Galleries Commission Research Articles

The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation by Stewart Pollens

INSTRUMENTS The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation. By Stewart Pollens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. [ix, 448 p. ISBN 9781107077805 (hardcover), $150; ISBN 9781316309742 (e-book), $120.] Illustrations, tables, bibliography, index.Stewart Pollens is one of the leading authorities on the care of historical musical instruments, having served as musical instrument conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1976 to 2006. Over the course of those three decades, he helped to preserve and restore their collection of over five thousand objects, including some of the world's most famous keyboard and bowed string instruments. his most recent book, The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation, Pollens has distilled the wisdom and experience derived from his museum work, drawing on a shop notebook in which he recorded his daily work on the collection.The book is organized in the form of a dictionary, with 118 alphabetically-arranged entries, from Acoustics to Woodworking. The entries vary in length from a mere few lines in the case of entries for Gold and gold-plated brass and or Epoxy removal, to veritable articles spanning a dozen or more pages, on such topics as Historical metrology, Organ restoration, and Stringed-keyboard restoration. This is therefore not a book one would necessarily read from beginning to end, but the author provides both a convenient table of contents that includes all of the entry titles, and a detailed index, which can be used for finding matters that are discussed in multiple entries. Moreover, each entry ends with a list of references for further reading on the topic.This book will be useful to many categories of readers, not only the small population of professional conservators of musical instruments. Any museum professional will find Pollens's work valuable for dealing with myriad situations with which they may be confronted, from restringing a harp to moving a piano or cleaning a trumpet. Instrument builders will also benefit from Pollens's observations, especially if they repair historical instruments or make reproductions of such instruments. Finally, musicians who read this book will come away with a better understanding of the issues that concern the preservation of the tools of their trade.The concept of this book is highly original. It does not aim to replace any of the existing texts on the conservation of specific instrument types, such as keyboards or violins. Nor does the book attempt to present a deontological approach to instrument conservation, especially when it comes to the thorny question of whether historical instruments should be restored to playing condition. On this issue, Pollens writes, In general, I neither advocate nor disapprove of the restoration of historic musical instruments; rather I believe that each instrument and proposed treatment must be considered on a case-by-case basis with consideration given to the requirements and needs of the collection or owner (p. 2). The only work that resembles Pollens 's book is The Care of Historic Musical Instruments, edited by Robert L. Barclay (Edinburgh, Ottawa: Museums and Galleries Commission, Canadian Institute, 1997), but the differences in approach and emphases between Pollens, a string and keyboard specialist, and Barclay, a brass specialist, make for stimulating comparisons.The topics covered in the book range from general themes (Acoustics and Authentication) and philosophical or deontological issues (Ethics and Conservation reports) to more specialized subjects pertaining to the materiality of conservation (Benzotriazole, Bleach, Brass and bronze alloys, and Glues, pastes and other adhesives). …

Preliminary testing of tea leaves as alternative adsorbants for preserving early cellulosic motion picture film

Cinematic motion picture film composed of cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate is an inherently unstable material (Ram, AT 1990, ‘Archival preservation of photographic films—A perspective’, Polymer Degradation and Stability, vol. 29, pp. 3–29; Morgan, J 1991, Conservation of plastics, The Conservation Unit of the Museums & Galleries Commission and the Plastics Historical Society, London). Currently, effective preservation largely relies on cold storage to slow deterioration. Adsorbent materials used in conjunction with cold storage may further extend film lifespan by trapping excess moisture and autocatalytic vapours given off by degrading polymer films. Commercial adsorbants commonly used are: activated charcoal, molecular sieves or silica gel. However, these materials are expensive and can be difficult to access. This research examined the potential of Tea Leaves as an alternative adsorbant for preserving motion picture film. Initial water adsorption testing of three different teas compared to activated charcoal, molecular sieves and silica gel, indicate Tea Leaves are worthy of undergoing further testing for acid vapour adsorption.

‘I've got a brand new combine harvester … but who should have the key?’ Some thoughts on Rural Life Museums and Agricultural Preservation in Eastern England

Presidential Address to the Society for Folk Life Studies read at the Annual Conference, Wisbech, September 2002I have been interested in, and closely involved with, rural life museums and agriculturalcollections for some thirty years now, and in recent years have been involved in discussions over their future. Papers about rural life museums and collections have appeared in several recent volumes of this Journal, but I make no apologies for returning to this important subject. The Rural Life Museums Action Group was set up under the auspices of this Society following the Jersey Conference in 2000, and the Society has continued to support the important work of the Group. The thoughts I shall be expressing are not particularly new or original but have, for the most part, been discussed within the Rural Life Museums Action Group, and before that in the Museum and Galleries Commission's Report, Farming, Countryside and Museums, published in March, 2000. I freely acknowledge my debt to that publication, to its author, Rob Shorland-Ball, and to all members of the Rural Life Museums Action Group. I shall however be looking in more detail than has been done before at one particular area of the country.

The National Art Library repositioned

Archives, libraries and museums have for some time been trying out the advantages, for themselves and for each other, of working together and sharing long-term aims. These independent sorties were given a coercive impetus in April 2000 when the Government-funded Library & Information Commission and the Museums & Galleries Commission were replaced by the single-word Resource, to bring together ‘strategic advocacy, leadership and advice to enable museums, archives and libraries to touch people’s lives and inspire their imagination, learning and creativity’. At the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Art Library, which already included the Museum’s Archives, has recently merged with Prints, Drawings and Paintings to form the Word & Image Department. The integration of the National Art Library with a department that has traditionally put greater emphasis on its curatorial role has suggested new paths of development for us all and, in particular, an enhanced contribution for the new Department across the full range of material culture as represented in the V&A’s collections. Thus the merger has acted as a catalyst to put into practice aspects of the Government’s agenda within a single institution. This article outlines some of the developments proposed for the Word & Image Department, with particular emphasis on implications for the National Art Library, its staff, collections and users.

‘A developing sense of crisis’: a new look at university collections in the United Kingdom

A growing concern with the care and handling of some of the richest university museum collections in the world led to a nationwide review and sparked considerable new thinking in the United Kingdom. Kate Arnold‐Forster, formerly a practising curator, is a museum consultant specializing in collection surveys and reviews, and in strategic matters. She has been involved in five of the regional surveys of higher education collections in the United Kingdom: in London, the north of England, the south‐west, the Midlands and the South‐eastern Museum Service (Western Region). Other recent research projects include a review of British music museums (Museums of Music, HMSO/MGC, 1993), and collaboration in the museum sector (Collaboration Between Museums, MGC, 1998). She is a member of the Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC) Museums Registration Panel and a fellow of the Museums Association.

Who cares? Conservation in a contemporary context

Conservation ‘is not an end in itself but a means to an end’, emphasizes Carole Milner. Properly understood, this means that care of collections and access to them cannot be seen as separate and competing objectives but must be viewed as the twin pillars that underpin all museum functions. The author has been Head of Conservation and Collection Care at the Museums & Galleries Commission, London, since 1994. In her present role she deals largely with issues of conservation policy, advocacy and management for the United Kingdom’s 2,500 museums. Previous to this she worked extensively abroad as a conservator and as a teacher and trainer of adults. She has been United Kingdom delegate to ICCROM since 1995.

Conservation in the United Kingdom

British conservation is respected around the world for its excellence, based on a tradition of caring for heritage material, backed up by high‐quality training and research. This paper charts the origins and development of the conservation profession in the United Kingdom and provides a comprehensive overview of the number, location and variety of conservation specialists currently working in the UK. It looks at those working in both the public and private sectors. The findings are based on a number of surveys conducted by the professional bodies and by government agencies such as the Museums & Galleries Commission (MGC). Most of the information relates only to museums, but the most recent survey of conservators by the MGC also looked at provision in libraries and archives.

Museums & Galleries Commission Standards in the Care of Museums Collections; what are the implications?

tandards are still fashionable. The Citizens Charter may be quietly fading away, but there are plenty of other Standards taking its place in seemingly every sphere of life. Total Quality Management and Investors in People are at one end of the scale, British or European or International Standards for electrical wiring, if you like, at the other end.

Admusing adventures at Wolverhampton Art Gallery

As part of the Museum & Galleries Commission Registration process, museums set out detailed plans to show how well they currently document their collections, and how well they plan to do so in the future. For Wolverhampton Art Gallery, like many other museums, that plan included a computerised collection management system. At the end of May 1998, Wolverhampton Art Gallery purchased Adlib Information System's museum system ADMUSE. Two months later, successfully through Registration phase II, the cataloguing is in hand and we are dreaming about potential future projects involving the system.

LASSI: the larger scale systems initiative

LASSI is a consortium of UK museums that was fonned, together with the UK Museums & Galleries Commission! (the MGC), to specify and procure collections management software that would meet all their various needs. They wished to take advantage of their joint purchasing power to benefit themselves and (as far as practicable) other museums. The consortium membership varied over time; it has included both large national museums and also regional and local museums, and covered the total range of museum collection types2. The LASSI project is significant in a number of ways. Most important, the software specification is built on the UK's well-established success in developing standards for documentation. It incorpo­ rates the various important UK and other standards, such as the Museum Documentation Association3 (MDA)'s SPECTRUM and the MGC's Standards in the Museum Care of Collections [1]. It en­ compasses the needs of the whole variety of museum collections without compromising specialist requirements. Types of collections range from easel paintings to natural history; from science and industry to decorative arts; from photography to transport collections, and more. The specification covers not only collections cataloguing (already available through several software packages) but also the data requirements for actually managing museum collections: processes such as loans, object location and movement, conservation, reproduction and copying. The software contract that has been negotiated is based on a standard UK government model [2], and details a sound individual contractual relationship between the supplier and any museum purchasing the software. Not least, it is a tribute to cooperation among museums that the eight museums in the final consortium jointly achieved the highly complex business of software specification and contractual negotiation. The project concluded successfully on March 5th, 1996, when a five-year Framework Enabling Agreement was made between the UK Museums & Galleries Commission and Willoughby Associates4

Museums and tourism; Mutual benefit: by Sue Runyard. 98 × 208mm, 40pp., with black and white illustrations. London, Museums and Galleries Commission with cooperation from the English Tourist Board, 1993, £5.50. Museums and Galleries Commission, 16 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9HA, UK.

Museums and tourism; Mutual benefit: by Sue Runyard. 98 × 208mm, 40pp., with black and white illustrations. London, Museums and Galleries Commission with cooperation from the English Tourist Board, 1993, £5.50. Museums and Galleries Commission, 16 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9HA, UK.

Northern Ireland—The tenth area museums service?

Abstract Plans for introducing an Area Museums Service into Northern Ireland, the only part of the United Kingdom still without one, have been put forward several times. Lately, the Museums and Galleries Commission, the Northern Ireland Department of Education, and a recently formed local group, the Northern Ireland Museums Advisory Committee, have taken up the issue again and tried to provide fresh impetus. This paper reviews the present position, and tries to assess the prospects for success this time.

Columns

1989 was designated Museums Year to commemorate the centenary of the Museums Association, and unlike many of these PR exercises this one resulted in museums (especially national museums based in London) receiving an unusual amount of coverage in the qualities. Whether stories of protests and problems would have the desired positive effect on actual attendances has not yet been calculated. The unusually sunny weather cannot have helped much either. But the Museums Association itself produced a series of 11 regional guides which if read on the beach or in the pool would have enabled the readers almost to think that they had actually visited the collections described in considerable detail. Too many to note here but a list of all the titles is available from the MA or the Museums and Galleries Commission. Simon Olding's Exploring Museums: London (ISBN 0 11 2904653) and Arnold Wilson's Exploring Museums: The South West (ISBN 0 11 2904696) tackle their areas entertainingly, but their step‐by‐step guides to some of their subjects may soon be outdated as many existing museums are currently undergoing major rearrangements or refurbishments.

Conservation II: The conservation unit of the Museums & Galleries Commission

Conservation II: The conservation unit of the Museums & Galleries Commission