3D Objects Conservation

This afternoon in the objects conservation lab at the Midwest Art Conservation Center I worked on this early 20th century jewelry box. According to the owners, the provenance of the box goes back to North Africa and/or Persia. Someone had been cleaning it with vaseline for years and a layer of film had built up on the surface. I applied a shellite solvent and used a scalpel to remove it. It felt so satisfying to view this box’s materials under the microscope while lifting away the coated layer. Mhmm.

Another project I had the chance to get into was cleaning a 6ft glass mid-century modern lamp. Dust had been building up for years, (we think the last cleaning was in 1970), so we used a mixture of water/ethanol and some good elbow grease to remove the grime. As I looked around the laboratory I found myself surrounded by artifacts from all over and from every time period. The walls were covered with chemical charts and paint pigmentation identifiers. I don’t know about anyone else, but I only recently found out about conservation in the field, and the elaborate merging of the sciences and arts this work offers. Maybe my next career path you’ll find me signing up to be a objects conservator!