Hidden treasures and stories from our collection
2005/188/1 Glass diorama, ‘Little Known Facts’, glass, designed and made by Tom Moore, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 2004
Very carefully. This was the dilemma that 2 conservators and 2 registrars were recently faced with.To ensure a safe transit, each of the beautiful delicate glass objects has had a padded acid –free box made for it. Continue reading ‘How do you package and send glass objects to Washington State ?’
The recaptured image from an all but destroyed glass plate negative
Most people don’t have the patience to attempt what our recent intern, Amir Mogadam from the Universtiy of Newcastle has just finished – probably one of the most challenging jigsaws you’re ever likely to see. But conservators are a patient if somewhat quirky mob. Amir worked with conservator Rebecca Main on a storage project to condition report, treat and rehouse a collection of large glass plate negatives (515 x 415mm) which were produced around 1870-1880 at the Freeman Brothers Studio, Sydney.
Continue reading ‘Doing jigsaws at work, recapturing an 1880s image’
This photo of the Cootamundra Railway Disaster 1885 is the front cover of ‘All is not lost – the collection recovery book.
The pink ted prop dries off during a disaster training session
There is a wealth of materials on the web about disaster planning and recovery but you may not have electricity in an emergency situation. We decided to produce a disaster flip book that provided quick, basic instructions about salvaging different materials that have been damaged by fire, water or impact. Conservators contributed sections for the book that was originally intended for our own department. I received a call from a colleague in the Riverina who was assisting the local members of the Lockhart Historical Society who had suffered severe flooding in their building. The Lockhart locals did a wonderful job in salvaging what they could. The advice I gave was from the draft text for the disaster flip book. After that, we decided the book would be useful for anyone salvaging items from a disaster.
A conservator demonstrates how to remove mould safely.
If you do have damaged items, please feel free to contact the Conservation Department at the Powerhouse for advice on how to salvage and conserve them.
Disaster planning – materials and equipment useful in a salvage operation
The player piano is on the left and the organ pipes and effects box on the right H10302
The Powerhouse Museum’s Style 20 Fotoplayer is a wonderful instrument on display in the Kings Cinema within the Museum. It was made to provide music and sound effects to accompany silent movies and is an upright player piano, with an effects box.
When a roll is played, it activates the piano and the organ sections, but the other special effects need to be operated by hand. This means that the person operating the Fotoplayer needs to know the movie they are accompanying really well, so that they can operate the effects at the right time (doorbells, gunshot sounds from the drums etc etc.). No mean feat! Continue reading ‘The Museum’s fotoplayer comes to life again’
Gulgong Pioneers Museum. Image courtesy Mudgee tourism
I was contacted late last year by Marie Gorie from the Gulgong Pioneers Museum about a project she was about to undertake. She wanted to re-order the textile store. Maintaining a collection store takes a lot of time and resources and obviously, as the collection grew, some of the maintenance had slipped.
Continue reading ‘Gulgong Pioneers Museum Blog’
96/43/1 Transistor radio, flower basket, , Toshiba, Tokyo Electrical Company Limited, Japan, 1957; Collection Powerhouse Museum
A transistor radio, designed as an ‘oriental’ flower basket by Toshiba in 1957 for the western market, recently came to the conservation lab for treatment. It is made of cream and red plastic with a chrome handle and it has a radio and speaker inside. From the outside, the radio seemed to be in reasonable condition so conservator, Vanessa Pitt gave it a surface clean. She wanted to remove the dust that could be seen through the slats in the base of the radio.
Continue reading ‘The conservation of a transistor radio’
'Cermony' by Noelle Hamlyn, Gowns (6) and bonnets (6): cotton and silk embroidery and smocking on Japanese gampi tissue, 700 x 570 mm (largest). Image Powerhouse Museum
Much work has been going on in the Conservation department in preparation for the upcoming Love Lace International Lace Award and exhibition. There are some wonderful pieces in the exhibition and the variety of materials is amazing. Each object requires its own special display support. Rebecca Ellis has been making supports for some very delicate paper christening gowns and bonnets that will be suspended off the display wall. The artist, Noelle Hamlyn, has created the gowns out of Japanese gampi tissue and decorated them with cotton and silk embroidery.
Conservator Rebecca Ellis filing the stainless steel support rods
The support rods with their padding, ready for hanging.
Ian Scott-Stevenson has made small, stainless steel hangers that will protrude from the display wall. Rebecca has covered the shoulder section of the hanger with dacron padding, covered in silk. This will protect the garment and give it extra support whilst it is on display. The bonnets will be displayed on moulded acrylic attached to a stainless steel rod.
A close-up of a very fragile sleeve of one of the christening gowns.
Gosia Dudek and Nadia McDougall have been working on another artwork called ‘One Echidna’ by Christine McMillan. The quills, which came from a road kill incident, have been made into a beautiful piece of art. Ian cut a piece of acrylic slightly smaller that the outside edge of the object. Gosia then hand drilled 60 sets of holes into the acrylic.
Conservator, Gosia Dudek attaching the echidna quill object to it's acrylic backing.
Gosia and Nadia secured the object to the acrylic by tying very fine nylon threads over the thicker echidna quills and through the drilled holes. Each thread was knotted four times and in case one stitch came loose, another thread was also used in the same set of holes. The process has ensured that the weight is distributed throughout the object, which allows it to be displayed upright.
Sculpture 'One Echidna' by Christine McMillan. echidna spines, linen thread and glue and an animation which records the image made by light passing through the work. 700 mm (diam), 3.05 min (duration) Image Powerhouse Museum
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