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Conservation DepartmentStaff Chart Spring 2005

Head of ConservationSandra Smith

PA & Dept SecretaryFiona Campbell

Science

Boris PretzelBrenda KeneghanLucia BurgioEoin Kelly

Furniture, Textiles & Frames (FTF)

FurnitureChristine PowellShayne RiversTim MillerNigel Bamforth

TextilesLynda HillyerMarion KiteVal BlythAlbertina CogramFrances HartogSusana Fajado-HunterElizabeth-Anne HaldaneAnja BayerAnnie Kwaspen

FramesZoe Allen

Paper, Books &Paintings (PBP)

PaperMerryl HuxtableVictoria ButtonMichael WheelerSusan CatcherLisa Nash (RIBA)

MountersClair BattissonSimon FleuryChris Gingell

BooksJane RutherstonKaren VidlerAnne Greig (RIBA)

PaintingsNicola Costaras

Sculpture, Metals,Ceramics & Glass(SMCG)

SculptureCharlotte HubbardSofia MarquesVictor Borges

MetalsDiana HeathJoanna WhalleySophy WillsDonna StevensKatia Viegas WesolowskaJon PrivettGates Turner

Ceramics & GlassVictoria OakleyFi JordanJuanita NavarroAmanda Barnes

Stained GlassSherrie EatmanAnn MarshDaniella Peltz

Administration & InformationSystems

Tim Carpenter Laura JigginsMichelle Murray

StudentsSurface StudiesMarie Vest, PhD

Historical/Technical StudyAllyson McDermott, MPhilTimea Tallian, MPhil

Modern JewelleryCordelia Rogerson, PhD

BooksKaren Vidler, MPhil

TextilesAlice Cole, MAHazel Arnott, MA(with Historic Royal Palaces)

SculptureAnna Kagiadaki, MA

Conservation ScienceKonstantinos Ntanos, MA(with British Museum)Naomi Luxford, MA(with English Heritage)Tsing-Young Dora Tang, MSci(with Imperial College)

FurnitureKatja Tovar, MABarbara Schertel, MA

History, Ethics & ManagementHelen Evans, MPhil

Natural HistoryMelissa Gunter, MA(with Natural HistoryMuseum)

Ethnographic MaterialsHeidrun Gassner, MA(with Horniman Museum)

PaperClair Walton MA(with Theatre Museum)

Metalwork (with othermaterials)Louise Parris, MA

RCA/V&A ConservationWilliam Lindsay (RCA)Alison Richmond (V&A)Alison Bracker (RCA)Vincent Daniels (RCA)Joanna Baden (RCA)Harriet Standeven (V&A)

InternshipsFurnitureMiho KitagawaPaintingsLara Wilson

Editorial BoardSandra SmithHead of Department

Nigel BamforthSenior Furniture Conservator

Lucia BurgioObject Analysis Scientist

Charlotte HubbardHead Sculpture Conservator

Fi JordanSenior Ceramics Conservator

Graham Martin Head of Science

Michelle MurrayConservation Administrator

Mike WheelerSenior Paper Conservator

Designed by V&A Design

Photographs are credited individually

All enquiries to:-Conservation DepartmentVictoria and Albert MuseumLondon SW7 2RL, UKTelephone +44 (0)20 7942 2133Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 2092e-mail conservation.journal@vam.ac.uk

The V&A Conservation Journal is an informal publication and references in articles are discouraged. Readers may contact authors for further information via the e-mail address above

Contents V&A Conservation Journal No.49

1 EditorialSandra Smith, Head of Conservation

2 Dating Alhambra stuccoesLucia Burgio, Object Analysis Scientist, Science Conservation

4 Conservation of Houghton Hall textiles andfurniture

Sandra Smith, Head of Conservation

7 Funding a collaborative conservation project:the Mazarin Chest

Shayne Rivers, Senior Furniture Conservator

8 The Safavid CopeMarion Kite, Senior Textiles Conservator

11 The Ardabil carpet – a new perspectiveLynda Hillyer, Head of Textiles Conservation,Boris Pretzel, Materials Scientist

14 Encounters with Paper Conservation: the treatmentof a Chinese painted silk dress

Elizabeth-Anne Haldane, Textile Conservator

17 An insight into the craftman's techniquesKatia Viegas Wesolowska, Metals Conservator

20 William Blake’s only surviving palette?Dr Joyce H Townsend, Senior Conservation Scientist, Tate,Dr Bronwyn Ormsby, Conservation Scientist, Tate,Dr Julia Jönsson, formerly Conservation Scientist, Tate,Dr Mark Evans, Senior Curator of Paintings, Victoria andAlbert Museum

22 New Staff and Interns

Staff Chart

Front Cover image: Chinese painted silk dressPhotography by Elizabeth-Ann Haldane

Graham Martin Albert Neher Pauline Webber Alan Derbyshire

Visiting ResearchersTitika Malkogeorgou

Key

Senior Management Team

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Conservation scientists, conservators and arthistorians can often obtain useful clues for thedating and authentication of art objects byidentifying the materials used on them. For example,when pigment analysis is carried out on a museumobject, it can reveal the presence of date-markercompounds, i.e. materials which have a first date ofmanufacture or, for other reasons, are unlikely to have been used for the decoration of a work of artproduced at a particular time and place. This conceptis exemplified by the analysis of five painted stuccoesfrom the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection ofmedieval Hispano-Islamic panels (Figure 1). Thestuccoes are from the Alhambra Palace in Granada,Spain, and supposedly date from the fourteenthcentury.

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Pigment analysis wasrequested by Victor Borges,V&A Senior SculptureConservator as an aid todating. Samples of thepigmented areas of thestuccoes were firstanalysed by Ramanmicroscopy, a non-destructive, non-intrusivetechnique which isparticularly suitable for the

identification of pigments(Figures 2 and 3).

Subsequently, the samples were mounted as dispersions and

examined by polarised lightmicroscopy.

2The identification of the pigments

present on the stucco fragments as well as theevaluation of the shape and size of the pigmentparticles provided clues about the date of thefragments (Table 1).

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Traditional materials were detected on four stuccofragments supposedly still covered by the originaldecoration. When mercury(II) sulfide (HgS, also calledvermilion or cinnabar) was detected and identified by Raman microscopy, its particles examined bypolarised light microscopy showed an irregulardistribution of shape and size, as well as the presenceof striations on some of the biggest particles. Thesefeatures indicate that the red pigment is either ofmineral origin, in which case it is more accurate to

refer to it as cinnabar, or it is of synthetic origin,by means of the so-called dry process. Similarly,the particles of lazurite, seen under the opticalmicroscope, showed the characteristics typical of a ground pigment, i.e. irregular size andshape, broken edges and non-uniform colour.This indicates that the pigment was obtainedfrom lapis lazuli, and it is not the syntheticmaterial called ultramarine blue, which was firstsynthesised in 1828. As expected for stuccoes,gypsum and occasionally calcite were detectedin the mortar samples.

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A New Year and new challenges ahead!

The end of 2004 saw a rush to complete galleries:Architecture, Domestic Metalware, The Gilbert BayesSculpture Gallery; the closure of Dresser andEncounters; the couriering of Westwood to Canberra;the opening of Art Deco in Boston and a major loanof exquisite Diaghilev ballet costumes conservedand mounted for display in Groningen, Netherlands.Barely had we all drawn breath, taken part in the in-house and traditional pantomime (with Conservationtaking starring roles) and imbibed at the MuseumChristmas party then we were hurtling along intothe new year. Preparation is now underway for theJameel Gallery of Islamic Art with the Ardabil carpetin the process of being redisplayed horizontally forthe first time in over 110 years (Hillyer & Pretzel);the Sacred Silver and Stained Glass gallery willcontain many beautiful objects and will challengetraditional methods of stained glass display withinthe Museum; preliminary work has already begunfor the Medieval and Renaissance galleries.

This Journal picks up on some of the interestingchallenges and discoveries presented to theDepartment at the close of last year. Elizabeth-Anne Haldane discusses how one painted dressbrought together skills of both textiles and paperconservators. Research into an object for theArchitecture Gallery (Burgio), highlights theinvaluable role that conservation scientists makein verifying, or challenging, perceived opinions of parts of the collection, whilst the article byTownsend highlights that science alone will not give definitive answers of authenticity.

Every new year offers new challenges, but with noappreciable increase (in real terms) of the Grant inAid that the Museum receives, this year willcertainly be more challenging than the last. Findingways to deliver work from exhibitions, loans andgallery displays whilst also allocating time topreserving the reserve collections, is causing us tolook increasingly for external funding to supportconservation projects. This is bringing new skills tothe Department but making an application involvesa considerable amount of preparation, preliminarywork, and negotiation to meet funding criteria andthe timescales and deadlines within ones owninstitution, without any assurance of ultimatesuccess. Happily, the Department has beensuccessful in securing funds for the conservation of the Mazarin Chest (Rivers) and Houghton Hallcollections (Smith). Both are long term projects,which bring with them opportunities of partnershipand new relationships with other conservationprofessionals. They have also resulted in strongerrelationships within the V&A as different departmentshave come together to support the application.

The progress of these projects, together with thatof the Messel collection (Theatre Museum) and theDaily Mail Archive which are two other projectswhich have attracted external funding, will betracked through the V&A website over the next fewyears. In all instances the projects will result in acollection becoming more accessible and more fullyunderstood and some will move professionalconservation practice forward and build skills forthe future.

EditorialSandra SmithHead of Conservation

Dating Alhambra stuccoes Lucia BurgioObject Analysis Scientist, Science Conservation

Panel museum number A.9-1913 A.171-1919 A.10-1913 A.12-1913 A.176-1919

Traditional Lazurite Gypsum Gypsum Gypsum Gypsummaterials Gypsum Chalk Lead whitepresent Quartz Carbon black

Cinnabar Red lake

Modern Prussian bluematerials Wet-process present Vermilion

Chrome yellow

Table 1. Materials identified on the Alhambra stucco panels.

Figure 1:The stucco panel A.171-1919,size 17 x 34 cm.

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Houghton Hall, Norfolk, was built and furnished in1722-1735 for Sir Robert Walpole, the first British PrimeMinister, by the innovative and leading designerWilliam Kent. Many of the state rooms retain theiroriginal furnishings.

In 2002, under the Government Acceptance-in-Lieu(AIL) system, the V&A acquired two state beds, threesets of tapestries and two suites of gilded seatfurniture, to be preserved in situ at Houghton Hall for the nation. These items have fragile originalhangings and upholstery and are in urgent need of conservation. A conservation survey, prior toacquisition, identified over a million pounds worth of conservation work. This extensive conservationproject could not be undertaken by the V&AConservation Department and external studiosneeded to be commissioned to undertake the work.

The DCMS provided £250,000 toward the costs ofthis project and in 2004 an application was made to the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) for further funding. Submission of the applicationinvolved the planning of conservation work,identification of appropriately skilled studios thatcould undertake the work within the five yeartimescale suggested by the NHMF and considerationof the impact of this work on the staff and visitors to Houghton Hall.

Two factors, fragility (conservation) and historicalsignificance (curatorial) were used to prioritise thecollection. The Embroidered Bed (Figure 1) and theKing’s and Queen’s tapestries (Figure 2) followed bythe Venus and Adonis tapestries (Figure 3) were inmost urgent need of conservation, followed by theKent Bed counterpoint and the two suites of seatfurniture. The Bacchus tapestries were sufficientlyrobust not to be included in the NHMF fundapplication.

Conservation method statements were written forthe tapestries by Lynda Hillyer, Head of the TextileConservation Studio, and furniture by ChristinePowell and Nigel Bamforth of the FurnitureConservation Studio. These specified for external

tenders’ standards of treatment, quality of work anddocumentation, and emphasised the need for theappearance of the conserved items to be appropriateto the ambience of the Hall.

Completing all conservation within a five year timescale was a challenge, particularly for complex andtime consuming work involved in the treatment ofthe Embroidered Bed and tapestries. Treatments werebroken down into smaller packages to enable two ormore studios to work on items simultaneously. The‘lead studio’ was responsible for ensuring quality and consistency of method and materials for all the studios conserving the the King’s and Queen’stapestries and the curtains of the Embroidered Bed.In total for the five items/groups of furniture andtextiles to be treated, thirteen packages of work were defined (Table 1).

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In contrast, modern pigments such as Prussian blue and lead chromate (also known as chrome yellow) weredetected on stucco fragment A.10-1913 (Figure 3). Thisindicates that either the whole fragment is a modernreplica or the fragment is original, but was re-paintedat some point in the nineteenth century. This terminuspost quem derives from the fact that Prussian blue was first synthesised in 1704, but it was not commerciallyavailable until the 1720s; on the other hand leadchromate, was first synthesised at the beginning of thenineteenth century. One of the fragments (A.10-1913)also shows traces of synthetic, wet-process vermilion,characterised by uniformly sized, small, roundedparticles.

The analysis of pigments andmaterials found on these stuccopanels from the Alhambra Palace inGranada, Spain, gave sufficient cluesto hypothesise that one of the panelswas not from the fourteenth century,as originally thought. Gypsum, and inone instance, calcite were detected inthe stucco mortar, and traditionalmaterials such as lazurite, cinnabar,and carbon black were detected onstucco fragments supposedly stillcovered by the original decoration.Pigments such as Prussian blue andlead chromate were found on onestucco fragment, which was thereforethought to be either an originalfragment repainted at some point inthe nineteenth century or a copymade in the nineteenth century. Thelatter hypothesis is supported byobservations collected during theconservation treatment of the stuccofragments.

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AcknowledgementsI am grateful to Professor Robin J.H.Clark, University College London, forkindly granting access to his Ramanspectrometer for pigment analysis.

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References1. Borges, Victor, Nasrid plasterwork: symbolism,

materials and techniques, V&A ConservationJournal 48, Autumn 2004.

2. Burgio, Lucia, Microscopy analysis of Hispano-Moresque samples from the Alhambra, V&AScience Report 04.27.lb, June 2004.

3. Burgio, Lucia, Clark, Robin J.H., and Borges, Victor,Paper in preparation for submission to the Journalof Cultural Heritage.

Figure 2: Raman spectra of a) lazurite from a blue area and b) vermilion from a red area on panel A.9-1913.Reference spectra of known samples of lazurite and cinnabar are also shown for comparison purposes.

Figure 3: Raman spectra of a) Prussian blue from a blue area and b) lead chromate from a yellow area onpanel A.10-1913. Reference spectra of known samples of Prussian blue and lead chromate are also shown forcomparison purposes.

Conservation of Houghton Hall textilesand furnitureSandra SmithHead of Conservation

Object Description Conservation Work Packages

Venus and Adonis Tapestries 4 Panels & Borders Package 1

Seated Furniture Full Conservation

Upholstery Package 1

Gilding Package 2 (V&A)

Preventive Work

Netting Package 3

Gilding Package 4

Embroidered Bed Headboard & Valances Package 1

Counterpoint Package 2

2 Curtains Package 3 (lead)

2 Curtains Package 4

2 Curtains Package 5

King’s and Queen’s Tapestries 3 Panels Package 1 (lead)

2 Panels Package 2

Kent Bed Counterpoint & Valances Package 1

Table 1: Packages of work for the Houghton Hall Conservation Project.

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The curtains of the Embroidered Bed will be rotatedto ensure that the base of the bed is always dressed,and a silk coverlet will be placed over the mattresseswhilst the counterpoint is being conserved. Atapestry from the V&A Collection will replace theKing’s and Queen’s tapestries in the state roomwhilst it is out of the house being conserved.

Information panels will inform the public of theconservation project and progress reports on the V&A website (linked to the Houghton Hall website)will help to forewarn visitors that those collectionsare not accessible.

In October 2004 a grant of £500,000 was securedfrom the NHMF. This, together with the DCMSfunding and support from the V&A (salary cost,insurance, materials and equipment) will secure theconservation of the Embroidered Bed, the King’s andQueen’s tapestries and three out of the four Venusand Adonis tapestries (funding for the remainingpanel is currently being sought).

Work on this project began in October 2004 with thedismantling of the Embroidered Bed and the removalof the Venus and Adonis tapestries. The work will beundertaken by five different conservation studios, andwill take five years to complete.

My thanks go to the following people, withoutwhom this project would not have got off theground: DCMS and the NHMF for their generoussupport (in particular Ellen Dempster); the V&A‘Houghton Team’, conservators, curators,Development, ISSD, Learning and Interpretation,Contracts, Finance and in particular MichaelCasartelli; to all the studios who tendered for thework and raised our standards even higher!; LordCholmondeley and the Houghton Hall staff, fortheir help and (continued) patience as we invadetheir beautiful property and disrupt their lives.

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Studios with a proven track record of working oncomparable collections (e.g. National Trust andEnglish Heritage) were invited to tender for one ormore individual packages/items. The studios wereencouraged to apply their considerable experienceand suggest materials and methods which wouldbest fit the method statements.

A selection panel identified preferred studios for eachof the packages; quality of work, consideration of riskand timetabling were of primary importance, andcost being a secondary consideration. Some studiossuccessfully secured a number of packages. Furthernegotiation clarified costs and timetabling as well asthe responsibilities of Houghton Hall, the V&A andthe studio in undertaking various aspects of work.Discussions between lead studios and their partnersclarified roles and responsibilities which in turn led to further adjustments in costs and timetabling.

The V&A conservators made the final decision onproposed treatments, methods and materials. As aresult, all studios working on the Embroidered Bedwill use the same materials and techniques (wherepossible); one type of lining fabric and thread will be used throughout and the V&A will commissionand purchase the replica braid to ensure historicalaccuracy. Similar treatments will be used for both sets of tapestries; all will be wet cleaned in Belgiumand re-hung in a manner that will ensure the abilityto be rapidly removed in the event of a disaster.

As far as is reasonably possible the conservation workwas programmed for October – March, when thehouse is closed to the public, particularly importantwhen the work has to be undertaken in situ atHoughton Hall. Disruption during the conservation of the Embroidered Bed and the tapestries isunavoidable. Work by the different studios is being co-ordinated to minimise the effect on the House staff,and steps are being taken to minimise its impact onthe visitor experience.

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Figure 3. A panel from the Venus and Adonis Tapestry.

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Figure 1. Embroidered State Bed.

Figure 2. A panel from the King’s and Queen’s Tapestries.

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The redevelopment of the main Islamic Middle EastGallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum hasprovided an opportunity to study and carry outmaterials analysis on a silk knotted–pile cope whichhas long been recognised as one of the mostimportant examples of Safavid (Safavid empire,1502-1736) pile-weaving of the seventeenth century(Figure 1). Dating from about 1605, the cope combinesChristian iconography together with the typicalSafavid floral motifs and is unique in that it wasclearly woven as a cope rather than being made intoa vestment from some other textile. Its history isunknown but it came to the Museum as fragments.There have been differences of opinion with regard tothe religious community for whom the vestment wasmade, but the most recent technical examinationand conservation research has provided new evidencewhich enlarges existing knowledge about the cope.Discoveries made during the conservation haveenabled new conclusions to be drawn which definemore clearly the origins of this vestment. Dyeanalysis, metal thread analysis and other technicalexamination have also completed the documentationof this object.

The cope had been last conserved about fifty years ago,but full conservation of the object was again necessary.The colours of the cope were remarkably fresh but thesupport crepe fabric had faded and the darned repairswere visually distracting and causing distortion. Smallareas of weakness and loss of pile were apparent inmany areas and although stitching was holding theseareas to the crepe support there was no cohesion ofstructure to the cope fabric and many knots wereloose.

It was clear that stitching the fragments to a newsupport fabric would not prevent loss of knots overtime. The current conservation strategy wouldtherefore need to incorporate additional support tosecure loose knots and supplement the stitchingmethod chosen.

In the previous conservation the cope was mounted inits cropped form. The orphrey (border) of the cope wasfor the most part missing and space had not beenallowed to indicate where the boundaries of theorphrey would have been. No sense was thereforegiven of the original dimensions of the cope nor thepositioning of the Virgin and Angel Gabriel figures inrelation to the orphrey boundaries and rest of the cope.

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The Mazarin Chest (412-1882) is an extraordinaryobject of major cross-cultural significance, renownedas one of the finest pieces of Japanese export lacquerto have survived from the late 1630’s (Figure 1). Whatmakes the Mazarin Chest truly exceptional is therange of different techniques and the extraordinarilyfine workmanship with which the lavish decorationwas executed. Conservation is urgently needed tostabilise the poorly adhered lacquer and decoration in which much of the artistic, aesthetic, historical andtechnical value of this object is located. At presentthe Mazarin Chest is not stable enough for display or transport and is at some risk of further loss even if it simply remains in storage.

Although the Mazarin Chest is artistically andhistorically important in both Japan and the West,what is valued about the Chest in each culture differs.This in turn effects how the conservation of thisobject would normally be approached. In the West,conservators use a variety of materials and aim towork within the ethical principal of reversibility.Japanese conservators usually utilise traditionalurushi-based materials and techniques that are non-reversible but maintain cultural continuity,integrity and authenticity.

The Mazarin Chest conservation project has twostrands that will run over three years (Dec 2004 – Dec2007). The first is an Anglo-Japanese collaborative

conservation project. I will be working with YoshihikoYamashita, for three to four months a year, cleaningthe Chest and consolidating loose decoration. We will discuss and critically evaluate Western andtraditional Japanese materials and techniques inorder to choose those that are most appropriate foreach given problem.

The second strand is a scientific research projectby Brenda Keneghan that will investigate threetraditional Japanese conservation treatments – thetreatment of a photo-degraded lacquer surface usingthe urushi-gatame process, the consolidation offoundation layers using mugi-urushi and the use ofkokuso as a filler. The urushi-gatame process aims tostrengthen the surface of light damaged lacquerwithout changing its appearance by impregnatingthe microcracks with dilute urushi, but removing allexcess urushi from the surface of the lacquer. Mugi-urushi is a consolidant whilst kokuso is a traditionalurushi-based filler. This research is intended to allowthe project team to make well-informed, ethicaldecisions about the treatment of the Mazarin Chestand, by extension, similar lacquer objects in Japanand in the West.

The Getty has awarded the project a grant of £84,000,primarily to meet the costs of Mr Yamashita’s time in the UK. The Toshiba International Foundation will also support the project. The V&A is making asubstantial commitment of resources of photography,conservation, scientific research, curatorial input andwebsite development. The Mazarin Chest projectteam are Fiona Campbell (website), Rupert Faulkner,Julia Hutt, Brenda Keneghan, Lucia Burgio and ShayneRivers, all from the V&A, and Yoshihiko Yamashita, afreelance lacquer conservator based in Tokyo, Japan.

AcknowledgementsThe project team is grateful for the ongoing supportof Albert Neher, Graham Martin, Sandra Smith andCarolyn Sargentson. We would also like to thankJonathan Ashley-Smith, who supported this projectfrom its inception in 1999.

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Funding a collaborative conservationproject: the Mazarin ChestShayne RiversSenior Furniture Conservator

Figure 1. Detail of a hunting scene from the left side of the Chest that shows the finedetail with which the Chest was decorated. The boar are approximately 4cm in length.

The Safavid CopeMarion Kite Senior Textiles Conservator

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Figure 1. The Safavid Cope (477-1894).Photography by V&A Photographic Studio

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Taking the crucifixion scene on the centre back as themeasuring point, the design of the two halves of thecope are predominantly worked as mirror images ofeach other. The figures of the Angel Gabriel and ofthe Virgin Mary are symmetrically placed so when thecope is worn these figures face each other. Logically,it would follow that there should also be a line by the feet of the Mary figure and that the text couldtherefore be defined within the boundaries of thesetwo lines. More of the orphrey was missing by theVirgin Mary figure so there was no remainingevidence of this line.

The first phase of supporting the cope was carriedout using a vacuum hot table. Once supported, thefragments were placed upon the prepared doublelayer of linen and aligned in their correct position.They were tacked in place to help prevent creep andany misalignment occurring as the cope was beingcouched. The fragments were couched to the supportlinen and the excess adhesive film support wastrimmed away back to the fragment edges as workprogressed. Split areas were couched, although itwas possible to keep this to a minimum due to theoverall adhesive support.

The size of the cope and boundary line was calculatedby taking measurements from various points wheresmall fragments of the outside edge of the borderremained. This was marked with a line of tacking.The linen support was turned back to this line andherringbone stitched. The cope was then stitched to a fabric-covered Hexalite board which had been cutto the shape of the cope. The cope was intended tobe displayed in a sealed case so it was not framed atthis time.

The conservation work was carried out in the TextileConservation Studio over a period of six months.During this time the relative humidity (RH) wasgenerally low, averaging no more than 35%. Coincidingwith the time of mounting the cope, the museumheating was turned off and there was a severerainstorm. The RH rose to 55%. Consequently the copereached equilibrium with this and sagged on themounting board. This caused a dilemma. It was asimple matter to release the stitching holding thecope to the board, re-stretch the cope and re-stitch it,

but this would put unacceptable tension on all theconservation stitching when the RH returned to the more usual 35% level or less. This illustratedundeniably the need for strict environmental control forthis object, as it was due to travel to a multi-venueexhibition. It was agreed that the best solution wouldbe to seal the cope in an environmentally controlledframe. Time did not permit for this to be done beforeshipment to Washington, the first venue of theexhibition, but it was agreed that it would be donebefore the object was shipped to the second venue.

While the cope is on exhibition, work is ongoing to complete the reconstruction of the text and torecreate digitally the missing areas of the cope. A full article expanding the conservation details anddiscussing the history, iconography and significanceof the text is in process and should be ready forpublication by early 2005.

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This time the cope would be conserved and mountedin such a way as to indicate its original size andshape and to give a better understanding of it as a complete object. The conservation would involveremoving all previous conservation and darning,then remounting the cope fragments in their correctalignment on a fabric marked out to the original sizeof the cope.

It was decided that the first phase of the conservationwould need to support the fragile pieces on anadhesive treated film in order to prevent knots fallingaway and to give an overall support to the fragments.Although it would still be necessary to carry outcouched repairs, the adhesive support would enablethe couching to be kept to a minimum and limit thevisual distraction of surface stitching. A mixture ofLascaux 360 and 498 was chosen as the most suitableadhesive and Stabiltex as the fabric on which to castthe film.

When removing previous stitching, care was taken to avoid disrupting loose knots. Those which fell awaywere collected to be used for dye analysis. A few loosemetal threads were also collected for analysis.Sufficient linen was prepared and dyed to colourmatch. A second piece of linen was prepared for usebehind the dyed linen to give an additional backingand make the combined weight of the two closer tothat of the cope fabric. Once all the old repairs hadbeen removed and there were no surface distractionsthe cope was examined and areas of distortion noted.

On the orphrey, around the Angel Gabriel figure,(Figure 2) faint areas of loss were noticed which hadoriginally been shapes worked in black silk. Most ofthe black silk had degraded and fallen away leavingpoorly defined worn areas. It was not immediatelyclear what these represented but examination of thisarea from the back of the cope revealed that theseareas appeared to be part of a script. A tracing of the shapes was taken, and this was compared to theback in order to make certain the tracing recordedthe shapes correctly. The script was incomplete butclearly formed a part of a larger text. Dr VrejNersessian, an Armenian scholar from the BritishLibrary, was consulted and confirmed that thecharacters were Armenian. Although incomplete, the

text remains were recognisable as an abbreviatedform of the Magnificat. It was now possible to fit thecharacters forming the complete text into a digitalimage of the reconstructed cope.

A tracing was made of all that remained of the orphrey.The remains of a curved red line worked into thedesign were noted. This line, situated beneath the feetof the Angel Gabriel figure, was not part of the floraldesign and served to delineate a change of colour inthe metal thread used on the orphrey ground. It alsoappeared to mark a boundary to the text.

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Figure 2. A detail of the cope, showing the Angel Gabriel.

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gradually transferred with new lacing to a two partbaton made of wood faced with aluminium. Eightropes were threaded through the pulleys, attached tothe top of the baton and tensioned on eight anchorpoints on the Gallery floor. The remaining lacing onthe sides and bottom of the Terylene was undone so that the carpet and support were then totallysuspended from the baton (Figure 1). Slowly andgently this huge and very fragile object was gentlylowered by a team of technicians under the expertand appropriate guidance of Marion Kite (Marion hadbeen involved in the installation of the carpet thirtyyears earlier) (Figure 2). The carpet was moved safelyto a larger central space in the Gallery on a largepolyester floor cloth, made specially for the de-installation by a sail maker. The stitching whichattached the carpet to its Terylene support wasreleased and the carpet was rolled and taken to the Textile Conservation Studio.

The Ardabil carpet will be one of the star objects ofthe Jameel Gallery. It will be displayed flat under asuspended canopy. Its central position in the new

Gallery will ensure that it can be viewed from all sides. The canopy forms the top of the case which will enclose the Ardabil and will thus protect thecarpet from general gallery lighting. Glazing will be of low-iron glass with an anti-reflective coatingapplied to both sides. Adjustable fibre optic lightingwill illuminate the carpet but extensive testing isnecessary to determine the level of lighting.

Given the size of the carpet, its prominence in the newGallery, and its importance to the collection, it will notbe possible to rotate this artefact or take it off displayafter a few years. It is therefore essential that theMuseum is aware of the long term consequences forthe carpet of continued illumination and the likelybenefits that might be gained by different lightingproposals. The response of four of the ten colourspresent in the carpet will be established using theequipment originally designed to determine theresponse of William Morris’s Bullerswood carpet,presently on display in the British Galleries.

4The

equipment consists of a dual beam UV-visible-nearinfrared spectrometer coupled to an external

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The Ardabil carpet will form the centre piece of thenew Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the V&A whichopens in July 2006. This most famous of Persiancarpets has been the subject of endless copiesranging in size from small rugs to full scale carpets.There is an “Ardabil” at 10 Downing Street and evenHitler had an “Ardabil” in his office in Berlin.

1The real

Ardabil was first seen in London in 1892 when it wasexhibited in a dealers showroom in Wigmore Street.William Morris described it as “a remarkable work ofart . . the design is of singular perfection . . its size andsplendour as a piece of workmanship do full justiceto the beauty and intellectual qualities of the design”.It was Morris, in his capacity as one of the V&A’s ArtReferees, who persuaded the Museum to raise, withthe aid of public subscription, the then vast sum of£2000 to purchase the carpet in March 1893.

The Ardabil carpet measures 10.51m x 5.34m (34’ 6” x17’ 6”) and is thought to be one of the largest carpetsin the world. Unknown to the Museum at the time,there was a second Ardabil, more finely knotted,which is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This carpet has lost its borders and part of its central field; a portion of the missing areas arethought to have been used to repair the carpetowned by the V&A.

2Occasionally fragments originally

taken from the Los Angeles carpet have appeared on the open market. The two carpets were almostcertainly a royal commission and would have takenabout four years to weave. Their origins remainunclear but they are said to have come from acomplex of shrines and mosques at Ardabil in NorthWest Persia, burial place of Shaikh Safi al-Din,ancestor of Shah Ismail, founder of the Safaviddynasty. At one end of the Ardabil carpet, a cartouchecontains an inscription which dates it to 1539/40 AD.The large central medallion is characteristic ofcarpets woven in Tabriz (North West Persia) and the fantastic design of the ground of the carpetconsisting of two layers of swirling leaves, stems and flowers is typical of the art of the early Safaviddynasty.

After its acquisition the Ardabil carpet was given alinen support and repairs were carried out in silkthread. It was attached to a three fold frame andplaced behind glass in Gallery 42 where it remained

on display until 1974, when it became obvious thatthe repairs were failing and that the carpet neededfurther support. Furthermore it was very dirty andlacked the clarity of its sister carpet in Los Angeleswhich had been wet cleaned. The Museum had nofacility to clean an object of this dimension and itwas taken to Birmingham where it was washedoutside on a specially constructed ramp using localwater which comes directly from the Welshmountains and is low in mineral and chlorinecontent. After its support and repair it was attachedto a secondary support of Terylene sheeting whichwas lashed to a new twelve section metal frameusing pre-shrunk Terylene ropes around all four sides. A series of ties connected the carpet and thesheeting to the frame at regular intervals.

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The work carried out on the Ardabil in 1974 ensuredits safe display for thirty years. However, the realbeauty of the Ardabil carpet has never been seen inthe Museum. The glazing which protected it had aslightly green tinge and obscured the vibrancy andharmony of its ten colours and the brilliance of itsdesign. The carpet was designed to be seen flat; thedifference in size between the two lamp motifs isdeliberate and counteracts the foreshortening of the design along its length. This was achieved at atime when the use of perspective in Safavid art wasuncommon. Low cushions would have been placed onthe end of the carpet where the weaving began; thusthe carpet would have been viewed against the pile,making the colours appear even more luminous.

The Jameel Gallery will allow the Ardabil to be seenhorizontally for the first time since 1892. The carpetwas de-installed in June 2004 and was the last objectto be taken out of Gallery 42 to clear the space for itsrefurbishment. The whole operation was filmed justas its installation had been filmed thirty years earlier.Preparatory work in the first half of June released the ties which secured the carpet and its Terylenesupport to the multiple section frame. On de-installation day, the frame carrying the carpet waspulled out on its runners to the east side of theGallery. Eight pulleys had been attached to the highframework supporting the runners. The lacing whichheld the Terylene support to the top of the frame wasundone and the carpet and its support were

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The Ardabil carpet – a new perspectiveLynda Hillyer, Head of Textiles Conservation

Boris Pretzel, Materials Scientist

Figure 1. Pulleys and ropes in position ready to lower the Ardabil carpet.

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Encounters - the meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800 was one of the V&A’s major exhibitions of 2004.A diverse selection of artefacts was chosen toillustrate the exhibition themes of ‘discoveries’,‘encounters’ and ‘exchanges’. The subject of thisarticle, a mid-eighteenth century sack back dressand petticoat made in England from silk importedfrom China, epitomised the theme ‘exchanges’, whichexplored the influences of the trade in luxury goodsand the fascination with each other’s diverse cultures(Figure 1). Appropriately the conservation of thiscostume has been about exchanges of ideas,methods and techniques between paper and textileconservation resulting in an unusual but successfultreatment.

Painted silk is a rather impractical dress fabric and notsurprisingly the silk showed signs of a certain amountof damage through wear. The paint on the bodice hadworn away completely in places exposing the warpthreads and at some point repair patches had beenused to fill in holes under the arm. Parts of the costume,such as the skirts of both dress and petticoat, whichwere not fitted so closely to the body and less subjectto wear from abrasion, were in much better conditionalthough there were many small splits in the silk, all in green painted areas. A detailed assessment of thecondition revealed that the costume had been alteredat least twice in its lifetime causing further damage tothe silk. There had been a number of attempts to repairthe splits in the silk over the life time of the costumeranging from stitching to adhering patches to thereverse using a dark brown resinous adhesive. All ofthese treatments had both failed and caused furtherdamage to the silk. This article focuses on finding a new, safer and visually less intrusive method ofsupporting these areas of damage. Adhesives werechosen as the main method of attaching supportpatches to the silk in order to avoid stitching throughthe painted surface. Fortunately the paint surface wasnot actively flaking, so consolidation was not deemednecessary.

A review of literature on Chinese painted silk costumehad revealed that splitting of the silk ground fabric inareas painted green was a common problem.

1This has

been attributed to the use of the copper-based mineralmalachite to produce the characteristic bright greencolours in Chinese painted silks. There was concern thatan aqueous treatment would exacerbate the problemby creating an environment where copper ions wouldbe released promoting further degradation of the silk.It was therefore necessary to identify formally the greenpigments present. Lucia Burgio, of the V&A ScienceSection, analysed paint samples from both the dressand petticoat by Raman microscopy and opticalmicroscopy to determine their composition. The lightgreen samples were identified as malachite and thedark green samples as a mixture of malachite andindigo. The white pigment used was lead white. All the pigments were found to be in good condition and showed no sign of degradation.

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integrating head using optical fibres. The externalintegrating head is used both to concentrate intenseillumination (from a Schott microscope illuminatorfitted with a tungsten halogen lamp) on to selectedareas of the carpet and, periodically, to measure thereflectance spectrum of the area under considerationto determine colour changes as a function ofexposure. The equipment was designed specifically to allow the response to illumination at levels likelyto be encountered in the Museum to be determinedfrom the exposure trials with a high degree ofprecision, thereby allowing extrapolation of data well beyond the exposures actually used in theexperiments. Although the process does induce somelimited damage to the selected areas (as they areexposed to up to 8 mlx.h of illumination), judicialchoice of measurement areas (in the presentinstance, on the back of the carpet) limits thedamage to the artefact. Measuring the response of actual areas on the carpet guarantees that theresults are applicable to it in its current condition.

The experiments will take placeover the course of the next threemonths and will feed directly intothe decisions on how best toilluminate the carpet. As it will not be possible to take the carpetoff display once the Gallery hasopened, it is also the intention toprovide means to blackout thecarpet in its new display case,allowing the illumination to berestricted if this should becomenecessary.

Technical details Warp: cream or undyed silk. 35threads per square inchWeft: cream or undyed silk. 3 pairedshoots after each row of knotsKnot: asymetrical; 340 per sq. inchPile: wool, 3 shades of blue, 3 shadesof red, yellow, green, black andwhite.

AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Jennifer Wearden for advice andinformation.

References1. Wearden, Jennifer The Surprising Geometry of the

Ardabil Carpet, Abstracts from the Ars TextrinaConference, Leeds, 1995.

2. Wearden, Jennifer, The V&A Ardabil: The EarlyRepairs, Hali, Issue 80, 1995, pp 102-107.

3. Landi, Sheila, The Textile Conservators Manual,Second Edition, 1992, pp 277-285.

4. Pretzel, Boris, Determining the Lightfastness of the Bullerswood Carpet in: Roy, A., and Smith, P.,(Editors), Tradition and innovation: Advances inConservation, Contributions to the MelbourneCongress, IIC, 10-14 October 2000, pp 150-154.

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Figure 2. Lowering the carpet onto the Gallery floor.

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Encounters with Paper Conservation: thetreatment of a Chinese painted silk dressElizabeth-Anne HaldaneTextile Conservator

Figure 1. Detail of the back of the dress, after treatment.

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Sympatex. Supplementary stitching, (laid threadcouching) was carried out in areas without paint tosecure loose threads. Normally couching would beginand end in strong undamaged areas. In this instancecouching was only possible in the damaged areas sothe adhesive film performed the function of securingthe patch. In the case of very large splits where therewere areas of plain silk, couching was carried outwhere possible in order to maintain the flexibility ofthe patch rather than using large areas of free film.

There were pros and cons to both methods described.The paper patches blended in very well and werescarcely visible on the reverse but they worked bestwhere there was little flexing of the fabric. Splitsalong the front pleats of the bodice were supportedwith paper patches. The advantage was that thepatches were thin and didn’t add much bulk to thepleats but the paper was inclined to peel off whenthe fabric was manipulated in order to treat differentareas or to re-pleat the fabric. In some instances extraKlucel G® was added as a free film to adhere thepaper, or a combined stitched and adhered silk

support was used instead. The silkand free film patches worked verywell to infill areas of loss and as abase to stitch loose threads to. Thefree film of Klucel G® and the silkpatches were more stronglyadhered to the object than thepaper film but were not asflexible. Also the free film wasmore difficult to prepare and aseach patch was individually madeinvolving several processes theywere much more time-consumingto prepare. By contrast the paperfilm could be quickly prepared inadvance and water cut to size asrequired. Although it wassomewhat unusual to use acombination of different methodsand substrates on one object, eachwas suited for the purpose andthe use of one adhesive provided adegree of consistency.

AcknowledgementsWith thanks to Gordana Car, Lara Flecker, FrancesHartog, Pauline Webber, Mike Wheeler, MerrylHuxtable and Lucia Burgio from the ConservationDepartment and curators Susan North and VerityWilson.

References1. Paulocik C., Flaherty S.,(Editors), The Conservation

of 18th Century Painted Silk Dress Published by TheCostume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum ofArt and the Graduate Program in Costume Studies,New York University, 1995.

2. Haldane E-A., The Conservation of an Appliquédand Embroidered Tudor Cushion Cover.SSCR Journal, Vol 12 No 3, 2001, pp 10-14.

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The use of heat-setting thermoplastic adhesiveswould have avoided the use of moisture, however thesupport fabrics that are used with these adhesivesare very sheer and lightweight. As the costume wasmade from a heavy silk with the added weight of thepaint layers it was considered that a more robustsupport fabric would be required. There is a well-documented history of paper being successfully usedas a support material for textiles. In this instance itwould provide the strength and firmness requiredand could be attached with a variety of adhesivesincluding starch and modified celluloses.

The Paper Conservation Studio at the V&A wasconsulted about the project. Following discussions onthe concerns about aqueous-based adhesives appliedto the malachite paint, it was agreed that althoughwheat starch paste would provide a stronger moreflexible bond, Klucel G® (hydroxypropyl cellulose) hadthe advantage because it was soluble in both waterand organic solvents.

The conservation of the dress was carried out as ajoint project with Gordana Car, intern in the TextileConservation Studio. We were interested in a methodused by Paper Conservation to produce a pre-preparedpaper film that could be solvent re-activated in situ.Extensive tests were carried out to find acombination of paper type and adhesiveconcentration that would work for textiles. Five

different weights of Japanese paper were selected forthe tests. Experiments included dissolving theadhesive in IMS (Industrial Methylated Spirits), or50:50 IMS and water, or just water. The smoothestfilm produced was with water alone. After initial teststhree papers were chosen and tested with aqueousadhesive concentrations from 2% to 10%. Theadhesive was brushed onto a polythene sheet, thenthe paper was gently laid on top and smoothed down(Figure 2). Once dry, it was peeled away from thepolythene. The samples were adhered to silk using asolvent re-activation technique common to textileswhere IMS vapour is applied onto the silk throughSympatex, a semi permeable membrane. This methodwas very quick, requiring approximately two minutesto activate the bond between paper and silk. The silkand paper samples were (subjectively) assessed forpeel strength and flexibility and checked for stainingof the silk by the adhesive. The lightest weight papertested, Tengujo, with Klucel G® at a concentration ofeither 8% or 9% worked best giving a smooth flexiblesample. At 10% the adhesive stained the silk in places.

The paper films worked well for the small splits in the painted silk, but another method was required for areas with more extensive loss where silk wasrequired to infill holes; or where there were loosethreads which needed to be stitched to a support.A combined adhered and stitched technique wasdevised by modifying a technique previouslydeveloped to adhere textile infills to a Tudorembroidery in the V&A’s collection.

2A free film of

Klucel G® (3% w/v in 75% IMS: 25% water) was castonto polythene. Once dry the film was carefullypeeled off and attached to one side of the textileinfill/support with IMS solvent vapour to make a one-sided adhesive film. In this project selected areas ofthe support fabric needed to be free of adhesivewhere it was filling an exposed area of the object. Todo this a template was made of the patch and tissueshapes were stitched to the support to mask off thechosen areas when the adhesive was applied. Oncethe tissue was removed a partial adhesive patch wasmade (Figure 3). These patches were also adhered tothe object with IMS vapour applied through

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Figure 2. Gordana Car preparing paper and Klucel G® films.

Figure 3. Inserting a patch of silk with Klucel G® free film on the upper side.

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Once complete the silver pieces were mercury gilded.In this process it is possible to gild on selected areasof the metal. Pieces were gilded only where the metalcan be seen to reduce the amount of gold required.The method of mercury gilding involves applying anamalgam of gold and mercury onto a degreasedsurface, usually silver or copper. The surface is thenheated until the mercury evaporates, leaving behindthe gold layer bonded onto the surface. Thistechnique allows various layers of gold to be applied,and creates a tight bond with the substrate metal.To further confirm that this process was used on themonstrance, one of the pieces was analysed using x-ray fluorescence. The results showed a residualamount of mercury on the surface.

The same set of four hallmarks was found on various parts of the monstrance, proving these to be all of the same provenance and maker (Figure 3).The first mark, a crowned lion, is of the Provincialengekroonden Leeuw, which guaranteed a highercontent of precious metal (875/1000) in Holland.

1

The second mark, the town mark, is of the town ofHaarlem (as noted in existing Museum records).The date letter was found to be of a later date thanthe one in the Museum’s records. It is from 1674. Themaker’s mark had not been previously identifiedbecause the only visible mark was indistinct. A clearerstamp was found when the monstrance wasdismantled. It was identified as the stamp of Jan Vandeer Pille from Haarlem, Holland. He was a goldsmithworking mainly on church metalwork during the midseventeenth century. The Museum records have beenmodified according to the findings.

Treatment proposals were discussed with a metalworkcurator. The treatment began with the removal of theold lacquer using acetone. The heavy tarnish wasremoved using Goddard’s Long Term Silver Foam.Where this was not effective, Duraglit ‘Silvo’ SilverPolish Wadding was used. The surface was degreasedwith acetone and a coating of Frigilene nitrocelluloselacquer was applied with a brush to protect thesurface from further tarnishing. The crown wasdecorated with gem stones and pearl simulants.Some gems were held in position with adhesivewhich had broken down and the gems had becomeloose in their settings. Once dismantled the adhesivewas removed mechanically. Originally the gem settingswould have been bolted into the crown and securedwith a nut. The original pin was worn, so it was re-threaded and a nut made to secure the setting. Thenew pieces were carefully identified with a V&A logomicro stamp for future record. Further treatmentoptions were discussed with a curator and it wasdecided to re-shape the distorted cross. Themonstrance was then carefully re-assembled using thedigital photographs as a guide.

The bright lustrous pearls were in a fragile state. Theywere examined under the microscope for identification.It appeared that the pearls were made of thin glassfilled with a waxy substance (Figure 4). The pearlswere identified as pearl simulants in the form ofsmall glass beads coated internally with a materialcalled ‘essence d’orient’ and then filled with wax forinternal support. This particular technique originatedin France. Essence d’orient is a material made fromground iridescent fish scales (from the bleak fish)mixed with a lacquer. The time scale of this projectdid not allow for the possibility to treat the pearls,but a sample pearl was stored for future research.

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This article describes the conservationof a seventeenth century Dutchmonstrance (Museum no 303-1874),

and the manufacturingtechniques used to produce it.

Recognition of thetechniques and the

materials from which anobject is made allows forthe selection ofappropriate conservation

treatments and a betterappreciation of thecraftsman’s work forboth the conservatorand the museum visitor.

The term “monstrance”,from the Latinmonstrancia

(monstrare = to show),was originally used for any

container made by gold orsilversmiths to display either theSacred Host or the relics of a saint.Today, the term is used specifically to

refer to vessels displaying theBlessed Sacrament. They are

used only in the CatholicChurch, mainly for the

ceremony of Corpus Christi.

The monstrance (Figure 1) wasmade in Haarlem, capital of the Province of

North Holland, in the late seventeenth century. It ismade of silver which has been partially gilded (parcelgilt), decorated with white enamel, garnets,turquoises, rock crystal and pearl simulants. Theimagery on the foot includes the symbols for theEvangelists and representations of three Apostles,Peter, James and John, looking up at the container forthe host (representing the Transfiguration). Aboveand below the host are scenes which symbolise theEucharist, Passover and the Fall of Manna fromHeaven.

Previous unrecorded treatments may date back to themid 1950s. Since then the surface has become heavilytarnished. The tarnish was concentrated in areaswhere the gilding had blistered, exposing the silverbeneath. There were areas of distortion that wereconsidered disfiguring to the object; and an oldadhesive which secured two stone settings to thecrown had broken down. After careful examination,it was decided to dismantle the object for treatment(Figure 2). By doing so the object could be seen fromthe inside which would aid in the identification ofthe maker and the methods and date of construction.

Once dismantled each part was recorded usingdigital photography. The monstrance is made of silver,a metal that can be formed by cold-working and/orcasting. In this case, there is evidence of both. Lostwax casting was used for the figures, scrolls andcolumns, and the central images of the Ascensionand the Fall of Manna were cold-worked from a sheetof silver. They are examples of repoussé work whichhas been chased (engraved). Repoussé refers to amethod of tracing the design on the front and raisingthe relief from the back. Chasing work is done on thefront of the metal piece. The tool marks from punchesand tracers are visible on the inside. Chased, repousséand cast pieces were joined with solder and also bymechanical means using screws and pressure fitting.

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An insight into the craftsman’s techniquesKatia Viegas WesolowskaMetals Conservator

Figure 1. Monstrance (303-1874) before treatmentPhotography by Katia Viegas Wesolowska

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Figure 2. Dismantled object.

Figure 3. Set of hallmarks revealed after dismantling.

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William Blake (1757-1827), whose literary output iswidely studied today, was regarded primarily as anartist and printmaker in his own lifetime.

On 17th September 1927, the leading Blake scholarGeoffrey Keynes wrote to Eric Maclagan, thenDirector of the V&A:

‘Dear Maclagan,

The American dealer, Gabriel Wells,recently bought the palette used by Blakeduring the brief period when he used oils. Heput it in an exhibition at the Burlington F.A.C.where it attracted a good deal of attention (tho’ relics of this kind do not excite me much!).It seems to have a good pedigree.

Wells has now gone back to the U.S.A.,and wishing to give the object to some publicinstitution, has left it to my discretion.

The Vict. & Albert seemed to me to be the best place, tho’ Binyon suggests that theLondon Museum might also have a claim.Would you express an opinion? It can go to the Vict. & Albert if you wish.

Yours sincerely

Geoffrey Keynes’

In the above quotation, Keynes referred to the 1927 exhibition at the Burlington Fine Arts Clubcommemorating the centenary of Blake’s death.Of modest scale but superlative quality, this wasaccompanied by a deluxe illustrated catalogue, andincluded a fragment of a copper plate for Blake’sAmerica, and a plaster cast of the artist’s headformerly owned by the son of George Richmond(1809-96), a leading member of The Ancients,followers of William Blake who included SamuelPalmer (1805-81).

The palette (Figures 1 and 2), not in the catalogue,was evidently a late addition to the 1927 exhibition.Its owner was a Blake dealer of some repute. Keyneswas told that the palette had belonged to the dealerFrancis Harvey, who handled numerous works byBlake during the 1860s, including some from thestudio sale of Frederick Tatham (1805-78), another of The Ancients, who had inherited Blake’s studiocontents from the artist’s widow.

The palette was received in a presentation case, todaylabelled Palette used by William Blake in 1780. Given by Mr. Gabriel Wells. There is paint on both sides andit is inscribed around the thumb-hole on the ‘reverse’William Blake/28/Broad Street/1780. Blake submittedhis entry to the Royal Academy in 1780 from thataddress, and moved shortly afterwards. Basil Long,then Keeper of Paintings at the V&A, concluded that‘the authenticity of the relic appears reasonablylikely’, and recommended its acceptance as a gift.

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Figure 5 shows the reassembled monstrance aftertreatment was completed. The information revealedby this treatment allowed records to be updated andprovided a valuable insight into the craftsman’stechniques.

AcknowledgmentsI am grateful to Simon Metcalf for being my mentorduring this project and for encouraging me to look atobjects through the makers’ eyes. Also to TonnyBeentjes for allowing me to make use of his extensivepersonal library and to Joanna Whalley for identifyingthe gem materials.

References1. Citroen, K.A., Haarlemse zilversmeden en hun

merken, 1988.

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Figure 5. Monstrance after treatmentPhotography by V&A Photographic Studio

Figure 4. Detail of damaged pearl simulants.

William Blake’s only surviving palette?Dr Joyce H Townsend, Senior Conservation Scientist, TateDr Bronwyn Ormsby, Conservation Scientist, TateDr Julia Jönsson, formerly Conservation Scientist, TateDr Mark Evans, Senior Curator of Paintings, Victoria and Albert Museum

Figure 1. Front of the palette.

Figure 2. Reverse of the palette.

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We analysed material from this palette towards the end of a research project on Blake’s temperas,watercolours and colour prints,

1to compare them

with Blake’s painting materials. The analyticalmethods used, namely polarising microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, FTIR microscopy and gaschromatography, are described elsewhere.

2There was

no evidence to suggest that the palette had been re-used after a long interval, or that the paint wasinconsistent with an eighteenth to nineteenth centurydate.

It resembles oil paint, and because of the inscribedaddress it has always been assumed to date fromc.1780, the brief period during Blake’s training whenhe used oil, a medium he strongly criticised andtherefore avoided for the rest of his life. Analysisconfirmed that it includes linseed oil in many colours,poppy oil in some, and a mixture of these, or possiblywalnut oil, in others. These oil types are typical of artists’ oil paint both hand-ground in the lateeighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries, andsupplied in tubes later in the nineteenth century.It is surprising that in this palette the poppy oil,known to yellow less than linseed oil, was notstrongly associated with the white and blue paintthat would have benefited most from it.

At least one shade of yellow and one of orange leadchromate were identified with optical microscopy,and supported by EDX and FTIR results. Thesepigments could not have been used by Blake oranyone else c.1780. Yellow lead chromate (also knownas chrome yellow) was patented in 1814, and a paleyellow shade has been found in a Turner oil paintingexhibited early that year, while the darker yellow andorange shades were probably available only later, inthe 1820s. These remain the earliest occurrences oflead chromate in the British collection at Tate, and in the literature on British art. Zinc white was alsodetected on the palette. This pigment was producedin a useful form for oil medium in 1834, the earliervariety being too transparent for the purpose. Thetraditional form of Prussian blue, found here, wasused by J.M.W. Turner c.1800-1840s. Constable (1776-

1837), in contrast, was using the modern, fine-grainedform by the end of his life, as indeed was Turner (1775-1851). The Pre-Raphaelites used the modern form inthe early 1850s, and the traditional form has neverbeen identified on Tate paintings of later date. Theother pigments found on the palette (lead white,chalk, gypsum, barytes, bone black, umber, Marscolours, vermilion, talc, kaolin, natural yellow ochre,red lake and natural ultramarine) were availablethroughout Blake’s lifetime and well beyond. Theseobservations suggest a date of use of c.1834-45 forthe palette.

The connection with Harvey implies that the palettewas in existence by the 1860s, a period when Blakehad a small following, and his work fetchedcorrespondingly low prices. Nevertheless, thepossibility cannot be excluded that it is a deliberatefraud, of mid nineteenth century date. If it has agenuine connection to Blake, it could have been usedby one of The Ancients, who had acquired it fromBlake’s widow, herself an artist. Our limited analysesof the paint used by Richmond and Palmer haveshown that, like Blake himself, they used a mixture ofanimal glue and plant gums in their paintings duringhis last years, in the 1820s. Few of their later workshave been analysed, but a Richmond Self-portraitof 1853 is catalogued as in oil, so their use of thismedium is possible. The only certain conclusion isthat the paint on the palette could not have beenused by William Blake.

AcknowledgementsNicola Costaras, Senior Paintings Conservator at theV&A, made the palette available for examination.Dr Catherine Higgitt and Raymond White of theScientific Department, National Gallery, London,gave valuable help in interpreting the GC results.

References1. Townsend, J. H., (ed.), William Blake the Painter at

Work, Tate Publishing, 2003.

2. Townsend, J. H., ‘Analytical methods’. In Townsend2003, pp.45-51.

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Ann MarshStained Glass Conservator

I was formerly a Marketing CommunicationsManager for Marconi plc organising and managingexhibitions, advertising, literature and otherpromotional material. Although I enjoyed the job,after nearly twenty years I was ready for a differentcreative challenge. Having been introduced tostained glass during a weekend course I decided togo back to school and study full time for a BA (Hons)in Architectural Glass at the Swansea Institute.

I was just about to start the final year of the coursewhen the opportunity to work in stained glassconservation for twelve months arose at the V&A.This unique opportunity was just too good to miss,so I revised my plans and decided to complete therest of the degree course over two years. I will writemy dissertation while working at the V&A andreturn to Swansea to complete the practicalmodules in October 2005.

The experience gained in helping to prepare panelsfor the Sacred Silver and Stained Glass Gallery dueto open in September 2005 will be invaluable incompleting my degree and developing a futurecareer in stained glass.

Daniella PeltzStained Glass Conservator

I fell in love with stained glass as a twelve year oldwhen I took a stained glass class at summer camp.After graduating with a BA in Art History fromVassar College in New York State, USA, I was workingat a law firm in New York City when I realized I wasmiserable. I came upon a stained glass course in the catalogue for Parsons School of Design, took the course and decided to volunteer at the St. AnnCenter for Restoration and the Arts. The St. AnnCenter was then in charge of restoring the oldestensemble of figural stained glass windows made inthe United States - from 1844-48. After volunteeringat the Center for two years I was asked to join theapprenticeship program. I spent three years as anapprentice in stained glass conservation and laterreceived a Kress Fellowship to study stained glassconservation at various sites in Europe for sixmonths, including Cologne Cathedral andCanterbury Cathedral.

Since finishing my fellowship I have been workingas a freelance conservator in New York City for sixyears on projects that range from Tiffany toWhitefriars to LaFarge.

I am happy to be able to come to the V&A fortwelve months to help with the preparation for theSacred Silver and Stained Glass Galleries and lookforward to being able to increase my knowledge ofEuropean stained glass.

New Staff

V&A

Conservation Journal No.49

V&A

Conservation Journal No.49

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Madhu RaniPaper Conservation InternI started my conservation career at INTACHChitrakala Parishath Art ConservationCentre (ICKPAC), Bangalore in South India,after completing a five year Fine Arts degreeat Bangalore University, specialising inpainting. In 1997 I enrolled as a conservationtrainee at ICKPAC. After a two yearinternship, during which I obtained an MAin Art History, I began working as a full timeconservator.

ICKPAC is the sole conservation centre forSouthern India and receives a wide varietyof art objects for treatment. My maininterest is the treatment of paper basedobjects. I have had the opportunity to workon traditional South Indian paintings of theMysore and Thanjavur school, etchings andlithographs from the company period topresent day posters, miniatures, drawingsand watercolours.

Since 2003 I have been the project co-ordinator for Karnataka – under theNational Manuscripts Mission undertakenby the Government of India, Department ofCulture for the Preservation of Manuscripts.I feel extremely fortunate to have beenawarded the Charles Wallace India TrustGrant and also the UK travel award by theNehru Trust for the Indian Collections at theV&A. This has allowed me to undertake theinternship at the V&A as well asattachments at the British Museum and theBritish Library.

The two months spent as an intern at theV&A has given me the opportunity to workwith experts in paper conservation and tobroaden my experience of the conservationfield as a whole. I am looking forward tosharing my knowledge and expertise withmy co-workers on my return to India.

Harrie SchuitFurniture Conservation Intern

I am a final year student at theNetherlands Institute for CulturalHeritage (Instituut Collectie Nederland,ICN) in Amsterdam where I am attendinga four year furniture conservation course.Prior to this course I attended theAmsterdam school for cabinet makingwhere I undertook the cabinet makingand restoration programme. I hadinternships throughout 2004. In January I started with a four month internship inCologne, Germany, and returned to theNetherlands to take up a furtherinternship for three months at the HetLoo palace in Apeldoorn.

At the present time I am undertaking aninternship in the Furniture ConservationStudio of the Victoria and AlbertMuseum and I am very pleased to havebeen given the unique chance to be here.I have gained an immense amount ofknowledge working in such a largemuseum. My first experience was builtup around the ‘Encounters’ exhibition,and I also became familiar with theissues involved in the transportation ofdifferent types of fragile objects.

After a course on Integrated PestManagement I applied my newly acquiredknowledge by checking the insect trapsaround the museum. I have also workedon very interesting objects which havegiven me the opportunity to testconservation materials. This hasbroadened my thinking process and hasallowed me to develop my confidence inthe art of conservation practice. I hope thissummary renders faithfully my wonderfultime at the V&A, prior to returning toAmsterdam where I hope to graduate.

Lara WilsonPaintings Conservation Intern

My first degree was in classics atOxford University, where I alsocontinued the training as a singerwhich I had begun at school. Aftergraduating I began to develop a careeras a singer in Florence, Italy, where Iwas also able to indulge my interest inart. In 1999, having decided to switchto a career in art, I went on anintroductory course in paintingsconservation at Palazzo Spinelli. I thenreturned to Oxford University to do amasters degree in the history of art,specialising in the FlorentineRenaissance.

Having gained the necessaryqualifications I began training as apaintings conservator at the HamiltonKerr Institute in Cambridge. Oncompletion of the course I wasawarded a Leverhulme Studentshipand spent a year as an intern in theState Russian Museum, the Hermitagein St. Petersburg, Russia, and in theNational Museum of Art in Maputo,Mozambique.

I hope to use my time at the V&A toimprove my technical skills andincrease my ability to workindependently so that I will be in aposition to begin a career as apaintings conservator in a museum atthe end of my internship.

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Karen VidlerPaper Conservator2 year MPhil by research “The treatment of red-rot damaged bookbinding leather: A decision-making framework”

Back in the 1980s, during the era of big hair, I wentto Art School. Later I undertook a postgraduate studyin Librarianship. While working as an assistantcurator in Rare Books and Special Collections at theUniversity of Melbourne, I had an epiphany. One daywhile removing a late eighteenth century leatherbound book dripping with gold decoration, the frontboard slipped from the book, landing by my feet.Turning to the curator, I enquired as to the fate ofbooks that needed repair. He replied, ‘we send booksfor repair to various book restorers … but I am notcompletely happy with their work. Why don’t youbecome a book conservator?’

So in 1998, I found myself for the next fifteenmonths working for a book conservator in NorthLondon. This led to bookbinding studies at GuildfordCollege. Two years later I walked away a qualifiedbookbinder with a prize for bookbinding in calfleather to my name. I then worked in the conservationbindery of The National Archives, Kew. I returned topost-graduate study in book conservation at WestDean College and in the summer of 2003 I startedworking with Jane Rutherston in the Book ConservationStudio of the V&A. More recently I commenced anMPhil by research at the RCA/V&A. This research intothe treatment of red-rot damaged book leather wasprompted by questions raised during my previousconservation work on decayed leather bindings inlibrary and archive collections both here and inAustralia.

Michelle MurrayConservation Administrator

After graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Fine ArtPainting at Norwich School of Art and Design, Iworked as Information Officer at the Photographers’Gallery for two years whilst continuing with myown work as a painter. I then worked as an artist ona self employed basis, before returning to anadministrative role at the architecture firm Alliesand Morrison. At this time I also began studyingtowards an MA in Art History with the OpenUniversity, which I am currently pursuing, and Icontinue to paint in my spare time.

I am very much looking forward to working inConservation Administration at the V&A and alsobeing involved in the RCA/V&A ConservationProgramme.

New Staff Interns