Anne,
Try to find a copy of "The Restoration of Historic Technological
Artefacts, Scientific Instruments and Tools" by Herman Kuhn. It was
published in The International Journal of Museum Management and
Curatorship (1989), 8,389-405.
The different conceptions regarding historical objects, the documentery
character of the artefact, the authentic state and approaches to
restoration vs conservation were explained well in my opinion. It is
definitely worth a read.
Regards
Lille Ehmke
Registrar
Museum of Transport and Technology
PO Box 44114, Point Chevalier, Auckland
Ph.+64 9 846 0199x826 Fx.+64 9 846 4242
-----Original Message-----
From: Huntley Project Museum [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, 15 June 2002 06:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: conservation vs restoration
I'm looking for policy statements, articles, or other publications that
explain the difference between conservation and restoration and when
each
might be appropriate. I'm particularly interested in items which
explain
the modern museum perspective of retaining original materials, finishes,
and
wear patterns rather than making something look brand new. I would also
appreciate anything that explains the cost effectiveness of levels of
collections care (i.e. why you should spend the donation on UV filters
and
environmental controls for the whole building rather than hiring someone
to
renovate one old piano that will then sit in the unheated, sunny
building).
These things may be obvious to most of you (us) but I clearly need to
make a
better case with my Board. For the first thirty years of the Museum's
life,
when it was volunteer-run, the focus was on complete restoration of
individual artifacts. The result is that we have a few pieces of
machinery
with replacement parts, married parts, and amateur repainting jobs while
the
rest of the collection continued to rust in the rain. The Museum
continues
to maintain a close relationship with the antique tractor club and while
their renovations are more accurate and professional, that is obviously
still not my goal for the Museum collection. I've argued that the worn
pieces and few remaining paint chips are historically important and
while
that seems to make sense at the time, the Board continues to select the
redone items as most exhibit worthy and to recommend spending money on
individual repairs rather than collection-wide treatments. I'm hoping
that
if I can hand out some readings or examples things might begin to sink
in.
Anne L. Foster
Director
Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture
P O Box 353
Huntley MT 59037
phone: (406) 348-2533
fax: (406) 348-2534
email: [log in to unmask]
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