Due to essential maintenance work, we regret to inform you that The MERL periodicals will be unavailable from Monday 13th February 2017 until further notice.
These are the volumes found in the rooms at the far end of the open access library corridor and includes Country Life, The Engineer, Farmers Weekly, Farmer & Stockbreeder, The Field and Royal Agricultural Society Journal among other journals.
We will make an announcement when they are accessible again.
Following last week’s interview with Nitisha about her work in the Special Collections archives, this week Whitney talks to her about her first role in conservation here at MERL.
1. What made you get involved with conservation?
I started volunteering with Fred the Conservator here in the Conservation studio because I wanted to explore conservation. I had never heard about this field before because my background is in Law.
I started by volunteering and then when the HLF funded redevelopment project started, I was hired on a short-term contract to work alongside Kate Gill, a specialist Textile Conservator, on the two Michael O’Connell’s wall hangings to help conserve them for the new re-display. Later my contract was then extended to work alongside Fred on the collections for the re-display. This was possible because of the considerable volunteering hands-on / practical experience I had by then.
2. What does conservation entail?
It’s basically taking care of the heritage and specifically here in the museum looking after the collections and the objects. So it’s very hands on, very practical work. For example if you have a mug and the handle is broken you have to repair it but at the same time not change it. There is a difference between restoration and conservation.
3. What aspects of conservation interest you the most?
I really like working with the objects and being able to make a difference with my hands. It’s really rewarding when you can make a difference to something that would just otherwise rot away, but instead you are able to preserve it and make it accessible to the public and future generations.
4. You highlighted the difference between restoration and conservation earlier. How would you describe the difference to someone that doesn’t have much idea about it?
With conservation you try to repair the object but maintain its totality whereas with restoration you would perhaps change it to make it look better and improve its aesthetic appearance.
5. What things helped you become more comfortable in being able to handle objects?
I worked alongside Fred the Conservator and started to understand why certain things can and cannot be done. I also did a Chemistry for Conservatory course because I wanted to understand the science and the reasoning behind it.
6. What other significant details are important when working with objects?
You need to understand what the need is for the repairs that are going to be carried out, the material of the object, how it was made and its purpose. Is it for a private client or a museum piece? If it’s for a private client the client may not want you to change the look or they may want you to change it so it looks brand new. But from an ethical point of view conservation is preferred rather than restoration because you are not changing the object only preserving what is there and giving it a longer life.
Whitney: So it seems that it’s all about the intended purpose surrounding why you are handling a particular object.
Nitisha: Yes exactly, because objects have historical value and may not necessarily have monetary value. Although they can also have both. We also have to question whether it’s the only one we have left in the world.
6. What advice do you have for the next generation of individuals that will go on to work in museums, heritage sectors or fields that encourage the preservation of culture and history?
Don’t limit yourself to thinking that you are not capable of doing something. Give yourself all the chances and take up opportunities. Try volunteering, be open to suggestions and have a good relationship with the professionals. If you understand what you want then it becomes easier for other people to guide you. I currently find myself at a stage where I’m still exploring. Though I don’t know what the final destination will be I’m just enjoying the journey.
Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer.
It all started with a story that, five or ten years ago, would have remained within the four walls of the museum and gone no further: our assistant curator found a dead mouse in a Victorian mouse trap.
The trap was behind a glass case in our store; it was not baited and it was not on display. And out of the thousands of tasty objects the mouse could have chosen to call both home and dinner, it zoned in on one of the few objects designed to kill it.
As a humane trap, the mouse is meant to be found and then released. Tragically, our mouse would have died a lonely death. Since we check our collection for pests regularly, and don’t expect our traps to be achieving their original purpose, this mouse was simply unlucky to get trapped in a time-frame between check-ups.
We thought the story was interesting and posted about it on our blog and Tumblr. Fast forward five days and it has become global, viral news.
Interest in our Tumblr spiked, and then rapidly returned to normal levels.
And we’re not exaggerating.
Since the original blog post, we have been interviewed by the BBC and the Canadian public radio broadcaster CBC. After featuring on BuzzFeed the story of our mouse rippled throughout the internet, ending up on The Daily Mail website, ABC, The Huffington Post, I F***ing Love Science and more. We trended on Tumblr, where our post has over 3,000 notes, and have been chosen as a feature of their History Spotlight category. We made the front page of Reddit, and our imgur gallery has been viewed 374,552 times. Our blog has had 67,521 views since the original post, more than the past two years put together.
Not bad for our BuzzFeed debut.
We thought everything had died down by Sunday, but then news started trickling in that we were trending on Facebook across the world. And not only that, but that we were trending higher than the SuperBowl, North Korea and…Beyonce:
Suffice to say, we’ve never had it so good on Facebook.
So what was the viral timeline of events? It all started with our original blog post, which was also cross-posted to Tumblr, and from there:
Our mouse made the ‘front page of the internet’, better known as Reddit.
Needless to say, there does not seem to be one recipe for going viral. What seems essential, however, is recognising when you have a good story, writing it well and having nice pictures.
From there it took getting our story in front of the right person – in this case Buzzfeed’s Hayley Campbell – and then watching the dominoes of ‘clickbait’ websites fall. We also nudged the story along, soliciting a retweet from a ‘power user’ of Twitter and Tumblr, Neil Gaiman, as well as posting updates and providing different angles on the story, such as our image gallery on Reddit.
We were lucky that we had been building our expertise and capacity in social media for some years, meaning we could hit the ground running when it became obvious the story was a hit. Our online network of museum professionals and journalists was essential to its success; without Nick Booth alerting Hayley Campbell to the story, it may not have kicked off in the first place.
However, before we publish blogs from now on, we’ll definitely be asking ourselves: ‘Would we be happy if this went viral?’ In hindsight, we were glad to have explained the ethical and practical issues involved with having a dead mouse in a museum object, as well as why and how it may have happened. Trust is very important to a museum, and if this story had gone viral without us considering the deeper issues we may have suffered immense damage to our reputation. There are many other stories about the important work we do as a Museum which we’d preferred to have gone viral, but nevertheless we hope those who saw the story have learnt a bit more about conservation, the continuing relevance of museum objects and how even the smallest of tragedies can captivate the world.
The mouse is currently being prepared by our Conservator.
After logging onto their computers today, staff here at the MERL were greeted by an unusual email from the Assistant Curator:
‘There appears to be a dead mouse in this mousetrap…’
It began.
‘…which is not described as being there on the database.’
So, this retired rodent had managed to sneak past University of Reading security, exterior doors and Museum staff, and clambered its way up into our Store. Upon finding itself there it would have found the promised land; a mouse paradise laid before it full of straw, wood and textiles. Then, out of thousands of objects, it chose for its home the very thing designed to kill it some 150 years ago: a mouse trap.
The trap itself was not baited, but this did not stop our mouse from wriggling inside and, finding itself trapped, meet its demise. The trap was manufactured by Colin Pullinger & Sons of Silsey, West Sussex and although we don’t know the exact date this one was made, the trap itself was patented in 1861. It is a multi-catch trap with a see-saw mechanism, and you can see its object record here. It is known as a ‘Perpetual Mouse Trap’ and proudly declares that it ‘will last a lifetime’. How apt.
The trap is described as ‘Perpetual’ and it certainly is that.
Pests are, of course, a perpetual menace in any museum. Curators and conservators are always alert for the tell-tale signs of moths, beetles and rodents which feast on the organic materials we hold in store. Hygiene and regular cleaning are a first line of defence, as are glazed cases. Objects are also treated before storage or display to ensure anything lurking within is killed. And while our most vulnerable objects have always been cased – such as clothing and leather – the rest of our stored collection made of sturdier wood and metal was only fully glazed over last year. This mouse may have snuck into the trap before this glazing, or otherwise managed to get in while construction work has been carried out for the Museum’s redevelopment.
We have traps set for pests, but we can never catch everything all of the time. This mouse managed to sign its own death warrant before it could do any more damage, the extent of which was only a nibbled label. We will also have to determine whether this mouse was a scout or part of a larger family. Luckily, because the collection is heavily used it is often only a matter of time before any kind of infestation is noticed and nipped in the bud. This mouse was found when our Assistant Curator was in the Stores selecting objects for use in an interdisciplinary research session on the subject of ‘Animals at Reading’. Our current MERL Fellow, Professor Karen Sayer, is also particularly interested in traps as part of her ongoing research into rats and pest control and regularly views our collection.
The other end of the trap, sans mouse.
For the moment, however, the mouse remains in the trap while we decide what to do with it. One option is a dignified burial, another is to desiccate it or have it prepared to remain as a permanent feature of the mouse trap for our new displays. We’ll let you know what we decide.
Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer for Our Country Lives.
The Museum has now been closed a little over two weeks, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy behind the scenes. Although visitors to our Archive & Library, steered through the shop to our tranquil Reading Room, may be entirely unaware of the scale of the work being done to strip away the old materials and objects from our galleries.
The changes within the galleries has been quite dramatic..
The physical work has been a massive logistical challenge and all credit should go to our Conservation Team, which is composed of our Conservator, a couple of staff members and volunteers (plus other colleagues when they have a moment). MERL is fairly unusual for a Museum of its size because we don’t have an offsite Store where we can keep our objects while work is ongoing. Although we considered hiring external storage we didn’t think our large objects, sturdy as they look, would survive the move without being damaged. As such, everything that is small has been removed, recorded and moved upstairs while we play a delicate game of Tetris with the remaining larger objects we cannot carry upstairs, or which we simply don’t have the room for.
So far we’ve managed to fill two skips with refuse!
Objects have been carefully packed into one side of the Museum.
As everything gets tidied away, however, it has become very clear that our building, constructed in 2004, is now a blank slate for our redevelopment. Without the objects we are left with grey floors, white walls and open spaces which we are eagerly filling with new stories and themes on English rural life.
Work in the galleries is almost ready for the builders to move into our garden and begin construction on the extensions to the Museum, which we foresee being finished in Spring 2015. After that our fit-out contractors will take their place and fill the Museum with plinths, cases, signs and objects ready for our re-opening, which may take until early 2016.
Don’t worry though, we will be keeping you regularly updated here on the blog, tracking both the progress of the work within the galleries as well as some of the conservation work that goes on in a project of this size.
As promised, I am back with some more exciting and fresh updates. Good progress has been made!
The first week flew by in the setting up of and preliminary preparations for the conservation project of the first 1951 wall hanging. In the second week I felt myself drifting off far away, swayed by the humming sound of the controlled variable suction vacuum cleaner as I continued to rhythmically surface-clean both the front and back of the wall hanging. I felt completely in tune with myself. I pictured myself in the beautiful countryside of Kent and imagined how farming life would have been back in the 1950s, helped by how the resist-dyed wall hanging has a plethora of so many vibrant colours.
As the conservation of the wall hanging progressed, two further tests were undertaken – the first to determine the dye fastness of every different colour used in the hanging when exposed to moisture – the second to assess the effectiveness of humidification treatment in relaxing creases…
Kate is performing the humidification test and the dye fastness test of every different colour
Then, Kate also examined the two holes in the wall hanging. The first was a small square like shaped with frayed edges shown below in the picture on one of the orange Oast Houseroofsand the other was a bigger hole on the green patch in a more elongated shape.
Conservator Kate Gill examining an area of loss in the hanging
The conservator is making a template on one area of loss in preparation of the conservation support
There were some old repairs on the centre seam which were causing damage to the wall hanging. Kate thoroughly examined its condition and decided that the best treatment to preserve it was to remove the old repairs.
Detail of damaging repairs along centre seam
I shall leave you to digest the same excitement that I felt while assisting on this unique project.
Watch this space for more interesting insights into the conservation of the 1951 wall hangings… until then you are very welcome to come and meet us at the Museum of English Rural Life where you can see the real action happening!
My name is Nitisha Ramrekha-Heeramun and over the next few weeks I will be blogging about the conservation of two large and colourful resist-dyed textile wall hangings produced by the renowned artist, Michael O’Connell, for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
I started volunteering at the Museum of English Rural Life in August 2013 under the supervision of Fred the MERL conservator, during which time I have picked up valuable practical conservation skills and knowledge. I feel privileged to have the opportunity of working closely with our contracted specialist textile conservator, Kate Gill, and assisting with the conservation of the wall hangings. Professionally, I have a legal background, but my real passion is to preserve and care for our cultural heritage and I aspire to have a fulfilling career in this field.
The idea of blogging about the conservation of the two wall hangings came about when I felt the need to make you, the audience, re-live the experience of being in such close proximity with and handling such well-guarded artefacts. I hope that you will enjoy reading through this blog as much as I enjoy writing about it!
I was thrown completely in at the deep end on the very first day! It was absolutely fascinating to marvel at the splendour and magnificence of the first wall hanging as Fred and Kate carefully unwrapped it on this huge white table.
Our very large workspace is made from 30 individual tables.
There are seven wall hangings in the collection and each measure just under seven by four meters. I could not help but think of the countless hours and effort gone into the creation of such a beautiful textile. Everyone stared in awe from the first floor of the gallery from where you can have a panoramic view of the wall hanging. The hanging depicts the county of Kent.
The aim of the conservation project is to make the hanging sufficiently stable for display. Following conservation, the hanging will be hung by means of Velcro™ and supported on a sloping display board protected behind glass within a bespoke display case. A lot of work will need to be done before this can safely happen.
A year ago Kate carried out an initial condition assessment and suggested an outline conservation treatment plan.
The Kent wall hanging was chosen as the first because it had more problem areas, like an inappropriate early repaired seam, which caused damage and two small holes with frayed edges.
Kent unveiled!
So, we were all set to go! I could not help feeling the rush of adrenaline down my spine as I was about to become physically involved in the conservation and preservation of such a massive piece of art.
The initial preparation stages
Due to sixty years of being stored rolled up the textile was severely distorted and creased. Firstly, Kate carefully aligned the hanging as best as possible to the edge of the table and thoroughly examined the fabric and condition of the hanging; documenting and noting down areas of weakness and analysing and further evaluating the different treatment options available.
I learnt quite quickly that forward-planning is crucial in this line of work, especially when treating such a large object – it felt like having a plan of attack on a battle field! You have to think of every possibility in detail and most importantly, consider the best and worst case scenarios that could occur and be prepared for it! This initial stage of forward planning, although time-consuming, is of paramount importance and also allows for the workload to be streamlined at the later stages.
First things first… Kate Gill establishes a registration point along the uneven edge of the hanging to determine the positioning of the Velcro™ support mechanism.
An image of the hanging was marked out in one metre squares to help keep track of progress.
Following this, the hanging was surface cleaned on both sides using a variable controlled suction vacuum cleaner…a process that took most of my whole week. Ouch, my poor knees!
Keep tuned for more on the conservation of this hanging! It is also free to view the Hangings as they are being conserved within the gallery.
