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Conservation Journal O

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Royal College of Art Victoria & Albert Museum Joint Course Conservation

Nicholas FraylingComputer visualisation of the originalappearance of works of art and craft.

(2 year MPhil by Project)

Age 39, British

BSc (Hons) Physics, Bath University(1978)

Drawing, Painting and TheoreticalStudies units of part-time BA in VisualStudies, University of Humberside(1994/95)

Nicholas has sought to maintain a broadrange of scientific, computing and artisticinterests. Following graduation, he joinedRolls-Royce (Aero) of Bristol to work in aresearch and development environment,progressing from an engineering position,through a lengthy spell as a physicist in thematerials laboratory, and finally to a systemsprogramming rôle in the computer aideddesign field.

Keen to broaden his outlook, he chose tomove away from the industrial workplace,and devote more time to the visual arts.Taking advantage of adult educationopportunities where necessary, he hasstrengthened his drawing, painting andsculpting skills, and studied the history of artmore formally.

Nicholas is looking forward to consolidatinghis diverse skills in the conservation field,and can foresee many exciting possibilitiesfor the application of the rapidly improvingcomputer image manipulation andmultimedia technologies, though he isacutely aware of their inherent limitations.The project specifically involves the use ofimage manipulation techniques toinvestigate the original appearance ofselected works of art, drawing on historicalknowledge of techniques and pigments,reference to undamaged areas and cross-referencing to related works. Interactivemultimedia techniques may be used tooptimally present the resultant images andelucidate the processes involved in theircreation.

Alan Cummings will be the principalsupervisor of the project.

Anna HillcoatPaper Conservation: Indian and SouthEast Asian Art

(2 year MA)

Aged 23, British/German

BA (Hons) Paper Conservation,Camberwell College of Arts (1996)

After attending school in Germany, Anna’schoice of Abitur subjects coincidentally ledher to choose conservation as the field forher further studies. Before coming toCamberwell, she spent eight monthsassisting a paper conservator in privatepractice. Here she learnt the first rudimentsof paper conservation and confirmed herchoice of career. The experience also madeher aware of the many possibilities andapproaches in conservation and the widevariety of materials a paper conservator canencounter in her or his work. During hertime at Camberwell, this became a particularinterest following work on Far Easternmaterials and three dimensional paperobjects. Consequently, Anna spent hercollege work experience at the Pitt RiversMuseum in Oxford with Birgitte Speake andher team. She worked on paper objects ofJapanese origin including a kite in the shapeof a crane, a small festival flag and acollapsible lantern.

At Camberwell, Anna’s BA project was theconservation of an Oriental parasol. Thisinvolved her in research and presented newchallenges in both the treatment and theconstruction of suitable housing for theobject. She was also awarded the WorshipfulCompany of Stationer’s Prize forConservation.

Anna’s interest in challenging andunorthodox materials has brought her to theCourse and this important area ofspecialisation. She looks forward to learningfrom the experienced staff at the V&A and todeveloping conservation solutions for theunusual problems presented by many of theobjects in the Indian and South East Asiancollection.

Anna’s supervisor will be Pauline Webber ofthe V&A’s Paper Conservation Studio.

William LindsayConservation strategies for developing collections of fossil material

(4 year part-time MPhil by Thesis)

Age 41, British

BSc (Hons) Geology, University of Glasgow(1977)

William is the Head of Conservation in thePalaeontology Department of the NaturalHistory Museum where he began work in1979. In between building dinosaurs,writing popular books on fossils andmanaging and applying conservationtechniques, he has specialised in thepreparation of unique and complexvertebrate fossils for taxonomic research andclassification.

Unlike some areas of conservation, thedevelopment and application of rigorousapproaches to conservation decisionsappears to have been poorly developed inthe natural sciences. For William, this defectis illustrated annually when he tries to planand prioritise prevention and remedialconservation in a collection of some 9million specimens which form an activelychanging database for research onbiodiversity and life history. So, when theRCA/V&A Conservation Course offeredresearch topics on conservation risk analysis,William saw this as an opportunity to kill lotsof birds with lots of stones. He hopes thatas a result of his research he will be able toproduce strategic conservation approachesapplicable beyond his own field ofpalaeontology.

William’s principal supervisor will beJonathan Ashley-Smith, Head of the V&AConservation Department.

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ctober 1996

Editorial Board

Jonathan Ashley-SmithHead of Conservation Department

Alan CummingsCourse Director, RCA /V&A Conservation Course

Graham MartinHead of Science Group,Conservation Department

Helen Shenton Head of Paper and Book Group,Conservation Department

Managing & Production EditorMatthew Smith, Senior Administration Officer,Conservation Department

Designed by V&A Printing Section

Photographs are credited individually

© 1996, Copyright The Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum. ISSN 0967-2273

All enquires to:Conservation Department,Victoria & Albert Museum,London SW7 2RL, UKTelephone 0171-938 8624Fax 0171-938 8661

The cover shows Polyurethane foam puppet ‘Larry the Lamb’(Museum No. Misc. 97(1)-1978)Photography V&A Photographic Studio.

ContentsV&A Conservation Journal No 21

3 EditorialJonathan Ashley-Smith, Head of Conservation Department

4 Plastics?- Not in my CollectionBrenda Keneghan, Plastics Conservator, Conservation Science

7 Plastic, Pop and Mass-produced Design in the V&A’s CollectionsGareth Williams, Assistant Curator, Care and Access, Department of Furniture and Woodwork

10 Two Pooped-Out Chairs: What is the Future for our Plastic Collections?Roger Griffith, Furniture Conservation Student, RCA/V&A Conservation Course

13 An Object Media EnigmaJane Rutherston, Albums and Sketchbooks Student,RCA/V&A Conservation Course

14 Milk and Moderism: Conservation of a Smoker’s Cabinet designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Shayne Lang, Furniture Conservation Student,RCA/V&A Conservation Course

18 “Sham Columns in a Casing of Crockery”Charlotte Hubbard, Senior Sculpture Conservator,Sculpture Conservation

22 New Students for the Academic Year 1996/97Alan Cummings, Course Director, RCA/V&A Conservation Course

24 Conservation Department Staff Chart

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EditorialJonathan Ashley-SmithHead of Conservation Department

What have leather, rubber andPVC got in common? Oneanswer is that, despite the claimthat “Conservators make it lastlonger”, the profession failsdismally with polymericmaterials. The mechanisms ofdecay of these natural andsynthetic polymers have beenwell studied but there are fewsuccessful interventivetechniques to delaydeterioration. Passiveconservation by control ofstorage and environment needscommitted collaborationbetween conservator, curatorand buildings management. Thiscan be difficult to achieve,especially since love of thesematerials is not widespread.

Another thing these types ofmaterials have in common isthat they are not in themainstream of what curatorscollect, they merely happen tobe present in the collections.Similarly they are not in themainstream of whatconservators are asked to treat,

yet conservators from a numberof different specialist disciplinesmay find them associated withobjects they are faced with. Thematerial may be there as overtdecoration as in the Mackintoshcabinet described in this Journalor deliberately hidden as withelastic in a dress.

However, things are not alwaysas bad as they seem. There aresigns of a growing interest thatmay turn into something morepassionate. The Museum’scollection of gilded leatherhangings, largely ignored sinceit was acquired last century, hasbeen catalogued and rehousedin a curator/conservatorcollaboration funded by theGetty Grant Program. A numberof articles in this issue show thatplastics are not totally unlovedand the Museum has organiseda display of historic plastictableware, containers andvessels ranging from a Laliquebox of 1935 to some recentlyacquired Tupperware (30September-16 December).

On the subject of growingappreciation and affection, theresponses to the questionnaireabout the future of this Journalwere extremely positive. Nearly95% of respondents were quiteor very satisfied. More than 70%read most of every edition.Nearly 70% said they would bewilling to pay. A substantialnumber, 45%, said that theywould be able to access theinformation via the internet andit is reasonable to suppose thatthis number would increaserapidly. We will need some timeto consider all the commentsmade in response to thequestionnaire. It will not be easyto balance our professional wishto spread information as widely,cheaply and rapidly as possibleagainst our desire to continue toproduce a high quality,permanent hard copy in anaffordable manner.

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Royal College of Art Victoria & Albert Museum Joint Course Conservation

New Students forthe AcademicYear 1996/97Alan CummingsCourse Director, RCA/V&A ConservationCourse

As I have pointed out before, the situationfor the Conservation Course can changedramatically from year to year. While thisseldom makes for an easy life, there isnever a dull moment. Last year we wereable to offer five MA places in our “core”disciplines as well as one more specialisedoption within Book Conservation and aresearch place in Paper Conservation. Forthis year, we could find space for only onestudent in a core discipline, TextileConservation, but the diversity of theCourse continues to be illustrated in thefive new studentships which begin inOctober 1996.

We have previously been the first to offerdedicated postgraduate training towards ahigher degree in a number of disciplines.These have included PhotographicMaterials, Historic Wallpapers (with theNational Trust), Upholstery, ArchitecturalPaint, Conservation Science (Identificationof Materials) and Musical Instruments(with the Horniman Museum). Two of thestudents beginning this year will also betraining in areas never offered before, asfar as we are aware, one in collaborationwith the Museum of London. These newpractical disciplines, as well as the newresearch projects which begin in October1996, further illustrate our aim to innovateand to meet perceived needs for expertisein the profession. We have more new areasfor training and research underconsideration for 1997. Please contact us ifyou would like information or, indeed,have a suggestion for training or research.We are particularly keen to initiatecollaborations along the lines of those withthe National Trust, Horniman Museum andMuseum of London.

Laura BennettConservation of Applied Arts and SocialHistory Objects(Collaboration with the Museum ofLondon)

(3 year MA)

Aged 23, British

BA (Hons) Fine Art, StaffordshireUniversity (1995)

During her degree course, Laura worked in awide variety of media but also pursued apersonal interest in the skills of traditionalcraft workers, including those of thegoldsmith, weaver and potter. This helpedto develop a broad knowledge of materialsand strongly influenced her own sculpture.Her work explored the narratives andpersonalities inherent in domestic and socialobjects and furniture.

Her interest in traditional crafts alsostimulated her interest in museums,particularly in collections of social historyand applied arts. It is the directness andexpressiveness of such objects that she findsappealing and the influence social historyhas over cultural identity which fascinatesher.

After graduation, Laura found work as apaper conservation technician at theNational Library of Wales for six months.She enjoyed the work and becameinterested in conservation as a possiblecareer. She found out about theConservation of Applied Arts and SocialHistory Objects option, based at theMuseum of London, and sees this as a wayof combining and focussing her interests.Before starting the Course, Laura acquiredmore experience working in the SocialHistory Object Conservation Department ofSt. Fagan’s Museum. Laura’s supervisor willbe Robert Payton of the Applied Arts sectionof the Museum of London’s ConservationDepartment.

Elizabeth-Anne HaldaneTextile Conservation

(3 year MA)

Aged 26, British

BA (Hons) in Industrial Design (Textiles),The Scottish College of Textiles, Herriot-WattUniversity (1992)

After a general course in her first year at theScottish College of Textiles, which includedknitted and woven textile design, Elizabeth-Anne went on to specialise in printedtextiles. In her first year she produced acollection of paperwork designs and printedtextiles inspired by the study of 18th centurycostumes and sample books from severalmuseums including the V&A.

After spending some time as a freelancedesigner, Elizabeth-Anne had theopportunity to spend a year in Boston (USA)and was introduced to textile conservationas a volunteer at the Isabella StewartGardner Museum. Having enjoyed thisexperience, she applied to the MetropolitanMuseum of Art and was accepted as anintern on the Antonio Ratti Textile CentreStorage Preparation Project. She spent tenmonths there learning about conservationstorage and enjoying the chance to see somany wonderful textiles. She looks forwardto the Course as a means of studying textileconservation formally and also learningabout the variety of work carried out in theMuseum as a whole.

Elizabeth-Anne’s principal supervisor will beLynda Hillyer, Head of Textile Conservationat the V&A. All the Textile staff will,however, contribute to her training in themany aspects of the discipline, includingMarion Kite and Val Blyth.

driven into the cores. A small amount of PrimalWS24, acrylic dispersion, was added to themortar to strengthen it since the weight of thecollar-pieces was considerable. 16mm stainlesssteel dowels were set into the volutes usingplaster and then set into the cores usingpolyester resin. The positioning of the volutesmeant that the majority of their weightextended beyond the circumference of thecollar, and so the force of this weight had to besecurely transferred deep into the core.

Since the pier-spanning caps were missing, theywere reproduced in situ using plaster andmortar, then painted and glazed with acrylic tofit in with the colour scheme. Finally, after thecentral flowers were added, the capitals weregilded. The remaining original collar-piece

appeared to have been painted with gold,certainly it was not a glaze. Oil gilding waschosen for the reproduction pieces as it linkedin well with the regilding on the ceilingmouldings close by.

Certainly a sneer such as that made by BuildingNews in 1870 belittled the range ofconsiderations to be taken into account and theskills involved in producing such decoration.The sneer in one respect has become true – thecolumns are now only decorative and in thatsense have become sham. However, crockeryproducers would not have had the problems ofdesign that go with the construction of large,multi-element pieces such as the columns. Eachelement had to be designed to allow forshrinkage in proportion to the curved surface

and for the fact that thepieces would be fittedtightly together to buildwhat was in effect a tubearound the core. At eachstep of this challengingproject there werecomplexities to beappreciated, and whateverthe merits of the columnsas a decorative feature, thebalance of design andmaterial has to be admired.

1. Building News, 20 July 1870, p.55

2. Further discussion canbe found in Physick,John, The Victoria andAlbert Museum, Thehistory of its building,The Oregon PressLimited, 1982.

3. Conservation and reportcarried out by JudithLarney, 1996, report heldin ConservationDepartment, V&A.

4. Firing carried out byChelsea Pottery, LondonSW1.


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Figure 3. Charlotte Hubbard working on the columns.

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The Victoria & Albert Museum appointed its firstplastics conservator in 1992 with the brief ofsurveying all the plastic objects within thecollections. This mammoth task was started by Dr Edward Then and he reported his progress inan earlier edition of this journal1. For the lasttwo and a half years I have been continuing theproject and as the person actually undertakingthe survey I have come across very manyinteresting and unusual objects ranging fromCross-eyed Critters in the Renier Collection atBethnal Green Museum of Childhood to chairsmade from recycled plastic detergent bottles inthe Furniture & Woodwork Collection, notforgetting such exotica as the stage fans ofBeatrice Lillie and the sunglasses of Elton John atthe Theatre Museum.

I have also come across interesting and unusualattitudes to the survey, the most common ofwhich I have christened “plastics denial syndrome”,where those in charge will swear blind that thereare no plastic objects in their collection and areabsolutely astonished when a hidden câche isuncovered. I have attributed this syndrome tothe probability that most people mistakenlyassociate plastics solely with modern living,bearing little relation to the past. Museumcollections reflect society throughout history,however, and are influenced by both the fashionand materials technology of the day. As materialculture has developed over the last two centuries,a much wider range of objects has been collectedand synthetic materials have featured prominently.If we begin with the semi-synthetics, such ascellulose nitrate, we can say that plastics havebeen around for approximately a century and a

half. On this basis it would beunusual if any collectioncontained no plastics.

I would estimate that about60% of the survey has been

completed, but in somecollections, including Textiles

& Dress and Furniture &Woodwork, only preliminarydata gathering has been

achieved. It is intended toundertake in-depthsurveys of both thesecollections in the nearfuture and RogerGriffith, a student onthe RCA/V&AConservation Course,will collaborate on thesurvey of plasticfurniture. Over eightthousand objects have

been surveyed fromother collections includingBethnal Green Museum ofChildhood, the RenierCollection (at BGMC),Furniture & Woodwork,Metalwork, Ceramics, theArchive of Art & Design,Prints and Drawings (PDP)

and the Theatre Museum. The breakdown of this data is

illustrated in figure 1. It can be seen that BGMC,with its vast toy collection, accounts for almost70% of the objects surveyed up to now. A separate collection at BGMC, comprising ofchildren’s books, has an associated collection ofobjects relating to children, many of which areplastic. The figure of 13.5% for the MetalworkCollection, which makes it the second largestcomponent of the survey, needs some explanation.The figure which represents over one thousandobjects is entirely due to a collection of plasticjewellery donated in the mid 1970s. The Printsand Drawings Collection encompasses quite awide variety of objects from Bridget Reilly screenprints on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) tocarrier bags from HarrodsTM. Also included inPDP’s figure is a large collection of packaging

Plastics? – Not in my collection

Brenda KeneghanPlastics Conservator, Conservation Science

Figure 1. Breakdown by collection of plastics surveyed to date.

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So for a while, with only one example of eachelement to copy, I worked in the Stained GlassConservation Studio.

None of the pieces below the lettering bandneeded to be remade. 84 lozenges and half-lozenges were missing from the shafts; seven ofthe eight collar-pieces and six of the eightvolutes were also missing. Of the 20 rows oflozenges, 13 rows had tiles missing. Each row ischaracterised by a different flower with its stemspiralling round in a similar manner on eachrow. This gives the appearance from a distanceof the same pattern throughout, and only oncloser inspection is the difference noticeable.Measuring the remaining tiles from each rowestablished that the dimensions within each sizeranged by 75mm in both height and widththroughout. This could be due to unevenshrinkage, or else they may have been made forspecific columns within the Gallery although theoriginal positioning of each tile is unknown. Afew of the tiles had identifying marks on theback, but by no means all, and their relationshipwas not established. Whatever the reason, Ibased the size of each row on averagedimensions.

Because the loss of water content on dryingmeans that clay shrinks, it was not possiblesimply to make moulds from the original tiles.Each tile had to be remodelled on a larger scale.The amount of shrinkage is determined by thetype of clay used. Since the clay used in theoriginals ranged from a pale grey to a darkcream in colour, a fine-grained, white-bodiedclay was chosen, with a smoothness andplasticity that would carry the detail of the floralrelief. This clay was known to shrink by 6%. A life-size drawing of each tile was enlarged bythat amount and used as the basis for themodelling, bearing in mind the curvature alongthe horizontal plane necessary to allow thepieces to fit round the core.

From the models, plaster moulds were made, tobe used for repeated pressings. The pieces wereturned out of the moulds and trimmed back, sothat the back edges of the tiles would not throwthe circle out when building. They were laid outand supported and left to dry slowly beforefiring.4

The reproduction of the collar-pieces andvolutes was more complex. There were fourcollar-pieces to each capital with a span of 40cmon each quadrant. As well as choosing a method

that would allow such an arc to dry withoutdistortion, the undercuts of the egg and dartand acanthus leaf had to be accommodated.Trial and error showed that the best way to dealwith the combination of elements was to createa piece mould and hollow out the undercutsafter the mould was removed. The method usedto recreate the volutes involved making fourseparate moulds and adding the pieces togetherat the leather-hard stage.

The colour of the background on the originalpieces varied enormously from a blue grey to ayellowish green, the colour of the white beingfairly uniform although affected by the variablecolour of the clay beneath. Again, “average”colour glazes were produced to mix in with theharmony of the various colours.

I am extremely grateful for the help of AlexandraKosinova (Senior Sculpture Conservator) whoworked with me on the construction of thecolumns. Although we had been aware of theirregularity of the sizes of the lozenge tiles, atthe beginning we spent a considerable timebuilding and rebuilding the plinth and columnbase only to realise that their elements, as withthe lozenges, were not perfectly uniform. Withthis adjustment made to our expectations of theoriginals, we built the tiles up around the corethat had been erected for us previously.Fortunately, during the refurbishment of theGallery, the original cores of some of thecolumns had been uncovered and so a goodprofile of the internal dimensions of the tileswas established.

The tiles were attached to the cores using atraditional mortar of lime putty and sand, with aquartz aggregate added for bulking out the largecavities in the lower pieces. Above the dado, arow of stainless steel plates was driven into thecore to divert the weight of the lettering bands.Building each row on the shaft was a little likesolving a puzzle. The trick was to place anyslightly larger tiles of the row above over theslightly undersized ones of the row below tocompensate for the irregularities in size. We hadpreviously noted that many of the lozenge tileshad been “nibbled” at the edges, to fit them intothe original columns. I was relieved to discoverthat I was following the original constructionmethod when it was necessary to trim the edgesof some of the reproduction tiles.

Above the lozenges, and below the level of thetop return on the collar pieces, two furthersupport rows of stainless steel plates were

ranging from ‘eco-friendly’ shampoo bottles tothe enclosures for vinyl records, audio cassettesand compact discs.

The results of the survey indicate that althoughthe majority of the objects are in a stablecondition, the greatest problem being surfacedirt and minor abrasions, there are seriousproblems with individual plastic materials andthese recur regardless of what form the objecttakes. The polymeric materials giving most causefor concern are:

1. Natural rubber.2. The early semi-synthetics e.g. cellulose

nitrate and cellulose acetate.3. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC).4. Polyurethane.

1. Natural rubber.Figure 2 shows “Bendy Bunny Bengy”,(Museum No. Misc.120-1988), a flexible toy madefrom natural rubber by Bendy Toys in 1951. Therubber has become dry and brittle and crumbleson touch due to oxidation. Natural rubber suchas cushioning and textiles in other areas of thecollections has undergone similar deterioration.

2. Cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate.These semi-synthetic materials have been usedin a diverse range of applications from mock silkand imitation tortoiseshell haberdashery, tocinema and photographic film. They areinherently unstable and degrade with thesubsequent formation of acidic vapours whichcan cause the disintegration of neighbouring

objects. Cellulose nitrate, also known asCelluloidTM(Celluloid Co.), was first produced inthe middle of the last century by the nitration ofthe natural polymer cellulose in the form ofcotton. The spontaneous ignition of the materialproved to be a problem and stories abound ofbilliard balls exploding on impact, not tomention the music hall suggestion of eliminatingmothers-in-law by lighting up cigars near theirChardonnet silk evening dresses. The problemof flammability was only overcome byreplacement with the related material celluloseacetate, which had a low combustibility.Cellulose acetate was not produced on anindustrial scale until the mid-1920s. Deterioratingcellulose acetate can generally be distinguishedfrom nitrate by the distinctive aroma of vinegarsurrounding the object, as acetic acid is emittedas degradation proceeds. Figures 3 and 4illustrate the degradation of cellulose nitrateobjects in the Theatre Museum collection. Thehandle of the Beatrice Lillie fan (Museum No.S327-1979) (figure 3) shows behaviour typical of cellulose nitrate degradation with the materialbecoming crystalline and opaque. The objectillustrated in figure 4, also from the TheatreMuseum collection, is a badly degraded cellulosenitrate necklace from the 1922 stage productionof Chu Chin Chow. In this case the acidic vapourformed on degradation has caused the textilethread holding the beads to disintegratecompletely. A metal component of the necklace


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Figure 3. Cellulose Nitrate and ostrich feather fan belonging to Beatrice Lillie showing degradation (Museum No. S327-1979).

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Figure 4. Badly degraded cellulose nitrate and metal necklace from 1922 stage production of Chu Chin Chow.

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The remaining pieces were laid out, and formany elements of the design no reproductionwas necessary. For each of the elements that didneed reproducing, at least one example existedfrom which copies could be made. There wasone exception – the pier-spanning cap.

There were 591 tiles to be cleaned and repaired.This work was undertaken by a privateconservator. The majority of the tiles were ingood structural condition although virtuallyevery tile had suffered chipping to the raiseddecoration and to the outer edges. The mostdamaged were the dado and lozenge tiles. All ofthe tiles had mortar round the sides and theback, of varying hardness and depth. This allhad to be carefully removed, ensuring that theinternal support bridge, or strap, did not getdamaged during the process. The glazed surfaceand break edges were cleaned, and the chipsand breaks repaired.3

When choosing which approach to take in thereconstruction of the missing pieces, a variety offactors were considered. The original pieceswere examined visually. This inspectionindicated that they had been made from pressmoulds. A clay model of each element wouldhave been made, from which a reusable plastermould would have been taken. Clay would havebeen pressed into the plaster to produce

multiples of each design. The plaster drawswater from the clay, causing the latter to shrinkslightly and thus allowing its removal from themould. Great care would have needed to betaken at the drying stage to produce an evendrying out, as an uneven evaporation rate wouldresult in warping.

Analyses of the clay body and glazes were notundertaken as it was decided to reflect thenature of the original materials and techniques.Modern synthetic replicas were not wanted, norwere copies that were indistinguishable fromthe originals. Besides, the likely presence of leadand copper in the glazes would havecomplicated the firing, as these minerals arenow non grata in glaze manufacture.

The reproduction to be carried out required anunderstanding of the nature of terracotta andglazes. The reconstruction of the wholerequired sympathy for the project’s aim ofrecreating the original design of the Gallery andalso the ability to fix historic material in anappropriate and secure manner.

At each step of the reconstruction there werecomplexities to be overcome. The first to beencountered was the question of space.Sculpture Conservation was in a temporarylocation whilst a new studio was being built.


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Gallery 65 image

Figure 2. Engraving by John Watkins showing The Ceramic Galleries, circa 1875.


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has also been attacked,resulting in a brightblue corrosion product.

3. Polyvinyl chloride.Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)was commerciallyintroduced around1935 and is probablythe most adaptable ofthe synthetic polymers.More than any otherpolymer it hasbenefited from theuse of additivesespecially plasticisersand stabilisers, whichhas given it light andheat stability, andenabled it to beproduced with variousdegrees of flexibility.Loss of plasticiser anddarkening in colour are two indications of PVCdeterioration and both are visible in figure 5.This doll from BGMC (Museum No. Misc. 98-1987)is extremely sticky where the plasticiser hasmigrated to the surface and has attracted dustand dirt. Darkening has occurred to the headand limbs where the object was uncovered. This darkening is the result of conjugated double bonds produced either thermally orphotochemically and is accompanied by theevolution of hydrogen chloride.

4. Polyurethane foams.The major applications of polyurethane foamsare furniture cushioning, mattresses, textiles,carpets, packaging, insulation, toys and sportinggoods. Among museum collections they featurepredominantly as toys, cushioning and textiles.Figure 6 shows a foam figure of the children’sstorybook character Larry the Lamb (MuseumNo. Misc. 97(1)-1978). This figure is one of a setof thirty three polyurethane foam puppetswhich are in the BGMC collection. Thesepuppets were the stars of the Thames Televisionseries “Larry the Lamb in Toytown”, broadcastin the early 1970s. Several of the puppets are ondisplay in their own case at BGMC and, as figure6 demonstrates, the foam is literally falling apart.When the case is opened there is anunidentifiable pungent odour2. More figures arein storage and any handling producesdetachment of the exterior foam as a powder.Oxidation has been confirmed as the cause ofthis severe deterioration of the polyurethane byanalysis of the air in the case. This type ofdegradation has also been encountered in

cushions, toys and other objects made fromexpanded polyurethane

Andy Warhol is reported to have said in the 60s‘It’s not fake anything, it’s real plastic’, thusresolving the imitation/reality argument3.Glamorised by the space programme, syntheticstook on an air of enchantment, with fashions forfoam houses and beanbag chairs made of vinyl.Plastic is now a material in its own right, verypopular with contemporary artists and designers.Since the Museum’s current collections policydictates that 50% of all new acquisitions becontemporary, a conservative estimate wouldindicate that at least half of these objects willcontain a substantial plastic component of somekind4 . The collection will, therefore, containmore and more objects with shorter lifeexpectancies. It is not all doom and gloom,however, as by the implementation of preventiveconservation measures, the lifetimes of thesematerials may be extended significantly, but notindefinitely.

References1. Then, E. and Oakley, V., A Survey of Plastic

Objects at the Victoria & Albert Museum, V&AConservation Journal, No.6, 1993, pp.11-14.

2. Blades, N., V&A Conservation Science GroupReport, No. 95/23/NB.

3. Bockris, V., The Life and Death of AndyWarhol, Bantam, New York, 1989.

4. V&A Strategic Plan 1992-1997, p14.

Suggested reading

“Saving the Twentieth Century: TheConservation of Modern Materials”, ConferenceProceedings, Ottawa, 1991.

“From Marble to Chocolate – The Conservationof Modern Sculpture”, Tate Gallery, London, 1995.

Figure 5. PVC doll (Museum No. Misc.98-1987)showing tackiness and darkening associatedwith degradation.

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Figure 6. Larry the Lamb badly degraded polyurethane foam puppet (Museum No. Misc.97(1)-1978).

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“Sham Columns in a Casing of Crockery”

Charlotte HubbardSenior Sculpture Conservator, Sculpture Conservation

The refurbishment of the Silver Gallery, due toreopen in November this year, occasioned theconservation and restoration of two of theceramic columns which had originally linedrooms 65-69. These rooms had formally beenthe Ceramic Galleries. Since the Gallery’sinception the decorative scheme has undergonechanges and the present refurbishment projectaimed to restore many of the original features ofthe interior design. This article describes someof the complexities I encountered in thereconstruction of the columns.

“Sham columns in a casing of crockery built uparound a brick core”. This description sums upthe opinion expressed by “Building News”1 in1870 of the columns that stand in the GambleRoom, once the Centre Refreshment Room ofthe Museum, which are the same design asthose that were to be restored. They weredesigned and modelled by James Gamble froman idea by Godfrey Sykes and made by MintonHollins & Co. in the late 1860s. The letteringbands were taken from Sykes’ pictorial alphabetwhich was designed for the frieze in the GambleRoom.

Shortly before World War I, Sir Cecil Harcourt-Smith, the Director of the Museum, had thecolumns removed. This caused an outcry whichled to some pieces being stored. In 1994 it wasestablished that enough whole or near-wholepieces remained to enable the rebuilding of twocolumns, if missing pieces could be reproduced.2

The casing of each column consisted of anoctagonal plinth, column base tiles, four rows of rosettes alternating with three of dado tiles, aband of lettering with the name of a ceramicartist or producer, followed by 20 rows oflozenge-shaped tiles with a floral relief. Toaccommodate the tapering shaft, each row oflozenges diminished in size towards the top.The capital consists of a collar decorated withacanthus leaves and egg and dart mouldings,with volutes, flowers and a pier-spanning capabove. The glazes were a bluish white, a warmbrown and what has been variously described asgrey, blue or green.

PIER SPANNING CAP

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Objects made of plastic are everywhere in theMuseum. Vessels, lighting, boxes andaccessories are spread between the Ceramicsand Glass, Metalwork, Furniture andWoodwork, and Textile and Dress Collections.The Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood hasstrong collections of plastic toys and thedeveloping collection of product design isfocused on the one hundred or so radios,many made of plastic which are, by historicalpeculiarity, administered by the Departmentof Furniture and Woodwork. The origins ofthis unplanned diversity date from 1909 whenthe Museum’s collections were divided intomaterials based groups, in general wood,metal, ceramics and glass, textiles, stone andpaper. Possibly because the Museum hasnever had an official and specific PlasticsCollection, it has failed to fully integrate thematerial most associated with twentiethcentury design into its collecting policy. Withso many groups of objects from which tochoose, the principal intention of this articlewill be to indicate the scope of plastics in theFurniture and Woodwork collection.

The earliest use of ‘plastic’ in furniturerepresented in the collection would appear to be the decorative inlay of a small smoker’scabinet by C.R. Mackintosh (1868-1928) from 1917 (Museum No. Circ.856-1956),recently conserved by conservation studentShayne Lang. Previously, plastic had been apurely utilitarian material used to imitateexpensive ivory for cutlery handles or toiletsets. The translucent yellow material isErinoidTM(Erinoid), an early plastic sheet,which Mackintosh used for its decorativerather than structural qualities. The yellowtriangles are inlaid into a wooden carcase in away not dissimilar to conventional woodenveneers.

The inherent qualities of plastic as a structuralmaterial were recognised in the 1930s whenBakeliteTM(Bakeland), (phenol formaldehyde)became a popular material for such objects asradio cases and cigarette boxes. The AD-65wireless (Museum No. W.23-1981), a circularform moulded entirely from Bakelite,designed by Wells Coates (1895-1958) in 1932for Ekco Radio, was amongst the first to bemade of plastic not disguised as anothermaterial. Moreover, because of its curvilinearprofile, the case of this wireless could nothave been made in any other material, least ofall wood, which plastic rapidly replaced in thisparticular area of design. From this date, theuse of plastic and the design of audioequipment became the preserve of theModernists. Today, as the Museum collectionattests, it is almost impossible to buy a radiowhich is not plastic.

What were the special characteristics of plastic which appealed to designers andmanufacturers? It is amongst the mostversatile group of materials known, withdifferent varieties notable for their relativestrengths, ranging from total rigidity tocomplete flexibility, not to mention inertnessand stability. Plastics enabled the developmentof an infinite number of novel shapes andcolours which were impossible to achieveusing natural materials. The moulding ofplastic requires expensive tooling and a highdegree of industrialisation, yet the resultingproducts can be mass-produced cheaply andin great quantity. Versatility, novelty and thepotential for replication were the perfectqualities of any material for the manufacturersof new consumer goods. Mr Bulmer’scollection of fifty nine boxes, clocks, desksets, smoking ephemera and souvenirstypifies the cheap, fashionable and eye


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Plastic, Pop and Mass-produced Design in the V&A’s Collections

Gareth WilliamsAssistant Curator, Care and Access, Department of Furniture and Woodwork

This laminate was substituted for the five earlierreplacements as well as the four losses. Leavingthe old restorations would have resulted in oneface of one leg having three differing shades ofyellow inlay – the top two triangles beingoriginal, with a new replacement sandwichedbetween two old restorations below. The newreplacements achieved a closer and far moreunobtrusive colour match with the originalcasein inlay than had been achieved in the past.

Excess poly(vinyl acetate) adhesive (PVAc)around the diamond inlay on the proper left flapattests to a previous, unsuccessful, attempt toflatten and secure the buckling inlay. Thealignment of the diamonds has suffered with anunsightly PVAc filled gap between diamonds andveneer down one side. Simply cramping andgluing the inlay down in this way introducesstress into the body of the material and theadhesive and, if the adhesive is stronger than thecohesive strength of the inlay, it will cause thealready brittle casein to crack. An alternative, andpotentially less damaging, solution was required.

The casein inlay on the smoker’s cabinet hadbuckled and curled due, in part, to unequalmoisture loss from upper and lower surfaces.This would suggest that humidifying the caseinmight be an option. Research on similar samplesof casein would be necessary before suchtreatment could be undertaken since the centralaesthetic role of the original inlay on the cabinetwould rule out its use in preliminary testing.

Since the priority for this treatment was toprevent damage to unattached and exposedcorners, it was decided that the inlay should besecured and supported in its curled state. Onlythe diamonds on the proper right top of thecabinet were loose enough to require lifting.Balsa thin enough to follow the curved profile ofthe diamonds was glued to the underside andplaned to provide a flat surface for securingthem to the cabinet. Balsa was used as it hascomparatively small dimensional movement inresponse to fluctuations in relative humidity dueto its low density. This imperfect solution to theproblem can be easily reversed in the futureshould a better treatment be found.

For a furniture conservator whose pastexperience has focused on problems ofconstruction and traditional surface decorationand finishes, the inlay of the cabinet presentedan interesting opportunity for research and aconservation challenge. Since a stock of Erinoidwas not available, nor easily made, replacement

with a stable modern plastic presented areasonable alternative. Although directsubstitution using Perspex was not possible, thelaminated structure of the inlay replacementssolved the problems of translucence and colourmatching.

Casein plastic is a very unusual material to findincorporated into a piece of furniture – similarly,in the wider context of literature about plastics,casein usually merits only a passing reference.The growing interest in the technical andhistorical development of plastics may yetproduce a more detailed picture of the structureand degradation of casein to provide informationabout the future conservation of this material.

References1. Billcliffe, R., Charles Rennie Mackintosh:

The complete furniture, furniture drawingsand interior designs., Lutterworth, 1979.

2. Newport, R., Plastic Antiques: an exhibitionof plastics consumer products from the1850’s to 1950’s, British Industrial PlasticsLtd, 1977.

3. Kaufman, M, The First Century of Plastics,Plastics Institute, 1963, p. 56.

4. Billcliffe, R., Charles Rennie Mackintosh:The complete furniture, furniture drawingsand interior designs., Lutterworth, 1979, p.224.

5. Mills J.S., and White, R., The OrganicChemistry of Museum Objects,Butterworths, 1987, pp. 76-7.

6. Boulton, B.C., The Manufacture and Use ofPlywood and Glue, Pitman and Sons, 1920.

7. Morgan, J., From Milk to Manicure sets: The Casein Process, Plastiquarian, No 2,pp. 12-3.

8. ibid, p. 13.

Other SourcesMorgan, John, Conservation of Plastics,Conservation Unit and Plastics HistoricalSociety, 1991.

Sutermeister & Brown, Casein and itsIndustrial Application, Reinhold, 1939.


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catching plastic products of the 1930s. Severalof the objects were promotional giftsdistributed by manufacturers, confirming theephemeral and commercial nature of muchplastic design. The acquisition of thecollection in 1983 demonstrates theMuseum’s confused attitude towards plastics,as the objects were shared arbitrarily betweenthe Metalwork, Ceramics and Furniture andWoodwork collections(Museum Nos. M.49 to 66-1983, C.41 to 54-1983, W.50 to 75-1983).

Furniture designers, oftenobsessed with producing one-piece moulded chairs, have exploredthe structural characteristics of plastics.Experiments with moulded plywood inthe 1950s led to the development offibreglass chairs in organic forms byCharles and Ray Eames and others,several examples of which are in thecollection. In Britain, Robin Day (born1915) designed one of the mostsuccessful one-piece moulded chairsever produced, the ‘Polyprop’(Museum No. Circ.15, a&b1966). Polypropylene wasinvented in 1954 and itsstrength and malleability wereperfectly exploited in Day’sdesign.

Synthetic foam rubbers, developedafter 1945 for upholstery, now presentus with grave conservation problems asthey decay and calcify. Several chairs in thecollection have suffered complete breakdownof the foam upholstery, including MichaelInchbald’s ‘Mambo Chair’, 1955,(Museum No. W.13-1981). Theintegrity of the object is compromisedby collapsed upholstery, as the lines ofthe original chair disappear and thetexture is radically altered. We arepresented with the ethical dilemma ofreplacing an original component of theobject in an attempt to preserve it.

A seminal exhibition of Modern Chairs wasstaged by the Circulation Department and theWhitechapel Art Gallery in 1970 and many ofthe collection’s best examples of plastic Pop

furniture were acquired at this time (seefootnote). These include futuristic andfantastic creations by leading Italian andDanish designers of the 1960s. Much Popdesign, not only of furniture but also clothingand accessories, was essentially ephemeral: itwas not intended to last but to be the

disposable product of consumer fashion.Plastic was the preferred material

because of itscheapness,versatility and thewider culturalconnotations of abright futureunhindered by pasttraditions. The

future has proved tobe less bright for some

objects, including the‘Blow Chair’ (MusuemNo. Circ.100-1970), aninflatable, clear plastic

Italian armchair, which hashardened and discoloured

with age (see article by RogerGriffith). The anticipated life

expectancy of the object has been farexceeded, resulting in the Museum’sparadoxical attempts to preserve an

essentially ephemeral and transitoryobject. As materials inexorably degradeand chemical structures alter throughenvironmental conditions, theMuseum is presented with a long

term display and conservationproblem.

Experimentalfurniture in the1990s has further

explored thestructural

possibilities of plasticand attempted to extend

the life of the material,demonstrated by two

recent acquisitions. RonArad’s ‘Bookworm’

bookshelf (Museum No. W.2-1996), made by the leading

Italian plastics manufacturer Kartell,exploits the flexibility and strength of Fi

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extruded plastic strip (thermoplastictechnopolymer) to create a versatile andindividual wall-mounted shelf which can bearticulated by each user to suit any wall space(figure 1). Although the product is a bestseller for Kartell, it is not cheap; plasticfurniture is no longer perceived as adisposable gimmick or the poor relation ofnatural materials. Kartell uses virgin materialsto produce plastics but there is increasinginterest in recycling post-consumer waste tocreate new products.

Jane Atfield’s chair (Museum No. W.4-1996) ismade from board comprised entirely ofrecycled, high-density polyethylene (figure 2).Bottles used for everything from shampoo tomilk, detergent and sun oil are collected incommunity recycling schemes, washed,chipped and pressed into various thicknessesof board using redundant plywood presses.Bearing witness to its origins, it is possible tofind traces of printing and labels amongst thecoloured flecks of the self-decorated board.Recycling represents a way forward for theplastics industry and for the consumer in anincreasingly environmentally-conscious age.The long term durability of recycled plasticremains untested and it could be that thecombination of various forms ofplastic in one compositeproves fugitive and ultimatelyself-destructive. Yet, for thetime being the plastic itself isenjoying a second use. It canbe anticipated that ourincreased understanding of thechemical structures of plastics,combined with the advancedtechnology of the materialsthemselves, will mean that infuture the Museum will be ableto assess and treat plasticproducts.

Plastics are now used in allareas of design, from consumerelectronics to kitchenware,jewellery to cars. As a materialit has revolutionised the shapeand even the function ofobjects we use. Its use in furniture andproduct design, as collected by the Museum,

is only a small indicator of the full scope ofobjects designed for this material, a substancewhich has significantly defined twentiethcentury design.

FootnoteIt is interesting to note that contempoarycollecting was a speciality of the CirculationDepartment while the Furniture Departmentdid not focus, at that time, on objects of thepresent day.


ctober 1996

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Figure 2: The smoker’s cabinet before conservation, with the flaps closed.

extreme cases the casein curls and buckles, as isthe case on the Mackintosh cabinet.

Casein Inlay on the Smoker’s CabinetThere were three main problems with the caseininlay on the smoker’s cabinet - one quarter ofthe triangular shaped inlays on the legs wereloose and four pieces missing, previousreplacements of inlay on thelegs were visuallyobtrusive, and thediamond shaped inlay onthe top of the cabinethad buckled, raising thecorners above the level ofthe surrounding veneerand making themvulnerable to damage.

All loose inlay on the legswas lifted, the old animalglue removed and thesurface cleaned with aslightly damp cotton budbefore being relaid.Because producing asheet of colour-matchedcasein to replace thelosses would be bothtime consuming andimpractical, asubstitute wasneeded. Afterconsulting thematerials library atthe Royal College ofArt, four shades ofyellow PerspexTM (ICI)and one ofPlexiglassTM(Rohm),both trade names forPMMA, were selectedto replace the caseininlay lost from thelegs. The Plexiglassturned out to have atextured surface andwas thereforeabandoned as asubstitute. As theminimum thickness of the available Perspex was3mm and the original inlay was 1-1.2mm thick,the Perspex was hand sawn to the requiredthickness and then scraped smooth to removethe saw marks which were visible through theplastic.

Thinning the Perspex made this previouslyopaque material translucent. It therefore requireda second layer of colour to be added to achieve acloser match to the original inlay. A laminatedstructure of Perspex, adhesive (Beva 371impregnated film), acrylic paint on hand madepaper and adhesive (fish glue) on the substrate

wood was used to achieve this.

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Paraloid B72TM(Rohm & Haas Co.). The surfacefinish was blistered and disfigured on the properleft hand side, possibly as a result of exposure toheat. No treatment was undertaken on thisbecause it would have involved the removal ofabout 20% of the original and although theblistering is particularly noticeable in raking light,it is unlikely to be obtrusive under galleryconditions.

Identification of materialsWhen undertaking conservation of plastics it isessential to identify at least the base polymer ofwhich they are composed as this will determinethe nature and extent of any treatment. This iscomparatively easy with early plastics butbecomes progressively more difficult as moresophisticated blending of polymers occurred inthe last quarter of this century. A range ofanalytical techniques may be required to identifyother components such as plasticisers,stabilisers, fillers and colorants should this benecessary.

Although the yellow inlay on the smoker’scabinet is described as ErinoidTM(Erinoid) in thecuratorial records, the nature of this material wasinitially unclear. Brenda Keneghan, PlasticsConservator at the V&A, took samples of theoriginal inlay, the replacement inlay and theoriginal adhesive for analysis using FourierTransform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).Samples were obtained by removing loose inlay.The edge of the inlay was gently rubbed with asilicone carbide disc to collect a small amount offine powder. The spectra resulting from theanalysis of this powder were matched withspectra from known samples to give thefollowing results: the original inlay proved to becasein; the replacement inlay poly(methylmethacrylate) – PMMA or PerspexTM(ICI); and theoriginal adhesive was animal glue.

CaseinCasein is most commonly found as an adhesiveand has been utilised in this way for centuries.Casein, derived from goat’s milk, was used as anadhesive by the ancient Egyptians and caseinadhesives are still manufactured today.2 It wasnot until 1899 that a patent was registered inGermany for the production of casein plastic (anapocryphal tale of its discovery involves a cat, adish of milk and a spilt bottle of formaldehyde)and it was originally manufactured there underthe trade name Galalith.3

Mackintosh first used casein-based plastic in theChinese Room at the Ingram Street Tea Rooms in

Glasgow in 1911.4 Although importation ofGalalith ceased with the outbreak of war in 1914,the establishment of the Erinoid company inGloucestershire the same year ensured thatcasein plastics, widely known as Erinoid,remained available in Britain.

Casein is a phosphoprotein complex precipitatedfrom skimmed milk by acidification. Theprecipitate produced in this way is insoluble inwater, alcohol and other organic solvents, but acolloidal suspension can be created in alkalineconditions. Traditionally this was done usingslaked lime, although ammonia is generally usedin modern production.5 The casein filmproduced, either as adhesive layer or plastic, isneither thermosetting nor thermoplastic and ishard, brittle, and insoluble. It is hygroscopic, acharacteristic which prevented exterior use,though wartime research was reported to haveproduced a casein adhesive which was‘waterproof, uniform and reliable’.6

The main use of casein plastic was in themanufacture of buttons and small decorativeobjects such as boxes and combs. It could beproduced in delicate pastel shades and, owing toits capacity to absorb acid dyes easily anduniformly, could be produced in an almostinfinite range of colours and tones, includingpearly effects.

Flat sheets – such as those used by Mackintoshon the smokers cabinet – were manufactured byfirst extruding rods, cutting them into strips ornibs and placing them in large presses forcompression-moulding into sheets. The sheetswere then immersed in a 5% formaldehydesolution making them hard and insoluble in acidand water. They were then dried to reduce themoisture content to about 10%. The longsoaking in formaldehyde followed by a longdrying process meant that the sheets were oftendistorted at the end of this procedure so theywere re-flattened by hot pressing, thenmachined and polished by dipping them inhypochlorite.7 Machining marks are sometimesvisible through the resultant glaze, as is the casewith the inlay on the smoker’s cabinet.

Water in the casein polymer acts as a plasticiserand its gradual loss causes shrinkage andembrittlement of the plastic. Absorption anddesorption of water through cycles of changingrelative humidity can cause crazing of the surfacewhich can propagate through the material,particularly where the surface has beenscratched or has aged and oxidised.8 In less


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Two Pooped-Out Pop Chairs: What is theFuture for our Plastic Collections?

Roger GriffithFurniture Conservation Student, RCA/V&A Conservation Course

Figure 1. Sacco, designed by Piero Gatti, Casare Paolini and Franco Teodoro(1968), manufactured by Zanotta s.p.a., Nova Milanese. circ. 73-1970.

One of the greatest challenges facing theconservator today is how to deal with modernmaterials. Modern materials have becomeincreasingly important in museum collectionsand the Victoria and Albert Museum is noexception. The composition of these artefacts isbecoming increasingly diverse; although oftenunknown, they include such materials as rubber,plastics, lacquers and varnishes, metals andnumerous composites. These complex materialspresent new challenges to conservators.Research is urgently required to address theethical and physical problems of display, storageand treatment.

While conducting a pilot survey of the TwentiethCentury Furniture Collection at the V&A, I waspresented with two chairs which were goodexamples of the extreme degradation modernmaterials undergo in a relatively short span oftime. The chairs, made of different materials, haddegraded in less than thirty years. They werepurchased by the museum in 1970 for anexhibition, “Modern Chairs: 1918-1970”, held atthe Whitechapel Art Gallery. At the close of theexhibition the chairs were then added to theFurniture & Woodwork Collection, and displayedin the Twentieth Century Galleries. Since themid-1980s, however, the chairs have not beenexhibited due to their state of deterioration.

Sacco (circ. 73-1970) (figure 1) – variouslyknown as the Bean Bag Chair, the Chair of 1001Nights (1000 positions by day, one position bynight), or the anatomic chair - was designed in1968 by the team of Italian designers Piero Gatti,Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro. Sacco hasno fixed form. Its loose filling allows it to take onany shape, including a stool, an easy chair, oreven a chaise longue. It is lightweight andtherefore extremely mobile. The Sacco isconstructed of ‘skinflex’, a faux-leather covermade of polyurethane and filled with tinyspherical white particles of expandedpolystyrene. The design of this chair helped toestablish the Italians as leading designers of

modern furniture during the sixties andseventies.

Also designed by a team of Italian designers,Gionatan de Pas, Donato D’Urbino, PaoloLomazzi and Carla Scolari in 1967, was Blow(circ. 100-1970) (figure 2). Blow was the firstpiece of inflatable living room furniture to besuccessfully mass-produced. Blow adopted theconstruction principle of the inflatable raft. Thisarmchair was constructed of PVC (polyvinylchloride) which required the development ofhigh frequency welding technology. The chair isinflated through a valve at the centre of theback; the separate seat cushion has it own valveand fits into the chair on a membrane to formthe seat. Another membrane lies across theunderneath of the seat, for additional stability.The quality of transparency and transience ofBlow contrasted withtraditional values of solidity andpermanence; itsportability madethe chair ideal forthe informallifestyle of theyouthmarketthatwas

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developing in the 1960s.1

Sacco and Blow represent a shift in style, publictaste, and popular culture. The ‘enjoy-it-today-sling-it-tomorrow-philosophy’2 ofthe 1960s created a youthmarket anxious for anew and excitingapproach tohomefurnishings.Designers wereencouraged todevelopunpretentiouslow-costfurniture thatwould reflect aliberal-mindedand classless society.The Italian designers flourished with this newethos and a number of new companies werefounded in the 1950s and 1960s. Their furnituremet the ever changing lifestyle of the 1960s.“The 1960s gave way to a new idea or ‘meaning’of plastic furniture. Plastic was, in a way, bothform and content. It had now become ‘true to itsmaterial’”.3

Examination & ConditionIt is unclear from the location records when andwhy these two chairs were put into storage.Sacco is stored at Blythe House (one of theV&A’s off-site storage facilities) in what I call a‘plastic coffin’ (figure 3). The PlastazoteTM

(Polyformes Ltd.) lined plywood coffin wasconstructed to house the object since it can nolonger be displayed. The polyurethane faux-leather cover has degraded and is separatingfrom its base fabric. The cover is so fragile thateven the slightest puff of air can causedelamination (figure 4). The cover was analysedby Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR) to confirm that indeed it waspolyurethane.4 Polyurethanes degrade whenexposed to light or heat. Oxygen and moisturewithin the environment cause oxidation andhydrolysis.5 It is unfortunate that an object lessthan thirty years old cannot be displayed. We arenot sure if the degradation of this material wascaused by improper storage or if it is inherent inthe nature of the material.

Blow’s condition is quite dramatic since there isoverall yellowing of the PVC that is very commonin this type of material. The yellowing is anindication that cross-linking and conjugation

have occurred.6 This type ofdegradation is not reversible andcan be caused by ultraviolet light or

heat. PVC has plasticisers added togive flexibility to the material.

Plasticisers are rathervolatile and are easily lost,

so the material graduallyhardens and becomesstiffer. Deterioration can

be retarded if the objectis stored properly ordisplayed in low light,following the approachfor textiles. The cushionof the chair was in

disastrous condition andwill probably never be

inflated again. Apparently ithad been punctured and in 1980

it was sent to the FurnitureConservation Studio to be repaired.

Unfortunately, the chair was repaired witha product called LoctiteTM(Marshall Industries)which is a cyanoacrylate. This type of adhesive isnot reversible and we probably would not use ittoday. The repair must have failed at some stageand the cushion was folded and put into storage.When I found this part of the object thereappeared to be ink and paper stuck to the object(figure 5). After some detective investigation Idiscovered that the ink was from a photocopy ofthe curatorial record of the object. It was


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Figure 3. Sacco in its ‘plastic coffin’ at Blythe Road Store.

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Milk and Modernism: Conservation of a Smoker’s Cabinetdesigned by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Shayne LangFurniture Conservation Student, RCA/V&A Conservation Course

Figure 1: The smoker’s cabinetbefore conservation.

The cabinet (Museum No. Circ. 856 1956),(Figure 1) was designed by Mackintosh for 78Derngate, Northampton, Bassett-Lowke’scommission of 1916. It measures 590cmhigh, 584cm wide with the flapsopen and 330cm deep. Theaesthetic impact of the piecerelies on the use of startling yellowgeometric inlay on a black background, aresult of Basset-Lowke being colour-blindto all but yellow. The only disharmony isthe incorporation of decorative curves onthe leading edge of the door on a cabinetwhich is otherwise characterised bysimple mouldings and straight lines. Suchquirks are not unusual in Mackintosh’sdesigns, and the cabinet testifies to thequest in the early twentieth century fordesigners to find a furniture style whichwould express the essence of the newcentury rather than referring to the old.

The smoker’s cabinet, along with otherobjects by the same designer, was to beconserved prior to loan for anexhibition which commenced in April1996 in Glasgow before travelling to theUSA.

Treatment records for the cabinetconsisted of a comprehensive conditionreport prepared in 1986 when thecabinet was cleaned and the inlayreattached. Although there are no otherrecords of treatment at the Museumsince its acquisition in 1956, evidence ofintervention which predates 1986 can befound in Billcliffe’s monograph of 19791

where replacement inlay on the legs isclearly visible in a large colour photograph ofthe cabinet.

Although the primary challenge was theconservation of the decorative inlay there weresome other minor problems with the

construction of the cabinet. Splits in the buttedmitre-joints at the rear of the cabinet weresecured with balsa fillets which were coloured

out with black shellac, isolated fromthe original by

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An Object Media Enigma

Jane RutherstonAlbums and Sketchbooks Student, RCA/V&A Conservation Course

One of the most interesting aspects of workingwith albums, and by this I refer to any blankbook with objects adhered to the leaves, is thediversity of material to be found within them.However, nothing was to prepare me for theextraordinary prints I came across in an albumfrom the National Art Library collection –engravings printed in gold on coloured gelatine.

The prints belong to a collection of materialrelating to the Great Exhibition of 1851,including tickets, songsheets, cards, invitations,notepaper and other ephemera, given to theV&A in 1867 by Charles Wentworth Dilke, one ofthe six Executive Committee Members of theGreat Exhibition.

There were originally seven prints, eachmeasuring approximately 75mm x 115mm, butonly six now remain – three blue, two red andone turquoise. When they came to BookConservation they had all been adhered at thecorners to the same page, causing extensivecockling to the paper leaf. The brittleness andinflexibility of the gelatine was hindering theflow of the page, resulting in the prints beingvulnerable to further damage. It was thereforedecided, in consultation between BookConservation and two NAL curators, to removethem and mount them out of the album (theyare to be housed together in the sameconservation box). Further conservationrequirements to re-attach and repair damaged,detached corners are still being investigated andwill not be dealt with in this article.

The prints are most unusual objects anddespite extensive enquiry I have been unableto find out any information on such mediafrom either a curatorial or conservationaspect, and no one I have spoken to has seenor heard of prints of this nature. Inresearching the official guide of the GreatExhibition I unearthed four entries underFrance that mention related material:

•BOUASSES, LEBEL & CO., Paris –producers. ‘Samples of gelatine pictures’

•CASTELLE, H., Paris – Manufacturer.‘...printed gelatine. Engraved and knotchedgelatine. Gelatine for printing, boardings,

drawings, engravings, flowers and decorations fortheatres etc. (new invention)’.

•LECLERCQ, No., Paris – manufacturer.‘Specimens of gelatine in white and colouredleaves’.

•ROYER, JOSEPH CHARLES, La Tournelle –Manufacturer. ‘Specimens of gelatine leaves of allcolours’.

But even taking this into account, it does notfully explain their provenance: the engravings areEnglish, published by J.T. Wood of HolywellStreet, London. I have been unable to find anycopies of these engravings on paper (admittedlythis avenue has only been touched on) but I amcertain they must be extant in material collectedfrom the Great Exhibition. Is it possible,therefore, that these engravings were printed atthe time as a form of souvenir, or even after theevent, by a printer who had purchased theFrench coloured gelatine and wished toexperiment with a new substrate? After all thisexhibition was all about the works of industry;encompassing manufacture, design andtechnology.

I presume that they are essentially experimentaland are in many respects a precursor to printingon acetate film, but this innovative form ofproduction still remains a mystery. Perhapssomeone reading this article can throw light onthis conservation and historical dilemma?

Figure 1. Engraving on gelatine.

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Figure 4. Sacco (Detail) Delaminated polyurethane cover.

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probably placed there so that this part of theobject would not be lost, since it had beenseparated from the rest of the chair.

The Future: Looking AheadAside from the question of whether these objectswere ever intended to last, we need to assess theconservation problems they present. We canbegin by setting up guidelines – to retard thedegradation or at least understand the ageingprocess of these materials.

In my final year as a student on the RCA/V&AConservation Course, I will concentrate onmodern materials used in the construction anddesign of Twentieth Century Furniture. I plan toconduct a survey of objects from the Furniture &Woodwork Collection at the V&A. This methodicalsurvey coupled with scientific analysis will help toidentify materials and structures that areparticularly prone to deterioration. Gatheringarchival information on manufacturingtechniques and the environmental history of theobjects will lead to an understanding ofthe deterioration mechanisms involved.The aims of the survey will be to providedetails on the materials in the collection;ascertain the present condition of theobjects; determine the atmosphericconditions under which the artefacts arestored and displayed and giveinformation about preventive andremedial measures. My study will be animportant step in solving the problemsof deterioration such as those whichhave affected Sacco and Blow, and theother modern materials used incontemporary furniture. The sooner weassess the problems, the sooner we canfind solutions.

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank the RTZ Corporation PLCand the Committee of Vice-Chancellors andPrincipals of the Universities of the UnitedKingdom (Overseas Research Award) for theirinterest in, and financial support of my studies.

References1. Dunas, P., 100 Masterpieces from the Vitra

Design Museum Collection. ExhibitionCatalogue Vitra Design Museum, July 10, 1995– January 21, 1996. Wiel am Rhein:Switzerland (1996), p. 48.

2. Whitely, N., Pop Designs: Modernism to Mod.London: The Design Council (1987), p. 125.

3. Brochure, The Story of Plastics. DesignMuseum: London (1994), p.3.

4. Keneghan, B., V&A Conservation ScienceGroup Report, 1996.

5. For more information on the degradation ofpolyurethanes see Kerr and Batcheller,“Degradation of Polyurethanes in 20thCentury Museum Textiles”, Saving theTwentieth Century: The Conservation ofModern Materials. Proceedings of aConference Symposium ‘91. Ottawa: Canada,(15-20 September 1991), pp. 189-206.

6. Davis, A. and D. Sims. Weathering ofPolymers, Applied Science Publishers. Essex:United Kingdom (1983), p. 194.

Figure 5. Blow (Detail) Unfolded seat cushion as found in storage with creases and ink offset onto PVC.

conservation journal october 1996 blank - v&a · the … rutherston, albums and sketchbooks...

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