Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Sep. 25, 2012

September 25, 2012

Assessment (Continued....)

Roundhouse Objects Large Group

This work continued from Day 1 with the larger group of objects as shown in the photo to the left: 28 in total consisting mostly of ceramics and glass.  The glass consists mainly of bottles of various shapes and sizes with many makers or company marks which will assist with identification and dating. The ceramics are mostly broken which suggests they were just thrown away.  Surface cleaning is suggested for all.  I managed to get through the assessment on half of them which have a lot of surface dirt (soil) and some red colouration on the ceramics.  This implies they were dug up from the soil which is predominantly red in the area where they were found.  I tried removing a very small speck of red on one of the ceramic pieces with a Q-tip and distilled water and it came right off with very little pressure.

Conservation Tip: I have made a note that the ceramic pieces could all be wiped off with distilled water and a cloth.  Distilled water is used to minimize contact with water of unknown mineral content.  Q-tips can be used to clean in some of the hard to get areas.  One of the benefits to cleaning is to minimise the amount of material that will rub off or fall off during handling and preserve it for future testing if needed.  All material removed when cleaned will be saved and stored with the objects to facilitate any possible future testing or analysis.  We can never be sure what may be important in the future, perhaps a 100 years from now?

The museum has a large collection of the ceramics (dishes) used by the Dominion Atlantic Railway during its "hey day" so only a minimal amount of clean-up work is necessary on these ceramics to make them presentable for a future exhibit and for storage.  For those interested in seeing the intact dishes including a full setting there are examples available for viewing at the Kings County museum.

There are three metal objects: a lock, three spikes, and a wheel which are very rusted.  These can be carefully cleaned and then a fine coat of conservation grade wax (much more pure) applied with a fine brush and a hair dryer to stabilise them.  The wax acts as a coating to prevent contact with moist air and is easily removable by reheating and wiping off with a cloth.

Here is a photograph of a broken ceramic piece that shows the dirt (soil) and rust patches:

Ceramic jar lid

Roundhouse Objects Conservation - Sep. 18, 2012

September 18, 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this exercise is to identify what conservation work can be done.  For all objects I identified:

• what can be cleaned (inside and out) and with what tools, 
• any consolidation (simple re-attachment or repairs) and stabilization (for metals, protecting from rust), prepare a label tag, 
• identify any materials required for this work and if purchasing is necessary.  

In a later step there will be updates necessary to an online public database along with record photography with a light box and additional lighting.  The assessment information is presented to the curator for discussion and, later, a decision is made on what to proceed with.

Assessment

Roundhouse Objects Small Group

I started with the small group of objects as shown to the left and set up a short "production line" with all the objects uncovered and laid out on a large table.  One object at a time was carefully examined under a lamp.  Each object came with a page describing the condition, any known history, measurements, recorder name and company but nothing was recorded in terms of conservation needed.  I read each description and verified all the written information.  Any additional information will be added if needed.

An entry was posted in an Excel spreadsheet for each object identifying the following pieces of information:

Sequence number
Museum identification number: example - 2007.012.001
Short description: example - glass, bottle
Photograph: a simple quick, photo with a scale and automatic settings
Recorder: who recorded the initial information
Accession Date: date acquired by the museum
Curator
Condition: example - Poor: surface corrosion, crusted sand and dirt, unstable, dented
Conservation needed: example - surface cleaning with soft brush
Secondary Description: example - A similar object is already in the museum collection 2007.012.033

Here is a close-up photograph of one of the objects examined in this first group, a cigarette package (empty, of course):

Sweet Caporal Cigarette Package - sold in Canada for at least 125 years

Roundhouse Objects Conservation

Railway Roundhouse Project

I will be working on a group of objects every Tuesday between 9 AM and 4 PM at the Kings County Museum in Kentville, Nova Scotia for the foreseeable future. The public is invited to drop in and ask questions or observe the conservation work as it progresses.  A body of information is supplied to the museum with all conservation decisions made by the curator based on the information provided.  This is the second group of objects I have worked on for the museum but the first that are being documented via a blog. Comments and questions are welcomed.

Background Information - Dominion Atlantic Railway Roundhouse Demolition

Full view from the east side

In 2007 the railway roundhouse as shown in the photo to the left was demolished in Kentville, Nova Scotia.  It had been used for many years by the Dominion Atlantic Railway starting in 1912 to do maintenance work on as many as 12 locomotives at once.  Many objects were uncovered in the former railway lands prior to the demolition and donated to the Kings County Museum in the fall of 2005.  They were documented by a Senior Environmental Specialist with the firm Neill & Gunter and became part of the Kings County Museum's permanent collection.  They arrived in three groups (boxes) with most objects wrapped in either white or brown paper labelled with a sequence number.  They are shown unwrapped and laid out in the photos below.  There was a separate box of metal items (not shown).  Overall, they consist of glass, ceramics, metals, and paper items.  

There are a few other, much larger objects that are not shown: some very large wrenches and a light on a metal pole.  Also, a set of locomotive wheels attached to an axle were moved from the round house site and installed in front of the museum.  These latter will not be conserved as part of this project.

 Large group of objects - 28 in total.

Small group of objects - 11 in total.

Time Capsule

Perhaps the most interesting was a "time capsule" dated 1938 which was a metal tin found in a piece of cement in the foundation.  These items are shown in the above photo at the top centre.  Inside this tin was a note listing the names of the seven people who did the foundation upgrade work in 1938 with a promise to pay $1.00 to whoever finds it and contacts a person on the list.  Since all of the people listed have since passed on it was decided that the demolition team should each receive a one dollar bill from 1938 as a reward. 

BLOG Introduction

Author

  Kelly Bourassa, B.Sc, Graduate Diploma

Conservation Lab - University of Lincoln 

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK CANADA

Graduate Diploma in Conservation of Historical Objects
University of Lincoln, Lincoln UNITED KINGDOM

Why Call It Kellys Conservation Corner?

My classmates and I at University of Lincoln in the UK very quickly christened a place upstairs in a local pub as "Conservation Corner".  It was a very short distance from our classroom building in the Cathedral Quarter of old Lincoln.  This BLOG name is my tribute to that place where so many conservation issues were resolved and, as in many pub discussions over a pint, we came up with viable solutions to many of the world's problems (LOL).

BLOG Intention

To share ideas on what conservation work can be undertaken on historical artifacts in a community museum setting where funding is always a challenge.  I will document my activities at the Kings County Museum in Kentville, Nova Scotia CANADA.  I will be posting, as frequently as  time permits, the details of my volunteer conservation work while also identifying simple techniques and low cost materials that can be used to achieve positive results under the heading Conservation Tips.  My goal is to make everyone aware of what can be done by way of preventive care and conservation treatment.   I will be cleaning, stabilizing, and treating artifacts but also, designing proper storage and preparing exhibits.

Museum

Kings County Museum is located in Kentville Nova Scotia Canada in the heart of the Annapolis Valley.  The museum is located in the retired courthouse in down town Kentville.  It hosts thousands of artifacts but with little room for exhibits most are in storage.  Like most community museums there is a need to conserve some of the artifacts but little funding to do so.  I am interested in artifacts of all kinds and can volunteer my time to work on those things needing the most important attention.

Methodology

All conservation projects undertaken have the following steps:

1. Initial assessment of the artifacts to determine the effort and costs and expected outcomes.
2. Discuss the assessment with the curator and obtain approval to proceed (curator makes the final decision)
3. Cleaning, stabilizing, documenting (database updates, record photography), and preparing storage for each artifact
4. Communicating the history of the artifacts and conservation work undertaken on them with the public
5. Document every step in this process and provide a copy of it to the museum as a permanent record.