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Conservation Journal No.46

Welcome to the first edition of the Journal within2004.

The departmental work programme is as intense asever, and we are looking forward to the challenge ofdelivering more of the Future Plan for the Museum.

The Museum’s New Paintings Galleries opened inNovember 2003, and the V&A paintings collection,a well-kept secret for many years, is once again onpublic display. Thanks go to the conservation team,who did a beautiful job of conserving the paintingsand original frames for the gallery. The team, whichconsisted of permanent and contract staff developeda great rapport and their commitment to seeing theproject through was outstanding. Nicola Costaras,the conservation team leader, highlights someaspects of this work in her article whilst BarbaraDabrowa gives an external perspective to workingon frames and Jim Dimond talks about his work ontwo Turners.

Adding value, for the Museum or the conservationprofession through training, is a key theme withinthis edition of the Journal. Ruth Fletcher is glowingin her praise for conservators contributions to trainingin the V&A, and the importance of them beinginvolved with any object related skill development.Michael Wheeler shows how developing goodworking relationships with colleagues in Indiaresulted in a unique opportunity to provideprofessional conservators with training in Indianpainting. Joanna Whalley has undertaken intenseand specific training in gemmology in anticipationof work for a forthcoming Jewellery Gallery. Through

Joanna, the Department will make a real contributionto primary research for the gallery and this in turnwill add value and interest to the display and anyassociated publications. Looking forward into theNew Year, the installation of OCEAN (Martin Hancock)and the provision of live environmental data for theSouth Kensington site will raise many questionsabout use of galleries and the way the buildingworks. Training, for anyone accessing this data, willbe essential if the information is to be usedrealistically and for the long-term benefit of themuseum collections. A slightly different angle ontraining, is presented by Graham Martin and MarionKite, their work on hats has highlighted the need forcautionary changes in handling and storagemethods, to ensure that staff are not subjected topotentially harmful mercury residues. Changes suchas these involve re-education of long standingpractice and approaches, of us as well as others.

The Department is undergoing structural change toalign itself with the changing museum and this isexplained more fully in the Journal. The structuralchart for the Department has been redesigned, toreflect these changes and to identify the new seniormanagement team. Last but not least the Journalalso contains the latest departmental photograph,which reflects the numerous staff changes whichhave occurred over the last year. Unfortunately, as is always the case, not everyone could attend, but itdoes give some opportunity to put some names andfaces together. Everyone looks remarkably cheerfulin the photo, and I am sure that this will be carriedthrough the whole of 2004!

EditorialSandra SmithHead of Conservation

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The New Paintings Galleries at the V&A have justopened to the public as I write. I still can’t quitebelieve it and find myself going to check that Ihaven’t dreamt it. The practical conservation of thepaintings started exactly a year ago in November2002. One hundred and sixty-seven of the 200 oilpaintings on display required some work and we hadjust under one year in which to complete it. I amreminded that the building originally built to housemany of the same paintings was also completed in ayear – it was opened by Queen Victoria in 1857 - andthe galleries that have just been refurbished are apart of that original building.

Most of the paintings were previously on display butmany had not been seen out of their frames for along time. Condition assessments were carried outon all the paintings in the previous galleries as wellas several in store. After the design for the hang hadbeen agreed we made a further assessment, inconsultation with the Head Curator of Paintings,Mark Evans, of which paintings we would selectfor more extensive treatment. With limited timeavailable we wanted to identify those paintingswhere time spent would make the most difference totheir appearance and, at the same time, ensure thatthey were also a priority from the curatorial point ofview. Katharine Donaldson, the frames conservator,went through the same process of assessment,discussion and prioritising.

The majority of the paintings were examined out oftheir frames, and checked for any signs ofdeterioration. At the same time as documenting theircondition, we made a note of any interestingtechnical art historical information. A number ofpaintings had been treated by my predecessors in therecent past and, therefore, there was no need for anyfurther treatment although colour transparencieswere taken, which meant un-framing and re-framing.Minor treatment procedures were carried out on themajority of the paintings such as the removal ofsurface dirt, the mending of small tears andoccasionally the consolidation of loose paint. Thepaintings were photographed before being refittedinto their frames. Progress on the conservation of theframes naturally mirrored the work on the paintings.Low reflective glass was fitted in the 111 frames that

did not already have it. With the closure of the formerPaintings Galleries in June we were able to turnseveral galleries into temporary studio space. Thisenabled us to work more efficiently where a largenumber of paintings and frames needed a smallamount of work individually and meant that the newlow-reflective glass could be ordered in batches.Racking on the walls of the galleries provided storagespace for the paintings that were ready to be hung(figure 1).

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The New Paintings GalleriesNicola CostarasHead Painting Conservator

Figure 1. The team at work in the temporary studio in the former Paintings Galleries

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Apart from the practical conservation of thepaintings, we were also involved in designinginteractives for the galleries and in writing articles for the website. For one of the interactives, JoePadfield from the National Gallery used his digitalimage-processing skills to help us create a series ofimages corresponding to the layers of an oil painting -support, ground, underdrawing and paint layers.Printed on separate sheets of acetate, the images canbe stacked on top of one another in order to conveythe idea of a painting as a three-dimensionalstructure.

The initial examination of the small number ofpaintings that were selected for more extensivetreatment threw up some interesting questions thatmerited further investigation. Viewed through themicroscope it was apparent that an underlying paintlayer had oozed up through the drying cracks in thesurface paint layer of Corot’s Twilight: landscape withtall trees and female figure (CAI.65). On the left sidethis paint was a bright pink. Having the advantage ofx-ray facilities in-house, we were soon able to seefrom the x-radiograph that Corot had madesubstantial alterations to his original composition(see image on website). The pink paint was from ahouse now completely concealed. Because theunderlying paint was still wet while the surface painthad dried, drying cracks formed in the upper layer.

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Figure 2. Devi Ormond and Adam Webster in the Paintings Conservation Studio

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During the course of the project colleagues from the Van Gogh Museum, the Statens Museum,Copenhagen, the Instituut Collectie Nederland, thePhiladelphia Museum and the Fogg Art Museumcame to examine paintings while they were in thestudio. We contacted colleagues with a specialinterest in either a particular artist’s work or inspecific phenomena such as the protrusions thathave recently been discovered in oil paintings. Theseprotrusions were first analysed in the Netherlandswhen tiny craters on the paint surface and spheres of transparent material within the paint were notedduring the conservation of The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Tulp by Rembrandt. The spheres analysed thus farcontain lead soaps and they are the subject ofcontinuing research at ICN and MolArt in Amsterdam.We found similar protrusions on two paintings:L’Immensité by Courbet (1869) and Le Pont de Batigniesby Rousseau which was of great interest to theresearchers.

During the course of the project almost every sectionin the Conservation Department was involved in oneway or another. One gallery is dedicated to works ofart on paper and there are ceramic, metalwork,sculpture and furniture objects on display. TheScience Section advised on the glass, filters and case materials and continues to be involved inenvironmental monitoring of the galleries.

In addition to one full-time paintings conservator,and one full-time frames conservator, KatharineDonaldson (and during her absence Zoë Allen), theconservation team consisted of two paintingsconservators on one-year contracts, Devi Ormond and Adam Webster, three frames conservators:Kristina Young, Barbara Dabrowa and Sarah East onfour, eight and three month contracts respectively,and two interns Rita Bachmayer and Béatrice Villemin –the former for six months and the latter for fourmonths. A generous sponsor funded a five monthcontract for the conservation and restoration of twopaintings by Turner, which was undertaken by JimDimond.

Although with fierce time constraints, the projectwas a wonderful opportunity to work with greatcolleagues, to examine a large number of paintingsfrom the collection, to make new discoveries and tocontribute to other research projects even if therewas no time to investigate further ourselves. Wenoted several paintings with underdrawing that itwould be interesting to record in the future. The largenumber of unlined canvases in the collection inexcellent condition will also be of interest for futurestudy of nineteenth century materials and techniques.The highlight for everyone working in the paintingsstudio was seeing the transformation of the twoTurners as successive layers of extremely discolouredvarnish were removed. It is a great pleasure for me tosee the paintings in their original setting within theV&A. The galleries are a tribute to the large numberof people who worked on them.

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When cleaning a painting by Turner one is armedwith the knowledge that, compared with hiscontemporaries, the artist had a radical approach torepresenting nature and experimented widely withmaterials to achieve spectacular effects. Turner isknown to have mixed oil/wax formulations withoil/resin combinations, known as “megilps”, toproduce paint with the desired handlingcharacteristics and final appearance.The treatmentof two paintings is discussed in this article: technicalanalysis carried out on both has identified thepresence of both wax and resin as mixtures with oil,but these only appear locally. These were presumablyin areas where Turner required a certain texture andtransparency to describe a natural phenomenon. Theimplication of this for the conservator is that thesolubility of the paint layers may be quite close tothat of the discoloured varnish to be removed, andthat no single part of the painting behaves undersolvents quite like any other. Indeed as it turned outwith these two paintings one might argue that nopainting by Turner behaves quite like any other.

Although quite close in date the two paintings arevisually very different. Lifeboat and Manby ApparatusGoing off to a Stranded Vessel making Signal (bluelight) of Distress (‘Manby’) (SA.211) is a study of seaand sky in storm conditions, with the depiction of thedeploying of the Manby Apparatus in the rescue of aship in distress. The painting uses complex layering ofpaint to produce the sense of tumult in water and air.Areas on the left of the painting exhibited such acomplicated arrangement of different glazes andscumbles that through the varnish it was difficultto understand quite what visual effect Turner washoping to achieve. ‘East Cowes Castle’, (SA.210) bycontrast, depicted a much calmer scene of a regattasetting sail from Cowes into the Solent on a clearsummer morning. The use of paint appeared to bemuch more understandable than ‘Manby’ with glazescreating limpid watery effects and more solidimpasto employed on the shore and crowd scenes.Initially it was assumed that the more visuallycomplex ‘Manby’ would present a greater challengein cleaning.

Structurally both paintings had suffered from someaspect of Turner’s technique. Large areas of ‘Manby’

showed that widespread, small scale loss hadoccurred from a surface layer, and for years it hadbeen assumed that the painting was too delicate totravel. Turner often returned to his paintings after asignificant period of time during which the paint haddried. Fresh oil does not bind well to a dry substrate,and it is for this reason that many of Turner’spaintings exhibit a flaking problem. Ruskin reportedthat Sheepshank’s maid swept up paint fragmentsfrom beneath ‘East Cowes Castle’ each morning, andthe appearance of many large fills in the paintingafter cleaning would indicate that there was sometruth to this anecdote.

The surface of the ‘Manby’ was checked to make surethat there had been no recurrence of the flakingproblem and then surface cleaned with water. Smalltests revealed that though the paint layer in manyareas could be solvent sensitive, the layers of varnishcould be removed safely by careful choice of solventmixtures. The solvents used distinguished easilybetween two varnish layers and finally could be used to remove the second and more discoloured layer.This was done by employing a painstaking swabrolling technique that protected the delicate paintlayers beneath. The cleaning has given a clarity todetails within the painting and restored the balanceof colours in the subtle cloud and sea effects.

‘East Cowes Castle’ proved to be more difficult fromthe start. More consolidation had to be carried outto secure some small flakes before the cleaning wasattempted. The varnish layers themselves wereextremely discoloured and complex in character.Solvents could not distinguish between the layerseasily, and analysis of cross sections carried out byJoyce Townsend, from the Tate Gallery ConservationDepartment, suggested that at least one of thevarnish layers may contain oil. It was assumed thatthe solubility of the discoloured varnishes was tooclose to that of the delicate glazes in the paint layerfor the varnishes to be removed safely. For this reasonit was decided to remove all but the final varnishlayer, and to thin this layer as evenly as possible.While this treatment could not be as complete asthat carried out on ‘Manby’, it did give a result thatrevealed much of Turner’s original intention whileprotecting the delicate paint layers during cleaning.

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The Cleaning of Two Paintings by TurnerJim DimondPainting Conservator

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My experience at the Victoria and Albert Museumbegan as I was shown the project for the new PaintingsGalleries in mid January 2003. Coming from Australiait was not easy adapting to the climate, the newenvironment and to an enormous and unfamiliarmuseum. I was lucky enough to work alongside aprofessional team of conservators on this projectwho helped to acquaint me with the new studio.

A condition survey of more than two hundred itemsshowed that several damaged frames needed fullconservation, such as cleaning, replacement of lostornament, in-gilding and toning. The majority of framesrequired minimal preventive conservation treatment,which included dusting and consolidation. Each of theframes requiring full conservation were examined withthe naked eye and under magnification in order todecide on an appropriate conservation treatment.

My work mainly consisted of the conservation ofthree of the more severely damaged gilded frames.As part of the treatments I wanted to retain as muchof the original surface as possible and to choosereversible conservation treatments, which wouldresult in the least alteration of the original material.For these reasons I used a combination of bothtraditionally prepared materials and non-traditionalmaterials and gilding techniques. Traditionaltechniques were used for preparing the surface ofthe gilding and a non-traditional gilding system wasused for the application of the gold leaf.

Case Study 1 – Frame from ‘Landscape with StormySky’ C.1842 (No. CA1.55)P, Rousseau (1812-1867).

This was a French, neo-classical frame with mouldedfluting and acanthus leaf corners. The frame wasoriginally water gilded on red and ochre yellow bolewith both a burnished and matte finish. Later theframe was partly re-gilded using oil gildingtechniques. Bronze paint was used in the previous,unsatisfactory restoration of the ornament. The framewas dusty and dirty overall and there was widespread

cracking of the compo ornament and the cornerjoints. Abrasion was visible along all sides of the frameand on the edges of the moulding. A few losses to thegesso and compo were found on the surface of theframe. The later, re-gilded areas were flaking whichwas caused by the deterioration of the oil size.

The conservation treatment began with gentlecleaning of the frame using 5% solution of tri-ammonium citrate which was removed afterwardswith saliva. Initial stabilisation of the corners wascarried out with undiluted Plextol B500™- a waterdispersion of copolymer of ethyl acrylate, EA, methylmethacrylate, MMA, and ethyl methacrylate, EMA.This was followed by the removal of poor repairs andareas of bronze over-paint from the frame. The nextstep was the consolidation of cracks and fragileareas using Plextol B500 diluted with a 50:50solution of de-ionised water and ethanol. Losses ofthe original gesso surface and compo ornamentswere refilled with an appropriate new gesso (calciumcarbonate, rabbit skin glue and water) and compo(calcium carbonate, rabbit skin glue, hide glue, rosin,linseed oil, glycerol and water). All the areas of newlyapplied gesso were painted red using watercolour tomatch the original colour of the bole.

A mixture of Plextol: B500 and Plextol D360™ (PlextolD360 is a water dispersion of a butyl acrylate, BA andmethyl methacrylate, MMA based copolymer), wasapplied and Superieur (23.5 carat) gold leaf was thenused to imitate the surrounding matte, oil gildedsurface. The areas to be water gilded and burnishedwere covered with Plextol B 500 diluted in water towhich ethanol had been added (50% v/v and ethanolto water 2.5% v/v). This adhesive layer was re-activatedwith warm breath which was sufficient to adhere thegold leaf. The surface was then burnished followed bythe application of a coat of ormolu to the matte areas(Ormolu is a 10% of shellac dissolved in ethanol inglue prepared from 1 part of rabbit skin glue and 14parts of deionised water).

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The Conservation of Three Gilded Framesfor the New Paintings Galleries at theVictoria and Albert MuseumBarbara DabrowaConservator-Frames, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

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Watercolour and mica powder were used for toningthe new gilding to imitate the surrounding area.Finally, it was necessary to build up the back of theframe with timber (pine) to allow for additionalthickness to accommodate the painting.

Case study 2 - Frame from ‘Shakespeare’s PrincipalCharacters’ (No. FA. 197), 1812. Thomas Stothard (1755-1834).

This was a unique 19th century frame with a slip andglazing door. The frame is decorated with arabesque,floral ornaments: and acanthus leaf corners. Thecompo ornament, which covers the surface, issymmetrical in the middle part of the frame only.The flowers and leaves are individually applied on theedges and the bottom parts of the ogee. The framewas originally water gilded and oil gilded with a mattefinish. It was also re-gilded at a later date using oilgilding and improperly restored and painted over withbronze paint. There were many cracks in the compoornament and at the corner joins. Abrasion was visiblealong all sides of the edges of the moulding. Anumber of losses to white gesso, compo and timberwere found on the surface of the frame. Much of theornament and all of the corners were missing. Thegold leaf from the later oil gilding was flaking

The earlier unsatisfactory repairs and bronze overpaint was removed; the surface consolidated, cleanedand losses filled. Plextol B500 was used as aconsolidant and 5% tri-ammonium citrate was usedfor cleaning. Recreation of the corners started withmodelling up of one corner using compo – a cast wasthen taken from this in order to reconstruct the otherthree details. Very small parts of the missing, castfloral ornament were re-carved in gesso. Other largerparts were cast, and then painted with shellac toimitate the base of the oil gilded, matte finish.Watercolour was used to replicate the base of thewater gilded finish.

The effect of oil gilding on the frame was achieved byapplying gold leaf with a mixture of Plextol B500 andD360. The damaged, water gilded areas on the slipand glazing doors were coated with Plextol B500diluted in water with additional ethanol (50% v/v andethanol to water 25% v/v). This was re-activated withwarm breath before the application of the gold leaf.The in-gilded surface was then smoothed or burnishedwhere appropriate. A protective layer of ormolu wasapplied to areas with a matte finish and toning wascarried out with watercolour and mica pigments. Aswith the previous frame, a pine build-up was addedto the back of the frame to safely accommodate thepainting and backing board.

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Figure 1. Detail of frame belonging to Shakespeare’s Principal Characters (Mus No. FA 197). During treatment showing areas of in-filling

Figure 2. Detail of frame after re-gilding of missing areas

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Case Study 3 - Frame from ‘Saint Cecilia and theAngels’. 1836 (Museum No. 553-1903) by P, Delaroche.

The last project was a large, classical 19th centuryFrench frame with a timber moulding and compoornament. The water gilded, red and blue, bole slipwas in the original condition except for the re-gildedcorner ornaments. Stabilisation of the corners wasnot necessary, but the extensive network of cracksneeded urgent attention. The frame had originallybeen water and oil gilded on a thick gesso base. Atthe time of investigation the frame was in a poorcondition. The red bole and the partially burnishedornaments were visible through areas of bronze over-paint. The wood was also cracked, much of theornament was detached or missing, or had beenreplaced with unsatisfactory repairs.

The conservation treatment of this slip and framestarted with consolidation of the surface using amixture of Plextol B 500 and water (same proportionsas in the previous treatment). It was necessary to fillthe losses and replace the missing ornament usinggesso and compo followed by the removal of thebronze over-paint. The gaps in the slip were filledwith cotton bandages dipped in Plextol B500 to actas a flexible filler.

Gesso applied on the newly replaced areas wassmoothed and painted using yellow ochre and redwatercolour to match the original bole. A mixture ofPlextol B500 and D360 (50% v/v) was applied andSuperieur (23.5 ct) gold leaf was then used to imitatethe existing oil gilded surface. Areas to be watergilded and burnished were covered with Plextol B 500diluted in water and ethanol (50% v/v and ethanol towater 25% v/v). This adhesive layer was re-activatedwith warm breath which was sufficient to adhere thegold leaf to the surface which was then burnished.The treatment was completed by applying a coat oformolu to the matte areas which were then tonedwith watercolour and mica powder.

ConclusionIn all of the conservation treatments I combinedtraditional methods for preparing the surface forgilding with non-traditional gilding methods.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the V&Aand feel that my experience was very worthwhile.

Further reading1. Sawicki, M. Research into non- traditional gilding

techniques as a substitute for traditional mattewater–gilding method, ICOM 13th Triennial Meeting Riode Janeiro, 22-27 September 2002, preprints volume 2,James & James (Science Publishers, UK) 2002.

2. Thornton, J. The use of nontraditional gilding methodsand materials in conservation. in Gilded Wood,Conservation and History, Sound View Press, 1991.

3. Thornton, J. Minding the gap: Filling losses in gildedand decorated surfaces. Gilding and SurfaceDecoration, Preprints of the UKIC ConferenceRestoration,1991.

AcknowledgementsSandra Smith, Head of Conservation: Nicola Costaras,Head Painting Conservator: Sarah East and Zoe Allen,conservators who helped me to finish the last frame. Iwould also like to thank all my colleagues and friendsfrom the V&A for making my stay so enjoyable.

Plextol is supplied by Rohm GmbH Chemische Fabric,Postfach 4242, 6100 Darmstadt 1, Germany.

Any inquires should be addressed to the author:Barbara Dabrowa Conservator-FramesConservation DepartmentArt Gallery of New South WalesArt Gallery Road, The DomainSydney 2000, NSW AustraliaTel: +61 2 9225 1766Fax: +61 2 9221 6226IE-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

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Figure 3. Shakespeare’s Principal Characters by Thomas Stodthart after conservation treatment of the painting and frame

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Gem material is of a varied nature and includes bothinorganic and organic substances from natural andsynthetic crystals to, for example, pearls, corals, jet andivory.

At the Victoria and Albert Museum, gem material isfound not only in jewellery, but as inlay in wood orstone, or set in decorative metalwork and carved asobjects in their own right. Some of the gem materials,however, have never been professionally assessed andmay have been labelled incorrectly, if labelled at all.Others, for example those in the chalcedony group(agate, onyx, carnelian, sard), rely on a system ofnomenclature which is often confusing and haschanged over time. There is a need for specialistidentification which can be costly, and in the past theMuseum has often had to rely on the voluntary helpof (eminent) external specialists.

In 2001, the V&A provided funding for the author tostudy for the Diploma in Gemmology – the study ofgem material - at The Gemmological Association andGem Testing Laboratory of Great Britain, London(Gem-A). Theory and practical examinations weresuccessfully completed in March 2003 resulting in theFellowship of the Gemmological Association (FGA).The Gem-A Diploma syllabus is extensive and coversthe formation and mining and recovery methods, thechemical and physical nature of gem material, thenature and manufacture of synthetics and simulants,the fashioning of gemstones, treatment andenhancement methods, and of course, identificationtechniques.

Basic Methods of Gem Identification

Gem material is first examined visually (with orwithout magnification), to determine colour andcolour effects, level of transparency, surface condition(wear/fracture/indications of cleavage/polish), lustre,inclusions (features within the material), quality ofcut/polish, and level of refractivity (by viewing facetedges through the gem).

As gemstones display a variety of physical and opticalconstants these may be assessed with a number ofinstruments (Figure. 1). The method chosen dependson accessibility (restrictive mounts and settings), thenature of the gem material, and the resourcesavailable. The identity of a gemstone should ideally be

confirmed with a minimum of two methods. Themajority of instruments used to support identificationrely on the nature of interaction between gem materialand visible light, and as such are non-destructive:

Refractometer: Visible light passes through and/or isreflected by gems. The refractometer relies on theprincipal that each gem species has a characteristicangle of ‘total internal reflection’. The refractometer isused to measure the refractive index (RI) of agemstone and also provides further informationabout the crystal structure.

Spectroscope: As visible light passes through, or isreflected by material, specific groups of wavelengthsare absorbed and the remaining light is interpreted bythe eye as colour. This feature is utilised by thespectroscope, a small hand-held instrument whichsplits light into its constituent colours in the form of aspectrum from red to violet. Characteristic absorptionspectrum patterns are created when viewing somegemstones, and these may be diagnostic.

Dichroscope: If a gemstone is doubly refractive(anisotropic), light which enters the gemstone passesalong two different routes. This may result in two ormore colours as the light exits the gemstone. Theresultant light is generally interpreted by the eye as asingle colour, though this colour may vary slightlydepending on the direction of view. A dichroscopeseparates the light on exit from the stone into itsconstituent colours. For example, a ruby will clearlydisplay two colours: pink-red and orangish-red (a

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An Introduction to GemmologyJoanna WhalleySenior Metalwork Conservator

Figure. 1: Instruments commonly used in Gemmology (left to right): polariscope;dichroscope; refractometer; spectroscope

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natural crystal will usually be cut so that what isthought to be the best colour, pink-red, is mostnoticeable when viewed from above); whereas a redspinel, commonly mistaken for ruby, is only singlyrefractive and so will only ever display one colour.

Polariscope: Shadow patterns revealed when turning agemstone on the table of a polariscope indicate thecrystal structure of transparent and translucent gemmaterial. In some cases diagnostic patterns may beviewed. For example, quartz usually displays a highlyindicative ‘bulls eye’ pattern along the optic axis.

Specific Gravity (SG): SG is a figure which representsthe relative density of a material, it is expressed as aratio of the weight of a substance to the weight of anequal volume of water. This figure can be obtained byweighing an object in air and then in water and usinga simple formula. The SG can only be calculated fromun-mounted gem material, and is particularly usefulfor small carvings.

Further Examination

Visible light occupies a small fraction of theelectromagnetic spectrum. In a gem testinglaboratory, various parts of the whole spectrum maybe used to aid identification. For example X-rays areused to provide radiograph images which differentiatebetween materials such as natural and cultured pearlsand can reveal some treatments such as glass fills indiamonds; Infrared (IR) energy is used in infraredspectrometers such as the Fourier Transform Infraredspectrometer (FTIR) which is similar in principal to thespectroscope for visible light, but analyses infraredwavelengths rather than visible light wavelengths.FTIR can be used to identify plastics, oils and waxes,and resin-based materials such as amber.

The Raman microprobe is a spectrometer equippedwith a microscope and an IR, visible light or UV laserilluminator. It was first used in gem laboratories in the1990’s and relies on the development of a database ofspectra for each gemstone species1. Raman isparticularly useful to conclusively identify gemmaterials in settings which restrict the use ofconventional instruments; to identify inclusions, whichmay help to provide an opinion on the geographicalorigin of a natural gemstone; and to identify artificiallyintroduced materials such as oils and waxes.

Applications of gem material examination at theMuseum

Gem material has been identified and ‘Gem MaterialReports’ produced which are provided for curators,fellow conservators and members of the public. Theinformation is used for records, labels, and may affecttreatment considerations, as is the case for materialswhich have been impregnated with a wax or oiland/or are artificially coloured, composite, or areparticularly sensitive, such as opal or amber.

Fifty items of jewellery were examined and thegemstones identified for John Clarke’s forthcomingV&A publication on Himalayan jewellery2 (Figures.2a&b).This provided a unique opportunity to look at settingmethods from this region - many of the gems arebacked with foil and coloured resins which enhancecolour and in many cases provide the only means ofattachment. It also provided an overview of the gemmaterials employed: the great variety of cutting stylesand possible gem localities in each item of jewellerysuggested a number of differing gemstoneprovenances.

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Figure. 2a: A Nepalese Head Ornament (Mus.No.IM.160-1913) for a religiousimage, probably 18th Century. Silver gilt, diamonds, rubies, sapphires,aquamarine, zircon, turquoise, coral, lapis lazuli, freshwater pearls

Figure. 2b: Detail of a rose cut diamond from the head ornament showing a‘trigon’ (an etch pit in the surface of a natural diamond crystal displaying thecrystal structure). The trigon has been left on the surface of the diamond as itwas facetted in order to conserve weight, and possibly to confirm identity

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The gem materials of three objects included in theV&A’s major exhibition Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547 were identified. The resulting information hasbeen used for exhibition labels. Among these is theApe Salt, on loan from New College, Oxford (Figure. 3).The eyes of the ape are set with translucent pinkish redgems, and the ape supports a transparent, colourlesshemisphere. These materials had not been formallyidentified as far as is known, and had been thought tobe glass and rock crystal respectively. The use of aspectroscope and a dichroscope confirmed that thepinkish red gems are rubies; observation of inclusionsand use of the polariscope prove that the hemisphereis, in fact, glass.

The Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Gallery is currently beingdeveloped as a gallery dedicated to the materials andtechniques of sculpture production. Approximately 65cameos and intaglios in a variety of gem materials areto be displayed. The majority of these objects aremade of polycrystalline quartz (chalcedonies andjaspers) in its differing forms. Classification of thesematerials has been historically inconsistent. However,a comprehensive system of nomenclature wasintroduced by Margaret Sax, with help fromChristopher Cavey, Alan Jobbins and GertrudeSeidmann, for the British Museum’s seals3. The systemrelies on colour and colour banding; for example if achalcedony is brown, it is called sard, however if there

are distinct curved bands of other colours within it,the material will be called agate, if the bands arestraight, it may be called an onyx (‘sardonyx’). Thecameos and intaglios for the Gallery are to beexamined and re-classified if appropriate.

The analytical work so far has been demanding andincredibly enjoyable, and with other projects to comeincluding a supporting role in the redisplay of theJewellery Gallery, the future holds many new andexciting challenges.

I am grateful to the Victoria and Albert Museum forgiving me the opportunity to attend this course.Thanks to the Metalwork Department, particularly toRichard Edgcumbe and Clare Phillips, for theircontinued support and encouragement; and I amindebted to Nigel Israel, Chairman of the Society ofJewellery Historians, for allowing himself to beadopted as my unofficial mentor.

References1 Lucia Burgio, Objects Analysis Scientist at the V&A has

conducted a short-term practical study into the use ofRaman spectroscopy in the Museum. As part of thisstudy, a database of spectra was developed usinggems sourced by the author, and this database wasused to identify gems on four items of Himalayanjewellery. (V&A Science Dept. report No 03/37/LB).

2 Clarke, J. (Curator, Asian Department,V&A) Jewellery ofTibet and the Himalayas. Due for publication in July 2004.

3 Sax, M. Recognition and Nomenclature of QuartzMaterials with specific reference to EngravedGemstones. Jewellery Studies 7, 1996.

For anyone with an interest in Gemmology, the Gem-A website is worth a visit at www.gagtl.ac.uk.

The following books offer a good foundation for thestudy of gemmology:-

1) Hall,C. Gemstones. ISBN 1564584992.Published by Dorling Kindersley, (1994).

2) Read, P. Gemmology. ISBN 0750644117.Butterworth Heinemann, (1999).

3) O’Donoghue, M. Identification of Gemstones.ISBN 0750655127.Published by Butterworth Heinemann, (2003).

4) Schumann, W. Gemstones of the World.ISBN 0806994614. Sterling Publishing Co INC,(revised edition 2001).

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Figure. 3: The Ape Salt, c.1450-150018th & 19th Century, (The Wardenand Scholars of New College, Oxford)Ph

otog

raph

y by

Joan

na W

halle

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12

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Key for Departmental Photograph: November 2003Front to Back and Left to Right:Front row: Alan Derbyshire, Sandra Smith, Graham Martin

Second row: Lynda Hillyer, Fiona Campbell, Valerie Blyth, Albertina Cogram, Frances Hartog, Marion Kite,Mike Wheeler, Drew Anderson, Diana Heath, Chris Gingell

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Third row: Alison Richmond, Atsuko Yamamoto, Victoria Oakley, Fi Jordan, Helen Bower, Kathrin Rahfoth,Nicola Costaras, Adam Webster

Fourth row: Christine Powell, Anne Greig, Clair Battisson, Juanita Navarro, Jane Rutherston,Susana Fajardo-Hunter, Donna Stevens, Brenda Keneghan, Zoë Allen, Victor Borges

Fifth row: Merryl Huxtable, Boris Pretzel, Tim Carpenter, Nigel Bamforth, Tim Miller, Katja Gruber, Sofia Marques

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In October the Department underwent arestructuring process. This was in response tochanging work practices in the Museum and theneed to find more flexible ways of using staff,space and other resources within the Department.

The V&A has ambitious plans to improve access tothe collections and increase overall gallery space atthe South Kensington site and the BranchMuseums. Maximising public areas in the V&A willreduce the overall departmental footprint.

Containing the Museum’s running costs within theever-diminishing (in real terms) grant in aid (GIA) isa challenge. Salaries take up the majority of theGIA, and the Museum is, wherever possible,streamlining the core complement and looking formore flexible ways to supplement permanent staff.As in so many national museums, external fundingnow finances major projects such as galleryrefurbishments, and core conservation expertise issupplemented with short term, project relatedcontracts.

Over the past two years the museum structure hasbeen reconfigured, combining small departmentsinto larger units, resulting in more efficientmanagement and more effective use of resources.Curatorial departments have been amalgamatedand the Collections Services Division (of which theConservation Department is a part) has beenformed.

The restructured Department has three largeconservation sections: Textiles, Furniture andFrames (TFF); Sculpture, Metals, Ceramics & Glass(SMCG); Paper, Books and Paintings (PBP). Thecombinations partly reflect shared conservationpractice and also reflect amalgamation of thematerial-based curatorial departments.

The three Section Heads, together with the Head ofScience, form the new Senior Management Team(SMT). Conservation Administration and theRCA/V&A Conservation Course remain key areas ofdepartmental activity and are represented on theSMT by the Head of Department. The SMT will takea strategic overview of the activities in theDepartment. They will take leading roles in

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Restructuring of the DepartmentSandra SmithHead of Conservation

SCIENCEHead of SectionGraham Martin

FURNITURE,TEXTILE & FRAMES

Head of SectionAlbert Neher

SCULPTURE, METALS,CERAMICS & GLASS

Head of SectionAlan Derbyshire

PAPER,BOOKS & PAINTINGS

Head of SectionPauline Webber

ADMINISTRATION HEAD OF DEPARTMENTSandra Smith

RCA/V&A COURSESenior Tutor:

Alison Richmond

New Structure: December 2003

Senior Management Team

15

communicating with other parts of the Museumand the Division. They will prioritise and lead areasof departmental activity which deliver key museumobjectives, such as education, access and research,as well as managing their sections andprofessionally developing staff. Delivering theambitious public programme of the V&A with areduced staff complement will be a challenge, andthe team needs to identify ways of creating a moreflexible workforce.

A review of space has been undertaken across theDepartment in response to the Museum’s need formore efficient use of non-public areas. Commonprocess and shared practice has been identifiedwithin (and across) sections and this has enabledan effective rationalisation of space. The framesand gilding sections will be combined in thefurniture conservation studio and paintingsconservation will join the book and paper studiosduring 2004. Drawing together the staff of SMCGis expected to occur in the longer term, as fundingbecomes available.

The structural change is just the beginning of theprocess, reviewing traditional work practices andidentifying alternative approaches is nowunderway. The next steps are to look at theactivities in the Department, to identify bestpractice from within the former sections andensure that this is adopted within the newstructure whilst also looking at ways to simplifyand streamline departmental roles andcommunication.

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Practising conservators, scientists and theadministrative staff can identify changes thatwill make the process smoother, more efficientand effective. Involving them in this changeprocess is therefore essential to its success, notonly in terms of responding to increasing andconflicting demands on our time, but also formaintaining our departmental reputation andstandards. A departmental away day in Decemberhas begun to explore these issues in more detail.

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These outcomes contribute to Access, Excellence,Efficiency & Effectiveness and Care of the Collections.

Conservation Contribution to Current TrainingUnless otherwise indicated, full details of events can be found via the V&A’s Training Schedule. Conservationcontributors are listed , but many events are co-presented with colleagues from other departmentswithin the Collections Services Division.

Future PlansThe Training Team is constantly reviewing anddeveloping the provision of learning opportunities for museum staff. The following programmes are under development and will involve input from theConservation Department.

• Understanding Objects and MaterialsThis will offer a series of material specific modulescovering aspects of Materials Science and Technologywhich will ensure a more advanced level of care andunderstanding of a wide range of material types.

• Front of House DevelopmentBasic conservation awareness will be an importantelement in this programme, enabling Front of Housestaff to recognise potential risks to collections.

In ConclusionThe Training Team can only achieve its goals with thesupport of departments like Conservation. In so doing it allows us to promote Continual ProfessionalDevelopment and continue to maintain the standardsrequired by the Investor In People Award.

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Programme Topic or specific event Contributor(s)

Assistant Curator Development Induction sessions Lynda HillyerProgramme

Basic Preventive Conservation Graham MartinBug & Pest Control Val BlythObject Handling Mike Wheeler, Albertina Cogram,

Juanita Navarro & others

RCA/V&A course Many sessions within programme Various – contact Alison Richmond for detail

Individual or small group coaching Checking Bug Traps Val BlythObject Handling Various

V&A Induction Departmental Induction Tour Tim Carpenter

Readers of the Conservation Journal will know that theV&A Conservation Department sets and maintains veryhigh standards of performance. However, you may beless aware of the extent of work carried out in theDepartment to further the skills and experience of awhole range of museum staff. This contributes to thetargets set for the V&A by the Department for CultureMedia and Sport (DCMS). The targets are summarisedbelow:

• Access - improving the visitor experience • Learning - expanding opportunities for both

visitors and staff• Excellence - improving our practices and

promoting excellence • Social inclusion - engagement with under-served

audiences and the Regions• Efficiency and effectiveness - development of IT

and effective systems• Care of the collections

The key staff groupings that receive training from theConservation Department include Curatorial, Front ofHouse and Maintenance and Cleaning – essentially,all staff who work with and around the collections. Byensuring that these groups have a basic understandingof the risks posed by environment or mis-handling, theDepartment’s training activities:

• increase the ability of staff to alert the experts toproblems quickly and efficiently, avoiding damage to the collections

• ensure that they follow best practice in care andcleaning

• enable them to more fully inform visitors about worksbeing carried out or why access may be restricted.

Staff Development in Conservation IssuesRuth FletcherTraining & Development Advisor

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As a normal part of the conservation process a riskassessment is undertaken before a conservation taskis started. In the UK there is also the specific issue ofthe Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH)that legally impels the conservator to consider the‘cradle to grave’ aspects of the chemicals in use.This law applies not only to those chemicals to bepurchased and used during the conservationtreatment but also to the residual chemicals in theobjects themselves. The entry route to the body may be by inhalation of vapours or through the epidermiswhilst handling or reshaping. This short contributiondemonstrates that the CoSHH process has led toproper considerations of risk associated with theconservation and handling of felt hats shown tocontain mercury salts. It also underlines theimportance of understanding how the objectwas manufactured.

By no means a new phenomenon, the presence ofmercury salts in felt hat manufacture has beenknown to present a health hazard to workers in the felt industry since the nineteenth century. It isgenerally held that the term ‘Mad as a Hatter’ derivesfrom the Lewis Carroll tale published in 1865 as Alicein Wonderland where the Hatter at the Tea Partydemonstrates the classic symptoms of mercurypoisoning. More recently a 1994 paper follows up theTuscany (Italy) compensation claims of 1,146 fur hatworkers.

The potential for mercury salts to be contained in any of the hats in the V&A Collection was recognisedearly in the CoSHH risk assessment. A short pilot studywas undertaken to verify the presence or absence ofmercury by the use of energy dispersive x-rayspectroscopy (EDXRF) on a number of felt hats.

Different animal hairs have been used in themanufacture of hats and one of the most importantwas the beaver. The most desirable and expensivehats were made from beaver. Manufacture of feltrelies on the property of animal fibres to becomeentangled when exposed to heat, moisture andintermittent mechanical pressure. This contribution isparticularly concerned with the use of mercury saltsto improve the felting process for beaver fur. This isknown in the fur trade as carrotting. In the carrottingprocess metal salts were used in conjunction with a

mineral acid or strong organic acid and usuallyhydrogen peroxide or some other oxidising agent wasincluded. The authors have not located any moderntexts on the use of metal salts. This is probably due to the switch away from the use of such metal saltsdue to their toxicity and environmental impact. A keyearly paper that describes the chemical processesand presents an early literature survey is that of Barrand Watt. It is evident that the industry very muchwanted to get away from the use of mercury saltswhich was introduced in the mid 18th century. For amuseum curator and conservator – the remnants ofmercury from the carrotting process still remains athreat.

The most common damage to historic hats is crushdamage and deformation due to poor storage, and themost frequently used treatment in the conservationof hats is the use of steam to relax and reshape them toremove these deformations. During this process, the hatis manipulated by hand to ease out the deformationsand bring back the shape. When hats are embrittledand degrading, the steaming and manipulationprocess may need to be repeated several times as re-shaping can be a gradual and slow process.

The V&A has anestimated 100 hatsthat may be classed

as felted fur hats. Upto 50% of this part of

the collection isthought to containmercury salts. At the

Museum ofLondon thereare an estimated31 hats that are

classed as beaverand so may also contain

mercury salts. It isimpossible to estimate

the size of other collectionswith any accuracy but in theUK alone there must be inexcess of 1000 such hats.

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CoSHH Does WorkGraham Martin, Head of Science Section

Marion Kite, Senior Textile Conservator

Figure 1. Circa 1840, English black beaver hat(T.105-1937).

Pict

ure

by G

raha

m M

artin

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As a short-term interim measure to minimiseexposure of staff and visitors to mercury, the V&Adevised a programme of isolating the hats by‘bagging’. This has been undertaken until it waspossible to use EDXRF to survey the collection. Toenable continuing access to the collection a primerequisite was that the bag should be made of cleartransparent material and self-adhesive chemicalhazard symbols were attached as appropriate. Theauthors suggest that this is the minimum that canbe undertaken to protect staff and visitors frompotential mercury exposure. Gloves and a protectivesuit were worn during the bagging. For the bags,Mylar™ and self adhesive tape were used. Fit andproper disposal of the mercury contaminated glovesand other material should be arranged through locallicensed chemical disposal contractors.

The nature of the EDXRF analysis has considerableadvantages in that the technique is non-destructivebut it is difficult to quantify the levels of mercury inthe felt. In order to determine these levels a specialistlaboratory was contracted to undertake destructiveanalysis on a sacrificial hat obtained specially forthese purposes. The Environmental Impact AnalysisGroup at the University of Derby1 have the necessaryexpertise and equipment to undertake this work, thathas shown that the average mercury content of thishat was 1.1% w/w2.

A literature study had identified that the traditionalconservation process of steaming the felt hat in orderto re-shape could lead to the loss of mercury in thefur3. One of the sources reported that there was a lossof between 7% and 9% by weight of mercury whenfur is subjected to a temperature of 105°C 3. The use of steam to treat hats may give rise to exposure of

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EEDDXXRRFF SSppeeccttrruumm TT..110055--11993377

0

50

100

150

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40KKeeVV

CCoouu

nnttss

Chromium

Iron

Mercury

Copper

Figure 2. EDXRF spectrum of T.105-1937 showing mercury and also note chromium content.

19

the conservator to mercury, and appropriate safetymeasures must be employed. To test this, undercarefully controlled and agreed conditions, one half ofa sacrificial hat was subjected to steaming as wouldbe usual in conservation processes. Typically this isfive to ten minutes of steam and hand manipulation.No significant difference between the steamed andunsteamed half of the hat could be found. Also,occupational hygiene monitoring of the air that theconservator was breathing indicated a mercuryconcentration of 0.7 �gm-3 where occupationalexposure standards for mercury are 25 �gm-3 4 Notethat entry to the body via skin contact has beenexcluded from consideration in this investigation asgloves were worn.

The authors have been aware of this issue for overten years. The potential for arsenic, mercury, cadmiumor other substances exists. Exposure of staff andvisitors to other harmful chemicals must be treatedwith the utmost concern.

The proper use of risk assessments and CoSHH hasidentified the hazard and given staff a tool tomanage the issues involved.

This article is an updated summary of a paperpresented at the Conservation Science CS2002conference, Edinburgh 20025

References1 Environmental Impact Analysis Group, Research

Centre Director: Dr N Hudson, University of Derby,Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB.[e] [email protected] [t] +44 (0)1332 591719

2 Environmental Impact Analysis Group, University ofDerby, TEST REPORT No 8395

3 Wood, M. and Haigh, D., A Comparison of the Belgianand BHAFRA Methods for Estimating the Amount ofMercury Present in Carrotted Fur, a technical reportof the British Hat and Allied Feltmakers ResearchAssociation (BHAFRA) now defunct. The archives areheld by the Hat Works – The Museum of Hatting,Stockport, UK. BHAFRA Library report: 35, page 6,4 November 1955

4 Evans, R, Report from Aon Health Solutions dated 20 June 2003

5 Martin G. and Kite M., “Conservator Safety - Mercuryin Felt Hats”, Proceedings of Conservation Science2002 Conference, Edinburgh May 22 - 24,page 177 – 181, Archetype Publications, London ISBN 1-873132-88-3, edited by J. Townsend, K. Ereminand A. Adriaens, 2003 .

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20

Environmental monitoring is an essential featureboth of routine collection care and of the mountingof exhibitions. External lenders of objects will oftenplace stringent specifications on display conditions,and will commonly require proof of compliance.

In the case of the V&A, as with most other largeinstitutions, environmental monitoring has seenmany approaches used over the years, with varyingdegrees of success. The OCEAN (Object CentredEnvironmental Analysis Network) project is anattempt to combine the cumulative practicalexperience of the V&A staff with the technicalexpertise of an external company in order to producea robust and user-friendly monitoring system. At theV&A, this new radio based system will consist of athousand or more environmental sensors over arange of geographically separated sites.

In particular the following key specifications weremade for the system:

• Each end user should have their own customizedview of the system, depending on their area ofresponsibility

• The level of system access should be controlledbased on individual users

• The system must offer a quick visual indication ofconditions in all relevant locations

• Report generation facilities should becomprehensive and under the control of the enduser. Depending on access level the report shouldrange in complexity from a simple summary up toa distribution analysis

• Automated periodic reports should be available• A simple calculation representing an overall

assessment of conditions should be available• There should be a full calibration/audit regime in

place• Minimum intervention should be required by the

system administrator under normal circumstances• The system should cope with short-term power

and network failures

The past few years has seen a gradual move awayfrom manual data recording devices (such as thermo-hygrographs and data loggers) towards centralizedsystems, which offer an automated collection ofreadings. These systems are inevitably based onmodern information technology infrastructures suchas local area networks and PCs. As any computer userwill know, this brings its own practical problems but,nevertheless, the savings in staff time and theavailability of on-line real-time data has made thisthe preferred approach for institutions large andsmall.

In parallel with the developments in IT there havebeen many advances in radio technology, to the pointwhere it is now practical to reliably cover even thelargest buildings using low-power, license-free radiosin battery powered devices.

The approach taken for the OCEAN project was tocombine radio sensors with the Museum’snetworking facilities. The general layout of thesystem is shown in Figure 1 below: -

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The OCEAN Project at the V&A Dr Martin Hancock Managing Director, Hanwell Instruments

Figure 1. system schematic

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In this scheme the total requirement is broken downinto cells in a configuration similar to a mobile phonenetwork. Each cell supports up to 250 sensorstransmitting to a Smart Receiver (SR1) radio/ethernetconverter unit. The cell will have its own designatedradio frequency and may have within it repeater unitsas required. Each SR1 has its own fixed networkaddress, which may be on a local or wide-areanetwork. Each cell automatically registers sensorsand their serial number.

The SR1s contain both memory and back-up powerand are periodically interrogated by a programrunning on a dedicated server. This machine also runsthe access control software and a server program.Users communicate with the server via clientsoftware, which has been customized for this project.The system administrator has remote control of thisserver.

The system software represents a major developmentof Hanwell’s RadioLog industrial monitoring system,which itself has origins in the well-establishedenvironmental monitoring system (EMS) used worldwide in the heritage sector. These two products areintended to support typically 100 or so sensors andare primarily text (list) based, although simplegraphic representations are available.

It was considered that with such a large amount ofdata the text-based approach described above wouldbe unwieldy and that what was required here was atotally graphical front end with a strictly hierarchicalsensor organisation. From the users’ viewpoint themost important features would be as simple aspossible a method of navigating the Museum and at-a-glance indication of problem areas.

The solution that has been adopted required thedesign of a new user interface package. In thisinterface the sensors are represented as small iconson an AutoCAD™ generated drawing of each site(see Figure 2). This approach allows the user toexploit the powerful navigation capabilities ofadvanced drawing packages and to readily view theMuseum at any appropriate level of detail. Each iconis colored red, yellow or green. In this scheme ‘red’represents a current alarm condition, ‘yellow’ ahistoric alarm condition as yet not handled and‘green’ indicates no problem.

Any, or all icons, can be expanded to show live valuesand to allow access to graphing etc via a pop-up menu.

Each sensor is assigned to a site, a division and,optionally, a department, section and subsection.Each user is given a scope of view based on the samescheme. These two pieces of information are used to

create the tree view (right pane) andto customize it for each user. Allsensor icons appear in collapsed formfor all users but only those thatappear on the tree can be processedin any way. Clicking on any tree entrywill cause the drawing to adjust asnecessary to show that sensor. Thosesensors in alarm appear in a similartree structure in the left pane.Currently each layer of the drawingrepresents a floor of the Museum butthis is totally configurable to suitindividual site requirements.

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Figure 2. site screen

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The system manager allocates every user an accesslevel and this level is used to restrict the range ofactions that can be performed by any individual. Theusage of the system is registered in the audit trail asusers log-in and log-out.

Report generation is a key requirement. The user canreadily select and filter all of the sensors within hisview and generate an Adobe™ portable documentformat (PDF) report in an optional level of detail, forany time period of interest (Figure 3). The filteringdistinguishes between case, ambient and externalsensors to ensure that like is compared with like. Allof the normal performance figures required, such astime within specification, are automatically producedwithout the need for any spreadsheet work, as hasbeen the case in the past.

Currently one cell, representing approximately onequarter of the South Kensington site, has beeninstalled and the software is largely complete, themain exception being the functions related to theautomatic e-mailing of reports.

The current intention is that the remainder of thehardware will be installed at the main site during thefirst two quarters of 2004 with the other buildingsadded in late 2004/early 2005. The e-mailing optionswill also be completed in phase 2 of the project andthe software rolled-out for general use.

The system is working well with a high reliability ofradio coverage and a few regular users. Interestedreaders should contact Graham Martin or BorisPretzel in the Science Section.

Acknowledgments and InformationsHanwell Instruments Ltd., 12-13 Mead BusinessCentre, Hertford, SG13 7BJ, UKAutoCAD™ Autodesk, Inc., 111 McInnis Parkway, SanRafael, California 94903, USAAdobe™ Uniroyal Chemical Company Inc., BensonRoad, Middlebury, Connecticut 06749, USA

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Figure 3. report selection

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Shammi Bannu is a renowned master artist in India with a very long family tradition of miniaturepainting which stretches back several hundredyears. His father Bannu was well known acrossIndia as both an artist and as a skilled restorer of miniature paintings. Shammi was invited toEngland to demonstrate painting techniques in the Hamzanama exhibition space for a period oftwo weeks. His visit to the UK was generouslysupported by the Friends of the V&A. He kindlyagreed to also hold a workshop at the V&A duringhis visit.

Based in Jaipur, Rajastahn, Shammi is among a smallgroup of artists in India working in a completelytraditional style using mineral pigments which theyprepare and grade themselves. Jaipur is renowned asa centre for arts and crafts and has a tradition of bothpainting and jewellery making, as well as being acentre for trading of minerals and precious stones.Many of these same minerals are used as bothsettings in jewellery and as artists pigments. Lapislazuli is a good example of this type of semi-preciousstone used for both purposes. Likewise, the knowledgeof gold and silver working techniques are useful inthe preparation of the metallic leaves used forpreparing gold and silver paints.

The target audiences for this one day workshopwere both artists and conservation specialists. Itwas hosted by the V&A Paper Conservation Sectionin May 2003, as part of a programme of eventsdesigned to tie in with the Adventures of Hamzaexhibition organised by the Smithsonian Institution,Washington DC that was exhibited at the V&Afrom 15 March - 8 June 2003. Twenty peopleattended the workshop which was conducted inthe Paper Conservation studio and in theHamzanama exhibition space.

The day began with a slide lecture designed tointroduce the audience to the pigments commonlyused for painting as well as explaining some of thebasic preparation methods, that include grinding,washing to remove impurities and gradingaccording to particle size. It was of interest tonotice the variety in the colour of pigment

originating from different natural sources and thedegree to which the colour may vary according tothe amount of grinding and preparation it hasreceived. Gold paint is made from gold leaf whichhas been mixed with gum and ground down withthe palm of the hand on a flat saucer until a liquidpaint is produced. It takes many hours to produceonly a very small quantity of this precious paintwhich is commonly used in place of gold leaf forthe decoration of Indian miniature paintings onboth cloth and paper.

Participants examined both pigments and papersand learned how to use the traditional, curvedsquirrel hair brushes which allow extremely finelines to be drawn on the paper and are used forapplying the paint to small areas. Samples of thedifferent pigments were painted out by participantswhile Shammi showed the audience his method of assembling a cloth and paper support, which was similar to the laminated type used for theHamzanama folios in the Hamza exhibition. He also demonstrated the way of stretching out theadhesive-soaked cloth on glass and adhering thedampened paper to it with wheat starch paste.

By the end of the day, participants were left with afar greater appreciation of the time and effortwhich goes into producing a miniature paintingand the painstaking nature of the painters craft. Itis to be hoped that this rich tradition will continueto thrive in the rapidly changing world of twentyfirst century India.

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An Indian Painting Workshop led by Shammi Bannu Mike WheelerSenior Paper Conservator

Phot

ogra

phy

by M

ike

Whe

eler

Dr Vincent DanielsResearch Fellow, Conservation Science, RCAVincent Daniels studied for his BSc at University CollegeCardiff where he stayed to do research into the properties ofthermally degraded poly(vinyl chloride). During some of theacademic holidays he worked for Bush, Boake and Allen, aperfume and flavourings manufacturer.

After a year of post-doctoral research he joined the BritishMuseum in 1974 to study problems of paper and librarymaterials. Since then he has worked on a wide range ofconservation research problems but is principally interestedin paper and cellulose-based materials, dyes and pigments.

He was a Visiting Research Fellow at Sussex University fortwo years while working on plasma treatments forantiquities. He left the British Museum in 2003 and is now aconsultant in conservation science and works part-time as aResearch Fellow at the Royal College of Art where he isworking on the fading of indigo. He is a Fellow of both theInternational Institute of Conservation and of the RoyalSociety of Chemistry.

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New Intern New Staff RCA/V&A

Anne KwaspenTextile Conservation Intern

In 2002 I completed a two year course studying Restoration/Conservation of Textiles and Costumes at the RoyalAcademy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Before this I hadalready obtained a Masters Degree in Fine Arts, with anoption of Textile Art. In addition to the design and executionof my own wall tapestries, I learned several traditionaltextile techniques and developed a genuine fascination forold textiles.

For some years now, I have been working as a pattern-cutterand design assistant for several fashion designers, and thisexperience has proven to be a major advantage in theunderstanding of patterns of historical costumes. In fact myprime interest is in costume conservation.

I have already spent some time abroad in severalconservation workshops. During a two month stay in theCzech Republic I worked mainly at the Baroque Theatre ofthe Cesky Krumlov Castle, where I started a project forpreventive conservation in the storage of 18th centurytheatre costumes.

Next I worked as an intern in the Textile Conservation Studioat Hampton Court Palace. My main job there consisted ofthe conservation of hats and the preparation of displaysupports for the exhibition, “Hats and Handbags of HMQueen Elizabeth II”, at Kensington Palace.

I am very pleased that I have been given the opportunity ofan Internship, for seven months, at the V&A. During thisperiod I will have the chance to gain more ‘hands on work’experience. My program here varies a lot – I am workingboth on costumes and other textiles – allowing me topractice several different techniques.

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op-amp circuit collection (an31)

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