Reveal
Questions to an organics conservator
Read more about the organics conservation department here.
How do I get felt tip off my doll's head?
Book yourself into the opinions service.
What's the oldest thing you have worked on?
The oldest things I have worked on include a mammoth tooth that is over 12,000 years old, and the amber in an amber cabinet. The cabinet itself was made about 300 years ago but the resin would have been laid down about 45 million years ago.
Amber Cabinet circa 1700
On permanent display in Walker Art Gallery
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Amber cabinet with drawers open
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What's the biggest thing you have worked on?
We don’t tend to get very big things to work on. I conserved a Japanese palanquin (a covered litter for one passenger) that measures about 1.5m x 1.5m x 0.75m, with a long carrying pole. I have also worked on a Greenland kayak that is 5.2metres long.
Japanese palanquin partly cleaned
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Wooden racquet
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What sort of objects/materials does an organics conservator work on?
The list is endless. Materials that once were part of living things, including wooden objects, grasses, basketry, seeds, gourds, resins and amber, wax, fur, feather, hair, leather and skin, ivory, bone and horn. Also many modern materials including plastics and rubber. Objects can be any age, prehistoric to modern day, from anywhere in the world. We deal with everything from household items to wartime stuff - gasmasks, helmets, ammo pouches, etc. Ethnographic materials feature a lot in our studio where you will often find African carvings, feather cloaks, Inuit costume, etc, also decorative arts, toys and dolls. You name it. If it doesn't fit into another section at the centre it probably comes to us.
How do you ensure that you are not exposed to harmful bacteria?
We investigate the objects we work on, handle them as little as possible, and if there might be a hazard we wear personal protective equipment, including disposable gloves, lab coats and protective goggles . We also need to be aware of the possible presence of poisons in the collections, eg South American poison darts - these are carefully labelled to warn anyone of the danger, although even if materials used as poisons are present it is unlikely they would still be able to cause harm.
You sometimes work with human remains. Do you ever work with the medical profession on such projects?
All of the Egyptian mummies in our collections were x-rayed in the 1960s with the help of the Royal Liverpool Hospital and the hospital recently undertook a CT scanning of the mummy of Pedeamun displayed in this gallery.
Scanning of ‘Mummy Pedeamun’
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