There’s a Chair in There – Determining Age through Materials and Typology

Ladder-back chair purchased by Rose Grainger while living in London (1901-1914). Grainger Museum Collection, 01.0126

by Jessie Gray

 

The ladder back chair, an artefact from the Grainger museum, came with very little information about its history and materials. The 1909-1914 date given to the object relates to its acquisition by Rose Grainger, correlating to the period when she was living in London. The chair’s label may have offered more information but unfortunately it is scratched and not completely legible.

Conservation specialist Robin Hodgson examined the chair and assessed it as being made in England, due to the use of English oak in the manufacturing of the frame. She also gave a rough manufacture date of 1830’s, citing typology and material use. With further research, I was able to compile material and typological evidence that supported her view.

Continue reading “There’s a Chair in There – Determining Age through Materials and Typology” →

Striking a balance: Conservation vs Industry in a treatment of coining tools from the Perth Mint.

by Claire Rowson

 

Before Treatment

Coining master tools from the Perth Mint have finally arrived at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne where they will be undergoing a month-long treatment and analysis on corrosion products forming on their surfaces.

These tools are part of a collection of the Mint’s manufacturing output since 1986 (Goldcorp 1999). Despite careful storage by tool makers and fabricators, the collection is exhibiting the full rainbow of known iron corrosion products. It is thus likely that this initial treatment will lead into and inform a mass conservation project of these objects over the coming months.

Continue reading “Striking a balance: Conservation vs Industry in a treatment of coining tools from the Perth Mint.” →

Conservation of a Child’s Boot

by Jacquie Jordan

Beginnings – First Impressions of a Buried Child’s Boot

Figure 1: Top of “Child’s Boot”, before treatment. Taken by J Jordan.

The first subject of the year, Conservation Assessment and Treatment 2, has begun at the Grimwade Centre of Cultural Materials Conservation (GCCMC). This week, we selected and examined objects made of a variety of materials on which to conduct our major treatment projects with over the coming month. I chose a previously buried Child’s Shoe from the collection at the Bathurst District Historical Society (BDHS).

Continue reading “Conservation of a Child’s Boot” →

To ‘mendolin’ or not to ‘mendolin’

by Katrina Watson

Part One: The ethical dilemma of determining significance and treatment aims for an object with an unknown past

In conservation, treatments often involve ethical dilemmas.  To assist us, we use information about the material and non-material aspects of objects to decide not only its significance, but to determine treatment choices (Appelbaum 2012). Supplementing this are codes of ethics that encourage us to make informed decisions based on respecting the ‘physical, historic, aesthetic and cultural integrity’ objects (AICCM 2002). Finally, guidelines promote the importance of objects to people, communities and cultural life, and help to decide on resources since not everything can be kept forever (Russell & Winkworth 2009). Common to all is the importance of the story and history of the object.

How, then, do you ethically complete a conservation treatment on an object with all the marks and scars of a life well lived but no information about how it acquired them?

Continue reading “To ‘mendolin’ or not to ‘mendolin’” →

Conserving Virginia Cuppaidge’s ‘Cytheria’

by Lily Bennion

Figure 1: Before treatment image of Cytheria. Photographed by Kim Vernon. Colour Balanced in Photoshop by Catherine Gill.

 

Virginia Cuppaidge in front of ‘Cytheria’ in her SoHo loft in 1978

The group conservation treatment of Virginia Cuppaidge’s Cytheria c.1977 was structured around artist/stakeholder expectations whilst negotiating the inherent vices of the work as a large-scale (198.2 x 609.6cm) acrylic matte medium colour field painting. Cuppaidge initiated the treatment as she was devastated by the condition the work was in after being donated to an American college, only to be housed in the mezzanine of the cafeteria. This environment had a considerable effect on the state of the work, as water drips, mechanical cracks, tears, and graffiti covered the composition. In consultation with Cuppaidge, the significance of her work was made evident as a transitional piece in her oeuvre. It signifies her move from Australia to New York, where she was to reside and continue her practice for another forty-four years. (Cuppaidge 2018 pers. comm. 1st March). Cytheria was the work in which Cuppaidge developed her artistic process, a process that was perfected in her Skyspace Series of paintings, including three, six meter long works. Each work was painted while stretched on the wall of her huge SoHo loft studio, with layer after layer of thin colour gradients creating the all-consuming effect of undulating and sublime colour that acted as an antidote or antithesis to the modern angst of the city (Cuppaidge 2018, p.2).

Continue reading “Conserving Virginia Cuppaidge’s ‘Cytheria’” →

Scrolling in the Deep: Treating Asian Artworks in a Western Context

by Mhairi Boyle

 

Part One: Beginnings – Before Treatment

When I went to Japan last year, I decided to pick up a Japanese hanging scroll both as a learning object and as an initial gateway into the world of Asian art conservation. The scroll, currently titled Daikokuten, was bought at Teramachi-dori, the antiques hub of Kyoto,  (Figures 1 & 2). Daikokuten was selected because it had signs of wear and tear common to this kind of object, especially since it was mounted in the traditional Japanese system, which comes with its own set of complex inherent vices.

Introduced to Japan from China in the sixth century, this mounting system gives the artwork more durability and flexibility. Hanging scrolls and other forms of Japanese artwork such as folding screens were assembled in keeping with the seasons and fashions of when they were created, and it was expected that they would be appropriately changed when styles shift (Burdett & Thomson 2002, p. 32; Nishio 2001, p. 16).

                          

Figures 1 & 2: Before Treatment photographs of ‘Daikokuten’ (Japanese Hanging Scroll)

Continue reading “Scrolling in the Deep: Treating Asian Artworks in a Western Context” →

From Mould to Gold: the Conservation of a Mid-19th Century Gilded Frame

by Grace Barrand

Grace Barrand, frames conservation student at the University of Melbourne, explains the process of partially conserving a mid-19th century composition frame from the Bathurst District Historical Society. The project was undertaken during a conservation treatment subject as part of the Masters in Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne. It is almost certainly the original frame.

Dating the Frame 

Figure 2: Portrait of Dr George Busby with frame

Whenever someone asks me what it is I study I always say; “being a conservator is a bit like being a forensic detective on a crime show – you start at the end and use the evidence to find out what happened at the beginning”. I could also say that we restore as many Pablo Picassos in our everyday job as there are real life Horatio Caine’s in the actual police force, because things just really aren’t usually as glamorous as they may seem. That is, unless you’re a frames conservator.

Continue reading “From Mould to Gold: the Conservation of a Mid-19th Century Gilded Frame” →

Old Thatched Buildings at Bathurst. N.S.W

by Christine Mizzi

 

Part I – Investigating the Object

Old Thatched Buildings at Bathurst. N.S.W, before treatment, recto & verso

Old Thatched Buildings at Bathurst. N.S.W is a framed landscape drawing on an unknown media. Barring the signature ‘H.W’  within the image, there is no further identifying information about who the artist was or when the work was created. The drawing comes from the sitting room of Chifley Home, home of Ben Chifley (1885-1951), the sixteenth Prime Minister of Australia and his wife Elizabeth (1886-1926). They lived in house at 10 Busby Street, Bathurst, New South Wales from 1914 to 1962. Since 1973, the home has been maintained as a museum.

Continue reading “Old Thatched Buildings at Bathurst. N.S.W” →

Middle Eastern Manuscript research video

Our Middle Eastern Manuscript research team met with Anna Bowman, the daughter of Professor John Bowman in January.

This video is the result of that collaboration https://vimeo.com/210484593

A big thank you to Anna Bowman for her knowledge and film-making expertise, members of the MEM research team Professor Robyn Sloggett, Sophie Lewincamp, Sadra Zekrgoo, Leila Alhagh, Nur Shkembi, Sally Kilby and Dr Petronella Nel; our colleagues at the Islamic Museum of Australia https://islamicmuseum.org.au Sherene Hassan and Jake Carter; and Susan Thomas, Rare Books Curator, Bailieu Library http://library.unimelb.edu.au/collections/special-collections/rare-books/internatonal-rare-books/memss.

 

Number of posts found: 19