THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONSERVATION • APRIL 2021 • ISSUE 93 Time for collaboration Also in this issue Celebrating a forty year career • A devotional textile • A new CIC inside APRIL 2021 Issue 93 2 NEWS From the Editor From the Chief Executive, There is a lot packed into this issue, from the policy briefing, Groups news, European standards news launch of a new Community Interest Company to the treatment of a large gilded Hindu textile, 12 whilst the treatment of a clock brings together PEOPLE students of two separate specialisms: horological 17 and furniture conservation. The second of our 14 ‘science bites’ – a heritage science research summary – covers a MAN AND BOY AT THE BODELIAN new method to quantify cellulose acetate degradation in historic Celebrating the career of artefacts and we share in the Bodleian’s celebration of their Robert Minte long-serving conservator Robert Minte ACR. And there is news: about Standards, about Icon’s Groups, about the continuing 19 AN IMPACT ON HERITAGE impact of coronavirus and an archive on the move. A new Community Interest What links this seemingly disparate content is explored by our 29 Company is born Chief Executive Sara Crofts in her column about our (in)visibility, namely, stories. In Icon News – and on all Icon’s platforms - we 21 ON THE MOVE celebrate our story tellers, the stories we have to tell, the way we Lambeth Palace Library has a discover and uncover them and how we preserve them for new home everyone as carefully and professionally as we can. So do consider giving your stories a wider audience and if you feel insecure in 22 HERITAGE SCIENCE BITES your writing skills, we’ll help. What may seem routine and New research quantifies bog-standard to you is important and fascinating to the wider cellulose acetate degradation world. Give it a go! 35 24 REVIEWS Lynette Gill Insiders Ousiders; an emerg- ing professionals event; a knitted textiles conference 27 Icon News Cover photo Editor Close-up during treatment of the IN PRACTICE Lynette Gill movement of the George III longcase Conserving a gilded Hindu [email protected] clock at West Dean College of Arts textile Institute of Conservation and Conservation © Ben Hall 106 -109 Saffron Hill 32 London EC1N 8QS Production designer THE EMERGING Lee Holland Disclaimer: T +44(0)20 3142 6799 [email protected] CONSERVATOR Whilst every effort is made to ensure Furniture & horological accuracy, the editors and Icon Board conservation join forces [email protected] of Trustees can accept no Printers [email protected] responsibility for the content www.icon.org.uk Calderstone Design & Print Limited expressed in Icon News; it is solely www.calderstone.com that of individual contributors Chief Executive Sara Crofts Advertising [email protected] Display and Recruitment Deadlines for adverts and editorial 020 3142 6789 Conservation Register [email protected] For the August 2021 issue [email protected] Tuesday 1 June www.conservationregister.com Icon is registered as a Charity in For the October 2021 issue England and Wales (Number Monday 2 August 1108380) and in Scotland (Number ISSN 1749-8988 SC039336) and is a Company Limited by Guarantee, (Number 05201058) ICON NEWS • APRIL 2021 • 1 professional update From the Chief Executive about processes of excavation, conservation and display. This what we do. And having attended many captivating Group If you have answers to these questions, then please share confirms what we all know: history matters. People do care and Network events where members talk with passion and them. Email your statements (be bold! think big!) to me via about their past, and they care about ensuring that it is conviction about their projects, I know with certainty that [email protected]. properly looked after. This is the perfect opportunity to conservators are fantastic storytellers. www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/05/out-of-the-dark-ag- Sara Crofts draws lessons champion the work of conservators and the value that they 1 But, more often than not, we share our stories with our es-netflix-film-the-dig-ignites-ballyhoo-about-sutton-hoo Accessed from Sutton Hoo bring to society. Everyone seems to be talking colleagues when we should be sharing them with the public. 21.02.2021 So how do we, as the conservation profession, make effective Happily, the new Icon website is a versatile platform, offering about Sutton Hoo at the Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (Autumn 1972). The Sutton Hoo Helmet: A use of this moment in the spotlight? many opportunities for members to contribute articles and 2 moment. Or, more accurate- New Reconstruction. The British Museum Quarterly. British Museum. videos showcasing conservators and heritage scientists at ly, they actually are discuss- First, we need more conservators to emerge from behind the XXXVI (3-4): 120-130. JSTOR 4423116 ing The Dig, the major scenes and take their place on the public stage or, more work. Please let us have your ideas for new and engaging Netflix film about the probably, in front of the video camera. And I would dearly like content and we will gladly help you craft a good result. 3 www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/05/out-of-the-dark-ag- es-netflix-film-the-dig-ignites-ballyhoo-about-sutton-hoo Accessed dramatic discovery in 1939 of to ban the oft-used phrase ‘behind closed doors’. While I And, in terms of feeding into the development of the next 21.02.2021 the Anglo-Saxon grave and understand the marketing lure of offering exclusive access to Icon Strategy, we will be creating opportunities to gather artefacts in a Suffolk field, places that are normally off-limits to the public, and I accept ideas and input from members over the coming months, but I 4 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knole/features/the-knole-conserva- which was launched to that this works well in terms of selling studio tours in larger would be glad to hear from you individually if you have a tion-studio Accessed 21.02.2021 widespread critical acclaim in institutions, I worry that it reinforces the damaging impression suggestion to make. We recently asked Icon’s Board of https://phm.org.uk/the-conservation-studio/ Accessed 21.02.2021 January. For a while, the film that conservators’ work should be seen (once complete) but Trustees to complete the following sentences: 5 was Netflix’s ‘most-watched’ not heard (about). 6 https://icon.org.uk/accreditation/20th-anniversary-of-icon-ac- in the UK and, as a result, we • By 2030 the conservation profession will be.... creditation/virtual-open-studios.html Amazing outcomes are achieved in your conservation studios, but • By 2030 Icon will be… are in the midst of a golden the public only gets a rare glimpse into this fascinating world. So, moment for colleagues in the archaeology profession, and I personally would be keen for more visitors to museums and also for those who care for the objects recovered from galleries to be able to see the ongoing work of conservators and archaeological excavations. to understand the importance of the role you play. Interest in Sutton Hoo and its story has surged due to the The National Trust’s Conservation Studio 4 at Knole, supported popularity of the film, with #SuttonHoo trending on Twitter at quarter expecting a reduction in their income in 2021. by capital funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, is a notable POLICY BRIEF one stage. The Guardian1 • Redundancies were more common amongst larger reported that traffic to the British example of course, and has offered an insight into the breadth Museum’s webpages featuring the Sutton Hoo treasures had of the conservation profession to many visitors to the stately The continued impact of Coronavirus organisations. Only 6% of micro and small business owners tripled. A blog about the discovery, written by Sue Brunning, home. The People’s History Museum 5 in Manchester also has We published our first Coronavirus Impact report in April had made employees redundant but a third of employed curator of the early medieval collection at the British Museum a window in gallery two that allows visitors to see conservation 2020. The report illuminated a worrying situation for conservators had experienced redundancies within their ‘crashed’ under the weight of interest. And her (excellent) in action. conservation professionals, with 90% of respondents organisations. video about the Sutton Hoo helmet and its reconstruction • The outbreak has led to feelings of uncertainty and from many fragments had been viewed 650,000 times in the And our Professional Development team grasped the reporting serious economic consequences arising from insecurity amongst conservators. However, employed three weeks since the mid-January launch of the film. opportunity to showcase conservation studios as part of last lockdown restrictions. conservators feel more secure and stable than business year’s Heritage Open Days through our Virtual Open Studios As most of the UK returned to a state of lockdown in 6 owners and the self-employed. The most recent reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet event. But I am sure that there is much more that we could November 2020, we launched a second survey to gather collectively do to bring conservation more fully into the • Loss of income, isolation and job insecurity resulting from was carried out by conservator Nigel Williams of the further information on how the pandemic was affecting the pandemic is affecting the mental health of conservators. British Museum. In the words of Rupert Bruce-Mitford,2 limelight – and your ideas are welcome. Please share your thoughts with us. conservators. In order to capture concerns unique to who oversaw the work, the challenge faced by Williams employers and employees, we ran the survey as two separate However, there were some positives amongst the data too.