Ceramics & Glass Group - Autumn Meeting and AGM - Hybrid (CGG 40th Celebration)

Kate Berlewen

The 1960s and 70s produced a boom in archaeological pottery studies in the UK, with development of new analytical techniques and a corresponding generation of archaeological pottery specialists driving forwards the understanding of this material. As this cohort of specialists reaches retirement, the knowledge and deep understanding they have cultivated during their careers is at risk of loss, along with the value and significance this understanding brings to archaeological archives.

With grant funding awarded by Historic England, and support from the Medieval and Later Pottery Research Group, projects across England are being developed to support the training and development of the next generation of post-Roman pottery specialists, and to conserve this specialist knowledge. Kate Berlewen is a conservator trained in ceramics analysis currently undertaking the creation of a fabric type series for medieval and post-medieval in Devon and Cornwall, in one of the first of these projects to be produced.

Andri Maimaridou

This project explores the unique challenges faced in conserving a Royal Worcester reticulated double-walled vase (8.5cm) in the George Owen manner. The vase exhibited significant damage with detached sections, previous repairs, extensive retouching, and major losses to its outer pierced wall. Addressing these complexities required a detailed strategy, with careful assessment and methodical removal and adjustments of previous interventions. Several trials using different techniques and materials for moulding, casting, and gilding had led the development of a comprehensive conservation plan. Key aspects of the problem-solving process included creating Japanese tissue-backed epoxy casts to match the original ceramic fabric's colour and texture; Shaping and refining the casts with unconventional tools to align seamlessly with the vase's original surfaces; And repurposing previous fills to support new ones. The sharing of this experience is invaluable, especially given the lack of existing literature on the topic. This presentation delves into the conservation challenges and innovative techniques employed to preserve this unique object.

Antanas Melinis

The EU GoGreen project is centred around the development and promotion of sustainable principles in preventive and remedial conservation. One part of GoGreen involves the compilation of environmental damage functions for glass. They account for the effects of different temperature, relative humidity, dust, and pollution levels on glass corrosion. Coupons of model Roman soda-glass and Medieval potash-glass were positioned in six UK sites managed by English Heritage and four sites in Continental Europe. They cover a wide range of climates and indoor conditions found in heritage properties in this region. The coupons will be exposed for three years while the environmental parameters in each site are being monitored using a combination of active and passive methods. The resulting corrosion thickness is going to be quantified mainly by using ATR-FTIR, while IC is to be employed to identify surface ionic species. This paper describes the results of the first year of exposure, coupled with the results of a preceding PhD study, centred on the identification of the lowest acceptable relative humidity for deteriorated archaeological glass storage.

Carmen Vida

This presentation focuses on the conservation approach to, and subsequent treatment of, an Olokun pot from Benin City (Nigeria). Conservation took place in 2020-2021 within the AHRC-funded [Re:]Entanglements project. The project re-engaged with a large ethnographic archive gathered by the anthropologist Northcote Thomas in Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. Thomas was the first Government anthropologist appointed by Britain’s Colonial Office, and the pot, which was broken and repaired sometime after acquisition, serves as a powerful metaphor for colonial engagement. The treatment explored the nature of conservation interventions as acts of colonial and decolonial agency, resulting in an approach that acknowledged the pot’s history as a vessel that had become a displaced and de-ritualised museum object. Whilst conservation accepted that its ritual nature could not be given back, it offered the act of repair as a decolonising gesture that both reflected the damage it had suffered and allowed it to stand alone again.

Amy Walsh

From 2021 to 2023, International Conservation Services managed the relocation of the South Solitary Island Lighthouse optic (SSILO) in Coffs Harbour, Australia. This 19th-century lens and its cast iron pedestal are a 6.5 tonne assemblage, containing hundreds of prisms of virtually irreplaceable polished optical glass.

Coffs Harbour City Council decided to relocate the optic to a custom-built pavilion as part of an extensive foreshore development. Given the fragile glass components, substantial weight, community significance, and extremely high insurance valuation of SSILO, ICS recognised the logistical complexities of this job from the start and reached out to IAS Fine Art Logistics for expert technical handling assistance. Over the course of the project, the team grew to include riggers, crane operators, licenced builders, and electricians, each of whom contributed invaluable trade expertise.

This presentation offers musings on the role of the glass conservator in industrial heritage projects and the importance of collaboration between conservators, heritage experts, and skilled tradespeople. This project also emphasises the growing significance of the ‘conservator as project manager’ and acknowledges this as a highly beneficial skill in a conservation toolkit.

Prof. Haida Liang

Abstract to follow