We are all going through a very challenging time on many levels: the health threat of COVID-19, the financial security of our families, the future of our jobs, and more. This has caused me to pause, reflect upon the history of The Conservation Center, and consider how we might use our past to inform our future as a team and company during this difficult time.
Conserving Portrait Miniatures: A Tiny Step Back in Time
An Unusual Work on Linoleum
Anna Heyward Taylor (1879 – 1956) was a celebrated printmaker and one of the principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance. Her lush, vibrant prints frequently feature floral and avian motifs. We were thrilled when a client brought in an unusual Anna Heyward Taylor piece – with all the hallmarks of her work; however, there was one key difference: instead of a print, this work was the actual linoleum she used to make the prints themselves which she then painted to take on a life of its own. The client was concerned as the paint was peeling from the linoleum, due to an inherent vice in the work.
A Dramatic Transformation
Touchdown! Conserving a Down Marker
This football down marker came to us from the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A & M University Libraries. Well worn from its days on the field, this football marker’s paint layer was badly flaking, the metal was corroding, and the wood topper was splitting.
A Gilded Frame from The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M University Library
This incredibly intricate frame also came from The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A & M University Library. The frame is composed of wood, gesso, plaster, and an original combination of metal and gold leaf. Unusually so, the frieze is composed of large pebbles, and gilded, a non-traditional move away from most frames, which choose a fine grain of sand.
Our Conservators Favorite Treatments of 2019
Conserving an Heirloom: An Italian Passport from 1897
Road Trip to Miami
The Imperial Screen of Emperor Qianlong
After comprehensive treatment, the Imperial Screen of Emperor Qianlong we treated for the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art has been reinstalled!
The Patriarch of the Bugatti Dynasty
Making Modernism: Verve Magazine and the Creation of the Aesthetic of the 20th Century
Verve magazine was a glossy, slippery publication, put in boxes for purchase. We were ecstatic to be able to treat two of these boxes at The Center. Brought to us darkened and embrittled with age, they exhibited minor distortion, with scattered handling dents, skinning, abrasions, and tears throughout, sometimes resulting in severe losses. The boxes were both covered in a heavy layer of surface grime and inherent age-related discoloration.