Care of Collections

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Condition Report- Set of Matryoshka

Condition Report- Flapper Dress

Condition Reporting for Exhibition

Peterborough Museum & Archives

Following careful examination and completion of the report, I photographed it. Recto and verso photographs were taken with a scale and colour checker in frame, as well as close up images of any signs of damage. To see condition report photos, please click

here.

Skills Demonstrated

safe artifact handling
artifact photography
condition reporting

Some items were already wrapped in polyethylene, but tape had been used that now needed to be removed. Many shards had also been individually wrapped but now needed to be sandwiched to maintain consistent rehousing practices.

I rehoused a variety of objects. I am holding a jug after having wrapped it and before placing it back inside its bag. Also on this table are bags containing pieces of bowls and vases that I had already finished repacking. Indivudally wrapped items can be seen on the left and on the right are multiple bags containing shards packed in a sandwich method.

Rehousing Archaeological Artifacts

Peterborough Museum & Archives

The Peterborough Museum & Archives had several boxes of artifacts that required rehousing. Fortunately, as a student of the Museum Management and Curatorship Program at Fleming College, I was able to work in the Curatorial Centre for an afternoon and assist them with this job.

I spent my time rehousing ceramic and glass artifacts. Most artifacts were already individually wrapped in polyethylene or bubble wrap with tape and then placed inside their bag, so my first step was to unwrap each object and discard the old packing materials. Then I determined whether each object required individual wrapping or if sandwiching the artifacts between two sheets of polyethylene was an appropriate option.

There were a lot of shards that required rehousing and for those I used the sandwiching technique. I also made sure to write on the bag "KEEP FLAT" for others who will access the artifacts in the future. For larger, more in-tact pieces, I wrapped them individually in polyethylene to prevent the artifacts themselves from absorbing any potential shock from movement and vibrations before placing them back inside their corresponding bag.

Once the artifacts were placed back inside their bags, I put them back into their container. This was a bit difficult at times as each object occupied more space once they were wrapped in polyethylene. It was important to pack them in a way that ensured each artifact was not experiencing any sort of pressure, but after some rearranging, the artifacts fit back inside their boxes.

This was a really beneficial learning experience. I learned proper artifact handling techniques, how to properly rehouse artifacts of different shapes and sizes, various packing methods and I was able to gain experience doing a common collections task.

Removing UV Window Coverings

Lang Pioneer Village, Peterborough

I had the opportunity to remove window UV coverings at Lang Pioneer Village. The coverings were at various levels of deterioration and my job was to scrape off the coverings that were damaged and embrittled in preparation of new ones being put on.

I used a scraper to remove the coverings, taking care not to crack or scratch the window. I also used isopropyl alcohol and a cloth to remove any residue left on the window and my scraper.

Through this experience, I learned to identify damaged UV coverings and the safe and proper removal of them.

In this image I am scraping a UV window covering. In the blue spray bottle is isopropyl alcohol. If you look closely, you will notice that the window coverings are very embrittled and bubbling.