Broken Bottle Reassembled - December 23, 2013

December 23, 2013

This year I participated in a class at Acadia University (Wolfville, NS CANADA) that did a fall archaeological dig at Prescott House.  I have been commissioned to do conservation work on some of the finds from this important dig and will document that effort over the next few blog entries.  The dig was on a very small area alongside a gravel driveway near the maintenance shed.  We know from historical records that there were several outbuildings and our archaeologist/instructor chose an easily accessible area that had some ceramics and metals poking through the ground.  One of the hopes was that an outbuilding wall would be found which could prompt additional archaeological digs.  We uncovered thousands of pieces of ceramics, bottle and window glass, hand made nails and various other metals, and bricks.  And we did find what appears to be a structure's wall which was a combination of brick and stone.

All 18 pieces of bottle found at Prescott House.

The first object I chose to work on was a bottle that was broken into 18 pieces of various sizes (see first photograph) yet enough of it was recovered to attempt to put it back together with conservation grade adhesive.  Why go to the bother of putting it back together?  It will allow us to take measurements, study its shape, and clues for its usage which will all help in identifying manufacturer, dating, and identifying contents.  In some cases bottles of the same contents underwent changes over time such as addition of markings.  This bottle has embossed lettering along both narrow sides which will become clearer when put together.

Tools used: scalpel, toothbrush, magnifying glass
Materials used: distilled water, B72 Restoration Adhesive

Careful washing and brushing of the pieces in distilled water will assist in reconstruction because it will remove loose dirt and other material buildup that would interfere with fitting the pieces together.  After careful drying it is best to do a "mock up" of putting the pieces together to determine the correct order.  I used very small pieces of scotch tape to hold the pieces together temporarily to see how they look when fitted together.  It is best to put some smaller pieces together first and then fit onto larger pieces.  Sometimes we actually draw out the shapes and number the actual pieces (using a non-permanent very fine marker) in the order in which they are to be reassembled.  This was not necessary in this instance since the 18 pieces were relatively easy to reassemble with only one exception.  I had a very small piece with no special markings that I was not able to fit anywhere.

I used a toothbrush to clean up the pieces, a scalpel to carefully remove excess adhesive and test connections, and a magnifying glass to verify connections.  By testing connections I mean that I used the scalpel to run along the fitted pieces to mark sure they were as close fitting as possible.  There were a few instances were I had to reset pieces so the scalpel was used to careful scrape away any excess adhesive.  One of the benefits of the B72 Restoration Adhesive is that it remains tacky for two minutes to allow for minor adjustment of fitting the pieces.  It is also reversible by applying heat greater than 100 degrees F.  It will not yellow and is relatively non-toxic although should not be used in a confined space and avoid skin contact.  It is widely used in conservation work for most materials except leather.

Of particular interest is the embossed lettering on the two narrow sides which have only one letter missing on one and a partial letter on the the other: one can be interpreted as "MOTHER GRAVES" and the other as "WORM EXTERMINATOR".  This is a known medicine from the 1880's to early 1920's manufactured by Northrup & Lymon in Toronto and used in the treatment of worms in humans, particularly children.  This series of  photographs show the reassembled bottle from all sides.

Reassembled bottle - front

Reassembled bottle - back

Embossed letters  "OTHER GRAVES"

Embossed  letters "ORM EXTERMINATOR"

Historical Note and Family Connection

Charles Prescott completed the building of Prescott House, a magnificent Georgian style house in 1815 and proceeded to make a serious contribution to horticulture and specifically the apple industry in the province.  He introduced over 100 varieties of apples among other endeavours.  But, for me, this has a family connection due to one variety he established called the Bourassa apple.  Unfortunately, we have not found any more information beyond the fact it was grown in Quebec from 1750 and up to 1880 when no more information is available.  We have not found the family connection yet either but, we will continue to search for it.  If anyone has information that would help us locate this apple variety (is it still grown?) or any of its history please leave a comment.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - May 21, 2013

May 27, 2013

Back At The Museum

After the winter break (late December to late March) I am now back at the museum continuing work on the Railway Roundhouse demolition objects.  I hope to continue submitting posts on at least a weekly basis over the coming season which will only be interrupted by camping weeks and other breaks over the summer.

Update On Insulators

A reader recently commented on my post  Roundhouse Objects Conservation - December 27 2012 to point out that what I had labelled as a power line insulator was likely a telegraph line insulator.  After some research I found out that glass insulators were introduced in the 1850's for use with telegraph lines but evolved along with the technology for use with power lines, lightning rods, and other applications.  Porcelain insulators had been in use before glass also for telegraph lines but evolved to be used primarily for power lines due to their greater strength and surface resistance.  As a follow up, I asked several local long term railway object collectors and they confirmed that glass insulators were most often used for telegraph lines but were sometimes used for power lines, especially lower voltage.  I will  label these  in the future in general terms as insulators  and comment accordingly.  You can look these up on www.novamuse.ca using accession numbers 2007.012.021 and 2008.005.006 respectively.  Type in these numbers in the search box.

Glass Insulator - telegraph

Porcelain Insulator - power

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Dec. 27 2012

December 27, 2012

Historical Object Photography

My conservation work on the Kentville Railway Roundhouse objects is nearing completion of the cleaning phase with only a few objects left to work on.  I have started taking photographs to upload to the Kings County Museum collections database called www.novamuse.ca.  The museum is now closed for the winter (opening again in mid-March 2013) so this gives me an opportunity to add all the roundhouse objects information onto the database and include higher resolution photographs which I took on Thursday December 20.  Conservators refer to historical object photography as record photography.  Our goal is to produce photographs that allow viewers to see the objects as much as possible in their natural state that shows their true colours, shape, identifying marks, and condition and for researchers to zoom in for as much details as possible for such things as maker's marks.  Since we do not have a true photographic studio we have used what equipment we have on hand as donated to the museum or what photographers are willing to lend us.  The photograph below is the set up I used for this purpose.  The essential and basic pieces of equipment as shown are: a DSLR camera, a tripod, a light box, spotlights, and a scale (not shown here).  The light box in this case provides a white background on all sides as well as top and bottom.  The light box is a portable one that is easily assembled from a folded up state.  

Record photography light box set up

I found that 4 spotlights worked best: two at the top and one on each of the left and right sides.  All are angled towards the middle where the object will be placed.   The spotlights are not ideal but work reasonably well for our purposes.  It would be best to use a type of light that is diffused.  That is, not so focused, but we had none available at this time.  The spot lights are set up to not touch the sides of the light box because they get quite hot.  You can see in this photograph how the object is placed in the middle with white sides all around and soft light throughout.  It is best to remove all other sources of light such as overhead lights and from windows which can reflect off the objects.

Here are some of the guidelines I use when taking record photographs of historical objects:

1. use a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera where possible although some point and shoot cameras do work well.  I have used a Canon PowerShot with good results,
2. most objects can be photographed at about a 45 degree angle,
3. use the largest sized JPEG setting or RAW setting but remember that RAW takes up considerable space,
4. use custom white balance (photograph the white space anywhere in the light box and use it to set the white balance),
5. position the lights to highlight the object with as little reflection as possible,
6. use macro setting for close up of identifying marks if there are any,
7. use a scale nearby but not touching the object,
8. angle the object if it highlights any markings otherwise they should be straight vertically or horizontally,
9. take at least four photographs: one from the top the other from the bottom both with and without the label.

Below is an example of the photographs I took of a power line insulator.  Each one has the label shown beside it where the accession number can be used to do a search on www.novamuse.ca to get additional information.  I usually take the same pictures without the label to put on the database.  Having the label here simply makes it easier for anyone to do follow up on research if they are starting from this BLOG.  In this case the accession number on the label is 2007.012.021

Power line insulator - top

Power line insulator - bottom

Do-it-yourself Tip: In the past I have made a small light box when a commercial one is not available.  You can use a large box placed on one of its long sides.  Cut openings on the two narrow sides and top (the other long side) and cover the openings with white tissue paper.   I have then used ordinary lamps (desk lights) shining through the tissue paper as lighting.  Place a sheet of white paper large enough to cover the back and curve onto the bottom.  Place the object in the middle of this to take your photographs.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Dec. 4, 2012

December 7, 2012

Glass, and Ceramics Cleaning......continued

Butter dishes with maker's marks

I continued the cleaning process on mixed objects of different materials this week.  The ceramics consisted of 5 butter dishes which just needed wiping with a soft cloth and Orvus soap mixed with distilled water followed by rinsing with distilled water and a different soft cloth.  The photograph to the right shows all five dishes displaying the makers marks. These objects are in relatively good shape but with some red, rust like staining patches and a few scratches.  The rust patches are clearly visible on the dish in the lower left of the photograph.  The flip side of these dishes have no markings.  Although they appear to be very simple and of little importance, they, in fact, give us a glimpse into the purchasing practices of the railway at the time and into the manufacturer.   All show that they were made in England and two show that they were supplied by Nerlich & Co. This is an import company founded in 1858 in Toronto by a German immigrant to Canada.  My research shows that they imported goods from Germany originally but expanded to include goods from England after 1908 and wholesaling throughout the maritimes and most of Canada after 1891.  We can see several different makers marks with four showing the company name "Grindley England",  "W.H.Grindley & Co" and "Grindley Hotel Ware" while one other simply says "Made in England".  These different marks represent different batches very likely purchased at different times. W.H. Grindley & Co (Ltd) was established in 1880 at Tunstall in Stoke-on-Trent England and remained in business until 1991 when they went into receivership and were bought out by Woodlands Pottery.

Bottle main body with crack

Bottle top with material deposit

Bottle interior material removed

I cleaned a large brown bottle which had some material deposited inside.  The first photograph above shows the main body of the bottle with a large crack in the middle before it was cleaned.  The second photograph above shows the top of the bottle before it was cleaned with material deposited along the neck and top of the main body.  The photograph to the right shows the material removed.  Again, I carefully removed whatever would come loose inside by using a shish-kabob stick and Q-tips attached to the end of it.  I then rinsed the inside and out with Orvus soap and distilled water followed by rinsing with distilled water.  I used several Q-tips to wipe off any leftover material from the inside.  The outside was wiped with the soap mixture and a soft cloth and then rinsed with distilled water and a different cloth.  I decided to keep the material removed in a separate, sealed container because it appears to have some material that may give a clue to what it originally contained. By keeping this material it would be possible to do testing to determine what it is at a later date if needed.  There are no makers marks or copyright marks of any kind on this bottle.  It is likely that it held alcohol of some kind, possibly wine.

Conservation Tip:  Material cleaned (removed) from an object should be stored in a sealed container made of inert material such as glass to preserve the contents in as original condition as possible.  In the example above I used a glass container with a glass top and a rubber washer to hold the glass stopper in place.  The rubber washer is not exposed to the material inside.  It was purchased at a local dollar store and cleaned with the soap mixture, rinsed with distilled water, and dried before use.

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Nov. 20, 2012

November 20, 2012

Glass Objects Cleaning

There were several bottles recovered from the railway roundhouse demolition that required cleaning to remove soil and sand deposits both inside and out.  I show an example in this post of what can be done to prepare these for storage and display.  The photograph below, on the left is of a Watkins bottle with the phrase "Container Made in USA" on the bottom underside and "Watkins" in raised letters vertically on one side.  There is a lot of soil and sand mostly on the inside in hard to reach places but also on the outside around the neck, bottom, and raised lettering.  The challenge was to clean up as much of that material as possible.  This prepares the bottle for storage so loose material will no longer fall off due to handling and makes it more presentable for display purposes since the raised lettering and any other embossed marks become more visible.  The following is a list of tools and materials used in the cleaning process:

• several wooden toothpicks and a shish-kabob stick
• one tooth brush with soft bristles
• several Q-tips
• two soft cloths, cotton
• one nail file
• 1/4 teaspoon Orvus soap paste
• one cup distilled water

Watkins bottle before cleaning

Watkins bottle after cleaning

I used toothpicks to gently pry all the loose soil and sand around any crevices such as at the neck, the bottom and around the raised lettering.  Toothpicks are used because they will not scratch the surface of the glass and the sharp points can reach into very small crevices.  I used Orvus soap and distilled water (discussed in previous posts) with a soft cloth to wipe off the exterior followed by a rinse with distilled water and a different soft cloth.  To get the material from the inside I first used a wooden sish-kabob stick to get into as many of the interior cracks and corners to loosen up the soil and sand.  I then used q-tips attached to the end of the stick to reach the hard to reach sloped parts just inside the top.  The q-tips are cut in half in the middle, attached to the stick and bent back so that when you push them through the neck they will open up enough to rub around the inside loosening the material found there.  The loose material is dumped out of the bottle and then the inside is rinsed with distilled water.  The last step is to rub all around the interior with more q-tips to remove any sheen of dirt or other bits left behind.  I did not use a bottle brush for the simple reason that this is a square shaped bottle.  Bottle brushes are more effective with round bottles.  The photograph below shows the end result of the cleaning.



The photograph below illustrates the tools used in this example and the material removed.  You can see the brown stains on the Q-tips and the pile of sandy soil removed is in the middle.


Bottle cleaning tools, nail file at bottom.

Conservation Tips: I do not use metal tools or abrasive materials of any kind to clean glass objects.  There is a chance that the metal or abrasives could scratch the glass surface.  The wooden picks will not scratch the glass and the nail file is used to sharpen the ends of the wooden picks (they will get dull over time) to reach into crevices to dislodge dirt and to make them easier to fit the picks into the Q-tip ends. 

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Nov. 6, 2012

November 6, 2012

Ceramics and Glass Cleaning

Cleaned up the last of the ceramics in the collection and started in with the bottles and other glass objects.  One of the ceramics was a plate that had some interesting characteristics.  It had been broken and repaired with a large crack essentially down the middle.  There are patches of glue that squeezed out of the crack and dried.  This same plate had an interesting wear pattern in the middle which can be seen at an angle with a bright light.  The pattern suggests to me that it was likely used as a tray for a milk or water jug which stood in the centre.  Perhaps the person repairing it decided that it could remain useful even with the effort to repair it.  This is conjecture on my part.  Can you think of another explanation?

The glass bottles are especially challenging because most have small openings at the top and were buried in soil so they often have small patches of soil right up underneath the top.  I used a shish-kabob stick with a cut off Q-tip bent back on itself to reach the difficult spots at the base and the top.  In some cases the bottles were rinsed inside only if they did not appear to hold any special remnants of what may have been the original contents.  It is important to keep any  material which may be original content for future testing.  It is not critically important at this time to determine the contents but we cannot be sure if this might be important perhaps 50 or 100 years from now.  Certainly, the testing if done now would be expensive and would not normally be done by a community museum with limited funding for such procedures.

The following photograph gives an example what should be done with material to be kept.  The dark material removed had flakes of lighter shiny material intermixed.  These were not separated out but just carefully kept and stored together.

Material removed from inside bottle with container and label.

Conservation Tip:  When cleaning any object be sure to keep any material removed which may be important for future research.  It must be stored in a container that can be sealed to remain uncontaminated.  The container must be labelled to clearly identify the object it was removed from and any other relevant information.  Some examples of materials which should be kept:

• the contents of a bottle,
• flakes and/or pieces of an object which fall off when handled,
• threads or cloth pieces from textiles,
• plant material found on exterior or interior,
• paint flakes.