Conservation examples

The principle of museum conservation is much the same as wildlife or countryside conservation in that you are trying to retain the original item in good condition,  as close to its original state as possible, to preserve it for the future. This may mean carefully boxing and packing an object, controlling its environment or sticking bits of a broken pot back together.

Conservators tend to specialise in a particular area such as Works on Paper (watercolours, drawings, photographs), Oil Paintings, Stone, Textiles, Furniture, Objects etc.

Bolton Museum’s conservator specialises in objects, care of human remains and preventive conservation caring for all of the museums collections including Smithills Hall and Hall I'th' Wood and offering advice to members of the public.

The following are examples of conservation work done both by Bolton Museum's Conservator and work done by outside specialists on Museum objects.

Flower model

This botanical model was conserved for display in the Death Equals All Things exhibition. It shows examples of reversable techniques that preserve the integrity of the original object.

Duaneteref cartonnage (in the Egyptology Section)

This work was commissioned by museums in the United States and has allowed the cartonnage to take part in a touring exhibition there. The work was done out by outside specialists. The benefit is that Bolton Museum gets to promote its collections internationally and the objects themselves are preserved for the local and national community. This work is difficult for regional museums to do without external funding.