conservation

Looking Through the Window Glass

Posted on 8 December 2016 by Meredith Sweeney

Over the past year, there has been a lot of activity centered around the treatment procedure of the Blackfriary medieval window glass. To an outsider, it would look like nothing was happening for the first six months. However, the initial stage of the treatment was centered on understanding the glass structure and researching possible treatment
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Ready For Our Close Up!

Posted on 1 December 2016 by Stephanie Whitehead

Documentation is an important part of a conservator’s job. This ranges from ensuring all artifacts have been properly delivered, to writing down everything that we do regarding the object, to photography. It is essential that anyone who comes upon the object post conservation is able to understand what has been done and why, and see
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Looking Beneath the Layers

Posted on 23 November 2016 by Stephanie Whitehead

There are many stages to conserving an artifact. For example, you have to figure out what the object is made of and what types of corrosion are present. Were any adhesives previously used to hold the object together? How have current storage conditions affected the artifact? Is mechanical or chemical cleaning best for the object
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New Kids on the Bench

Posted on 14 November 2016 by Aliza Taft

Greetings, and welcome to the first blog of the 2016-17 academic year! We (the new first year students of MSc Conservation Practice) are aiming to maintain this blog during our two years here with updates on our objects, our experiences, and day-to-day lab happenings that we think you might be interested in.  There is a
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What happens when 239 boxes of stained glass and lead are brought to conservators? We buy fridges!

Posted on 15 March 2016 by Meredith Sweeney

What happens when 239 boxes of stained glass and lead are brought to conservators? We buy fridges!   When a small car arrived outside Cardiff University’s John Percival building in mid-October, the conservators waiting outside to greet the representatives from the National Museum Ireland were not expecting to make scores of trips up to the
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Privilege: How did I get here? by Jane Henderson

Posted on 2 July 2014 by Nerys Rudder

I have recently had the great pleasure of traveling to Rome to undertake discussions on European standards for conservation and of dining in the 18th century York Mansion House with the Lord Mayor following a conference presentation. As I looked out of the window of the Merchant’s hall at the tourists outside looking back in
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The Mutual Benefits of Volunteering with Susan Sandford

Posted on 2 February 2014 by Nerys Rudder

During my time at Cardiff University I have been keen to add to my practical skills by volunteering. There are always opportunities for students to donate their time to local heritage projects and between 2013/2014 my colleagues, Sara Brown and Johanna Thunberg and I, have been working with the National Trust at Aberdulais Tinworks and
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Taking A Look Inside A Pair of Slippers with Anna O’Neill

Posted on 15 January 2014 by Nerys Rudder

One of the most exciting things about being a conservator is discovering information hidden within an object.  Sometimes, this can be quite literally inside an artefact, and for this there is no better tool than an x-radiograph.  Conservators can use x-radiography to determine if there is armature within a sculpture, or metal within a lump
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Stabilisation of the Matcham Collection at the V&A with Nerys Rudder

Posted on 15 January 2014 by Nerys Rudder

During the summer of 2013 I was very fortunate to have a placement in the Conservation Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I was involved with many activities, like cleaning tapestries and upholstery in the British Galleries, repairing and mounting memorabilia for the Afro Supa Hero Exhibition and training in Integrated Pest
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Our First Alumni Profile with Francis Lukezic

Posted on 14 January 2014 by Nerys Rudder

Hello Conservation Community at Cardiff University. For those of you I have not had the opportunity to meet, my name is Francis Lukezic and I completed the MSc in Conservation Practice in September 2013. I returned to my home in the United States and am happy to say that I am working as a contract
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