When to intervene?

[Rebecca]

Roz's 1915 charcoal post started me thinking on this subject. There is (of course ) no right answer.

Trends come and go; pendulems swing back and forth.

My first real introduction to conservation was through a course taught by Miriam Clavir at the Museum of Anthropolpgy at UBC. The emphasis there was "Don't Destroy Context" - an archaeological/anthropological point of view. And that has always stuck with me.

It was also a pretty conservative time in North American textile conservation, so that influenced me too.

I've spent the last number of years trying to balance stabilization, vs cosmetics, vs do nothing. Sometimes I've gotten it right, sometimes not. It's been interesting though.

I think framing has the same kind of balancing.

One Dr. that I really liked said "There is nothing so bad that we can't make it worse." Now him, I trusted!

Rebecca

 

[HannaFate]

It's like I was saying about fugitive dyes. If the only way to truly preserve something is by never looking at it, what fun is that?

Also, if "proper" conservation is out of a customer's finacial reach, are they more likely to just leave it in a cardboard sleeve under their bed?

Like everything else in life, you find a balance that meets the particular needs of the situation.

 

[preservator]

The decision as to what should be preserved and
what should be displayed and enjoyed by today's
audience can be addressed by asking: "What does
the future want?". This question is not one that
can be given a simple answer; rather it is an opening for a discussion between owners or
curators on one side and framers and/or conservators on the other. Unique and historically significant items are likely
candidates for preservation in dark storage, while
multiples in large numbers and items of personal
importance are more likely framing material.

Hugh

 

[Bob Carter]

Hugh is right on the topic. If we were truly compelled to provide the maximum protection, we wouldn't frame a thing. We would commit those irreplaceable items to storage-not framing.

I have often thought that we ought to have a tremendous high-quality copier in our stores where we could make a copy of the (fill in the blanks--diploma, grandma's photo, that birth certificate from 1850 etc) and frame the copy

That way the client could enjoy, on the wall, the sentimentality of the item while safely storing the true keepsake for future generations.

Once we frame it, we start accelerating the degradation process no matter how skillful or archivally driven we are

 

[Warren Tucker]

"have often thought that we ought to have a tremendous high-quality copier in our stores where we could make a copy of the (fill in the blanks--diploma, grandma's photo, that birth certificate from 1850 etc) and frame the copy"

We have a copier like that in our store. To make a copy of, say, a 30 x 40 would add about $150 to the cost of framing. And, too, our copy would probably have less fugitive materials than the original. So far all the orginals as well as the copies we have made have been framed, though. Warren

 

[Rozmataz]

This is so interesting a topic... I seem to have gotten alot of these type items in the last year... and more all the time...

I have been recommending to customers to have old photographs restored/copied and display the copy unless - they really want the original and they may be the last of a generation that would want to enjoy it... it has alot to do with how it will get passed down or if it will...

As far as copying some items - some are too big for the photographic copy route.. so to find a graphic source is a good thing.

But then we get back to handling these items as they could be falling apart in our hands... That's a real dilema.

Roz
(with more questions than answers. Oh, isn't that life!?!)

 

[Rebecca]

I wasn't really thinking of judgement calls re what is worth preserving in terms of the object itself. I was thinking more about "when do we try and preserve the original packaging?".

Quality and stability have a lot to do with it, as well as the enviromnent the piece/package will be exposed to.

It sounds like Roz's piece is pretty unstable, so it's a good candidate for upgrading. Have fun Roz!

Rebecca