Conservation Journal April 1998

BLANK PAGE

DO NOTPRINT

Jonathan Ashley-Smith, risk analysisAlison Richmond, ethics, co-ordination of interns

Alan Cummings, paintings conservationHelen Jones, archaeological conservation

Graham Martin, preventive conservation, analyticalchemistry

Alice Rymill, library, administrationCarl Taylor, computer systems, digital mediaHannah Eastwood, microscopy & paint analysisBrenda Keneghan, polymersBoris Pretzel, materials & environment, colour andlightPaula Mills, environmental monitoring, preventiveconservation, stained glassDavid Ford, particulate monitoring, special projects

Helen Shenton, book conservation, albums & conditionsurveys

Jane Rutherston, 19th and 20th century books andalbums

Bridget Mitchell, Dickens manuscripts, westernbindings post 1500Stefania Signorello, book conservation

Pauline Webber, Far Eastern & Asian art, wallpapersAlison Norton, posters, jigsaw puzzlesMichael Wheeler, Indian art, photographs,contemporary works of art on paperMerryl Huxtable, wallpapers, vellum manuscriptsVictoria Button, prints (16th-20th century), watermarksAlan Derbyshire, portrait miniatures & RaphaelcartoonsElizabeth Martin, photographsChris Gingell, storage of archival materialSimon Fleury, book cradles and new mount designsClair Battisson, manual of mounting techiniquesDanny Norman, designing graphics, mountingtechniques

23

Conservation Department areas of interest

Nicola Costaras, paintingsKatharine Donaldson, frames

Lynda Hillyer, Indian textiles, archaeological textiles,adhesives

Albertina Cogram, tapestriesVal Blyth, tapestries, carpets, insect pestmanagementDerek Balfour, upholstery & furnishingtechniquesAnne Amos, Far Eastern & Central Asian textilesMarion Kite, organic materialsAudrey Hill, mounting costume & reproductionaccessoriesSusana Hunter, flat textiles

Abigail Wright, administration, accounts

Richard Cook, sculpture (plaster, wood, terracotta,stone, ivory & polychromy)

Alexandra Kosinova, polchromy, wood Charlotte Hubbard, wood, terracotta, stone &polychromy

Diana Heath, jewellery, precious and base metals,ironwork, bronzes

Joanna Whalley, jewellery, bronze, gilt metal,silverSophia Wills, archaeological metalsSimon Metcalf, arms & armour, historicaltechniques, pollution absorbantsIngrid Barré, all metals

Albert Neher, furniture, marquetry, Victorian furnitureTim Miller, old furnitureChristine Powell, gilding, historic techniques &materialsTim Hayes, English furniture, leatherNigel Bamforth, Euro-indian furniture

Victoria Oakley, ceramics, glass deterioration,enamels, wax

Juanita Navarro, ceramics, glass & enamelsFi Jordan, ceramics, glass & enamels

2

Conservation Journal April 1998

Editorial Board

Jonathan Ashley-SmithHead of Conservation Department

Helen JonesCourse Tutor, RCA /V&A Course

Paula Mills, Conservation ScientistConservation Department

Tim Miller, Furniture ConservatorConservation Department

Michael Wheeler, Paper ConservatorConservation Department

Managing & Production EditorSophy Wills, Metalwork ConservatorConservation Department

Designed by V&A Print Unit

Photographs are credited individually

© Victoria & Albert Museum. ISSN 0967-2273

All enquires to:Conservation Department,Victoria & Albert Museum,London SW7 2RL, UKTelephone +44 (0)171-938 8624Fax +44 (0)171-938 8661Email Conservation.Journal@vam.ac.uk

The cover shows ‘Bashaw, 1831-34’ by Matthew Coles WyattMuseum No. A.4-1960, a potential “star” of the New British GalleriesCopyright Victoria and Albert Museum

ContentsV&A Conservation Journal No 27

3 Editorial - British GalleriesNick Umney, Project Manager, British Galleries Project

4 The New British Galleries at the V&ANicholas Humphrey, Coordinator of the Tudor and Stuart Gallery, British Galleries Project

8 “Natural Born Quillers”- conservation of paper quills on a plaque frameClair Battisson, Conservation Mounter, Paper Conservation

11 A New Book MountSimon Fleury, Conservation Mounter, Paper Conservation

13 Photography in a new lightMark Haworth-Booth, Curator of Photographs, Prints, Drawings andPaintings Department

15 The Conservation and Mounting of a JinbaoriMarion Kite, Senior Textiles Conservator, Textiles ConservationAudrey Hill, Conservation Assistant and Mounting Specialist, TextilesConservation

19 Textile Symposium 97 - ‘Fabric of an Exhibition: An InterdisciplinaryApproach’

Elizabeth-Anne Haldane, RCA/V&A MA Conservation Course student,Textiles Conservation

20 Miniature Paintings, Paper, Paintings, Parrots, Elephants and Monkeys - a Study Trip to India

Anna Hillcoat-Imanishi, RCA/V&A MA Conservation Course student,Paper Conservation

22 New Staff

23 Staff Specialisms

24 Conservation Department Staff Chart

22

New Staff

Nigel BamforthFurniture Conservator, Furniture andWoodwork Conservation

An escape and career change from thefashion industry allowed me to seeknew horizons in furniture restoration.After formal training atBuckinghamshire College I was able toaccess the various opportunitiesavailable for a career in furniture andwood restoration.

The experience I gained working for arestorer and as a conservationvolunteer at Hampton Court allowedme to evaluate the differingapproaches between restoration andconservation, and to confirm myinterest in museum conservation.

I was fortunate to be accepted as aV&A Intern in the Furniture andWoodwork Department. This uniquetime, given to me by the Museum, wasspent absorbing (like a sponge)lectures, practicals and visits whilstgaining an understanding of museumlife.

I have now joined the Museum at aturning point in its life: thepreparation for the British Galleries

project and the twenty-first century.My work commenced with conditionreporting the objects, the diversity ofwhich was a great source ofwonderment to me! My contractualpost is for both British Gallery andIndian objects. The latter encompassvarious crafts and materials that reflectmy current research interest in Anglo-Indian furniture. It is most rewardingto research the crafts and cultures, andthus gain an understanding of theethnological methods and origins ofthese objects which is beneficial totheir conservation treatment.

It is the willingness of the conservationstudios to share and impart theirknowledge, and the friendship amongmy colleagues and students, whichmakes life at the V&A so rewarding.

Hannah EastwoodConservation Scientist, ConservationScience Group.

I completed my three-year MA inConservation Science (Identification of Materials) on the RCA/V&AConservation Course in the summer

of 1997. My aim was to learn the skillsrequired for the accurate identificationof pigments and timber, mainlythrough microscopy techniques, aswell as to develop the knowledge andunderstanding of artists’ techniquesthat is necessary to interpret theinformation that is revealed by themicroscope. Coming from a BiologicalSciences background, this proved achallenge! Jo Darrah, SeniorConservation Scientist, generouslyprovided teaching and supportthroughout my training.

Over the three years I sampled(literally!) a diverse range of objectsfrom the V&A’s collections. Theseincluded works of art from thesixteenth to the nineteenth century,notably Lord Leighton’s ‘spiritfrescoes’, Late Gothic Germanpolychrome sculpture and decoratedfurniture which was exhibited in theWilliam Morris exhibition.

For my final year project I dipped intothe world of nineteenth century oilpainting materials and techniques bystudying works by Richard Redgrave(1804 - 1888). He was not only animportant figure in the history of theV&A, but also in the history of theconservation profession. My first taskas a member of the Science Group isto undertake the technical analysis ofobjects intended for the BritishGalleries project. I will be workingalongside my colleagues in theconservation science laboratory. I lookforward to building on the skills that I acquired throughout my MA, andalso dealing with the demands ofworking in a busy conservation sciencelaboratory.

3

Editorial -British GalleriesNick Umney,Project Manager, British Galleries Project

This journal is but one sign of thewillingness and desire of theDepartment to share information withothers. Another recent sign has beenthe creation of a huge database ofconservation information about thecondition and treatment needs ofthousands of objects being relocatedas part of the British Galleries projectdescribed by Nick Humphrey. Hisarticle creates for us a glowing vision,but one that will take around 150,000hours of conservation time alone tocomplete over the next four years.This will be a superb achievement. Itwill also be hard work and sometimesfrustrating. Along with all this hardwork will come some wonderfulopportunities for personal andprofessional development, teamwork,training, partnership building, andresearch.

The conservation conditionassessment, itself an impressive pieceof team work carried out to help theMuseum plan this enormous venture,provides an example of the kind ofcollaboration that will be needed forthis project. A successful project is onewhich is delivered on time, on budget,to critical acclaim and withoutdamaging our ability to work togetherin the future. We should rememberthat in addition to the traditional threecriteria for managing projects -schedule, cost and quality - there is afourth and equally important factor -people. The complexity of the BritishGalleries Project will see manydifferent groups of people workingtogether, sometimes in new ways, andit will be very much our ability to worktogether and to synthesise our variousviews of the project that willdetermine our ultimate success.

The next steps for conservationinvolve preparation of objectscurrently on display for relocationelsewhere; either into storage, orreturned to their owners, or ontemporary redisplay in the Museum, oron loan; so that as far as possible theycan be available for public access whilethe galleries are closed. Some of theobjects will be moved by Museumstaff, some by a relocation contractor.Every step in the process will havebeen agreed by all those affectedbefore it happens in August. This isaccompanied by a great deal of relatedactivity elsewhere in the Museum. Anew building is being erected off siteto enhance our storage capacity.Sculpture Collection is clearing a largepart of its existing display space toprovide a space for temporaryredisplay and prototyping of new ideasfor the British Galleries. While this isgoing on, Conservation will beginpreparing objects for redisplay, forphotography to meet publicationneeds, and for the interpretive devicesthat will be used in the new galleries.The activities of the Departmentextend well beyond this. Conservationis working with the Design Team todevelop an environment and displaypolicy, and strategies for rotation ofobjects on display, as well asresearching and developing newmethods to enhance the protection ofobjects on open display, and carryingout formal risk assessments on thedesign. Scientific and technical analysisof objects and period rooms andtesting of materials for use in displaysis also required.

Three separate gallery teams workingwith thirteen collections and tenconservation sections, plusphotographers, technical services andothers, means that a great deal ofcommunication will need to take placebetween us. As I write this, systems forthe British Galleries are going in thatwill allow us all to have access to thesame information. This technology isvery necessary, but it is not, in itself, asufficient condition for effectivenessand harmony. Application of the hugediversity of skills, knowledge andexperience required to make thisproject happen necessarily bringstogether people who are conditionedto see things differently. To be trulyeffective we all need the humility andreverence to recognize our ownperceptual limitations, and toappreciate the rich resources availablethrough the hearts and minds of otherhuman beings. Is it logical that twopeople can disagree and that both canbe right ? It’s not logical, it’spsychological - and it’s very real. If wecan value the difference in ourperceptions and give credence to thepossibility that life is not adichotomous ‘either/or’, that there isalmost always a third alternative, wewill be able to transcend the limits ofour conditioning. By doing this we willincrease our own self awareness andwe will free up energy, that might havebeen used in defending a particularposition, for more creative andproductive use.

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

4

The renovation of the British Galleries at theVictoria and Albert Museum is the single largestdisplay project undertaken by the Museum forfifty years. The fifteen galleries involved,including narrow back rooms currently used asfurniture stores, are themselves the size of manysubstantial museums and cover roughly 10% ofthe Museum’s entire display space. Access to allfloors of the Museum will be dramaticallyincreased by the introduction of two new lifts,one at each end of the galleries. Nearly 3,000objects will be displayed, representing everyaspect of the Museum’s wide-ranging collection.The difficulties of renovating existing museumspace and the challenge of presenting such awide range of objects have contributed to thehigh cost of the project - around £32m - a largepart of which is being sought from the HeritageLottery Fund. The Museum has setitself a tight schedule: to close thecurrent galleries in July 1998, andto reopen them at the end of 2001.The aim of this article is to outlinesome of the distinctive qualitiesof these ambitious new galleries,and how those characteristicsare being pursued through thedesign process.

How will our new BritishGalleries be different?Expertise in objects may betaken for granted in the V&A.What we know less about,and yet know to be crucialto the success of thesegalleries, is our audiences.They are certainly varied,from tourist visitors whomay speak no English toschool children andfamily groups, as well asspecialists and students.Audience research intothe ways museumvisitors learn is beingcarried out, and theresults fed back intothe design process by

educators working on three gallery teams. We areparticularly interested in responses to the firstphase of the new V&A Silver Galleries, opened togreat acclaim in 1996. What is well established isthat some people prefer to learn in museumsfrom a practical “hands-on” approach while othersare more interested in starting from a theory andapplying it. Traditionally the V&A has presenteddisplays for analytical learners - those who learnby thinking and watching, and who look for factsand intellectual comprehension - but has offeredless for others, such as those who like to trythings out for themselves or who look forpersonal meanings in objects. The new Gallerieswill attempt to provide for all learning styles.

We want to create galleries which are beautifuland welcoming, a place forenjoyment and learning. For such

The New British Galleries at the V&ANicholas Humphrey Coordinator of the Tudor and Stuart Gallery Team, British Galleries Project.

Figure 1. Ground floor plan of the Museum, new British Galleries shown in black

38

21

Royal College of Art Victoria & Albert Museum Joint Course Conservation

carrying the ceremonial sword of theassistant museum director.

Jaisalmer had no direct museologicalconnection, but here I learned howminiatures are traditionally kept ondisplay in private houses. In one of thehavelis (houses with a courtyarddating back to the 16th century),miniatures were let into the plaster ofthe wall and covered with a pane ofglass with an ornamental plaster frame.

In Udaipur I had no letter ofintroduction and could therefore notsee behind the scenes of the CityPalace Museum, which I deeplyregretted. I visited the GovernmentMuseum which has a good collectionof miniatures, housed in casesalongside spiders and chipmunks.There was a catalogue at thereception, but I was told by thewarding staff that it was absolutely notavailable to me. This was frustrating asDr Sharma from the Mewar ResearchInstitute had assured me that thecatalogue contained valuableinformation.

In Jaipur I met with Dr Das for an arthistorical exchange over tea and rosebiscuits. Mr Sahai from the PalaceMuseum showed me the store andtold me about some conservationproblems he had (example: paper cutsmade from gold leaf stuck betweenglass panes, which would crumble intodust when touched, but which have tobe removed from their casing because

they have slipped). I also met with Dr Hot Chand of the GovernmentMuseum. He and I had interestingdiscussions over the necessity of sometreatments currently standard inIndian paper conservation such aswashing, deacidification and bleachingof paintings, as well as ethics ingeneral.

I also met with Bannu Ved Pal Sharma,a traditional miniature painter whoalso works as a restorer. He was ableto give me a lot of practicalinformation on painting, materials andrestoration. It was fascinating to hearhim explain his painting techniquesand to see his burnishers and brushes.

Finally, I visited the KumarappaNational Handmade Paper Institute in

Sanganer. Here, research is under wayinto finding paper-making materialsthat are easily obtainable and cheapfor village paper production. Mr Singhof the Institute showed me atraditional paper maker’s house,where Mohammed Kagzi and hisfamily make paper by hand fromrecycled old rag paper and jute fibres.He uses the traditional flexible mold,squatting before his vat. His wifebrushes the damp sheets onto thehouse wall to dry, and they areburnished by hand over a curved slabof wood with a little linseed oil.

In between visiting museums, Imanaged to see some of India’s betterknown sights: amazing giant Jainstatues in a cliff face at Gwalior; atAgra, breathtaking Mughal monumentsand, of course, the Taj Mahal..

All in all I learnt a lot on this study trip,not only about conservation, but alsoabout museum politics, amazingcraftsmanship, endurance, Mughalhistory and the beauty of India. And Ididn’t get ill once.

AcknowledgementsI would like to express my thanks: toeveryone who helped me during mytrip; to the Nehru Trust and to theRCA for providing funding; and also toDr Deborah Swallow and MikeWheeler for planning my itinerary.

Figure 2. Alok Kumar and colleague in the conservation studio of the Mehangarh Museum Trust.

Phot

ogra

phy

by A

nna

Hill

coat

-Im

anis

hi

Figure 3. Stonemason making a sandstone filigree screen with white marble infills in Agra.

Phot

ogra

phy

by A

nna

Hill

coat

-Im

anis

hi

20

Royal College of Art Victoria & Albert Museum Joint Course Conservation

Miniature paintings, paper, paintings, parrots,elephants and monkeys - a study trip to India.Anna Hillcoat-ImanishiRCA / V&A student, MA in Paper Conservation

As soon as I started my course at theV&A people started talking aboutsending me to India - surely, I thought,they can’t want to get rid of me thisquickly, but... I was suddenly on myway in October 1997, with the aid of agenerous travel grant awarded by theNehru Trust, and further financial helpfrom the RCA. My mission was five-fold: to find the collections of Indianminiature paintings; to findconservation studios; to find and meetpractising miniature painters andhistorians who would enlighten me; tolearn about India and, finally, to writeabout it all. Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer,Udaipur, Jaipur, Agra, Gwalior andDelhi were to be the eight stations ofmy journey.

In Delhi I was received by ManjitDebashis and his family, who very kindlyallowed me to stay in their home. Thisgave me a unique insight into theeveryday life of a Delhi family. I alsoacquired an in-depth understanding ofsome of the problems of government-funded conservation and museums, asManjit is a paintings conservator whospent time in the V&A as an intern afew years back.

I visited the National Craft Museum,whose director, Jotindra Jain, althoughvery busy, spent a lot of time with meexplaining the philosophy behind hiscollection. The objects are alldisplayed in a very contextual way, thefloors covered with rush matting andthe natural clay walls covered with

traditional wall paintings. The entiremuseum building is an example ofIndian craftsmanship, as well as theobjects it displays. Although themuseum is fairly small it has aconservation studio employing threeconservators. Storage is veryaccessible and highly visible withobjects shelved in glass cases, as thestore is also the study collection.

In the National Museum of Art I wasnot quite so lucky. The curator I hadcontacted, and whom I wished totake me around the collection,reserve and stores, had forwardedmy letter on to a conservator, whohappened to be on holiday. When Ireturned at a later date, the curatorwas not available.

At my next stop, in Jodhpur, I wastaken care of by the charming Dr

Naval Krishna of the Jodhpur PalaceMuseum. After a guided tour of thefort, where the museum is located, I

visited the newly establishedconservation studio led by AlokKumar. He had trained under Agrawalin the Indian Conservation Centre atLucknow, specialising in muralpaintings. Two other conservatorswere working under him, and with thesupport of the Indian ConservationInstitute, a good studio has beeninstalled at the fort. Here, theconservators work on the vast andvaried collections of the Maharajas ofJodhpur, ranging from elephanthowdahs and weapons to tantricmeditation drawings and ancientmanuscripts. The conservators aredoing an amazing job considering thedifficulties encountered when trying toobtain materials and funds to carry outprojects.

I was also shown the textile stores, theweapons collection and the library.Here books, manuscripts and loosepapers are kept wrapped in thetraditional way, where each pack ofpages belonging together is placed inan envelope, and stacks of about 50envelopes are kept between slightlylarger wooden boards and then tiedup. This bundle is then wrapped withred cloth and again secured withribbon. The contents of each bundleare written on a piece of paper whichis attached to the bundle. Theimportant pieces are kept in lockablemetal fireproof cabinets. In this waythe library houses about 5000manuscripts, together with 7000account books of the palace, which arekept slightly more loosely on woodenshelves behind polythene sheets.

In Jodhpur I also had the opportunityto observe the Dussera festival and toride on the back of the scooter

Figure 1. Manuscripts in Jodhpur Library

Phot

ogra

phy

by A

nna

Hill

coat

-Im

anis

hiC

onservation Journal Aprill 1998

5

Figure 2. State Bed from Melville House, c.1697 (Museum No. W.35-1949)

Phot

ogra

phy

by V

&A

Phot

ogra

phic

Stu

dio

Last September I travelled to Ottawa, Canada, toattend the well organised and enjoyable TextileSymposium 97, which was the first of a plannedseries of ‘North American Textile ConservationConferences’organised jointly by conservators inthe United States and Canada. Each conference isto be hosted by a different institution, the first ofwhich being the Canadian Conservation Institute(CCI). The CCI arranged for Symposium 97 totake place at the centrally located NationalGallery of Canada, for the presentation of paperson days one to three, followed by a choice of twovisits on the fourth day to either the CCI facilities,Laurier House, (a Parks Canada historic site), orthe Canadian Museum of Civilisation.

The theme of the conference was the exhibitingof textiles, with an emphasis on the co-operationneeded between disciplines – curatorial,scientific, design and conservation – to aim forthe safest display of these inherently vulnerableobjects. The presentations had been organisedinto seven themed sessions with between threeand five papers in each session.

The demands of a hectic exhibition schedulewere contemplated in session one, “ExhibitionPerspectives”, which included a well receivedpaper from the V&A’s Jonathan Ashley-Smith andLynda Hillyer entitled “Can High Productivity beProductive ?”. In the next session the focusswitched to “Exhibiting the Historic House”, andthe problems and ethics involved in caring fortextiles which are integral to the overall effectand interpretation of an historic site. The prosand cons of using reproduction fabrics in place oforiginals was discussed in this session and thenext, “Considerations for the Long-term”, whenNancy Britton from the Metropolitan Museum ofArt presented her paper “Treatment Decisions forthe Exhibition of a 1697 English State Bed”. Thebed is on long-term open display - a factor whichcontributed to the choice of reproduction textilesfor the bed hangings. She informed us that,despite a sound alarm and security guards, oncethe bed was exhibited she found pinch marks on

the curtains from visitors, and “occasionally evenbody impressions appear nestled in the feathermattress”!

The fourth session, “The Exhibition Environment”,was full of useful technical and scientific data onlighting, exhibit cases and packing materials. Daythree, and we had reached “Travelling aCollection”, which was interesting not only forthe shared travelling experiences, but alsobecause of the community involvement in theexhibitions discussed. For example, in theexhibition ‘Becoming American Women: Clothingand the Jewish Immigrant Experience, 1880 - 1920’,Nancy Buenger from the Chicago HistoricalSociety explained how stock mannequins weremodified to look more realistic by using the facesof members of the local community who hadloaned items for display. Their plaster masks werefixed to the mannequins. In session six, papersdealing with “Support and Presentation” offeredmany useful mounting ideas, especially for flagsand costume.

The successful collaboration between CaraVarnell, from the Los Angeles County Museum ofArt, and Gary Landrum - curator and exhibitsproducer with Disney - brought the final session,“Expanding Roles”, and the conference, to aclose, when they presented their paper “Let meEdu-tain You” Historic Artefacts and the World ofThemed Entertainment’. They focused attentionon the growing number of high quality objectsexhibited in non-museum environments andcalled on conservators to be ready to offer theirhelp and share their expertise.

Acknowledgments I would like to thank the Conservation Unit ofthe Museums and Galleries Commission, and theFriends of the V&A for the financial supportenabling me to attend this conference.

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

19

TEXTILE SYMPOSIUM 97 - Fabric of anExhibition: An Interdisciplinary ApproachElizabeth-Anne HaldaneTextile Conservation Student, RCA/V&A Conservation Course

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

6

a large museum space, we strongly believe thatvariety is required, with changes of pace andpresentation. Some displays will offer grand,elegant spaces, others will invite the visitors tolook closely at a single intriguing object, or toenjoy a dense display of, say, tea-caddies ormezzotints. Atmospheric and glamorous displayswill give free reign to the imagination of visitors,as perhaps in a recreation of the Norfolk HouseMusic Room as a space into which visitors canenter, and where, occasionally, they might enjoylive music, as its original occupants did in the1750s. Other spaces in the gallery will bereserved for naturally-lit comfortable seating,teaching space for school-groups, or suchnecessities as stores for maintenance.

Variety of design will be complemented by varietyin the questions raised by the displays. Within achronological framework the galleries willconsider key issues in the history of designover four centuries: what was new; whodecided what was good or fashionable inart and design; and how visual styles suchas ‘Rococo’ or ‘Gothic Revival’ developed.

One of the great benefits offered by a project aslarge as this is the opportunity to develop themesright across the period: for example how,between the sixteenth and late nineteenthcenturies, Britain changed from an importer ofhigh design goods to a producer, consumer andexporter of such goods, developing in theprocess the native skills which led to Britainbecoming the workshop of the world. Somevisitors will be surprised to see objects importedfrom abroad and others made by foreigners inEngland, but the key influence of foreign goods,from Europe as well as Asia and the Islamicworld, is a necessary part of the story of thedevelopment of British design.

Audiences and design are key concerns, but it isunique objects that will sustain the new galleries.Three gallery teams have spent two years

working with individual departmentssearching through and sifting the V&A’sunparalleled collections. The vast listsof potential objects for display

(especially for theeighteenth andnineteenth centurygalleries) are currentlybeing refined down toaround 3000 objects of all

Figure 3. Diana Casson’s Sketch of Gallery 125 -display showing the influence of Japan onEnglish style

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

18

which is why steam is most successful at relaxingkeratin materials. It was therefore decided tolightly steam the feathers and to gentlymanipulate them by hand as they relaxed, inorder to straighten and re-lay them in theirappropriate configuration on the garment. It waspossible to re-attach some of the shed fronds tothe larger feathers. These were relocated ontothe feather shaft from where they had brokenaway and adhered with a small spot of Mowilith50TM in acetone, mixed thickly and used in themanner of a contact adhesive. It was not possibleto re-fix the smaller feather fragments.

Once the conservation was complete, theJinbaori was slid onto the support mount andstand taking care to avoid any further disruptionto the feathers. It is currently on display in theToshiba Gallery of Japanese art (Figure 5).

AcknowledgementsI should like to thank Greg Irvine of the FarEastern Department.

SuppliersSilk Habotai William Bennett and Sons

Higher HillgateStockportCheshire

Vilene John LewisOxford StreetLondon W1A 1EX

Lanaset Ciba Geigy01625 421933

Mowilith Harlow Chemical Company LtdTemple FieldsHarlowEssex CM20 2BH

Figure 5. Jinbaori on display inToshiba Gallery of Japanese ArtPh

otog

raph

y by

V&

A P

hoto

grap

hic

Stud

ios

Position guideonly

kinds and sizes, from the grandest tapestry to thehumblest bodkin. There will be anonymousartefacts and pieces by most of the famous namesof British design, from Grinling Gibbons toWilliam Morris; and from the most famousworkshops, from Mortlake to Elkington’s. Manywill be much-loved favourites such as the GreatBed of Ware or Bashaw the Newfoundland dog,others will be new acquisitions such as Canova’sThree Graces. Some will be pieces which havebeen in the V&A’s collection for many years butwhich we have been unable to show. One greatsadness of the last few years has been the gradualremoval of textiles from the present galleries, dueto mounting levels of pollution in these spaceswhich front Cromwell Road. The great state bedmade in London in the 1690s for the Earl ofMelville, is just such a piece, upholstered with itsoriginal crimson silk Genoa velvet and whiteChinese silk damask. With highly sophisticatedcasing allowing close control of temperature,humidity and air cleanliness, it will once moreawe visitors, together with a splendid array oftextiles of all periods. The selection process iswide ranging and involves not only designers andspecialist curators, but the V&A’s Conservationand Science sections, and historians skilled indocumentary research.

The period rooms which have been such popularexhibits in the old galleries will also bereconsidered. Some will not be returning; theSizergh Castle room will be returned to itsoriginal location (now in the care of the NationalTrust); others, such as the Hatton Garden Room ,have turned out to be less authentic thanoriginally thought. Those which do return to thegalleries will be given a sense of architecturalintegrity. Rather than continue the three-sided,stage-set approach, we will restore the fourth wallof certain rooms, either with their originalelements (Norfolk House Music Room) or with asuggestive approach. Visitors will be able to walkinto most rooms through the original doors, asused by the original inhabitants.

Period rooms are one category of objects that canbe said to “speak for themselves” in that theyoffer a sense of decorated space which visitorsenter to experience. Many objects cannot, ofcourse, be entered or handled directly, butvisitors undoubtedly enjoy more and understandbetter those objects that they are specificallyinvited to reconsider. The new galleries willinclude several series of interpretive devices,placed next to the objects to which they relate,for visitors to try themselves. These range from a

video that shows how an object was made, to apractical exercise reconstructing the elements ofa replica object; from an activity asking visitors tospot the difference between objects and theirimitations (perhaps an Indian shawl and itsPaisley equivalent), to an audio programmeretelling the story depicted on an object. Avariety of methods will provide information aboutorientation, so visitors know where they are andwhat is available. Study areas will allow visitors touse the Museum’s new automated catalogue, CIS,giving information about the collections andabout designers and the places where objectswere made and used. Most recently, a number ofprototype interpretive devices have beenproduced by gallery educators working withconservation and curatorial departments. Thesewere made to demonstrate our ideas oninterpretation to the Heritage Lottery Fund, andare now being tested to see how well they workand last, and what visitors actually gain fromthem. The lessons learned will be fed back intoobject selection, interpretive plans and thedetailed design of all fifteen galleries.

The British Galleries are the Museum’s majorpriority in the coming years. A large team, of V&Astaff and outside consultants, is working on theproject. This includes a design team of interiorand exhibition designer Dinah Casson of CassonMann, architect Alistair Gourlay of GA Associatesand interior design consultant David Mlinaric.V&A staff right across the Museum arecontributing to the project. All are workingtowards a new kind of V&A gallery, one which willengage, delight and enlighten our visitors.

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

7

of a smooth silk is important, to allow thesupport to slide easily into the object concerned.The whole assemblage may then be hung on astrong metal T-Barkimono stand. VileneTM

is a heavyweight, non-woven, bonded, inertpolyester fibrematerial which isreadily availablethrough most outletsof furnishing fabrics.This basic method issimple, inexpensiveand readily adaptablefor the different shapes, sizes andstyles of these garments and hasbecome the standard way ofmounting this type of object forlong term display.

The ‘shot’ irridescent silk andfeather lining of the Jinbaori wasunusual and of particular interest, so it wasrequested that any method of support mustnot obscure this from view when the objectwas shown from the front. It was thereforedecided that the VileneTM and silk supportwould have to be made in two halves, and asection inserted into each separate sleeve andfront to support the garment equally. Once thepattern had been taken and the two parts hadbeen made they were covered in a dark bluehabotai (soft, lightweight, plain weave silk),chosen so the colour would blend with theobject if any small part of the supportshould be visible when viewed from anacute angle (Figure 4).

The first part of the remedial conservation was torepair the damaged velvet elements. Silk habotaiand a very fine nylon net were dyed to colourmatch using LanasetTM (a range of metal complexand reactive dyes of proven fastness). Thefragmented edge binding of the collar wascarefully unpicked on one side only to giveaccess to the back of the velvet lining. Dyedhabotai cut to the collar shape was insertedbehind the velvet, and the velvet was couchedthrough onto this using a fine polyester thread.The fragmented edge binding was reset inposition and covered with the net which servedto support and hold the fragments in place andfinish the edge of the collar. The velvet on the tabfastenings was also couched onto habotai. Thebutton which would have held the tab fasteningsclosed across the front of the garment wasmissing, so a simple silk-covered button wasmade and sewn in place. The original buttonwould most likely have been horn and similar to

those thatheld thereveresback to theshoulders.

It wasdecidedthat onlythe mostdamagedof thesmall areas

of weakness on theJapanese ground fabricwould be repaired asthese were more cosmeticrather than structural.Where necessary these

were couched through tothe interlining which was one of

the layers of construction.

Attention was then turned to thedisrupted and damaged feathers.Feathers are a keratin material; aterm applied to chemically relatedprotein materials such as scale, hoof,horn, nail and feathers. The aminoacid composition is complex, butwithin the morphology adjacent

protein chains associate with eachother through hydrogenbonding. Most hydrogen bondsare disrupted at temperatureswithin the range of 40-60oC

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

17

Figure 3. Support mount made for Chinese Kimono.

Phot

ogra

phy

by V

&A

Pho

togr

aphi

c St

udio

s

Figure 4. Support mount made for the Jinbaori

Phot

ogra

phy

by V

&A

Pho

togr

aphi

c St

udio

s

Position guideonly

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

8

Quilling (also known as paper filigree, papermosaic, paper lace and paper scroll) describesthe art of rolling thin strips of paper into variousshapes which are collectively used to formdesigns.

A Brief History of QuillingThere is scarce information about early quill workdating from before the middle of the seventeenthcentury. Travellers have been reported as havingseen examples of these intricate designs in oldchurches throughout Europe. It is noted thatearly quill work was first used as decoration inreligious houses as early as the Medieval period.Monks and nuns had an immense knowledge ofinks, paints and gilding and wanted to decoratethe screens and panels in their monasteries andconvents to imitate the metal filigree work whichhad originated during the Byzantine period.Quilling adapts well to mosaic designs. In 1495England had its first paper mill which played asignificant factor in the development of quillwork. Paper, being far less expensive thanprecious metals, was cut into thin strips whichwere rolled into assorted shapes, then arrangedtogether in elaborately constructed designs. Oncepainted and gilded, if viewed from a distance, thequills could imitate metal filigree. Designs havebeen found in English churches and religioushouses dating from the fifteenth century up tothe reformation in the sixteenth century. It isthought that close examination of early panelsand screens in churches throughout Europe mayshow early surviving quill work.

A revival of decorative panels and elaboratedesigns surrounding miniatures followed in theseventeenth century. Paper filigree appears tohave been a substitute for expensive paintingsduring the reign of Queen Anne. A rekindledinterest developed among young ladies in theeighteenth century who would practise quilling,along with other handicrafts, between socialevents. During this period professionals taughtthe craft and sold their own finished work.

Objects from this phase include tea caddies,framed panels, ink trays, cabinets.

There appear to have been many revivals ofquilling in America with a particular interest inthe decoration of sconces. Whenever metalfiligree became fashionable there was anawakening interest in the use of paper as asubstitute.

The Eddison Collection of TheatricalMaterialThe quilled frame belonging to the ceramicplaque of Sarah Siddons (Museum No. S.1071-1996) is part of a collection of theatrical materialaccumulated by the actor Robert Eddison (1908-1991). The collection includes prints, drawings,watercolours, books and ceramics of Georgiantheatrical material, most of which is rare and ofnational importance. Robert Eddison was a greatclassical actors’ actor who cared for little elseother than the theatre.

The ceramic plaque is a portrait of Sarah Siddons(1755 - 1831), an outstanding actress of theEnglish stage who had a great effect on heraudiences. She excelled at tragedy.

Conservation of the Quilled FrameThe object is made up of three components:• the quilled frame• the ceramic plaque• the backboard.

When the object arrived in the studio it was invery poor condition. The frame was split: lots ofquills were missing and those remaining werevery dirty (some being decorated with smallpieces of shell). The ceramic plaque had an oldinfill repair on the lower rim, and the back boardwas attached to the frame with sealing wax.

“Natural Born Quillers”- conservation ofpaper quills on the Sarah Siddons plaqueframe.Clair Battisson, Conservation Mounter

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

16

This garment had been in the collection since1905 but it was only recently that its truesignificance had been established. It had beenpreviously described as a theatrical costume foran angel and had been confused with thecostume worn by the principal actor in the Nohdrama Hagoromo. It came into the ConservationDepartment in the early 1990s for boxing andpacking as part of a project to improve storageconditions, as there was concern that the featherswere disintegrating and the costume was beingdamaged. There was no opportunity to researchthe garment or to carry out any conservation to itat that time.

For storage the robe had been interleaved withacid free tissue and folded along its length twice.Each fold was padded with a roll made frompolyester wadding covered with cotton fabric tosupport and cushion each fold. It was thenplaced in a purpose made acid free box linedwith tissue, and covered with more tissue. It wastaken back to the Far Eastern Department forindefinite storage.

In 1997 some kimono were examined with a viewto including them in the next Toshiba Galleryrotation and an opportunity became available for

a curator to research the robe and to include it inthe Gallery display. It was at this point identifiedas a rare and important Jinbaori. Now requiredfor gallery display an opportunity was availablefor conservation to be carried out.

ConditionThe Jinbaori was clean and generally sound inoverall structure but there were some small areasof weakness to the Japanese ground silk of thebody. Many feathers were bent and out ofalignment on the Jinbaori. Some had theirstructure disrupted and were shedding fronds.The silk velvet on the collar lining and fasteningtabs had degraded and split, and the velvet usedas an edge binding on the collar had degradedand fragmented and in some places fallen away.

Conservation and Preparation for DisplayAlthough a certain amount of remedialconservation was necessary to this object, theprimary concern was to give adequate support tothe heavy Jinbaori whilst it was on display. Muchwork has been carried out over the last few yearsinto the display of heavy Japanese Kimono andChinese Robes and a method has been workedout using a substantial purpose-made VileneTM

support, tailored to the exact shape of the objectand covered in silk (Figure 3). The final covering

Figure 2. The Jinbaori. Back view

Phot

ogra

phy

by M

ario

n K

ite

Position guideonly

Close examination showed that the infill was alsomade from sealing wax and was attached to thebackboard. Luckily there was a large gapseparating the sealing wax and ceramic allowingeasy removal of the backboard and old repairwithout inflicting any further damage to theplaque or the frame. The plaque was taken toVictoria Oakley (Head of Ceramics & GlassConservation). The old infill had been made toobig for the plaque, forcing the frame to split atthe top, which had caused stress to thepaperwork in the surrounding area. Tim Miller(Senior Furniture and Woodwork conservator)repaired the frame using a glue solution ofHoechst MowilithTM DM132 39-9363.

Pauline Webber (Head of Paper Conservation)advised on the cleaning and conservation of theexisting quills. Most of the surface dirt was tooingrained to remove, although slight cleaning didbrighten the quills upwithout drasticallychanging

their appearance. They werecleaned using a cotton wool

swab moistened withsaliva.

The swabs were madesmall enough toallow access in andaround the coils.The quills werequite difficult totreat as the objectis so small. Greatcare had to be takennot to apply too

much pressure as theedges of the paper

were already frayed andcould be easily damaged

further. The small areas ofshell on the quilling will be

dealt with at a later date.

It was decided to replace the missing areas ofquilling with new quills. Any papers that wereused in repair were chosen for their similarity inweight and texture to the existing papers.Examination of the underside of the loose quillsshowed both the original colours of the quills(blue and cream) and that the round quills weremade up of two pieces of paper. To make thenew quills mould-made papers were toned to ashade of blue or cream as near as possible to theoriginal colour. The papers were cut into longstrips which were the same width as the existingquills (3mm). Traditional quilling seems to havebeen made using 3mm wide strips, giving depthand a 3D effect without being too bulky. Thestrips were lightly pasted with wheat starch pastethen rolled around my improvised quilling tools -a straightened out paper clip, a pin and a smallbradawl! After many attempts the quills started toroll out.

The cream paper was coiled first, cut whenenough had been rolled and then the blue paperfollowed covering the outer edges. Different sizequills were made to fit the different parts of theframe. The ends were secured using wheat starchpaste and when dry they were toned withwatercolours to look like the existing quills. Anyodd shaped quills were made, then coloured inthe same way.

Any loose pieces of paper or slightly unattachedquills were secured and any loose original andreplacement quills were attached to the frameusing wheat starch paste. The outer edge of the

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

9

Figure 1. The frame and plaque (235 x 182mm) (Museum No S.1071-1996).

Figure 2 - Detail of existing quills.

Phot

ogra

phy

by S

imon

Fle

ury

Phot

ogra

phy

by S

imon

Fle

ury

Position guideonly

Position guideonly

Position guideonly

This article discusses the conservation, mountingand preparation for display of a rare and unusualJapanese object. The Jinbaori evolved in the late16th century as a surcoat worn over a full suit ofSamurai armour. Originally a purely functionalgarment intended to keep the wearer and hisarmour dry, it developed into a symbol ofpersonal taste and power, with expensive, exotictextiles and unusual materials being used in theconstruction and design. It is recorded thatJinbaori were worn into battle.

This Jinbaori (Samurai c.1700-1800. FED 628-1905) incorporates both Japanese and Chinesesilks. The ground silk is of Japanese origin and isworked with metal threads and decorated withpeacock feathers. Tail, wing and body contourfeathers have been used. The collar and frontreveres are stiffened. The back of the collar andreveres are Chinese silk as are the backs of the

fastening tabs. The lining of the collar, theshoulder bars and front panels of the fasteningtabs are of black velvet. The collar is stiffened withpaper which was visible through the damagedarea of the collar lining before this was repaired(Figures 1,2).

Different styles of Japanese braiding and cordingwere used as decorative trimmings. Horn buttonswere used to fasten back the reveres and thegarment was lined with a silk fabric which waswoven throughout with peacock feathers, givingit a strange ‘shot’ (2-tone) appearance. At thecentre back of the garment was a Kanamono (anornate metal plate) on which the Agemaki (adecorative bow) hangs. Although covered infeathers, the other elements incorporated andthe method of construction make this a heavyitem of costume.

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

15

The Conservation and Mounting of a JinbaoriMarion Kite Senior Textiles & Organic Materials Conservator, Textiles Conservation

Audrey Hill, Conservation Assistant and Mounting Specialist, Textiles Conservation

Figure 1. The Jinbaori. Front view (Museum No FED 628-1905)

Phot

ogra

phy

by M

ario

n K

itePosition guide

only

Life after Conservation MountingThe frame and plaque will be reunited inCeramics Conservation. Victoria Oakley’ssuggested treatment for the plaque loss is tomake a new infill for both aesthetic and safetyreasons. The filling will be made from syntheticfillers such as All Purpose PolyfillaTM (a cellulosereinforced plaster of Paris) and Fine SurfacePolyfillaTM (vinyl acetate co polymer mixed withorganic mineral fillers), supported temporarily bydental wax whilst drying. It will be levelled andsmoothed to the desired finish then retouchedby hand using acrylic paint to match the adjacentareas.

Other Examples of QuillingOn display in the V&A British Art and Designgalleries there are various examples of quilling. A quilling kit containing all the necessaryimplements is on show together with examplesof tea caddies, trays and panels.

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Pauline Webber, Tim Miller,Victoria Oakley, Simon Fleury and Pat West.

References• Arron, E., Quilling - the art of paper scroll

work, 1976, Batsford craft paperback

• Christy, B. and Tracy, D., Quillling - paperart for everyone, 1974, Chicago Regnery

Materials & Suppliers• Mould made papers - Oulin du vergerde

Puymoyen supplied by Atlantis EuropeanLtd, 146 Brick Lane, London E1 6RU

• Wheat starch paste - BDH LaboratorySupplies, Poole, BH1 1TD

• All purpose Polyfilla & Fine Surface Polyfilla- Polycell Products Ltd, 30 Broadwater Rd,Welwyn, Garden City, Herts. AL7 3AZ

• Hoeschst Mowilith DM132 39-9363 -Hoechst, Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft,65926 Frankfurt am Main, Deutchland.

•Beva 371- A.P. Fitzpatrick, 142 CambridgeHeath Road, Bethnal Green, London E15QJ

• Polyester - Secol Ltd, Howlett Way,Thetford, Norfolk IP24 1HZ

• Watercolours - Winsor and Newton Ltd, 51Rathbone Place, London W1P 1AB

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

10

frame had a paper border. Areas where paper wasmissing were replaced with a modern ‘antique’paper, toned to the shade of the surrounding areathen attached using wheat starch paste.

The label on the backboard was removed usingwater, dried and pressed, then encapsulated inpolyester and attached to a new backboard usingBeva 371TM. The new backboard has been cut fromhardboard which, after consultation with Pat West(Framing specialist in Prints, Drawings andPhotographs Department), is held in positionusing sliding clips (Figure 3). The clips have beenscrewed into the verso of the frame to avoid anybanging of the frame which may have upset thequills, and the repaired split. Possibly also theceramic plaque might have been broken were itframed in the standard way.

Figure 3 - The frame complete withnew quills and the new backboard.

Phot

ogra

phy

by S

imon

Fle

ury

Position guideonly

Position guideonly

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

14

The first show will be up for six months.Thereafter, we will normally show the history ofphotography section - including a strongcontemporary component - for a year at the time.Each year we will also show two specialexhibitions from the collection. The first is HenriCartier-Bresson: Elsewhere. Photographs fromthe Americas and Asia. This is part of our saluteto HC-B who is due to celebrate his 90th birthdaythis August. The V&A owns 400 of his works.After that, from May 1999, we will feature LadyHawarden (1822-65) to mark the publication ofthe first scholarly monograph on her work.

What do we hope for from the PhotographyGallery? We believe we are - thanks to ourcolleagues in Conservation Department - settingnew standards in the presentation of finephotographs. Each print is individually assessedin terms of mounting. We are also custom-framing many of the contemporary items. Weplan to have both excellent lighting and a newlabelling system. We will be using electronicprogrammes in the gallery from November aspart of our range of educational initiatives. Wewill show the best of photography in a new lightto a large new audience.

One of the images from the inaugural show in the new gallery, Mick Jagger (Museum No. PH.165-1983)

Phot

ogra

phy

by D

avid

Bai

ley

Position guide onlyThe following is a brief outline of the furtherdevelopments to the Perspex™(ICI) slotted bookcradle design featured in Journal 221. Thismethod was designed as a reusable alternative tothe board and cloth cradle used at the Museumfor the display of books and related materials. Inthe period following the article, the new designof two Perspex combs and wedges was used forseveral in-house displays and exhibitions. Duringthis time the pros and cons of the design werefurther assessed. The cradle had worked as aprototype but with regular use there emergedseveral aspects that warranted further attention.

The design divides into two distinct parts:Perspex comb supports that are reusable andwedges of Perspex or mount board that supportthe open book. In practice the wedge supportsproved a success. The problems lay with thePerspex combs. The first was with the matchingof the wedge supports to the combs. If there wasany discrepancy between the verticals of thewedge supports and the slots in the combs itbecame difficult to slot them together. This putstrain on the teeth of the combs which resultedin them snapping. The second problem occurred

when trying to reuse the combs for differentbooks. It became obvious that it was not alwayspossible to match the comb length to a specificbook, even with a selection of lengths. Thisresulted in a mismatch, causing the ends of thecombs to extend beyond the book, detractingfrom the appearance of the book on display. Thecombs could be cut down to fit but this justadded further time and complications.

As the cradles had been used for severalexhibitions, and in light of the problems with theslotted design, it seemed appropriate to hold afurther development meeting. Both designs were

discussed and Brian Griggs, Headof Design at the Museumsuggested that a possible solutionto the drawbacks with the slottedcradle would be to replace thetwo slotted combs with a singleblock of Perspex, longitudinallyslotted. The slotted block wouldsit centrally, directly below thebook, replacing the two combs ofthe original design, with thewedges of Perspex slotting alongone edge into the block tosupport the open book.

Design Animations, the companyresponsible for supplying theoriginal Perspex components, wasasked to provide a prototypePerspex block. This was madefrom 12mm Perspex andmeasured 150mm x 150mm. Thelongitudinal slots were 5mm deep

and 2mm wide. The distance between slots,centre to centre was 5mm. This distance provedto be the only critical measurement. In order toaccommodate the varying spine widths it isnecessary to keep the distance between the slotsto a minimum. It is not possible to allow forevery eventuality and difficulties occur whentrying to match the gap between the wedges tothe width of the book’s spine. If the distancebetween the slots is any wider than 5mm it leadsto an inability to support the boards of the openbook adequately.

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

11

A New Book MountSimon FleuryConservation Mounter

Figure 1. The design using two slotted combs

Phot

ogra

phy

by S

imon

Fle

ury

Position guideonly

The V&A’s new Photography Gallery will open on21 May 1998. If the museum ground plan werethought of in terms of real estate or a MonopolyBoard, the gallery is in a prime location - ParkLane or Piccadilly. It is in the heart of theMuseum on the ground floor, beside thetemporary exhibition galleries. In fact, the space -Gallery 38 (see greyed area on Museum plan,page 4) - was one of the exhibition galleries, mostrecently used for the first room of the Carl andKarin Larsson show. This is a large, barrel-vaultedgallery of 350 square metres. We are very gratefulto the Director and the Central ManagementTeam for making this handsome location availableto us. The Director’s gesture of support forphotography as a creative medium has beenreciprocated by a major company which hascome forward to sponsor the gallery, details ofwhich will be announced after this article goes to press.

New photography galleries were opened lastautumn at two museums which are very like theV&A in many ways (not including their funding) -the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York(Met.) and the J. Paul Getty Museum in LosAngeles (Getty). The Met’s new space was wellreceived when it opened last year, with fibreoptic lighting for its early daguerreotypes (onhard-to-see polished silver surfaces). Their newgallery is smaller than ours but the Met has builtup one of the greatest of all photographiccollections, particularly in recent years. Like us,their emphasis is on photography as a creativemedium. The Getty’s space is more comparableto ours. It opened with an exhibition onCapturing Time, which show-cased the Getty’sunrivalled collection from the origins ofphotography to a masterwork by David Hockneyfrom the 1980s.

Our situation is more like the Getty’s than theMet’s because Los Angeles did not previouslyhave a space where the story of the history ofphotography was available on museum walls in acentral location. New York City, on the otherhand, has offered such a valuable resource forthe past four decades, thanks to the Department

of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art.Their Photography Gallery is where many oftoday’s curators, myself included, first saw thehistory of photography treated as a seriousdiscipline. Where in Europe can one go to see ahistory of creative photography? At present, Ican’t think of anywhere. So, the V&A’s new spacewill be used in two ways. It will be both low-keyand high-tech, in the style of the Museum’s ownchief designer Brian Griggs. The gallery will bedivided by a central spine wall. Off that will be aseries of spur walls that can be configured indifferent ways to accommodate a variety ofdisplays. Visitors entering the gallery will see,first, a pleasant seating area to the left withcopies of museum publications - such as thenewly-published Photography: An IndependentArt. Photographs from the Victoria and AlbertMuseum 1839-1996. In fact, the exhibition of thisbook is the first show. Visitors will proceed alongthe left-hand (West) side of the gallery, followinga chronological photo-history. The storycontinues back down the right- hand side of thespace. Like the book, this inaugural show isdivided into eight sections. The final section istitled ‘Fond wrestlers with photography’, aphrase used by the late Helen Chadwick todescribe her own use of the medium as an artistwho liked photographic effects while loathing thefetishisation of photographic equipment andtechnique. Chadwick’s tour de force from 1986,The Oval Court, will be shown in this section: tomake this extraordinary installation she usedcomputers, photo-booth snaps, photocopiestoned blue, and five spheres coated in real goldleaf.

Helen Chadwick was among a group of well-wishers and advisors who helped nurture thePhotography Gallery in its protracteddevelopment. Other generous helpers includethe photographer and co-founder of ThePhotographers’ Gallery, Dorothy Bohm, and thewriter and Reith lecturer, Marina Warner. Ouroutside assessors in the early days of the projectwere Dr David Alan Mellor of the University ofSussex and the critic Sarah Kent of Time Out.

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

13

Conservation Journal Aprill 1998

12

The prototype cradle proved an immediatesuccess. Both of the above mentioned drawbackswere resolved. The original concept of dividingthe cradle into two composite parts had beenfurther refined and simplified. The use of thewedges as the means of supporting the boards ofthe book remained, but now they only justslotted at their fore-edge into the base support.This solved the difficulties that had arisen whentrying to match the combs to the wedges. Thesingle block is visually less intrusive. The blocksits below the book making it more discreet thanthe combs and generally one size fits all. Thechosen size of the block was deemed appropriatefor most situations but it is necessary whendisplaying smaller books to cut the block intoquarters. The single block is also more stablethan the slotted comb method.

This latest design has now beenused for several exhibitions withinthe Museum and for an outsideloan. It is easy to work with andthe measuring time for eachindividual book has been reducedto 15 minutes. The setting up ofthe cradle is very straight forward,only requiring a correct matchbetween the slotted wedges andthe spine width, and the cost ofthe block is less than that of theoriginal comb design. The blockscan be reused while the Perspexwedges are made by the MuseumJoiners to fit each individual book.The design of the wedges willallow for an up stand if required.

A detailed description of thespecifications and steps for using

this method are held at the Institute of PaperConservation.

AcknowledgementsThanks to Helen Shenton, Roy Mandeville, FionaMackinnon and everyone at Design Animation.

References1. Shenton H., Norman D. and Fleury S., Mountsfor the Display of Books, V&A ConservationJournal 22, (January 1997), pp16-18.

2. Shenton H., Developments in the display ofbooks at the Victoria and Albert Museum, ThePaper Conservator 21, pp.65-79.

Photography in a new light Mark Haworth-BoothCurator of Photographs; Prints, Drawings and Photographs Department

Figure 2. Slotted base for supporting perspex wedges

Figure 3. The latest design

Phot

ogra

phy

by S

imon

Fle

ury

Phot

ogra

phy

by S

imon

Fle

ury

Position guideonly

Position guideonly