Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

the nature, extent, severity and location of each
kind of damage, wear or loss to be observed
and recorded and may require various kinds of
analysis to be carried out to determine the
nature or properties of the object materials.
Examination of condition should also consider
the age and type of the object, whether damage
or loss is recent, the likelihood of further
damage or loss, the potential effect on other
items in a collection and the likelihood of
injury to people or damage to the fabric of the
building. There are advantages in developing a
recording system, as many museums have
done, that uses standard headings for the categories
of damage and a standard grading system
for their severity (Keene, 1996).
Commonly used categories of damage
include: structural damage (major and minor);
surface effects; old repairs; biological damage;
chemical damage. This can be used in conjunction
with an overall grading system of 1–4
for condition representing object condition as
good (1), fair (2), poor (3) or unacceptable (4).
Good means that the object in its context is in
good conservation condition or is stable. In
this category different absolute degrees of
change might be expected between a sixteenth
century oak table and a similar object from the
late twentieth century. Fair indicates that an
object is disfigured or damaged but stable and
not in need of immediate attention. Poor
means that the object is probably unstable, its
use should be restricted or stopped and that
remedial action is desirable. Unacceptable indicates
that immediate action should be taken as
the object is severely weakened or highly
unstable or is affecting (or likely to affect)
other objects in the vicinity.
Structural damage
Examples of structural damage include separation
or loss of components and shrinkage,
splitting or distortion. Objects in good condition
should be complete. Some loosening of
metal fittings such as mounts, locks and hinges
is normally acceptable provided that these are
not major load-bearing components of the
structure. Loss, detachment or severe loosening
of major structural components is unacceptable.
Objects in fair to poor condition may
exhibit varying degrees of loss or detachment
of applied elements such as mouldings, carvings
and glue blocks that are not jointed parts
Conservation preliminaries 383
of the structure. Greater than about 10% losses
would place an object condition as poor or
worse. Similarly, objects in good condition
should be free of distortion, splitting or other
evidence of excessive movement. Objects in
good to fair condition may exhibit fine, thin,
short cracks that are not readily visible from
normal viewing distance. Progressing by
stages, distortion or open splits and cracks that
are not sufficient to impair function but are visible
from normal viewing distances may eventually
reach a stage where they are liable to
cause loss of mouldings, veneers, inlays or
painted and gilded surface decoration and
eventually to impair the function of moving
parts such as drawers, doors and falls.
Surface effects
Surface effects include surface accretions and
losses from the surface of substance or of form.
Surface accretions may include loose deposits,
greasy dirt or mould, stains, exudations and
firmly adhered surface dirt and deposits.
Surface losses may include bruises, dents,
scratches, abrasions, loss of colour (especially
non-uniform fading and oxidation) and small
losses of paint, gesso or veneer. It is important
to observe whether such areas are stable or
unstable as a guide to whether further losses
are likely to occur or not. As with many other
aspects of condition, the age and type of the
item being examined as well as the extent and
location of the accretion or loss will affect
judgement of the degree of seriousness of the
condition and the action to be taken. As part
of the process of examination it is important to
consider whether the line or form of the object
has been or is likely to become obscured by
damage and the extent to which other vital
information has been lost or is at risk.
Old repairs may be sound, intact, correctly
aligned or not visible under normal viewing
conditions. They may be more extensive or
obvious, misaligned, unsound or constituting a
major visual distraction. Structurally weak or
unstable old repairs and those causing, or
likely to cause, (further) damage to original
material should be carefully noted during
examination. The materials used in old repairs
may have a bearing on subsequent courses of
treatment if they do not behave in the same
way as original material. It is therefore important
to consider this during examination.