As this years’ intern within the applied arts section of the conservation department at the Museum of London I am very grateful to have been given the exciting opportunity of experiencing the build-up and installation of the Museum’s major new exhibition – Dickens and London.

In the months before installation began, conservators were busy ensuring all the objects and artefacts were suited to being placed on display. Within the new exhibition objects of a range of materials are installed including shop signs from Dickensian London, documents written in Dickens’ own hand and furniture from Dickens’ house.

This required the knowledge and expertise of our whole conservation team, particularly specialists in paper, textiles and the applied arts.

Within the Applied Arts section we work to conserve many artefacts of Victorian social history; however, as an admirer of Dickens it has been incredibly rewarding being able to work on objects with a particularly close connection to the man himself – such as this chair he was often photographed in.

Dickens’ chair is on open display within the new exhibition, so work was required to stabilise and secure the aged leather upholstery, predominantly around the back rest, where the degraded material had begun to laminate and fall away.

In addition to this, surface cleaning was conducted to remove dust.

Modern ethics within the field of conservation maintain that minimal intervention should be practiced when conserving artefacts – this means altering the original material and structure as little as possible, whilst ensuring the object is sturdy enough to be displayed or stored. We also aim to make every process and alteration reversible, so our changes could be ‘undone’ if needed in the future. For Dickens’ chair this meant adhering loose leather with a removable adhesive to consolidate the fragile material.

Historic leather can suffer acidic degradation due to reactions with sulphurous pollutants in the air. Testing the pH of the leather of Dickens’ chair revealed the leather had become particularly acidic – it was therefore thought appropriate to treat the leather with an aluminium compound – a process that effectively re-tans the leather – neutralising acidity and reversing some degradation processes.

Preventive conservation is also a key role of the museum’s conservators and collection care staff. With regards to this we have been carefully monitoring light levels (particularly important where objects such as Dickens’ handwritten manuscripts are displayed!), ensuring the environment within the gallery is suitable for the collections and that the cases are dust free – the latter involving several days spent cleaning the inside and outside of display cases!

It has been brilliant to see the culmination of many people’s knowledge, ideas and skills work together to create such an exciting and enchanting exhibition.

You can hear more about the conservation work at the Museum’s next free ‘meet the expert’ event at 2pm on Wednesday 25 January.

We felt that the support that resulted in our diligently boxed PLA Archive volumes deserved to be highlighted in a post of its own.

Here, one of our volunteers, Kate, shares her thoughts on her time with us and the process of boxing up key PLA record books:

“It was a fantastic experience and very valuable as a trainee paper conservator to be able to have ‘hands-on’ experience of cleaning and repairing documents then building the archive boxes for long-term storage for an established museum.

I would measure the books and make each box to fit the book, making sure there was enough room around the edges inside the box to be able to fit fingers in to lift the text out. To stop the book sliding around plastazote can be slotted into the box.

Using archival adhesive I would fold the archival cardboard and stick at the edges together using clamps to hold everything in place while the glue was drying. The box was made in two parts, a base and a lid that fitted over the base.

Here is an image of a bespoke box ready to go back to the store! ”

Look out also for an update soon from Claire Frankland, Port & River Archivist and Project Manager, as this project reaches its first birthday.

Earlier this year I was asked to conserve three lead bale seals from Tasmania, Australia by Dr Eleanor Casella from Manchester University, UK.  I always enjoy working on finds from different clients as some of the stories associated with the objects can be very different to the objects we normally work on.  This was an extreme case with the seals excavated from the Ross Female Factory penal colony.

When excavated, the lead bale seals were covered in an obscuring layer of corrosion, so only some of the detail was visible.  It was hoped that the seals could be cleaned and prepared for display back in Tasmania.  The conservation process involved mechanically removing some of the corrosion under a microscope and then removing the remaining corrosion through an electrochemical process.

Through the conservation process, I was able to reveal the stamp of the Royal Army Ordnance Corp who provisioned the Ross Female Factory penal colony for the British Empire.  This has enabled Dr Cassella to discover much more about how the penal colony operated.  You can read more about her findings on the Bioscience Technology website: http://t.co/cL2mQqy.

Once the building work was complete the boxes could be returned to the store but in turn needed to be located back on to different shelves and the inventory updated.  With the return of the boxes and the gaining of some new space within the store there was an opportunity for a rationalising of the space and re grouping of the boxes from the sites currently curated by the museum. As there are over 17,000 individuals curated that equates to a very substantial number of boxes and a major task.

The moving of the boxes and rationalising of the space within the store needed to take place in July in order to be ready to accept more material from other sites.

The endeavour of moving several hundred boxes to new locations in the store was a task that our curators would need assistance with to be able to complete and achieve the target. Most opportunely help was at hand in the guise of three willing work experience volunteers: Liam, Amelia and Kate.

Jelena Bekvalac, Curator Human Osteology explains more…

We had the pleasure here at the Centre for Human Bioarchaeology during two weeks in July to have three lovely work experience students with us, Liam Bateson, Amelia Stephenson and Kate Marrion. They were all extremely helpful, interested and really ably assisted in our grand task of rationalising the boxed skeletal material in the rotunda, re-labelling boxes and up dating the inventory.

Amelia and Kate although here with us for a shorter time aided in moving material from the lab back to the rotunda, assisted in replacing boxes on to the correct shelves, labelling boxes and listing new locations of the boxes which, are integral to the up keep of the inventory so we know where all the boxes are correctly located.

Liam and Kate were also able to participate in a session about object handling and so saw another aspect and objects in the museum. With the assistance of our plastic cast skeleton Dr W we were able to go through the names of the bones in the skeleton and how they articulate with one another. They all proved to be keen learners and had very good osteological aptitude, young osteologists in the making!

Liam was at the forefront of box moving and relocation being involved for a longer time period. Additionally to moving all of the boxes a record of their new locations had to be listed for the inventory to be updated and new location labels on the boxes. Once again Liam, Amelia and Kate rose to the challenge and diligently labelled the boxes and listed the new locations.  The task took considerable effort, was physically demanding when moving the boxes around and often very dusty. The boxes have now all been relocated, space created and new inventory locations noted, a great accomplishment. This outstanding achievement in the store could not have been reached without the help and hard work of Liam, Amelia and Kate, they were superb.

We try to to accommodate work experience requests when certain suitable tasks such as this reorganisation arise, my best advice if you are interested in helping us is to keep checking the museums website here.

Liam also found the time to write up his thoughts on his work experience for our blog which he shares with you now:

When looking for work experience I did not go out searching for a job in the Museum of London’s Centre for Human bioarchaeology. My specification was simple; something at least vaguely interesting. I tried various jobs; one of these trains of thought was working in a lab. This is the train that lead me into this job.

I had no real presumptions of what exactly it would be like other than the names of the people I would be working with and that there would be skeletons involved. When I told people what I was doing for work experience they stared blankly back at me bewildered. No one I knew prior to the work experience had any idea exactly what was in store for me. Up until now I haven’t actually explained what the department does. It’s simple; it studies human remains from the London area. These are uncovered from archaeological sites mostly from construction sites. The department is host to over 17,000 individuals more than half from one site; Spitalfields (with roughly 10,500 individuals) and so it is a brilliant resource for budding osteologists.

First impressions were good, it was a friendly environment and I was not set menial tasks which could bore me to death (which I have been told happens with lots of work experience). What it has made apparent to me is one, how tiring work is and two, that it is slightly more relaxed than I had previously expected.

For the largest part of my work experience I have been helping rearrange the boxes in the rotunda to create space and a form of organisation. I have also done some work on the human skeleton so I can (slightly unreliably) name all of the bones in the body (saving individual carpals, tarsals, ribs and some bones in the skull). I can now correctly lay out a skeleton and find its gender. And possibly have a rather shaky guess at the age.

Osteology aside, I have picked up some skills in logistics and some invaluable experience in the workplace.  However saying this it has not made much different to my future aims for work (my life plain is still completely indecisive after university).  

And lastly I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me or let me help them in my work experience, it was a pleasure.

This was to allow the Museum of London Archaeology’s Geomatics Team and Standing Buildings Team to work on the structure whilst Nimbus Conservation carried out conservation works.

The two teams of archaeologists worked together in order to produce detailed elevations of the structure showing the different types of building materials and the existing features. Documentary research into the Bastion’s history was also undertaken using the City of London’s records held at the London Metropolitan Archive.

The comparison between the archival information and the observation of the fabric will lead to the reconstruction of the history of the remains of the bastion and identification of a sequence of development phases.

There is a wealth of information on their work available on the Museum of London Archaeology website here.

Here, Jane Sidell, English Heritage’s (external link) Inspector of Ancient Monuments for London, helps us uncover what was happening underneath:

Bastion 14 has been gradually decaying since the last conservation works over a decade ago. Unfortunately, historic buildings when exposed to the elements tend to deteriorate and consequently require on-going light maintenance. Owing to its deterioration, through weathering, frost-shattering and vegetation growth, the bastion was identified as vulnerable and was placed on the English Heritage, Scheduled Monuments at Risk Register.

A plan and programme of conservation was devised following a condition survey and the work was undertaken by Nimbus Conservation.

The conservation works aimed to secure structural stability, re-point the masonry where needed, using traditional lime mortars, reversing some elements of unsympathetic repairs undertaken in the past.

The excellent work undertaken really shows much more clearly how the bastion would have functioned as a defensive feature before being gradually overwritten by later buildings such as the warehouses and workshops known in the vicinity.

The conservation programme was commissioned through the City Surveyors Department at the City of London Corporation who very generously funded the project.

This month Sarah Matthews talks about the process of excavating human remains from cremation vessels. Click on the images to see further details of the excavation.

Archaeological investigations in 2010 by the Museum of London Archaeology revealed a number of Roman cremation vessels from a site in Surrey. While many of the vessels had been badly damaged by ploughing, 10 remained intact enough for further study.

The purpose of excavating cremation vessels is to ascertain how efficient the cremation process was, determine the distribution of bone in the vessel, gather knowledge about the pyre, and information about the individual cremated (age, sex and any pathological bone changes) skeleton (McKinley, 2004).

The excavation is carried out by carefully removing the soil from the vessel in spits (2-3cm layers). To begin, a piece of string is placed horizontally across the bucket dividing the vessel into two halves. One half is then excavated carefully and delicately by removing the soil and leaving the bone in place. To do this a variety of small trowels, wooden skewers and small brushes are used. This takes a great deal of patience, even the slightest knock to the bone can cause it to fragment. A plan and section is then drawn before excavating the other half.

The first spit (Picture 2) often contains very little bone, the overall the density of bone increases at the bottom of the vessel. After removing both halves of the spit, any bone uncovered is left in situ, photographed and planned.

Picture 2 (Pot B): Top of Spit two 

Picture 3 (Pot B):  top of Spit Three

Picture 3 shows the bone excavated from spit two revealing a dense quantity of bone. The majority of this bone comprises fragments of long bones, these often fracture in crescent or ‘U shapes’ (McKinley, 2004) running along the shaft. To the lower left corner of the urn a large, flat piece of bone has just been uncovered but is so far unidentified. Due to the density and overlapping nature of cremations often several pieces of bone need to be removed before elements can be uncovered enough to be identified. 

Picture 4 (Pot B): Top of Spit Four

As the excavation continues, the anatomical features of the bone become apparent and the large fragment in the lower left can now be identified as part of a pelvis. Spits are not always easy to keep to an approximate depth and there maybe variations in the depth across the pot. In the centre (Picture 4) the depth could only able to be taken down by 1.5cms due to a large patch of trabecular bone lying just below the surface. It is sometimes necessary to leave soil in place rather than risking destroying the bone.

Picture 5 (Pot B): Top of spit five

Towards the bottom of the pot large pieces of identifiable bone are present. The right side of the pelvis can be seen in Picture 5 with the auricular surface facing towards the centre. Each element is measured, photographed and planned in case it disintegrates further during lifting. Any colour variation is recorded as this may suggest temperature deviations during the cremation. Large identifiable elements are bagged separately with the context and spit numbers marked on the bag. 

Picture 6 (Pot A): Large areas of skull.

Picture six shows the importance of correct planning and excavation. Burning of the bone and shrinkage due to dehydration produces microfractures, these can result in the bone fragmenting during excavation and recovery (McKinley, 2004). The two large areas of skull can be seen in situ and once planned it is possible to tell that a very large piece of skull remained after burning.
 
The most important aspect of excavating cremations is to gain as much information as possible about the bone, the colour and disposition and any finds discovered inside the vessel. Once the bone is washed and dried, further analysis can be carried out to gain further evidence about the individual inside. This helps our understanding of the ritual and processes regarding cremated remains from the past.

For further information see..
Brickley, M. and McKinley, J. 2004. Guidelines to the standard for recording human remains IFA/ BABAO.

We have had a bit of a break as we have had changes to the project team, so let me introduce you to the hosts who are taking this exhibition forward.

We now have photographs being taken by myself, Peter, Dave and Donald.

Other regular updates will be coming from Rachel and Matt as the exhibition develops.

We are picking up from where we left off on our blog with this photograph from High Summer:

This is part of the Greenway (a walking route through the Olympic site) looking calm and tranquil. Things are a lot different now. We will show you how in future updates as  interest in the site in general has grown massively in the last few months with organised group visits commonplace including I might add ones for visitors to our museum!

 Our next update will take you through from Autumn right into the heart of Winter.

After we have talked you through these changes we will then go onto discussing further the development of our free exhibition which opens in July this year (one year before the Olympics are due to begin).

At MoLAS much of our commercial work involves studying the remains of people who died in the early 19th century. We have the unique opportunity to compare archaeological findings with the historical record. Over the next few weeks I’m going to talk a little about some of the discoveries made and the questions raised.

The team have recently completed analysis of nearly 750 individuals from the Catholic Mission of Saints Mary and Michael, Whitechapel. These people died and were buried between 1843 and 1854.

A number of women appeared to have unusually shaped ribs. By laying out the ribs in sequence it was possible to see a consistent pattern. The ribs were flattened from the side so that they pointed forwards and down, forming a somewhat triangular shape to the ribcage instead of a gentle curve. These deformities are caused by wearing corsets or stays.

We visited the Department of Fashion and Decorative Arts at the Museum to find out what type of underwear could have caused this. It turned out that the damaging effect of corsetry on the Victorian body is a ‘hot topic’ amongst costume historians. Writers in the 19th century campaigned against the wearing of tightly laced corsets and medical papers were published showing the effect on the internal organs.

You can see an illustration of ‘deformities to the ribs as a result of wearing a corset‘ at Project Gutenberg.

Understandably, our colleagues were largely unaware of the potential of the human remains to help answer this question. We are now looking forwards to working with the Curators to investigate this fascinating aspect of Victorian health further.

My role has been to act as the link between the exhibition project team and the conservation and collection care staff who prepare the material for display. There are 20 of us in conservation and collection care working at the Museum of London, Museum in Docklands and our resource centre (Mortimer Wheeler House). I am one of the archaeological team; there are also conservators who work on paper, textiles and costume and decorative arts/social history material.

A quarter of the team work in collection care and object handling; they look after the objects in storage and carry out the movement of our collections between our three main locations and sometimes to other museums when objects go out on loan. The conservators also do a lot of collection care work for our stored collections and work on individual objects in our laboratories and workshops. We ensure that the objects are in good condition and carry out treatments when needed. For this exhibition, the conservators worked on a huge variety of objects from wax heads to police uniforms. The paper conservators were kept particularly busy as there are so many paper items, many of them such as police reports and files in poor condition because they were working documents.

There are nearly 200 objects going on display in about 30 cases, on the walls and on open display. Some of the display cases are new so part of my job was to work with the designer to make sure that they are the right type and size for the objects . Conservators are particularly concerned that the cases are stable and secure, dust-proof and made of good quality materials.

We also need to check on the overall conditions for the objects. For this exhibition, because there are so many original 19th century documents, light is our biggest concern. Many of the documents have writing in ink which is already faded. The light levels will need to be low to keep any further fading to a minimum. Just before the exhibition opens, we will check every case to make sure the light is within the right levels. Luckily the designer wants a dark, atmospheric look!

The most challenging part of the work has been working out how to fit all the material into the cases. Some of the cases only have a few items, say two documents relating to one of the victims. Others have many objects made of many different materials. Each case has to be carefully planned so that everything fits and is well supported. The designer started this process many months ago working with the curator, Julia Hoffbrand.

The next step was to work from the plans and try out mockups of each case to see how the objects fitted into the cases and if they needed supports. A small team of us, a curator (Jackie Keily), our chief technician (Cliff Thomas) and others, started this process in February. It was a challenge as we had to work from photos and records of the objects since so many were coming from other museums or individuals as loans.

We are now putting the objects into cases and it’s great to see everything, some for the first time as couriers bring them from other museums and archives. Maps, prints and plans are also being hung on the walls; this has had its moments with different opinions on how high or low to place things. Luckily our collection care team (Alison Guppy and Paul More) are used to this and are very patient!

A huge amount of other work went into the exhibition before we started with the cases and objects (graphics, set construction, installing the lighting and audio-visuals). It’s all coming together now and with a few more days work (captions are on their way!), will be ready for the opening on the 15th of May.

You can see more photos from the installation of Jack the Ripper and the East End on Flickr.

“When I first decided to undertake work experience at the Museum of London, I was simply hoping to learn more about the Roman invasion of Britain and other periods of early history. So I was pleasantly surprised to come away, not only with more historical knowledge, but also with a good idea of what goes on in a museum behind the exhibitions and displays.

On Monday I began by sorting the entries for the London’s Burning exhibition poem activity, and typing up the audio recording of the Great Fire of London study day (held on 6 October 2007). I never really knew a great deal about the Great Fire before, but having listened to the recording of the study day for a good part of the week I feel as though I would have a good chance at Mastermind with ‘London in 1666′ as my chosen subject! Or at least, I was able to reply to an email sent in by someone asking what caused the fire at the end of the week.

On Tuesday afternoon I visited the Guildhall amphitheatre on a guided tour with the Roman curator Jenny Hall. This, coupled with my time spent in the Conservation lab on Thursday and Friday, taught me a lot about the methods of preservation used for wood and leather.

I also had the opportunity to see the Transit room on Thursday, where I got a sneak preview of some of the ‘Jack the Ripper’ items to go on display at the Museum in Docklands in May. [A note for readers: the Transit Store is a temporary storage room for objects either about to be installed in an exhibition/gallery or that have just been taken off display and are about to be sent back to their permanent stores.]

During the week I was also able to visit the costume department and sit in on a meeting about the events planned for National Archaeology Week. I also had the task of putting visitor comments from the Outside Edge exhibition at the Museum in Docklands into an Excel document in order to record its success. I always had plenty to do and it feels as though the week flew by. I would thoroughly recommend this work experience to anyone who is interested in history and how it is preserved as it really gave me a great insight into museum work and taught me skills that I would not learn at school. It was a thoroughly enriching experience, and I am grateful to the Museum for giving me the opportunity.”