fitting out of the new store and thetransfer and storage of the large costume collection tothe new unit.Cost:£15 Contact: [email protected]

22 MayIcon Archaeology GroupVisit to Newport Ship conservation facility, and AGMVenue: Newport, South WalesA last chance to see the UKs largest clinker-builtarchaeological ship, see the 3-D digital recording devicein action, and hear about the imminent conservationplans, before the facility is closed to visitors. TheArchaeology Group AGM will also be held. Meet atNewport railway station at 11.30 for bus transport to ship.Finish at 4.00pm. Numbers limited, so please book early!Cost: £10 per person (inc. sandwich lunch andrefreshments). Contact: Jim Spriggs, AG Chair, 01904 632827 or email: [email protected]

25–30 May Israel National Society for NDTArt 2008, 9th International ConferenceVenue: Jerusalem, IsraelLink to homepage on the Icon website.

27–30 MayIPH Congress Birth of an Industry – from Forest toPaper during the 19th CenturyVenue: Stockholm, Sweden.Contact: Jan-Erik Levlin, email [email protected]

14–28 JunePapermaking Tour in China Including visits to: the conservation labs at the ShanghaiMuseum; a writing brush mill, a Chinese ink mill and aXuan paper mill, all in Anhui Province; papermaking andprintmaking at the Dege Sutra-Printing House; a millwhich makes paper from Dragon bear grass and a Xuanpaper mill, both in Sichuan Province.Contact: Megumi Mizumura on email:[email protected] for further details.

2– 4 July6th International ConferenceEvaluating Safety and SignificanceVenue: Assembly Rooms, Bath.

9–10 JulyIcon Archaeology and Science GroupsArchaeometry and Heritage Science Venue: Cardiff UniversityFeaturing current research in this field at Cardiff, onsubjects ranging from iron corrosion and conservation, tothe study of enamelled metalwork and early glass. Call For Papers Deadline: 15 MayProposals requested to discuss priorities for scientificresearch in archaeological conservation including: lowenergy solutions for the long term storage ofarchaeological assemblages, preservation ofarchaeological remains in situ, and the evaluation of past

Icon Offices: Please note that many events are nowbeing held at the Icon Offices at 3rd Floor,Downstream Building, 1 London Bridge, London SE1 9BG. Security clearance for entry into the buildingmust be arranged in advance so please follow anyinstructions included in the listings entry. The Iconwebsite provides comprehensive directions on how tofind the offices – from the home page, go to ‘AboutIcon’ and then to the ‘Find us’ page


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15–19 September IIC: 22nd Congress Conservation and AccessVenue: Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre,Westminster, London.Contact: IIC, 6 Buckingham Street, London, WC2N 6BAVisit the Icon website for further details.

22–26 September ICOM-CC Triennial MeetingDiversity in heritage conservation: tradition,innovation and participationVenue: New Delhi, India.Further details TBA

30 September, 6pmIcon Book and Paper Group“A Blue Story”Venue: Icon Offices, London.Speaker: Dr Brian H. Davies BSc PhD CChem FRSAA talk to illustrate the changes in the use of blue inheritage and cultural materials and to describe themethods for the identification of the blue colours of inksand paints used on paper and parchment.Contact: Please register in advance with Charlotte Cowinon tel: 020 77853805 or email: [email protected] Forfurther information on this lecture please contact: Maria Vilaincour on email: [email protected].

9 OctoberIcon Stone and Wall Paintings GroupThe Graveyard Slot Venue: Assembly Rooms, Oxford Town HallA one day symposium to discuss conservation issues forcemeteries, churchyards and their monuments.Cost: £45 Icon members, £55 non members, £25 studentsContact: David Odgers ([email protected])or Mike Sheppard ([email protected]).Registration opens in June.

6–9 NovemberCostume Colloquium: A Tribute to Janet ArnoldVenue: Florence, Italy.Further details on the Icon website.

October/ November Icon Tex tiles GroupBack to Basics - workshop on enzymesVenue: National Maritime Museum, GreenwichPractical workshop to focus on the use of enzymes intextile and paper conservation treatments. Details of theAlbertina Kompresse system will be given. Further details TBA – visit the group webpages.

and current conservation treatments. Abstracts to:[email protected] .Cost: £65 for Icon members, £80 for non-members and£45 for students. Registration forms can be downloadedfrom the Icon website.

25 JulyConservation in ContextProjects, Money, Deadlines, Science and HeritageProjects in ConservationVenue: Michael Faraday Museum, Royal Institution, 21Albemarle St, LondonTo discuss conservation science, conservation of objectsand conservation heritage projects in their historical,contemporary and national contexts. Registration for the meeting including, lunch, coffee, teaand the evening reception, is £70. For booking andprogramme information visit the Icon website and followthe link or contact Katharine St Paul on email:[email protected].

SeptemberIcon Textiles GroupThe process of tapestry conservation in a day.Visit to the Shepherd Travis Textile ConservationStudio,Cobham,SurreyFocus on the sharing of ideas and practice of conservingtapestries. Opportunity to discuss the issues involved withtapestry conservation from condition reports, dealing withclient expectations, to approaches to the practicalconservation, lining and installation of a tapestry. The event will be limited to a maximum of 12 people. Further details TBA

1 SeptemberBAPH Annual ConferenceVenue: Berghotel, Amersfoort, HollandContact: Barbara Venables on email:[email protected]

8 SeptemberIcon Text ile GroupBack to Basics – Life after Synperonic NVenue: National Museums of Scotland textileconservation studio, Edinburgh.A repeat of the practical workshops held last year at theBritish Museum, this is an opportunity to find out moreabout alternative detergents available to textileconservators. Contact: Sarah Howard on email:[email protected] for further details.

11–13 SeptemberConservation of Wet Organic ArchaeologicalMaterialsVenue: Fachhochschule Brandenburg, Brandenburg ander Havel, Germany, Audimax.More details via the Icon website.



13 NovemberIcon Care of Collections GroupVisit to Brodsworth HouseDetails TBA

8 DecemberIcon AGMVenue: British Library, London

April 2009Icon Gilding & Decorative Surfaces GroupConference on Applied DecorationVenue: TBA, LondonContact: Michael Parfett on email:[email protected] or Colleen Donaldson onemail: [email protected]

1–3 June 2009Forum for the Conservation and Restoration ofStained-Glass Windows The Art of Collaboration:Stained Glass Conservation in the 21st Century.Venue: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

TRAINING

13–15 MaySturge Conser vation StudioPractical Leather ConservationContact: Theo Sturge ACR, Sturge Conservation Studio, 6Woodland Avenue, Northampton, NN3 2BY. Tel: 01604717929 or email: [email protected]/training.htm

20 JuneIcon Scotland GroupHealth and Safety for ConservatorsVenue: University of DundeeTraining day on Health and Safety for conservators of alldisciplines.Cost:TBC. Spaces are limited to 18. To note your interestand to book a place on the training day, please emailErica Kotze at [email protected]

Montefiascone Programme Summer 2008Announcing this year’s courses for book specialists,including:Re-creating Medieval Colours used in ManuscriptPaintingThe Traditional Ottoman BookThe Cambridge Terrier – a fifteenth century chemisebindingThe Romanesque Book in Spain and Northern EuropeSee full details on the Icon website.

September Patmos 2008Workshops on Historic BindingsVenue: Monastery of St.John the Theologia, Patmos,Greece.Contact: Nikolas Sarris Supervisor of Book ConservationStudio, St. John Theologian Monastery, Patmos. Email:[email protected] deadline: 30 JulyDetails on Icon website.

Scottish Museums CouncilConservation CoursesA series of one day courses covering EnvironmentalMonitoring, Care of Textiles and Writing Collections CareAction Plans.Contact: [email protected] or visit theIcon website for more details.

UCL Centre for Sustainable HeritageCSH Short Courses come highly commended by heritageprofessionals from museums, historic houses andgalleries.Contact: Skye Dillon, Short Course Co-ordinator, UCLCentre for Sustainable Heritage, tel: 020 7679 5903, email: [email protected]

Heritage Conservation NetworkBuilding Conservation WorkshopsAnnual series of hands-on building conservationworkshops in association with local preservation partnersin order to further the sites’ preservation and provide aneducational experience for participants.

International Academic Projects LtdConservation TrainingContact: International Academic Projects, 6 FitzroySquare, London W1T 5HJ, tel: 0207 380 0800, email:[email protected]

Ironbridge InstituteHistoric Environment Conservation TrainingContact: Harriet Devlin, Ironbridge Gorge ConservationTrust, Coalbrookdale, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7DG, Tel:01952 435969 or email: [email protected]

West Dean CollegeConservation Short CoursesIncluding Building Conservation Masterclasses,Professional Conservators in Practice and CPD courses.Contact: West Dean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0QZ,tel: 01243 818219 or e-mail: [email protected]

Full details for all entries in Listings can befound at www.icon.org.uk under either“Events” or “Education and Training”


interventionStop reading over my shoulder! by Mike Howden BSc (Hons) ACR

I have been asked to tell you about just how good being amember of Icon is. As you are reading this, in the officialnews magazine of Icon, you probably already know. So thisis for all your friends and colleagues who haven’t realisedyet and are going to need to borrow this after you.

I first joined UKIC (United Kingdom Institute ofConservation, in case you didn’t know) in the 90s whilst stilla student. Even then it was obvious to me that directaccess to the combination of forthcoming events, jobvacancies and treatment summaries would prove veryuseful if I was ever to graduate. Some of my universitycolleagues recognised the same benefits but thoughttaking my copy of Grapevine would be enough. Where arethey now, eh?

Once qualified and fully employed, I attended many of thesessions and events provided for my specialism to learn anew skill or improve upon an existing process, as well asmeeting my peers to discuss changes, problems ordevelopments – very rewarding really and I didn’t expectmuch more from the club. How wrong?

The issue of accreditation finally raised the ‘professional’stakes and I sat in on few meetings during the preparatorystages – I even got the chance to express an opinion ortwo and again felt as though my membership to UKICstood for something and was actually useful to both meand my beloved industry. Soon after, I began to help withthe production of Grapevine itself before settling down indue course to editing the events ‘Listings’ here.

Next came my own accreditation application and it wasclear that part of maintaining a professional status involveskeeping close links with the profession – something elsewhich comes free with the membership. All of the bestCPD (continuing professional development) opportunitiescome that way too...the value for money just gets betterand better!

It wasn’t long before the convergence of most of theseparate conservation organisations started. I was inspiredto become involved by a particularly impellingpresentation from the inestimable Velson Horie, so Iimmediately volunteered to help in any way I could. Withinweeks I found myself attending meetings as an advisor tothe Interim Board of Trustees, put in place to oversee thewhole convergence process. The very heart of this processwas driven by a group with enough vision and passion tobring us all together under one grand umbrella. I still feelhonoured to have witnessed the very creation of theInstitute of Conservation.

Of course, I do believe in the old saying ‘You get out whatyou put in’. So I will continue to make a positivecontribution to the Institute when possible, whether byextolling the virtues of membership in Icon News, oroffering to clear up after a meeting etc. But I believe I getback much more – since becoming accredited, forinstance, I feel more pride in my profession and am surethe ACR after my name brings confidence to my clients.That client confidence only comes through the reputationbuilt up by the advocacy of the Institute itself, on all ourbehalfs. Equally, I know I can feed my ideas back to myInstitute and shape its future. None of the guidance,support or representation I get would exist without Icon,and Icon couldn’t exist without us. Join up and join in, orforever wait for your friend to finish reading theirmagazine.

Mike works in private practice specialising in frameconservation, carving and gilding, giltwood furniture andarchitectural features. Visit his website atwww.frameconservation.co.uk for background and examplesof his work.

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