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condition
With a given museum object or painting, the first step is to appraise it’s condition and assess any damage and degradation, as a precursor to developing a treatment proposal. Condition appraisals can involve consolidation and cleaning tests, photography and laboratory analysis as well as a close examination of the object. Condition appraisals can be undertaken to single paintings or to whole collections. Sometimes the appraisals can be brief and quite simple, whilst some objects require more rigorous and detailed assessment.
Condition appraisals can therefore vary in length and depth of analysis from brief letter to a considerable report, depending upon the conservation needs of the painting(s) or object(s) concerned.
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Cross-section of a paint sample. A small sample of paint, set in resin then cut and polished, is then photographed under a microscope. This sample shows successive paint layers indicating the alterations to the décor in an historic interior. |
UV fluorescence photograph of a signature on a 19th century painting. Examinations of dirt, varnishes, glazes, paint and overpaint layers under different lighting sources and using technical photography (ultraviolet, infrared, x-rays etc.) can be part of condition appraisals. |
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This basic analytical method can be broadly applied to assess the history, materials and condition of paint layers in an historic interior or on an easel or wall painting. |
In this case the signature and date (Sam Bough 1877) were so thinly painted they were not readily visible to the naked eye. |
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