Conservation departments
The metals conservation department works on a wide range of artefacts from most curatorial departments. There are over 40,000 metal objects, as well as many composites, within the National Museums Liverpool collections. It is our job to care for and conserve them.
Some of the items cared for in the past have included:
The work varies considerably with the department and types of objects being treated. For the former Museum of Liverpool Life, for example, there were domestic items such as kettles, flat irons and kitchen scales. We have also worked on military hardware, badges and medals for the Kings Regiment collection, which will be displayed in the new Museum of Liverpool when it opens. In the Walker Art Gallery collection there is 17th and 18th century silverware, as well as a range of hand and machine made decorative metal objects in the Craft and Design gallery. The galleries at World Museum Liverpool have required work on items as diverse as gold weights and Benin bronzes from Africa, Chinese cloisonné enamels and ceremonial objects from Oceania.
French book cover plaque (1200 – 25). This enamel and copper item is just one of the many objects metals conservation looks after
The studio has fixed and flexible working areas. Stereo microscopes and a dynascopic viewer are used for examination and treatment when working at the bench. Two fume cupboards provide a safe environment for the use of chemicals and any treatments that produce fumes or gases. A small-scale metal working facility is available as well as an air abrasive unit.
X-radiography can be carried out using the metals section self-contained X-ray unit. For larger items we can use the shared facilities in paintings conservation. Further analytical tools include a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. This is used in compositional analysis.