Current Student Work in the Objects Conservation Laboratory

As part of the 2nd-year curriculum, WUDPAC students are encouraged to learn about as many various types of materials and methodologies within their chosen discipline as possible. This is quite a feat in any branch of conservation but possibly most challenging to those in the objects conservation lab. From ancient bronze sculptures to ethnographic masks to contemporary art made of used bubble gum, the variety of artwork possibilities lumped into the category of “objects” seems nearly endless. The four 2nd-year graduate students currently working in the objects lab are focusing on several projects each, all of them of various different material types, origins and functions in preparation for a career which has the potential to be all about variety.

Ethnographic art, such as the piece being treated by Lauren McMullen, presents unique issue to conservation. These items are typically functional and their original use prior to becoming a museum object is often the greatest contributor to their damaged or deteriorated condition. It is the job of the conservator to then determine the extent to which cleaning, repair, and loss compensation should be under taken in order to preserve the object and provide museum visitors with an accurate view of their original appearance and use, while also maintaining the history of the object which is often recorded by its damaged condition.

This particular piece of African ethnographic art Lauren McMullen is currently working on comes from the University of Pennsylvania Museum and has been in the museums collection since the early 20th-century. This piece of basketry which would have been worn on the head is embellished with white glass buttons. The age and exact origin of the piece are unknown but according to McMullen it appears to be similar to known examples of headwear from the Sudan region of Africa. The condition of this object prior to treatment was quite poor. Overall the object is brittle and several of sections of the weaving of the object were broken or detached and the shape of the object is distorted from being housed flat in a box. Additionally, the surface was coated with an even layer of dirt and debris. Lauren has nearly completed the removal of the dirt layer from the surface of the buttons using swabs moistened with saliva which was cleared with deinoized water. As of now, McMullen’s treatment will not involve cleaning of the basketry portions of the object as they are too fragile, and a method of cleaning which would be non-damaging has not been determined. McMullen feels this should not be a problem as the dark brown color of the basketry is not visibly obscured by the similarly colored layer of grime.

The next phases of treatment for this object will be the reattachment of the broken and detached elements and the humidification of the creased and flattened form. The goal for this object is to stabilize it and return it to its original shape in order to display it on a mount suggestive of its function as headwear. The methods for its repair and humidification are yet to be determined and are something McMullen will undertake the upcoming months.

This is part two of a series of articles about the current WUDPAC projects and activities taking place in the Winterthur Museum Research Building