e-conservation the online Magazine 21, sept 2011.pdf

econservation 

the online magazine No. 21, September 2011

Contemporary Art Wall Clock by PaulaArt

EDITORIAL 

NEWS & VIEWS 

4 On continual learning 

By Rui Bordalo 

5 Restoration, Reality, and Life Behind the ‘Velvet Rope’ 

By Daniel Cull 

index 

8 

Business Management Education in the Conservation Community 

By Sarah Lowengard 

11 

New Approaches on Book and Paper Conservation‐Restoration 

Review by Penelope Banou 

17 

NESAT XI ‐ Conference of the Northern European Symposium 

of Ancient Textiles 

Review by Annette Paetz gen. Schieck and Sylvia Mitschke 

21 

Outdoor Wall Paintings, Material and Techniques 

Review by Mirjam Jullien and Johanna Nessow 

24 

Preservation of Archaeological Remains in Situ (PARIS 4) 

Review by Mike Corfield and Jim Williams 

31 

University Training of Restoration within the European 

Educational Context 

Review by Luboš Machačko 

ARTICLES 

38 

Characterization of Natural and Synthetic Dyes Employed in the 

Manufacture of Chinese Garment Pieces by LC‐DAD and LC‐DAD‐QTOF 

By Estrella Sanz Rodríguez, Angela Arteaga Rodríguez, María Antonia García and 

Rodríguez Carmen Cámara 

56 

An Innovative Stretcher for Canvas Paintings 

By Osama M. El‐Feky 

EDUCATION 

66 

80 

Deterioration and Rates of Weathering of the Monumental Rock 

Inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat, Egypt 

By Hesham Abbas Kmally 

Sustainability in the Preservation of Cultural Heritage through 

Education Training in Wood Conservation and Restoration in Malta 

By Ninette Sammut 

e‐conservation

editorial 

On continual learning 

I have recently noticed a tendency in young conservators who, after working in the field for several 

years, are going back to study. And this, not necessarily to get a more advanced course in their area, 

which they already master, but to get a second degree in a related field to help expand their area of 

professional expertise. Studying chemistry, for example, will help conservators not only to 

understand the intricacies of deterioration of works of art but will also allow them conservators to do 

research and to get involved in the scientific sphere of the field. 

These are by no means isolated cases. More and more people are going back to school at some stage of 

their lives to pursue a second degree or some other type of advanced training. Many people stop 

studying after they leave college, however they may find that the skills that they originally learned 

may not be valid for the rest of their lives. The need to update skills or acquire new ones is now more 

forceful than ever. 

Like doctors, conservators become specialists by keeping up‐to‐date with the latest innovations, 

materials and technologies. After all, conservation is an ever‐evolving field. We learn everyday, from 

our work, which generates instructive experience which then accumulates over the years; we learn by 

attending conferences, by going to professional meetings; we learn by simply reading an article. But 

that is not systematic training and is hardly enough to acquire new skills. Here is where lifelong 

learning comes into the picture. 

Lifelong learning is a comprehensive concept of continual learning throughout a lifetime. It’s quite 

straightforward yet has been promoted differently from country to country. While in Anglo‐Saxon 

countries this is a widespread concept, in south European countries it may be seen as a weakness. 

Indeed, after practicing for many years we become specialists in our field. So, one may think, if I am 

already a specialist, why do I need to do more courses? Won't that actually be a sign that I doubt myself? 

When in fact, it’s quite the opposite. No wonder that in countries where there are accreditation 

schemes in conservation, lifelong learning is considered as an important criterion to be accepted and 

recognized as specialists. 

Proper learning demands an experienced tutor who can deliver the knowledge that you seek in the 

best way. Depending on your particular case and your objectives, you may have a wide range of 

possibilities, from simply attending a short course to going back to college to get a postgraduate or 

masters degree. Nowadays, you can even do this online. 

It’s wonderful to hunger for more knowledge or skills, but sometimes we simply get trapped in our 

daily routines, concerned by meeting deadlines or overly focused on our work. We may think that 

taking a course is just too much of a hassle; indeed, it is hard work and requires strong motivation. 

Going back to school at a mid career stage is not the same as in our youth; the main difference being 

that we must probably work while we study. It’s rather like taking on a second job. Despite this, the 

advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages. These are temporary circumstances that will 

change you for the better: from performing your job under a completely different perspective up to 

landing a new job, there’s a whole range of possibilities. At the end of the day it will inevitably enrich us. 

Rui Bordalo 

Editor‐in‐Chief 


RESTORATION, REALITY, AND LIFE BEHIND THE ‘VELVET ROPE’ 

By Daniel Cull 

"No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine. It's a life." 

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a 

contestant on a reality television show? What 

does it feel like being stared at as you live out 

your day‐to‐day life? I don’t have to wonder about 

such things as I am one of a growing number of 

conservators who work in a conservation studio 

that is visible to museum goers. In recent years 

there has been a steady growth in the number of 

museums, and other cultural institutions, that 

have incorporated ways of seeing ‘behind the 

scenes’ in their buildings. The conservation profession 

has, by and large, been supportive of 

this development, as it hoped that by welcoming 

the 'public gaze' into the conservation studio 

this will help demystify conservation and raise 

public awareness about the profession. To be 

honest, I wasn’t sure about the concept at first, 

I felt sure that I couldn’t possibly do tricky technical 

work with an audience watching, but quite 

to the contrary I’ve found that the opacity of glass 

is very much a function of the mind. 

One argument that has been raised against viewable 

studios is the extent to which they straddle 

a strange line between a working studio and a 

performance space. Much like popular reality 

television what the audience sees is only a certain 

aspect of reality, there remains other aspects 

unseen. This argument, quite rightly, points out 

that although a greater number of people get to 

observe conservation through such spaces, they 

only get to see a limited interpretation of conservation; 

that of interventive treatments and 

the use of ‘scientific’ looking equipment, which 

Christof in 'The Truman Show' [1] 

Fishbowl conservation 

is generally observed 

to be a technically 

skilled, somewhat 

scientific, profession 

that is focused purely 

on ‘fixing’ things. 

of course stands in stark contrast 

to the prevailing importance of the 

approach of preventive conservation 

both in contemporary theory 

and practice. Fishbowl conservation 

is generally observed to be a 

technically skilled, somewhat scientific, 

profession that is focused 

purely on ‘fixing’ things. For me 

this critique became more interesting 

when considered in light of my 

own interactions with the viewing 

public. 

In my experience these interactions 

fall into one of three categories. 

1) ‘What are you doing?’ 2) ‘What is 

my object worth?’ 3) ‘Do you need 

any help?’ The first category could 

be considered to be the most intended 

by conservation outreach, as it 

is these sort of interactions in which 

news & views 


VIEWS 

Conservation behind the glass. Photo by DebMomOf3 (Some rights reserved). 

conservation itself is directly discussed and it is 

through such interactions that the massive benefit 

of viewable studios is made abundantly clear. 

The second category visitors have presumed, incorrectly 

but quite understandably, that conservators 

do appraisals. The third category is, to me, 

the most intriguing. It seems that psychologically 

the visibility of the studio, coupled with the 

impossibility of accessing the space due to the 

glass wall, acts in much the same way as a ‘velvet 

rope’ at a bar or club; giving an air of exclusivity 

to the inside, and creating a desire to be a part 

of whatever it is that’s going on in there. 

In line with the work of the Demos think tank who 

discussed the importance of, and necessity for, 

volunteerism within the heritage sector, I would 

argue that conservation outreach should aim to 

facilitate people's “active relationships” [2] with 

their cultural heritage. I wonder whether the 

conservation that the audience gets a glimpse 

into, in which access is limited to the visual, is 

actually encouraging such an active relationship? 

Or is it, as I suspect, encouraging a desire to be 

a part of an exclusive group behind the metaphorical 

velvet rope? As those of us who work in such 

visible studios continue to develop our outreach 

approaches I wonder if we could incorporate some 

of the lessons of the groundbreaking publication 

Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, 

Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions [3]. 

The main lesson that I took from the book being 

the usefulness and applicability of conservation 

ideas and methods for members of the public to 

interact with their own material culture; an idea 

that runs counter to the somewhat absurd assumption 

that it would be dangerous for people to 

‘do conservation’ on their own stuff. As cultural 

conservation becomes increasingly well‐known 

to the general public, one aspect of our outreach 

could be to mirror approaches taken within environmental 

conservation to find ways to empower 

people to care for their own cultural heritage as 

they do their natural heritage. This would truly 

be to begin to break down the barriers between 

the public, our heritage(s), and professional 

conservation(s). 

6 e‐conservation

VIEWS 

Notes: 

1. The Truman Show, Paramount Pictures/ Scott 

Rudin Productions, 1998 

2. S. Jones and J. Holden, It's a Material World: 

Caring For the Public Realm, Demos, London, 

2008 

3. D. Williams and L. Jaggar, Saving Stuff: How to 

Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, 

and Other Prized Possessions, Fireside, New York, 

2005 

The News section is bringing up‐to‐date 

information on cultural heritage topics such as 

on‐site conservation projects reports, reviews 

of conferences, lectures or workshops and any 

other kind of appropriate announcements. 

If you are involved in interesting projects and 

you want to share your experience with 

everybody else, please send us your news 

or announcements. 

For more details, such as deadlines and 

publication guidelines, please visit 

www.e‐conservationline.com 

DANIEL CULL 

Conservator 

The Musical Instrument Museum 

Daniel Cull is from the West Country of the British 

Isles. He trained at the Institute of Archaeology, 

University College London, where he received a 

BSc in Archaeology, MA in Principles of conservation, 

and an MSc in Conservation for Archaeology 

and Museums. He was later awarded an 

Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National 

Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian 

Institution, Washington, DC. He currently works 

as a conservator at the Musical Instrument Museum 

and as a collaborator with e‐conservation 

magazine. 

Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com 

Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org 

e‐conservation 

7

VIEWS 

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT EDUCATION IN THE CONSERVATION 

COMMUNITY 

By Sarah Lowengard 

All working conservators need to understand the 

basics of business management. 

At first glance, this statement seems to address 

predictions for the future of the conservation 

discipline. As the ratio of conservation program 

graduates to institutional job openings grows, and 

downsizing initiatives (including salary freezes) 

within those same institutions take effect, we will 

see significant increases in the proportion of independently‐employed 

conservation and preservation 

professionals 1 . Faced with the likelihood 

of future self‐employment in an independent 

practice or moonlighting from an institutional 

job, it seems reasonable to call for new or emerging 

conservators to learn business basics. 

This prediction may or may not come true but its 

assumption that business management skills are 

critical only to conservators who own or plan to 

own an independent practice is false. My experience 

as a course leader in the FAIC Online Education 

business management program and as a business 

adviser have proved to me that familiarity 

with the language and norms of modern business 

are important to all practicing conservators, 

wherever they are employed. Opportunities to 

learn these skills within the community are few 

and those that exist are usually undersubscribed. 

The result is an ignorance that prevents the disciplines 

of conservation from full integration as 

a professional practice within the educationalcultural 

institutions of which they are a part. 

When conservators do seek business training, 

they tend to focus on actionable advice — the registrations 

to file, the insurance to purchase, the 

taxes to collect and pay — rather than underlying 

theories or transferable skills. For owners of microbusinesses, 

especially the one or two person operations 

with no discrete business goals, taking 

time to learn about good business management 

seems arcane, irrelevant or more appropriate to 

larger firms. In my teaching and consulting experience, 

discussions of such issues as defining a 

business model, analyzing financial data and 

communications planning always end quickly and 

prematurely. 

Instead, personal experience — deadbeat clients, 

the breakdown of a business partnership, lack of 

work — drives advanced training. Independent 

conservators who recognize no problems seldom 

seek information. Faced with a crisis, conservators 

again seek a quick fix rather than context or 

analysis. The extent of this piecemeal attitude 

toward the business of running a business was 

brought home to me early in February 2009, when 

I organized an online meeting for independent 

conservators to discuss responses to the then new 

financial crisis. The meeting was well attended, 

1 These projections, although widely accepted, are almost 

entirely anecdotal. The paucity of adequate statistical, 

economic or even sociological studies of the art conservation 

community makes it difficult to describe the state of the 

discipline or predict its future with certainty. The absence of 

studies is, in itself, a function of the lack of understanding 

of business management skills I discuss here. I should also 

note that the basis of my own anecdotal experience is almost 

exclusively Anglophone and largely U.S.‐based. 


VIEWS 

and many participants voiced concerns. Should 

they lower fees or offer discounts? Should they 

look for supplemental work outside of conservation 

or plan to live on reserves? Then a few participants 

remembered that that the post‐holiday 

period is always slow. Perhaps a new action plan 

was not necessary. The tenor of the meeting 

changed and it adjourned with general agreement 

that more time was needed to study the questions. 

Despite my entreaties, participants were not interested 

in analysis or planning. I scheduled two 

follow‐up meetings. There was no interest. 

As Christabel Blackman recently noted in this 

magazine 2 , conservation training emphasizes the 

cultural value of objects over any economic value 

they might have. As a means to that end, conservators 

are taught to perform the assessment and 

treatment of objects, but not the business‐based 

issues surrounding the acquisition of work. Yet if 

conservators — individual or institutional — could 

clarify the structures supporting the work they 

do, they would increase control over both the 

performance and the work path. The result would 

have a positive effect on the quality of work in the 

short and long terms; in essence, the cultural and 

economic bottom line. 

In the past thirty years, cultural institutions 

have moved away from the special place they 

once inhabited, where a lack of interest on principle 

in administrative theories and techniques 

was expected. The institutions for which conservators 

work, either as employees or as independent 

contractors, now judge themselves and are 

judged by the public using the same terms as 

businesses outside of the cultural sector. They 

look to short and long range goals, marketing 

plans and measurable outcomes to establish institutional 

quality and success 3 . Participants or 

principals in an institutional department operate 

within a microcosm of the larger business structure 

of that organization. Understanding the way 

An individual or group may 

reject those norms, 

but that should be a decision 

based on information 

and not an outcome 

of ignorance. 

The perception of business education as actionable 

advice rather skills that define and simplify a path 

of action, means institutionally‐based conservators 

see no relevance to this knowledge for their 

careers. Yet changes within institutions make this 

stance increasingly less tenable. 

2 C. Blackman, "Cleaning the Dirt off Money in Conservation: 

Ethics and Economics", e‐conservation magazine 20, 

2011, pp. 7‐11, URL 

3 See, e.g., Mark Walheimer, “What is the Business of Museums?” 

post to LinkedIn American Association of Museums 

discussion group, http://lnkd.in/uQFYB9 (accessed 25 

August 2011). 

cultural sector directors perceive the value of 

their organization may establish more clearly the 

position of the conservation or preservation department, 

and skills and talents of its individuals, 

within the institutional community. Is the 

organization driven by services to members, so 

that a collection is most important when it enhances 

that service? Was the preservation department 

established because accreditation 

depended on it but the administration does not 

understand how the department adds value to 

the institution as a whole? What does “a real 

marriage of science and art” mean to a marketing 

department? Awareness of business approaches 


9

VIEWS 

permits conservators to better advocate on their 

own behalf within an institution and to the public 

at large. 

A well‐designed program to teach business management 

skills to those who do the specialized 

work of the cultural sector would translate and 

explain the basic concepts under which 21 st century 

businesses operate. It would indicate how a 

business derives value from its products or services 

and show conservators how to participate in 

a well‐organized and well‐run business, both 

relevant to any working environment. 

Understanding the parameters of business management, 

its standards and expectations, permits 

both independent and institutional practitioners 

to make choices about their own professional life 

based on a broader and more accurate context 

for the work they do. An individual or group may 

reject those norms, but that should be a decision 

based on information and not an outcome of 

ignorance. 

SARAH LOWENGARD 

Educator and Writer 

Contact: info@researchandwriting.net 

Website: www.researchandwriting.net 

Sarah Lowengard has created and lead business 

courses for the FAIC Online Education Business 

Management for Art Conservation program since 

2004. An adviser to independent practitioners 

for more than for more 20 years, she currently 

manages three distinct business ventures, including 

an independent art conservation practice 

founded in 1978. 


REVIEWS 

NEW APPROACHES ON BOOK AND PAPER 

CONSERVATION‐RESTORATION 

Review by Penelope Banou 

9‐11 May 2011 

Horn, Austria 

Organised by: 

European Research Centre for Book and Paper 

Conservation‐Restoration 

The conference "New Approaches in Book and 

Paper Conservation‐Restoration in Europe" took 

place in Austria, Horn, from 9 th to 11 th of May 

2011. It was the first conference of the newly 

founded European Research Centre for Book and 

Paper Conservation‐Restoration (Horn), organised 

under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Engel, 

aiming to bring together conservators, librarians 

and archivists, collection managers and many 

more professionals in the field of book and paper 

conservation‐restoration who are engaged with 

the care, safeguarding and preservation of our 

book and paper‐based cultural heritage. 

Recognised professionals of the conservation 

community, such as Joseph Schirò (Heritage 

Malta, Malta), René Larsen, (Konservatorskolen, 

Copenhagen, Denmark), Elissveta Moussakova 

(St. Cyril and Methodius National Library, Sofia, 

Bulgaria) and István Kecskeméti (National 

Archives, Helsinki, Finland) participated in the 

conference board. 

presented a diversity of approaching the conservation 

and preservation issues of cultural material 

in libraries and archives, involving ethical and 

aesthetical considerations, introducing new 

equipment, materials and ideas. 

In the morning session of the first day, the matters 

of the fundamental principles and ethics in conservation‐restoration, 

the reflection of aesthetics 

in art restoration and the theoretical and practical 

content in the training programs for conservators 

were discussed. The presentations started with 

Ursula Schädler Saub (Germany) arguing about 

the “Theoretical Fundaments in the Conservation 

and Restoration of Books: How Helpful are the 

Theories of Alois Riegl and Cesare Brandi for the 

Practice?”, followed by Weronika Liszewska (Poland) 

with “Aesthetics and Standards in Paper 

and Book Conservation–Restoration” and Maria 

Casanova (Portugal) with “What Do We Need? 

Around 50 speakers from 25 different countries 

(18 European and 7 other countries) participated 

to the conference, which was developed in three 

tight scheduled days. The topics of the conference 

1 Information about the European Research Centre for 

Book and Paper Conservation‐Restoration, the aims and 

scopes, tasks, vision and strategy for research, educational 

programmes, co‐operations and publications can be found 

in the official website of the Centre. 


11

REVIEWS 

Panel of speakers during the discussion at the end of a session. 

Education, Ethics, New Values or a Different Perception 

for the Profession! Revisiting Book Conservation 

Theory and Practices in the First Portuguese 

Paper Conservation Laboratory”. 

After the coffee‐break, the presentation of Ingeborg 

Ullrich (Germany) “Expiry Date: Unknown – 

The Experimental Use of Material in the Artist’s 

Book and Installation Art” (presentation in German 

with simultaneous English translation) provided 

a purely creative and aesthetic perspective. 

Manfred Mayer and Erich Renhart (Austria) followed 

with “Searching for Traces”, presenting the 

use of “Novec Fire Protection Fluid” in reading 

faded or indistinct text, providing its technical 

details and properties and advantages of its use. 

The session ended with Nicholas Pickwoad (United 

Kingdom) setting the question “Library or Museum? 

The Future of Rare Book Collections and its 

Consequences for Conservation and Access” in a 

critical perspective. 

The afternoon session included topics on the 

study of types of 19 th century paper concerning 

quality and provenance and the investigation of 

the effect of light and conservation treatments on 

paper. These topics were covered by the presentations 

of Penelope Banou (Greece) with “Archival 

Records of the New Independent Greek State (mid 

19 th c.). Where History, Paper Technology and 

Preservation Meet”, Petra Vávrová (Czech Republic) 

discussing about the “Damage of Paper Due 

to Visible Light Sources Irradiation and Post‐Radiation 

Effects after 2 Years of Storage in Darkness” 

and Spiros Zervos (Greece) arguing on the 

results of his research with “Investigating the 

Causes of Paper Strength Loss after Aqueous 

Treatments”. 

Salvador Muñoz‐Viñas (Spain), in his presentation 

“A New Approach to Flattening and Lining Paper: 

the Pleural System”, discussed the applications 

and benefits of his invention (a vacuum table 


REVIEWS 

A view of the conference hall. 

that provides controlled, uniform drying of large 

objects), while Manfred Schreiner (Austria) introduced 

the audience to “Documentation of Watermarks 

in Paper by X‐ray Radiography” in comparison 

with other methods used for the same purpose. 

The presentations “Copying presses” discussing 

the different types and variations by Josepf 

Schiro (Malta), and “Wax Tablets in Polish Collection 

– the State of Preservation and Restoration 

Issues” by Elzbieta Jablonska (Poland) concluded 

the first day. 

A variety of topics characterized the second day 

of the conference. The first presentation was given 

by René Larsen (Denmark) who stressed the necessity 

of the “Scientific Approach in Conservation 

and Restoration of Leather and Parchment Objects 

in Archives and Libraries” in order to determine 

the proper treatment arrangements. The next 

presentation was made by Myriam Krutzsch (Germany) 

who discussed the conservation of ancient 

leather fragments in “Is there a Chance to Rescue 

Egyptian Texts on Leather?”. Later, Igor Kozjak 

(Croatia) argued on “The Influence of Hydrolytic 

and UV Treatment on Properties of Leather Used 

in Book Conservation”. 

The presentations of Zsuzsa Tóth (Hungary), “Restoration 

of a Unique Hungarian Medieval Codex 

based on Results of Recent International Research 

and on a New Restoration Technique”, and Gayane 

Eliazyan (Armenia), “Preservation and Restoration 

of the Matenadaran Manuscripts”, responded to 

practical conservation topics. In accordance, the 

case study of a splendidly illuminated manuscript 

and its conservation and preservation issues involved 

was discussed by Theresa Zammit Lupi (Malta) 

in “The Grand Master L’Isle Adam Manuscript, 

Volume 8: a Particular Example of Degradation 

and Pre‐treatment Testing”, where the removal 

of historical extended additions was in question. 

The majority of the second day’s presentations 

were oriented to the approaches of conservationrestoration 

of collections, in respect of the original 

structure (forms), materials, date, origin, historical 

context, art and aesthetics, such as those of 

Karin Scheper (Netherlands), who presented “Islamic 

Manuscript Structures. A Refinement of 

Knowledge about Islamic Book Constructions and 

the Implications for Preservation or Conservation 

Treatments”, Rumyana Decheva (Bulgaria) with 

“Preserving the Original Structure of the Medieval 

Codex During Conservation”, Jedert Vodopivec 

(Slovenia) with “Census and Analysis of Slovene 

Medieval Codices” and Małgorzata Pronobis‐Gajdzis 

and Jolanta Czuczko (Poland) with “The 

19 th Century Book – Underestimated Beauty”. 

The concern for developing the conservation discipline 

and framework through systems and principles 

was discussed in the presentations “The 

Romanian National Library National Centre for 

Pathology and Restoration of Documents (NCPRD) 

– Perspectives and Development Needs” by Mariana 

Lucia Nesfantu (Romania), “For a New Policy 

for the Preservation of Documents” by Eduard 

Zaloshnja (Albania), and “Results of the National 

Program – a Complex System of Conservation in 


13

REVIEWS 

The lobby of the conference hall. 

All the aforementioned presentations contributed 

to a very successful conference that gave the opportunity 

to the speakers to present their research 

and approaches to conservation and preservation 

today, as well as the needs, the problems, the 

agony, the troubling issues and the various aspects 

that influence or determine their efforts. 

The contributions in the conference were already 

available during the meeting in a publication entitled 

“New Approaches to Book and Paper Conservation 

Restoration”, edited by Patricia Engel, 

Joseph Schirò, René Larsen, Elissaveta Moussakova 

and Istvan Kecskeméti, and published by 

Verlag Berger. Further information on the book 

and the list of authors, articles and respective 

abstracts can be found in the Center web address. 

In the conference closure, experts on European 

funding programmes presented and recommended 

eligible ways of application and possibilities 

for co‐operations within the upcoming EU’s 7 th 

framework program for research. The discussion 

over the limited funding opportunities (packages) 

related to conservation research projects, resulted 

in the decision for the formulation of a common 

statement to respond to the EU Green Paper on 

the Common Strategic Research Framework for 

Research and Innovation. In the following days, 

this document was delivered to the EU Commission 

(see on the official web site of the European 

Research Centre). 

The sessions were completed with the discussion 

over the conclusions and results of the conference, 

focusing on the research topics that the participants 

of the book and paper conservation community 

were mostly interested in. The decision on 

the urgent topics of research leaded to the arrangement 

of several subject discussion groups and 

sessions respectively. The conference was concluded 

with the wish of putting forward an accreditation 

of material for conservation which would be 

gradually implemented by the Research Centre. 

The successful outcome of this conference is not 

only due to the excellent organisation, the interesting 

topics, the professional presentations, in 


15

REVIEWS 

the majority, and the proper publication, but also 

to the benefits of witnessing an interdisciplinary 

approach of conservation, varying in concept, 

perception, and principles where scientific, cultural 

and financial parameters stood on a different 

basis. This also highlighted the need for the 

creation of a solid platform for a common language, 

ethics, attitude and approach, consolidating 

research and education. 

Finally, the hospitality of the organisers, the 

vivid atmosphere during the breaks of the conference 

and the evening events delighted the 

participants. This already started to show from 

the organised welcome meeting, over a warm 

soup, the first evening. The heavy schedule of 

the conference was decompressed with a banquet 

with speeches from local politicians and a 

representative of Net Heritage, Barbara Swiatkowska, 

and a light dinner in the Vereinhaus the 

first evening, the special piano and song recital 

in the library of the Kunsthaus with the valuable 

books and editions, the conducted tour in the facilities 

of the European Research centre, followed 

by wine and light snacks, in the second evening. 

Everything was nicely organised, without exaggerations, 

under the sharp eye and guidance of 

Patricia Engel, who seemed to have everything 

running like a clock. Horn, as the location of the 

event provided a special character to the conference 

and supplemented to its success. It was a 

delightful, tranquil town in lower Austria, where 

everything was in a walking distance in the quite 

streets of Horn, green and blossomed with the 

smell of lilac trees on the air. 

Most of the participants were pleased with the 

concept and outcome of the conference, really 

supportive to the efforts and tasks of the Research 

centre and agreed to the idea of repeating this 

meeting in two years time. 

Photos by Spyros Zervos, Patricia Engel and Maria 

Giannikou. 

PENELOPE BANOU 

Conservator 

Contact: pbanou@yahoo.gr 

Penelope Banou graduated from the Department 

of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art 

in the TEI of Athens (1996) and specialized in the 

conservation of works of art on paper after her 

postgraduate studies, Master of Arts in Conservation 

of Fine Art at the Northumbria University in 

UK (1998). Ever since, her professional activities 

include participation in preservation and conservation 

projects of works of art on paper and archival 

material collections belonging to public and 

private collections, while she is involved in education 

(lecturer in the Department of Conservation, 

T.E.I of Athens) and research programs with 

several publications. She belongs to the permanent 

staff of the Conservation Department of the 

General State Archives in Athens since 2008. 


REVIEWS 

NESAT XI ‐ CONFERENCE OF THE NORTHERN EUROPEAN 

SYMPOSIUM OF ANCIENT TEXTILES 

Review by 

Annette Paetz gen. Schieck 

and Sylvia Mitschke 

9‐13 May 2011, Esslingen, Germany 

Organised by: 

Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Esslingen 

Archäologische Denkmalpflege, Textilarchäologie 

Nordeuropäisches Symposium für archäologische Textilien 

North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles 

Starting off in 1981 as a meeting of a handful of 

textile archaeologists, historians, natural scientists, 

conservators, craftsmen and autodidacts 

NESAT became one of the major textile research 

forums worldwide, meeting every three years at 

varying places. The eleventh meeting was held in 

Esslingen, Germany, at the “Landesamt für Denkmalpflege”, 

on May 9 to 13, 2011, under the aegis 

of Dr. Johanna Banck‐Burgess. 

Due to several large programmes, textile research 

has entered a phase of great attention. In order 

to manage the increasing number of interested 

scholars, the coordinators decided to limit the 

number of attendants to 140 in order to maintain 

the traditional NESAT working atmosphere. The 

group of participants was truly international, originating 

from 26 nations from all over the world. 

Representatives came from Austria, Belgium, 

Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, 

Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, 

Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, 

Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia, 

and beyond Europe from Iceland, Israel, 

New Zealand and the USA. 

see www.nesat.org), a poster presentation was 

held and two excursions have been arranged in 

parallel. 

For the first time in NESAT history the organising 

committee initiated a “special theme day”, being 

the first day of the conference. This day was dedicated 

to methodology in textile archaeology 

today introducing specific approaches on historical 

sources of various kinds. The first lectures 

dealt with classical archaeological and philological 

sources as representatives of the humanities, 

followed by principles of documenting archaeological 

finds and contexts, by methods of fibre 

and dye analyses, and isotopic investigations as 

representative techniques in natural sciences. 

Audience during lectures. Photo by Lisa Masen, LAD. 

The records of the conference are striking: within 

four days, 37 papers were given (for abstracts 


17

REVIEWS 

Poster presentation. Photo by Annette Schieck, CES/REM. 

Participants in conversation. Photo by Carla Nuebold, LAD. 

The final section of the first day dealt with a selection 

of four current research projects in textile 

archaeology, dealing with Bronze Age textiles 

(HERA), the reconstruction of garments of a 17 th 

century bog body (Gunnister Man Project), the 

Poprad‐Matejovce grave chamber, and Roman 

textiles in Austria (both DressID). 

From the second day on, the papers were presented 

grouped after three sessions starting with a 

section of six presentations introducing individual 

projects that combine archaeological research 

and methods of natural sciences, virtualisation 

and experiment. Virtual documentations served 

as media in a better understanding of Neolithic 

textiles, dyeing experiments provided deeper 

insights into 3000 years old Hallstatt‐textiles, 

fibre investigations will in future be employed on 

Pre‐Roman textiles from Italy, archaeological wool 

was investigated in terms of proteomics, the material 

of Danish textiles has been analysed according 

to its strontium isotopic composition in order 

to trace its provenance, and comparison of light 

stable isotopic compositions of textiles deriving 

from an experimental burial in comparison to medieval 

archaeological textiles have been introduced. 

The second and largest chapter included twelve 

papers on latest textile finds focusing on Bronze 

Age, medieval times to the 18 th century. The find 

contexts revealed great variety of cloth materials 

and preservation conditions, and they allowed 

great insights into burial customs, and habits of 

dressing. Certain types of textile accessories were 

introduced such as headgears and undergarments 

that so far have been considered as an invention 

of modern times. The sites presented geographically 

range from Spain to Norway, including Germany, 

Poland, and the Czech Republic. Topics and 

materials presented were ranging widely but the 

scientific analytical methods remained an important 

focus even in this section. The first lecture 

dealt with archaeobotanic studies in a Bronze Age 

cave in Spain, followed by pollen analyses of a 

medieval Catalan burial, investigations and visualisation 

of early medieval graves of Unterhaching 

(Germany), new investigations on samites 

from the Oseberg ship, male clothing of a 9 th century 

bog burial from Latvia, and remains of textile 

production as well as baptising garments in 

the Czech Republic. Furthermore figural embroideries 

of a Polish church collection have been introduced, 

as well as the investigations of the imperial 

burial garments of Speyer (Germany), 

embroidered silk headcovers from polish churches, 

the invention of the bra in 15 th century, as well as 

precious silk textiles from the latrina of a wealthy 

16 th to 18 th century house in Poland. 


REVIEWS 

The lectures of the third chapter then dealt with 

investigations on textile production such as the 

Talmud exegesis of 11 th century Rabbi Shlomo 

Yitzhaki, the treatment of sheep and sheep wool 

textiles in early medieval East Friesia, approaches 

to Pompeian dying industry, interpretation of 

loom weights and spindle whorls as ritual objects 

in ancient Etruria, and finally considerations on 

textile tools and textile production in Roman 

Pannonia. The editing works of the conference papers 

have already been started, the proceedings will 

be published by 2012 by VML Marie Leidorf GmbH. 

Following the lecture session on Wednesday, the 

poster session was started at the headquarters 

of the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege at Esslingen. 

An innovative and highly professional concept of 

presentation has been chosen by the NESAT team: 

all of the posters had to be handed in to the 

committee and were then arranged in a common 

layout, grouped after topics such as textile or 

experimental archaeology, certain colour‐codes 

were assigned. Again, the number of posters had 

to be limited to 24. The posters will be accessible 

on the NESAT XI website. The posters can also be 

lended as an exhibition afterwards via the Landesamt 

für Denkmalpflege in Esslingen. 

Beyond the papers and posters, a choice out of 

two excursions was offered to the participants, 

one heading to “Schloss Ludwigsburg” to visit 

the costume collection, and the second to the 

“Keltenmuseum Eberdingen‐Hochdorf” to visit 

the place where the famous chief of the Celts had 

been buried. 

We would like to congratulate Dr. Johanna 

Banck‐Burgess, her team, and the “Landesamt 

für Denkmalpflege” for preparing such an interesting, 

wide ranging, and inspiring conference. 

The high quality of the given papers perfectly 

underlined the eminent and noteworthy outcome 

in modern textile archaeology. Especially the 

newly introduced “special theme day” was a 

great success, which hopefully leads to a new 

NESAT tradition. We highly appreciated the atmosphere 

that enabled the participants to listen, 

gain knowledge, and to find the time of gathering 

and discussing along with the main programme. 

We are now looking forward to the 

publication of the NESAT XI conference proceedings, 

and we are also looking forward to NESAT 

XII which will be hosted by the Naturhistorisches 

Museum Vienna at Hallstatt, conducted by Dr. 

Karina Grömer. 

Participants of NESAT XI. Photo by Karl Fisch, LAD. 


19

REVIEWS 

FREE 

CONSERVATION 

RESOURCES 

Participants in conversation. Photo by Lisa Masen, LAD. 

ANNETTE PAETZ GEN. SCHIECK 

Classical Archaeologist 

Contact: annette.schieck@cez‐archaeometrie.de 

Annette Schieck obtained a PhD in Classical Archaeology 

on Late Roman Textiles in German Collections 

at Cologne University in 2002. In 2003 

and 2005 she curated the exhibitions on Coptic 

Textiles at the Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld 

and Kolumba, Cologne. Since 2007 she is the project 

manager of the textile research and exhibition 

project DressID at the Curt‐Engelhorn‐Stiftung 

für die Reiss‐Engelhorn‐Museen, Mannheim. 

Art Conservation Research 

conservationresearch.blogspot.com 

SYLVIA MITSCHKE 

Conservation‐scientist 

Contact: sylvia.mitschke@cez‐archaeometrie.de 

Sylvia Mitschke finished her studies at the Institute 

of Conservation Sciences, Cologne University 

of Applied Sciences in 2000. Since then she worked 

as textile conservator and Scientist at Reiss‐Engelhorn‐Museums, 

Mannheim. Since 2007 she is a 

PhD candidate at the University of Tübingen. 


REVIEWS 

OUTDOOR WALL PAINTINGS, MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUES 

Review by Mirjam Jullien and Johanna Nessow 

16 May 2011, Finspång, Sweden 

Organised by: 

Working Group for Wall Paintings of 

ICOMOS Sweden 

This warm and sunny spring hosted the seminar 

on “Outdoor wall paintings, materials and techniques”, 

organised by the Working Group for Wall 

Paintings of ICOMOS Sweden. The seminar took 

place on the 16 th of May 2011 at the Orangery 

of Finspång castle near Norrköping in eastern 

Sweden. 

further investigations concerning outdoor exposed 

oil paintings. It seemed to be a unique case. 

Therefore, the surprise was big when a painting 

with a similar technique was discovered nearly 

1700 km. This lead to an interesting exchange 

and finally to this seminar about wall paintings, 

with a special focus on oil paintings. 

It was at the Finspång castle where three years 

ago the paintings on the exterior walls of the 

building revealed their unexpected technique. 

Not executed in fresco technique, as it was previously 

supposed, they are in fact oil paintings on 

plaster. This unusual technique for Sweden lead to 

As a consequence of an uncommon conservation 

problem and fruitful exchange, the event was animated 

by spontaneity and curiosity. This good 

energy brought together conservators from different 

parts of Sweden, travelling up to five hours 

to join the half day seminar. 


21

REVIEWS 

Anna Henningsson, representing the ICOMOS 

Working Group for Wall Paintings, opened the 

conference. She presented the speakers and the 

topics of the afternoon. In her introduction she 

also explained the challenge of the conservation 

of the outdoor wall paintings at the Finnspång 

castle and the background which lead to this 

seminar. 

reached the goal of preserving the exterior murals 

at the Orangery and at the Aurora Temple of 

the park. He showed examples of how the paintings 

were technically secured. Their exposed location 

on a small stream and the strong Swedish 

weather left severe damage. The presentation and 

readability of the paintings were also an important 

aspect during the conservation campaign. 

Hélèn Svahn Garreau, an architectural conservator, 

presented "Art on the walls, from medieval 

painted stone portals and enhancements of 

architectural forms to the late 1900s graffiti art”. 

Taking the participants from medieval to contemporary 

murals, she reminded us how different 

artistic expressions and materials can be. 

Bengt Häger, building curator and former head 

of the National Heritage Board, talked about the 

long and difficult conservation history of the outdoor 

murals at Finnspång castle. He highlighted 

the conservation efforts, which over several years 

In the coffee break that followed, there was the 

possibility to visit the paintings outside the Orangery 

and at the Aurora Temple in the castle’s 

park. 

The seminar ended with the presentation of Mirjam 

Jullien, "Mural paintings and the special 

case of outdoor exposed oil paintings in Switzerland", 

on which wall paintings executed in oil 

technique around Basel, Switzerland were discussed. 

For the seminar, she presented an overview 

about the outdoor Swiss oil paintings as 

well as results from Dr. Christian Heydrich’s 

Visiting the oudtoor oil paintings of Finspång Castle during the coffe break. 


REVIEWS 

(Basel, Switzerland) research projects in 1960‐ 

1970. Certainly far more common than expected, 

they decorated various buildings in Switzerland. 

Some few examples resisted time, history 

and human intervention. Some paintings from 

Basel, Schaffhausen and Berne have been further 

investigated, leaving us the testimony of 

tumultuous conservations histories. They give 

testimony of early maintenance efforts, but also 

of destruction, over painting, repainting and reconstruction. 

Mirjam Jullien emphasised the problem that 

there remain more questions than answers in 

this domain and that it will be important to learn 

more about the techniques and conservation 

possibilities. But she also underlined the important 

research work performed by Dr. Christian 

Heydrich on the Town Hall of Basel. This probably 

unique work in its completeness about oil wall 

paintings was published in 1987. Since then it 

seems that not much has been published. Hopefully, 

talking about these paintings will also help 

to discover other examples not known or, for the 

moment, not identified as being painted in such 

a technique. It shall also lead to protect them 

more and give them more chances to persist into 

the future. 

With this last overview, the seminar came to an 

end and many had a long way back home. The 

coffee break had offered the possibility for the 

visitors to observe the outdoor paintings and exchange 

their conservation experiences. In this 

way, the seminar also participated in the spread 

of knowledge in general and particularly on a 

very little discussed subject. Hopefully, it will be 

the beginning of a more often discussed topic 

leading to more research and development of 

conservation methods adapted to the particular 

situation of outdoor exposed oil paintings. 

Facade paintings of the Town Hall of Basel, Switzerland 

JOHANNA NESSOW 

Conservator‐restorer 

Contact: info@disent.se 

Johanna Nessow has a BA in Conservation from 

Gotheborg University, Sweden. Currently she 

works for the conservation science company DIS‐ 

ENT AB in Stockholm. 

MIRJAM JULLIEN 


Contact: info@art‐cons.ch 

Website: www.art‐cons.ch 

Mirjam Jullien got here first experiences as conservator 

for canvas at the C.I.R.T Châteaurenard, 

France. In 2005 she graduated from the University 

of Applied Sciences and Arts in Bern, Switzerland. 

Specialized in architectural surfaces, she 

worked in various national and international conservation 

projects. Currently she realises projects 

in Switzerland with her own company and is working 

on the preparation of a research project focused 

on outdoor exposed oil paintings. 


23

REVIEWS 

PRESERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS IN SITU (PARIS) 

Review by Mike Corfield and Jim Williams 

23‐27 May 2011 

Copenhagen, Denmark 

Organised by: 

Department of Conservation, 

National Museum of Denmark 

The fourth of the conferences on the Preservation 

of Archaeological Remains In Situ (PARIS) was 

held in Copenhagen from 23 rd to 27 th May. Previous 

conferences have been held in London (1996 

and 2001) and Amsterdam (2006). The conferences 

are particularly focussed on the survival of archaeological 

evidence (artefacts, environmental 

evidence, stratigraphic and contextual information 

as well as structural remains) when the environment 

of sites are affected by anthropogenic or 

natural changes. Past conferences have focussed 

on the nature of the ground environment, how 

archaeological evidence changes through time 

and what the impact is of short and long term 

changes. Much of the earlier discussion was focussed 

on wetland environments and saturated 

urban deposits, partly because that was where a 

great deal of the observations of change had 

been undertaken and also because the impacts 

of change were most readily seen in desiccated 

wetland soils. There was also a predominantly 

northern European bias in the papers presented. 

The fourth conference showed a marked broadening 

of contributions, both geographically and 

in the subject matter. The bias towards Europe 

remained, with strong representation from Denmark, 

the Netherlands, Norway and the United 

Kingdom and lesser contingents from Eire, Sweden, 

Finland, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, 

Portugal, Croatia and Azerbaijan. Single participants 

were from Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and 

the USA, while the southern hemisphere was represented 

by Australia and New Zealand. PARIS 

has become global! 

The programme covered a wide range of topics 

and was split between four themes: 

‐ Degradation of archaeological remains 

‐ Monitoring and mitigation case studies 

‐ Protocols standards and legislation 

‐ Preserving archaeological remains in situ ‐ can 

we document it works? 

Theme 1, Degradation of archaeological remains 

included twelve papers. Because of the difficulties 

involved in evaluating the results from in vivo 

experiments, microcosms in which the range of 

variables can be controlled are invaluable and we 

were given presentations using this method to 

assess the decay rates for wood and to evaluate 

impacts on the physico‐chemical and microbiology 

of wetlands caused by leaching from wood 

treated with copper‐arsenic‐chromium preservative. 

These were described and included follow up 

work in the field to validate the study. 


REVIEWS 

Round‐table participants, from left to right: Jane Sidell, Mark Pollard, Hans Huisman, Jens Rytter, Vicky Richards, Mike Corfield, 

Henk Kars, Jim Williams, and standing at and by the podium, Henning Matthiesen and David Gregory, the conference co‐organisers. 

Experimental work in the marine or fresh water 

environment is challenging and this was evident 

in papers discussing the impact of erosion and 

protection of sites in Lake Constance and Zurich, 

a poster presentation on the problems of protection 

on the Gulf coast of Iran, and a major study 

of the effects of reburial of metal objects under 

seawater as a means of ensuring the survival of 

many thousands of artefacts recovered from 

shipwrecks at the island of Marstrand, Sweden. 

The bioerosion of stone underwater is also an issue 

and we were shown how rapidly it can be degraded 

by biological growth eroding the surface 

and creating cavities to the extent that surface 

detail is lost. 

Evaluating the changes to burial conditions by 

reference to the stratigraphic layers of corrosion 

has been something that one of the reviewers 

(MC) has long sought to see tested, so a paper on 

this examining corrosion of ferrous artefacts from 

an ironworking site in Normandy, France was very 

welcome despite the risk of rapid change of corrosion 

species following excavation. Unsaturated 

soils are notoriously varied and characterising 

potential preservation without excavation is often 

speculative so a paper reporting work to develop 

methodologies for evaluating unsaturated soils 

in Oslo was very welcome. 

On a broader scale we heard a paper on the carbon 

release arising from desiccation of wetlands and 

the risk that archaeological excavations in wetlands 

might be contributing to greenhouse gas 

emissions. The impact of building over archaeological 

sites was discussed and moves towards 

the development of a risk assessment system for 

archaeological sites were highlighted. Finally the 

question was asked whether preservation can be 

predicted from monitoring results, the question 

we would all like to see the answer to. 


25

REVIEWS 

Overall, the papers in this first theme were exceptionally 

broad in their subject matter and scope, 

from small scale laboratory work to the large scale 

analysis of an entire urban area. All provided different 

methods of quantifying degradation rates 

at these different scales, demonstrating that we 

have now, collectively, developed a range of tools 

suitable for assessing the state of preservation of 

most common material. What is less clear, for the 

most part, and was not tackled in many of the 

papers in this session, are the rates at which degradation 

processes are taking place. 

Theme 2, Monitoring and mitigation case studies 

comprised seventeen papers and again we were 

offered a rich mix of papers covering marine and 

coastal sites, wetlands and unsaturated sites, 

broad scale urban evaluation, and, breaking new 

ground (perhaps an unfortunate metaphor for 

this conference), studies of the preservation of 

sites in the Greenland permafrost and at the other 

extreme, in Abu Dhabi, and in addition to our 

usual span of materials, mudbrick in China. 

It is impossible to cover the details of each of the 

papers, but suffice to say that there appeared to 

be the recognition that monitoring had to answer 

questions, and that only in exceptional circumstances 

could monitoring be justified over very 

long timescales. A report of the important work 

at Bryggen, Bergen, Norway demonstrated how 

post‐construction monitoring of the impact of 

the uncontrolled construction of a hotel at the 

World Heritage Site of the medieval waterfront 

of Bergen enabled the implementation of postdevelopment 

mitigation of the damages caused 

to organic structural remains. 

Two papers (one from session 4) showed how 

monitoring could be used to devise strategies that 

would enable historic towns such as Trondheim, 

Norway and Nantwich, England to continue to 

evolve to meet the needs of modern life. Interestingly, 

on many of the terrestrial sites presented 

under this theme, monitoring was aimed at understanding 

unsaturated, rather than fully waterlogged 

deposits. Techniques ranged from the use 

of TDR, in situ redox and oxygen probes, to soil 

and water analysis. Although there was no one 

common approach used, the detailed analysis of 

soil and water chemistry (anion and cation concentrations 

for example), before and throughout 

monitoring seems to be one of the more reliable 

ways of characterising these very challenging 

burial environments. 

Taking to the water again, we were shown the sad 

destruction of the Stirling Castle, one of England’s 

finest seventeenth century shipwrecks as it became 

increasingly exposed by the movement of 

the great sandbank that had hitherto protected 

it. It was a graphic example of the challenges involved 

in trying to protect entire ships and their 

contents in the dynamic marine environment. 

One of the other elements of the maritime environment 

is wood borers and we were provided 

with summary of work in the Baltic Sea, which is 

increasing in salinity through the impact of climate 

change as part of the EU project “WreckProtect” 

to develop protection strategies against 

marine borers for underwater cultural heritage. 

On the opposite side of the globe experimental 

work to evaluate the options for protecting a 

19 th century wooden hulled ship south of Freemantle, 

Western Australia were described. In another 

departure for PARIS we were shown how 

efforts were being made to conserve the extensive 

submerged upstanding remains of Roman villas 

at Baia, Naples, Italy, and to make them 

accessible to scuba divers. 

Theme 3, Protocols standards and legislation attracted 

fewer papers with eight contributors. 

There was a tendency in this session to drift rather 


REVIEWS 

Per Kristian Madsen, Director of the National Museum of 

Denmark welcoming the delegates and opening the 

Symposium. 

Conference breaks provided ample opportunity to share 

experiences and exchange ideas. 

too far into straightforward cultural resource 

management and this would be a danger for the 

PARIS brand which has always tried to focus on 

the importance of a sound scientific understanding 

to underpin the management of archaeological 

heritage. Nonetheless, the session did bring 

in some new faces who will hopefully have benefited 

from the wider programme and who we hope 

will return with examples of scientific studies of 

the problems inherent in trying to preserve stillburied 

archaeological sites. 

Some of the papers in this session reported on 

efforts to establish sound management principals 

to underpin their archaeological heritage. 

The first paper described how the Norwegian Directorate 

for Cultural Heritage was using the work 

it had funded at Bergen to develop a toolbox that 

would enable it to apply the same standards so 

that the right decisions can be made in future 

cases, whilst another outlined the development 

of a new governmental body to oversee the archaeological 

heritage of the Flanders region of 

Belgium. One paper was concerned with the potential 

for soils to be used as indicators of the 

preservation potential of sites, using both the soil 

itself and its inclusions of, for example, calcareous 

shells to indicate the pH of the soil. The paper 

argued for more prior assessment of the soils 

themselves to influence the design of monitoring 

schemes, and perhaps this paper would have 

been better placed with the previous theme on 

monitoring. 

Two projects were concerned with the conservation 

of exposed sites, one a Roman settlement at 

Ludbreg in Croatia, and the other a mosaic floor 

in Turkey. A more seriously misplaced contribution 

concerned the need for more coherent strategies 

to ensure the proper curation and storage of the 

many thousands of dendrochronological cores. 

Interesting as these papers were, they were not 

really in the spirit of the PARIS conferences and 

would have perhaps have generated wider interest 

at other venues. 

Theme 4, Preserving archaeological remains in situ 

‐ can we document it works? was perhaps the most 

challenging of all the sessions. It was pointed out 

that one of the first attempts to scientifically 

monitor an archaeological site was only twenty 

one years ago, and this site, the Rose Theatre in 

London, has been continuously monitored since 

then. This timescale is short by comparison with 

the lifetime of most structures built over archaeological 

remains and it is often hard to tell what 

e‐conservation 27

REVIEWS 

changes might take place before they can be reexamined. 

We were given a tour through sites in 

London that had been first excavated up to 150 

years previously, and when re‐excavated in recent 

times were shown to be still in good condition. 

However many of these were stone structures 

or timber revetments close to the River Thames 

where wood preservation has been shown to 

be excellent. 

The Rose Theatre itself is due to be re‐excavated 

and there will be much interest in how effective 

the reburial system has been, particularly as it 

has become the benchmark for reburial at many 

other sites. This was discussed in a paper which 

also presented the preferred method for sealing 

the site entirely so that the natural hydrology 

alone maintains the site’s integrity. Equally interesting 

was the research into the impact of a 

change in soil moisture content (SMC) that was 

presented. It was suggested that a reduction in 

SMC from 50% to 40% would to be likely to lead to 

a 13% shrinkage in the important deposits of the 

Rose Theatre. This is noteworthy as although other 

projects have collected moisture data in the past, 

few if any have used the data to any great effect. 

The continuing information from the research at 

Nydam Møse in Denmark was presented, and on a 

shorter timescale, there were more results from 

the reburial research at Marstrand (the RAAR project 

also discussed in session 1). The history of 

monitoring peat extraction in England’s Somerset 

Levels coupled with the peat wastage resulting 

from land drainage was given together with 

the hope that nature and archaeological conservation 

together with an aging farming community 

may enable practical steps to be taken to begin the 

long process of regenerating the peat, perhaps 

driven also by the beneficial effect this would have 

on carbon capture. Farming and drainage were also 

critical elements in the management of the landscape 

around the former island of Schokland. Results 

of the monitoring that has been taking place 

for 15 years since 1999 were presented and the 

efficacy of the various tools used was discussed. 

Finally, the evolution of monitoring over 30 years 

in England was presented and an assessment of 

the types of sites monitored, reasons from monitoring 

and tools used was given. Recommendations 

to help improve future monitoring projects 

were presented. These included the need for more 

assessment of the state of preservation of a site 

before monitoring is considered; the need for a 

proper project design to be developed at the outset 

of the work; and finally that there should be 

clarity about why monitoring is needed for a given 

site and what can be done when monitoring data 

suggest optimum conditions for survival are no 

longer being maintained. 

The conference finished with a round table discussion 

of the four themes lead by the session chairs. 

It is hoped that a summary of the main discussion 

points raised by the panel and audience will be 

collated for the conference proceedings (from 

audio recordings). Some of the points discussed 

included the extent to which we can quantify degradation 

states and rates (states, yes, rates, in 

some cases); the need for more ground‐truthing 

of model and microcosm research to take place on 

actual archaeological sites; the need for more 

thought to go into designing monitoring schemes, 

and for more assessment prior to monitoring; and 

finally, a recognition that standards and protocols 

can be useful in providing guidance to those 

working in the discipline, but often need to be 

re‐produced separately for each country due to 

different legislation and burial environments. 

Just before the discussion started, the session 

was interrupted in order for a presentation to be 

made to David Gregory and Henning Matthiesen, 


REVIEWS 

MIKE CORFIELD 

Conservator 

Contact: mike1corfield@btinternet.com 

Excursion to Roskilde in Viking ships. 

the conference chairs. They were presented with an 

award from the Sofie Elizabeth and Aage Rothenbergs 

Scholarship in recognition of their research 

in natural science at the National Museum. We 

should also mention the other members of the 

organising committee, Karen Brynjolf Pedersen 

and Mads Chr. Christensen, who along with Henning 

and David organised an extremely successful 

and well run conference. 

On the social side, there was an opening reception 

in the entrance of the National Museum (the venue 

for the conference) on the evening before the 

conference began, a visit to on‐going excavations 

in the city centre or a trip to see the ruins under 

Christiansborg on the first evening, and the conference 

dinner in the Tivoli Gardens at the end of 

the second day. The day after the conference itself 

was over there was an excursion to Roskilde that 

included a fleet of Viking ships filled with delegates 

sailing in the bay, and a conducted tour of 

the cathedral, and finally, on the fifth (or sixth) 

day (depending when you had arrived), an informal, 

guided tour of the National Museum’s conservation 

department at Mølleådalen near Brede. 

The conference proceedings will be published in a 

special issue of Conservation and Management of 

Archaeological Sites in late 2011 or early 2012. 

Mike Corfield has been a conservator and conservation 

manager in Wiltshire, Wales and with English 

Heritage. In 1991 he became responsible for 

the hydrological monitoring programme at the 

site of the Rose Theatre. Later, he carried out 

projects to study the hydrology of sites to increase 

understanding of hydrology and the preservation 

of organic remains. With their support and like 

minded colleagues the first Preservation of Archaeological 

Remains in Situ conference was held 

in 1996, and in 1998 recognising that archaeological 

resource managers recommending mitigation 

strategies needed to be supported by sound 

scientific advice and accordingly a team of nine 

regional scientific advisers were appointed. Mike 

was appointed English Heritage Chief Scientist in 

1999, and since his retirement in 2002 he has retained 

his interest in site preservation as a consultant, 

carrying out projects for UNESCO in India 

and Iran, and supporting academic research. 

JIM WILLIAMS 

Archaeological scientist 

Contact: jim.williams@english‐heritage.org.uk 

Jim Williams is an archaeological scientist, interested 

in preservation in situ issues, specifically 

groundwater monitoring and construction impacts. 

Jim is a co‐author of the English Heritage document 

Piling and Archaeology, and has contributed 

papers on preservation in situ to a number of 

European conferences, and been involved with an 

EC project on pile re‐use (RUFUS). During 2009 

Jim took a secondment to coordinate the development 

of a UK‐wide National Heritage Science 

Strategy. He is currently the English Heritage 

Science Advisor for the East Midlands, a role that 

he has undertaken on and off for the last 9 years. 


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REVIEWS 

UNIVERSITY TRAINING OF RESTORATION WITHIN THE EUROPEAN 

EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT 

Review by Luboš Machačko 

1‐3 June 2011 

Litomyšl, Czech Republic 

Organised by: 

Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice 

Between 1 st and 3 rd June 2011 the international 

colloquium “University training of restoration 

within the European educational context” took 

place at the Litomyšl castle, listed as UNESCO 

World Heritage site. The colloquium was held at 

the historical building of the former castle’s brewery, 

recently reconstructed and restored according 

to the project of well‐known Czech designer 

Josef Pleskot for the organisation of meetings. 

This research was organised within the Project 

“Restorers for European Practice” (CZ.1.07/2.2.00/ 

07‐0140) with funds from the operation programme 

ESF “Education for Competitiveness”. The main 

aim of the project is to improve the competitiveness 

of the BA graduates from the Faculty of Restoration 

on the job market. Innovation of Bachelor 

study programmes at the Faculty helps to 

achieve this goal. 

This special event was organised by the Faculty of 

Restoration of Pardubice University in connection 

with the results of a project developed to gather 

more information concerning the means and content 

of conservation‐restoration study programmes 

at important European educational institutions. 

Jan Šíblo, from the Faculty of Restoration of University of 

Pardubice. 

Members of 12 European educational institutes 

interested in conservation and restoration of 

works of art, historical buildings and objects of 

cultural heritage importance took part at the 

colloquium to discuss recent trends in this field 

or to deepen the cooperation within the European 

educational system. Representatives of the international 

organisations ENCoRE (European Network 

for Conservation‐Restoration Education) and 

E.C.C.O. (European Confederation of Conservatorrestorers' 

Organisations) also took part in the 

conference in order to inform participants about 

the recent activities in the field of conservationrestoration 

programmes and about access to the 

profession within the international scope. 

A total of 20 lecturers from 7 European countries 

participated in the colloquium. The main topics 

of each seminar were: recent trends in university 

restoration education, goals of education and 


REVIEWS 

A view of the conference auditorium. 

way of their achievement at each educational 

institute, general qualification demands required 

for restoration practice, and qualification demands 

required from official institutes of care for historical 

monuments. 

The colloquium was started by the dean of the 

Faculty of Restoration, Ing. Karol Bayer, followed 

by the rector of University of Pardubice, Prof. 

Ing. Miroslav Ludwig, CSc., who welcomed the 

participants. 

The morning of the first day was especially focused 

on the results of the Project “Restorers for the 

European Practice”, aimed to the innovation of the 

Bachelor study plans at the Faculty of Restoration. 

During the last school year, the Faculty managed 

to organise specialised workshops within this project 

supervised by recognized external experts 

qualified in conservation‐restoration theory and 

practice. Then the academic staff of the Faculty 

of Restoration presented their experience from 

visits to selected European institutions. Several 

renowened educational institutes interested in 

conservation‐restoration were visited by members 

of academic staff of the Faculty to compare their 

study plans and to define possible fields of innovation 

within the Bachelor study plan of the Faculty 

of Restoration. 

The first presentation, “BA, MA – quo vadis?”, was 

given by Tatjana Bayerová from the University of 

Applied Arts in Vienna. In her presentation, she 

first summarised the history and the system of 

conservation‐restoration education at the University 

and later she focused on the recent state 

of the “Bologna system” in the universities from 

German speaking countries. The second presentation 

was made by Karina Zajadacz, who informed 

the participants about the educational system of 

conservation‐restoration at the Academy of Fine 

Arts in Krakow. 

The afternoon session started with the presentation 

“Education in conservation in Malta – challenges 

and opportunities” by Prof. JoAnn Cassar 


REVIEWS 

from the University of Malta. In her lecture, she 

considered appeals and possibilities of conservation‐restoration 

education in Malta. She introduced 

their education system to the participants, MSc 

courses in Conservation Technology for Masonry 

Buildings, hands‐on courses offered by the Department 

of the Built Heritage, Faculty for the Built 

Environment and warrant system for access the 

profession. 

Prof. Ulrich Schießl (1948‐2011), from the Dresden Academy 

of Fine Arts. 

Sandra Smith, Head of the Conservation Department 

of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, 

introduced the special educational course of 

conservation‐restoration organised by the V&A 

in “Filling the skill gap between training and 

professional accreditation in the UK; work based 

learning at the V&A”. The training programme 

which is endorsed through the UK’s Qualifications 

and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) develops 

conservators with high competence in a 

specialist area of conservation (Upholstery, Textiles, 

Furniture, Preventive, Metals; Ceramics, 

Glass, Enamel or Sculpture conservation). 

Octaviana Marincas, from the University of Arts 

“Geroge Enescu” in Iaşi, Romania presented “Integrated 

Scientific Research into Romanian Educational 

and Training Conservation Programmes” 

where she spoke about the beginnings of conservation 

and care for historical monuments in Romania. 

She briefly also explained the university 

education system in this field and explained the 

basic types of study programmes at University of 

Iaşi to the participants. 

After the coffee‐break, Prof. Christoph Herm from 

the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts presented “Education 

in natural science in the Course in Art Technology 

and Conservation of Works of Art at Dresden 

Academy of Fine Arts”. In his lecture, he spoke 

about the role of natural science in the conservation‐restoration 

education at the Academy, he described 

topics of education in natural science and 

briefly presented the University laboratory. 

Prof. Ulrich Schießl, who unfortunately passed 

away recently, developed the former topic by 

presenting “Interdisciplinary Research on the 

History of Architecture and Construction, the Decoration 

and Conservation of the West Choir of the 

Naumburg Cathedral” as an example of the integration 

of PhD studies within a special project of 

restoration practice. 

Next, in “Which Practice?” Prof. Wolfgang Baatz 

from the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna and recent 

president of ENCoRE, stressed in his lecture the 

basic principles of the education system in the 

field of conservation‐restoration as defined in 

the international documents E.C.C.O., ENCoRE 

and ICOM. Afterwards, Prof. Baatz concluded the 

first day of lectures by presenting Barbara Davidson’s 

lecture on “Competences for access to the 

conservation‐restoration profession”. During the 

presentation, he started by introducing briefly 

the international organisation E.C.C.O. and continued 

explaining the problems of the qualification 

demands for access to the conservation‐restoration 

profession from the point of view of recent 

and future legislative of the European Union. 


33

REVIEWS 

Wolfgang Baatz. The discussion was intended to 

cover five main themes: 

1. Structure of study at universities 

2. Strategy, organisation – terms, courses, modules 

3. Financial support of education system 

4. Accreditation for restoration practice 

5. Postgraduate programmes 

Prof. Wolfgang Baatz, from the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. 

The second day of the colloquium was opened by 

Alena Selucká from the Technical Museum of Brno, 

Czech Republic. In her presentation entitled “The 

Methodical Conservation Centre of the Technical 

Museum in Brno ‐ its role in training of conservators‐restorers”, 

she introduced the activity of 

the Methodical Conservation Centre, which has 

offered since 2003 the possibility of education in 

the field of conservation‐restoration apart from 

other various services for museums and galleries. 

The following lecturer, Prof. Pavel Novák from the 

Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Prague, 

Czech Republic introduced the education program 

in conservation‐restoration at the ICT. In the second 

part of his lecture he compared the study 

programmes of universities and institutes which 

offer education in conservation‐restoration in 

the Czech Republic. 

The presentations were concluded by Vít Jesenský 

from the National Heritage Institute, Regional 

department for Central Bohemia, Prague, who 

discussed the specific factors influencing 

conservation‐restoration and also about the education 

system of this field in the Czech Republic. 

The discussion among the participants took place 

in the afternoon and was supervised by Prof. 

During the discussion, most attention was given 

to the study structure of the integration of the 

Bologna system, the status quo at each institution, 

the possibilities and limits of the system 

and possible future development in the European 

context. Another discussion theme of wide interest 

was how to ensure quality standards of 

conservation‐restoration practice and ways of 

accreditation the profession in each country. 

The discussion resulted in a document signed by 

the participants expressing their support to activities 

concerning the international recognition of the 

conservation‐restoration professional status as 

it is developed in the EU by ENCoRE and E.C.C.O.: 

The participants of the international colloquium in 

Litomyšl fully support the principles of the Conservation‐Restoration 

education and access to the 

Conservation‐Restoration profession as declared in 

the ENCoRE Clarification paper from 2001 and in 

“E.C.C.O. Professional Guidelines II” (Education 

and Training, 2002) and “E.C.C.O. Professional 

Guidelines III” (2004). 

The participants further declare that their institution´s 

Conservation‐Restoration training programs 

aim to achieve the goals declared in the above mentioned 

documents and that the Learning Outcomes 

for these programs are informed by the competences 

for professional practice as published in Competences 

for Access to the Conservation‐Restoration 

Profession (E.C.C.O. 2011). 


REVIEWS 

A summary of the conclusions reached during the 

discussion is as follows: 

1. Exists similarity among the represented education 

institutions concerning the goals, purpose, 

way of achievement, problems, etc., which is influenced 

by various regional and social conditions 

and traditions which cause different attitudes and 

solutions. 

2. All the institutions have implemented the “Bologna 

system”. 

3. The “Bologna System” was adopted in Germany 

and Austria although there is no BA/MA division. 

4. All the study programs are based on the same 

three basic elements – natural science, humane 

science and art skills. Only their rate differs between 

the institutions. 

5. Knowledge and art skills are examined during 

an entrance examination at majority of schools. 

6. Former conservation‐restoration practice is not 

necessary, except for German schools where oneyear 

of practice is required before the first term. 

Visit to St. Barbara Cathedral in Kutná Hora. 

7. Almost all the BA graduates continue to study 

for MA at their alma mater. 

8. With rare exceptions all students graduate from 

the institutions. 

9. All the institutions declared a very good employment 

rate of their graduates. 

10. All the institutions reported an increasing 

lower number of applicants. 

11. The teaching material of specific subjects is 

competence of the respective lecturers. 

All the representatives declared their support 

concerning the education systems and care for 

historical and cultural monuments and expressed 

the necessity to discuss this problem at international 

level in Europe. 

During the third day of colloquium the participants 

visited the historical town of Kutná Hora, having 

the opportunity to know more about the town 

history and its monuments as well as the restored 

historical town centre with its most important 

conserved and reconstructed sites: the Church of 

the Virgin Mary and Ossuary in Sedlec near Kutná 

Hora, and the Gothic Cathedral of St. Barbara, 

which is listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The colloquium has met with wide interest of qualified 

public and its organisers believe that this event 

is just one of the first steps towards dialogue about 

recent education trends in the field of conservation‐restoration 

and connected to the needs of 

cultural heritage care at European scale. 

LUBOŠ MACHAČKO 


Contact: machacko@seznam.cz 

Luboš Machačko is a private conservator‐restorer 

specialised in paintings conservation. Currently he 

works at the Department of Chemical Technology at 

the Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice. 


35

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CHARACTERIZATION OF NATURAL AND 

SYNTHETIC DYES EMPLOYED IN THE 

MANUFACTURE OF CHINESE GARMENT PIECES 

BY LC‐DAD AND LC‐DAD‐QTOF 

By 

Estrella Sanz Rodríguez, 

Angela Arteaga Rodríguez, 

María Antonia García Rodríguez, 

Carmen Cámara

CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS 

In this work we present the results obtained for the characterization of dyes found in seven Chinese garment 

pieces, which came from the Museum of Arts and Design in Madrid to Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute 

(IPCE) for their restoration. They were dated to the times of the Qing Dynasty, between 1700 and 1900 AD. 

The samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (LC‐DAD) and 

liquid chromatography tandem diode array quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐DAD‐QTOF). 

Dyes identified in the pieces under study were clearly correlated with two important features, their oriental 

origin and the date of manufacture, making them a particularly complex matrix. Thus, on one hand, the 

natural dyes found, such as indigo, brazilwood, curcuma, Asian berberis yellow dye, pagoda tree and 

safflower, are characteristic for Asia and the Middle East. On the other hand, these pieces date from the 

transition period between the exclusive use of natural dyes and the widespread introduction of synthetic 

ones during the late 19 th century. Therefore, some early synthetic dyes such as Prussian blue, picric acid, 

basic fuchsine and Victoria blue B were also detected. 

Introduction 

In all parts of the world, natural dyes have been 

used since the oldest times until the end of the 

19 th century, when synthetic dyes became available. 

The organic compounds responsible for the 

colour in ancient dyestuffs were obtained from 

plants, insects, shellfish and lichens [1] and included 

hundreds of dyes like cochineal, brazilwood, 

madder, kermes, weld, young fustic, saffron, 

indigo, orchil, Tyrian purple, etc. In 1740, indigo 

carmine appeared as the first semi‐synthetic dye, 

followed by picric acid in 1771. Aniline Purple (or 

Perkin´s Mauve), considered to be the first really 

synthetic dye, was accidentally discovered by 

William H. Perkin in 1856 in an attempt to produce 

artificial quinine. Since 1897, when 404 new dyestuffs 

had been developed, the synthetic dyes 

soon replaced most of the natural ones [2]. 

Due to the fact that the particular dyes employed 

in each culture were related to locally available 

dyeing technology, the identification of dyestuffs 

present in historical textiles can contribute to 

answer different questions linked with dyeing 

techniques, time of manufacture and geographical 

origin of a particular textile [1], offering important 

information for the establishment of their 

historical‐artistic profile. Moreover, these analyses 

can evidence past restoration processes and 

provide keys for the application of an appropriate 

treatment in modern interventions of restoration 

or conservation. 

Since each dye can be a mixture of various organic 

compounds and a fibre can be dyed with several 

of them, chromatographic techniques that are 

able to separate very complex mixtures are the 

most appropriate tools for this type of analysis. 

In between all of them, high performance liquid 

chromatography (HPLC) is by far the most commonly 

used, because it enables the separation of 

non‐volatile compounds such as the components 

of dyestuffs [3]. A HPLC system can be coupled 

to different detectors. Evidently, most of the dye 

components are strong chromophores, therefore 

UV‐Vis absorbance detectors, most commonly with 

a diode array configuration (DAD) are suitable for 

the demands of their analysis from plant extracts 

or animal sources [4‐8]. The same applies for 

analysis from other matrices such as modern dyed 

materials [2,9] or archaeological textiles [10‐18]. 

Employing DAD, detection can be carried out over 

the whole range of the UV and visible spectrum, 


ESTRELLA SANZ RODRÍGUEZ et al. 

hence the complete spectrum of all the compounds 

subsequently eluting from the liquid chromatography 

(LC) column can be obtained, which are 

then characterised by their retention time on one 

hand and by their corresponding UV‐Vis spectrum 

on the other. Even though, this technique is not 

very specific and different chemical compounds 

may have rather similar spectra. This is the reason 

for that the actual trend within the field of identification 

of complex mixtures of dyestuffs goes 

towards the use of higher discriminating techniques 

such as hyphenation of liquid chromatography 

to detection by mass spectrometry (MS). 

In fact, over the last years, most research tends 

towards uniting and complementing all the information 

obtained by on‐line coupling of DAD and 

different mass spectrometer configurations, such 

as ion trap (IT), single quadrupole (Q) or time of 

flight (TOF) [10, 12,19‐28]. The use of a hybrid 

LC‐QTOF, a quadrupole‐time of flight instrument 

such as the one employed in this study has, to 

best of the author’s knowledge, not yet been employed 

for the analysis of natural organic dyestuff. 

This system allows the separation of the 

compounds present in each sample and their 

subsequent characterisation due to its powerful 

analytical capabilities for detection and identification. 

The TOF detector delivers the high mass 

accuracy (1‐2 ppm MS) needed for positive identifications 

with absolute confidence. This instrument 

also performs MS‐MS using a quadrupole, a 

hexapole (collision cell) and a TOF portion to 

produce spectra (2‐4 ppm MS‐MS). The MS‐MS 

spectra combined with accurate mass can be 

used to confirm ion identity and structure. 

With respect to commonly used mass detectors, 

such as single quadrupole, the high mass accuracy 

that a QTOF provides reduces drastically the 

possible formulas for a given compound. This 

information allows confirming the presence of a 

compound, helping to identify unknowns and to 

reduce risk of spending effort on the wrong molecule. 

The MS‐ MS spectrum yields a fragmentation 

pattern which is exclusive and unique for each 

compound and it is used helping to identify and to 

confirm unknowns via elucidation of their chemical 

structure. Summarising, the QTOF detector is an extremely 

powerful tool for compound identification. 

The collection studied in this work consists of 

seven Chinese garment pieces provided by the 

Museum of Arts and Design of Madrid for conservation 

purposes to IPCE. There is not much historical 

information available; all pieces were dated 

between 1700 and 1900, corresponding to the 

Qing Dynasty period and, most probably, came 

to Spain from Manila when the Philippines was a 

Spanish colony [29]. All pieces were produced 

using the typical traditional Chinese techniques 

and decoration patterns. Their state of preservation 

is acceptable, except the backside of a pair of 

trousers, which is heavily damaged. Mainly silk, but 

also other types of fibres such as cotton, flax, hemp 

or jute, were employed in their manufacture [30]. 

The objective of the present study was the identification 

of the dyestuffs employed in the manufacture 

of fragments from this collection using 

LC‐DAD and LC‐DAD‐QTOF. This identification can 

contribute to obtain relevant information for 

their historical documentation and to extend 

the knowledge of the dyeing technology used in 

their production. 

Experimental 

Reagents and reference fibres 

High‐purity deionised water (Milli‐Q Element 

system, Millipore, USA), formic acid (HCOOH) 

from Fluka (Sigma‐Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) 

and acetonitrile (ACN), from J.T. Baker (Deventer, 

Netherlands) were used for preparation of the 



Figure 2. Theatre costume from the “Oriental garment” collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). 

Photo by Teresa García. 



Figure 3. Chi‐fu from the “Oriental garment” collection of 

the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Esther 

Galiana. 

Figure 4. Jacket from the the “Oriental garment” collection of 

the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Esther 

Galiana. 

Figure 5. Belt from the “Oriental garment” collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Esther Galiana. 


43


Figure 6. Pair of trousers from the “Oriental garment” collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). 

Photo by Eduardo Seco. 



Table II. Summary of the dyestuffs found in the seven Chinese pieces of garment studied. 

Colour 

Detected compounds 

Identified dyestuff 

(analyzed by) 

indigotin, indirubin 

Indigo (Indigofera sp.) 

(LC‐DAD) 

Blue 

Dark blue 

Red 

Yellow 

Brown 

[4‐[[4‐Anilino‐1‐naphthyl][4‐(dimethylamino) 

phenyl]methylene]cyclohexa‐2,5‐dien‐ 

1‐ylidene] 

Victoria blue B (Basic blue 26; C.I. 44045) 

(LC‐DAD and LC‐DAD‐QTOF) 

iron (Fe), cyanide group (‐CN) 1 Prussian blue 2 

unknown blue compound 

(λ max = 220 and > 600 nm) 

indirubin, indigotin 

carminic acid, dcII, dcVII 

brasilin, Type C component 

carthamin 

fuchsine, magenta II, new fuchsine 

unknown red compounds 

(λmax.= 279, 368, 482 nm) 

curcumins I,II and III 

berberin, palmatin 

rutin (quercetin‐3‐O‐glucoside), 

quercetin 

2,4,6‐trinitrophenol 

gallic acid, ellagic acid, flavonoids 

(trace level) 

Unknown blue dye 


Dark Indigo (Asian species ?) 

(LC‐DAD) 

Cochineal, probably American cochineal 

(Dactylopius coccus Costa) (LC‐DAD) 

Brazilwood, probably 

Caesalpinia sappan L.) (LC‐DAD) 

Safflower (Carthamos tinctorius L.) 


Basic Fuchsine (Basic violet 14; C.I. 42510) 


Unknown red dye 


Curcuma (Curcuma longa L.) 

(LC‐DAD) 

Asian berberies (Berberis sp. – Mahonia 

sp. – Phellodendron amurense) (LC‐DAD) 

Chinese yellow berries (Sophora japonica L.) 


Picric acid 

(LC‐DAD) 

Tannins 

(LC‐DAD) 

1 The identification was carried out by XRF (detection of iron) and FTIR (detection of cyanide group)[29] 

2 The pigment (Fe 4 [Fe(CN) 6 ] 3 ) was applied as paint layer to create a decoration in the chi‐fu 

is represented (Figure 8(e)), it is clearly shown 

that two different types of indigo dyes were 

present. Available literature refers in only two 

occasions to an indirubin content of blue dyestuff 

different from Indigofera or Isatis tinctoria. 

Wouters and Rosario‐Chirinos [14] reported that 

“in the early Peruvian samples, indirubin was often 

more abundant than indigotin [...]” and concluded 

that “more studies will be needed to interpret 

the high indirubin amounts that were often 

encountered [...]”. Equally, Cardon [33] reported, 

about the dye composition of a plant from Asia, 

Rum or Assam Indigo (Strobilanthes cusia): “Recently, 

the Japanese chemist Satoshi Ushida concluded 

that the rather high pH of Strobilanthes 

juice may explain the production of high proportions 

of indirubin when dyeing with fresh leaves 

at elevated temperatures”. About the dyeing and 

colours obtained with this dye, Cardon reported 

that “intensive blue‐black or dark blue colour was 

obtained with this dye by repeated immersions in 

a vat of osak indigo (Strobilanthes sp.)[…]”. 


47


Figure 8. (a) UV‐Vis spectrum of indigotin; (b) UV‐Vis spectrum of indirubin; (c) DAD chromatogram at 275 nm of blue sample 

from theatre costume where indigotin (majority) and indirubin were detected; (d) DAD chromatogram at 275 nm of dark blue 

sample from a pair of trousers where indirubin (majority) and indigotin were detected; (e) relation of indigotin and indirubin 

in blue, green and purple samples with different shades (n= 17). 

Figure 9. (a) DAD chromatogram obtained for a red sample from theatre costume and UV‐Vis spectra of the three main red components 

detected; (b) Extract compound MS chromatograms; (c), (d) and (e) the accurate mass and the mass‐mass spectrum 

for the fuchsine, magenta II and new fuchsine, respectively. Note: the ion precursor is marked with a little red rhomb over it and 

has been fragmented in the collision cell to give the corresponding mass‐mass spectra. 



The only chromatographic pattern where we found 

amounts of indirubin very close or higher than 

indigotin has been in the analysis of a product 

called Ching‐Dai (Indigo Naturalis) or in Chinese 

qing dai [34‐36]. Indigo naturalis is a dark blue 

power used to treat several health problems in 

Chinese and Taiwanese medicine and it is prepared 

from leaves of plants such as Baphicacavthus cusia, 

Polygonum tinctorium, Isatis indigotica, Indigofera 

tinctoria and/or Strobilanthes cusia. Thus, we think 

that the dark blue colour in the samples from the 

Chinese garments was obtained from a dye prepared 

from such Asian species which, due to the 

dyeing method employed or to the composition 

of some of the plant used, contains a high amount 

of indirubin. Moreover, a blue pigment used like 

a paint layer in a decoration of the chi‐fu could 

be identi‐fied as Prussian blue by FTIR and XRF 

[30]. Two other blue dyes could not be identified 

by LC‐DAD because they did not match any available 

reference. 

Regarding red samples, we found that they were 

dyed with cochineal, brazilwood and possibly safflower, 

although the presence of the latter could 

not be confirmed because a carthamin standard 

was not available. Additionally, two red dyes could 

not be identified. 

Four different yellow dyes were found. Two of them 

could be identified as curcuma and Asian berberis. 

A third yellow containing rutin as a possible main 

component, the principal component of Chinese 

yellow berries (the Japanese pagoda tree, Sophora 

japonica L.), but its identification was doubtful 

because the UV‐Vis spectra of flavonoids are all 

very similar. Furthermore, no corresponding reference 

fibre was available (e.g. dyed with pagoda 

tree), which would have allowed confirmation of 

its specific retention time. The last yellow could 

be identified as picric acid, one of the first semisynthetic 

dyes based on matching its UV‐Vis spectra 

with data kindly provided by M. van Bommel. 

Summarising, after the LC‐DAD analysis, dyes 

such as tannins, indigo, cochineal, brazilwood, 

curcuma, Asian berberis and picric acid could 

be identified. The possible presence of safflower 

and Chinese yellow berries could be detected and 

four dyes, two blue and two red, remained unidentified. 

In order to improve these results, samples containing 

doubtful and unidentified compounds 

were subsequently analyzed using LC‐DAD‐QTOF. 

These analyses allowed the confirmation of the 

presence of carthamin and rutin via its accurate 

mass and mass‐mass spectrum and consequently 

the use of safflower and Asian berries dyes. The 

use of safflower in the orange sample from a child 

shoe explained the decolouration phenomena 

observed due to the well‐known poor light fastness 

of this dye. 

In the characterisation of one of the unknown 

blue dyes, a mixture of blue components (according 

to their UV‐Vis spectra) was obtained. One of 

the main compounds could now be identified as 

the synthethic dye Victoria blue B, introduced in 

1883 [37]. The identication was based on its UV‐ 

Vis spectrum, exact mass (m/z 470.2583; error 

0.53 ppm), corresponding to the [M‐Cl] + ion, 

distinguishable from other Victoria Blue dyes [38] 

and on its mass‐mass spectrum matching with its 

chemical structure. However, the other blue dye 

still remains unidentified because the entire 

sample was used in the analysis on system I. 

Equally, only one of the two unknown red dyes 

could be identified. In this case, the analysis reveals 

the presence of three main red components. 

From the extracts MS chromatograms, three compounds 

were identified as fuchsine, magenta II 

and new fuchsine, components of basic fuchsine 


49


Table III. Dyestuffs identified and dating for each piece studied. 

Piece 

Identified Dyes 

Dating 

Natural dyes: 

indigo, dark indigo, Asian berberis, 

safflower and their mixtures 

1700‐1900 

Natural dyes: 

indigo, Asian berberis, Chinese yellow berries, 

brazilwood, tannins and their mixtures 

1700‐1900 

Natural dyes: 

indigo, dark indigo, Chinese yellow berries, 

tannins and their mixtures 

1700‐1900 

Natural dyes: 

dark indigo 

1700‐1900 

Natural dyes: 

indigo, dark indigo, Asian berberis, brazilwood, Chinese 

yellow berries, their mixtures and mixed with 

Synthetic dyes: 

picric acid and fuchsine; Prussian blue employed in 

decoration paint layer 

1856‐1900 

Natural dyes: 

indigo, dark indigo, Asian berberis, brazilwood, 

curcuma, cochineal their mixtures and mixed with 


picric acid, fuchsine and unknown red dye 

1856‐1900? 

Natural dyes: 

brazilwood, Asian berberis, curcuma, 

safflower and their mixtures, not mixed with 


Fuchsine (sewing thread) 

Victoria blue B (typical Chinese bottom) 

1883‐1900? 



dye, a synthetic dye which was introduced in 1856 

[2]. All compounds were detected as [M+H] + (m/z 

302.1655, error ‐0.96 ppm; 316.1807, error 0.49 

ppm and 330.165, error ‐0.02 ppm, respectively) 

and were identified based on their accurate mass, 

comparison with literature data [39], MS‐MS fragmentation 

pattern according to their chemical 

structure and UV‐Vis spectra (Figure 9). 

Finally, Table III shows the dyestuffs identified 

for each piece studied. These dyes were found 

alone or mixed in different proportions to create 

different shades, though colour degradation effects 

also took place such as in the bands of the 

chi‐fu. 

Conclusions 

Dyes identified in the pieces under study could be 

clearly correlated to two important aspects: their 

oriental origin and their date of manufacture, 

because the pieces date from the transition period 

between the exclusive use of natural dyes and 

the widespread introduction of synthetic ones 

during the late 19 th century. Consequently, natural 

dyes found, such as indigo, brazilwood, curcuma, 

Asian berberin yellow dye, Chinese yellow 

berries and safflower, are characteristic for Asia 

and the Middle East, but some early synthetic dyes 

such as Prussian blue, picric acid, basic fuchsine 

and Victoria Blue B were also detected. Knowing 

the year of introduction of these synthetic dyes 

helps to improve the initially wide range of uncertainty 

when dating the pieces, as shown in Table 

III. Prussian blue was introduced in 1724‐1725, 

picric acid in 1771, fuchsine in 1856 and Victoria 

Blue B in 1883. Hence, for the shoes, belt, jacket 

and pair of trousers, which were dyed employing 

natural dyes only, the initial date range between 

1700 and 1900 AD could not be narrowed. For the 

chi‐fu and the theatre costume, natural dyes 

were found mixed with some early synthetic dyes 

(picric acid and fuchsine) and Prussian blue was 

used to elaborate a paint layer decoration; in 

particular the presence of fuchsine indicates a 

fabrication date later than 1856. The case of nuptial 

tunic is different because though synthetic 

dyes were identified (fuchsine and Victoria blue 

B), these were found in parts of the textile (interior 

sewing thread and typical Chinese bottom, 

respectively) which could be attributed to later 

interventions dating from after 1856 AD for the 

sewing thread and 1883 AD for the blue bottom. 

Regarding the applied techniques, the LC‐DAD‐ 

QTOF system has demonstrated to be an excellent 

tool for both, to confirm the presence of a compound 

and to provide a confident identification 

of unknowns in a single analytical run without 

the essential use of previous standard analysis 

because this technique combines UV‐Vis data, 

excellent mass accuracy and MS‐MS structural 

information. 

Acknowledgments 

The authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Culture 

and the Complutense University of Madrid for the 

establishment of the agreement of collaboration, 

in the frame of which the present study has been 

developed. We would like to thank to the staff of 

the Textiles Department of the IPCE for their collaboration 

and valuable help and to the Museum 

of Arts and Design in Madrid. We also would like 

to say thank you to Maarten R. Van Bommel, Edith 

Oberhumer and Maria Melo for always attending 

our doubts and questions and for their valuable 

input. Finally, we would like to thank Ana Roquero 

for her important advice on dyed fibres belonging 

to the Reference Collection of IPCE and for her 

collaboration and valuable help. 


51


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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRÍGUEZ 

Conservation‐Scientist 

MARÍA ANTONIA GARCÍA RODRÍGUEZ 


Estrella Sanz Rodríguez (MSc, PhD) studied at the 

Faculty of Chemistry in the Complutense University 

of Madrid (UCM), graduating in 1996. She worked 

for three years as an analytical scientist in the 

Department of Analytical Chemistry, carrying out 

research about the identification of organic and 

inorganic materials in historical samples by highperformance 

liquid chromatography (HPLC) 

coupled to ultraviolet detection, Raman spectroscopy 

and GC‐MS. From 2000 to 2003 she worked in 

the Spectroscopy Research Assistance Centre of 

the UCM. Subsequently she carried out her PhD 

dedicated to the development of new methods for 

arsenic species extraction from environmental 

samples by HPLC and inductively coupled plasma 

mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS). Presently she works 

as UCM investigator in the Laboratories of the 

Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE). Her 

research interest include the development of 

new extraction methods for natural dyes from 

historical and archaeological textiles samples and 

their analysis by liquid chromatography coupled 

to array and mass detector (LC‐DAD‐MS). 

ANGELA ARTEAGA RODRÍGUEZ 


Angela Arteaga Rodríguez received her CINE‐5b 

(1972) in Chemistry by the School of Industrial 

Masters of Madrid. Since 1992 she develops her 

professional work in the Area of Laboratories of 

the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE). 

Her work consists in the analyses of natural dyes, 

binding media from works of art by different techniques 

like FTIR, TLC and HPLC‐DAD. She has also 

participated in several publications, congresses 

and other professional meetings, both national 

and international. 

María Antonia García Rodríguez received her MSc 

(1991) in Analytical Chemistry from the Complutense 

University of Madrid. From 1992 to 1997 she 

developed her professional work in the Laboratory 

of Doping Control in Madrid (The Sports Council, 

CSD). In 1998 and 1999, she collaborated with the 

Laboratory of Public Health of the Community of 

Madrid. Between 2001 and 2005 she worked as 

technical attendance in the study of instrumental 

techniques applied to the Investigation and documentation 

on artworks in restoration process in 

the IPCE, where since 2006, she belongs to the 

technical staff in the Area of Laboratories. Her 

work consists in studies related to mural paintings 

and archaeological material, as well as the analysis 

of organic materials in other art objects. 

CARMEN CÁMARA 

Chemist 

Carmen Cámara is a professor in Analytical Chemistry 

at the Complutense University since 1992. 

She is the leader of the Research Group of Trace 

Determination and Speciation, belonging to the 

Department of Analytical Chemistry. Her main 

research interest is focused on the development 

of new analytical methods for trace metal speciation, 

emergent contaminants, bioaccumulation 

studies of trace metals and organic compounds in 

zebra fish embryo, proteomics and other topics 

related with a wide variety of samples. She has 

coordinated more than six European and several 

National projects. She has also participated in 

more than 30 European projects. She has published 

more than 250 papers in international journals, 

was invited to held plenary lectures in the most 

relevant international meetings related with her 

activity and helds two patents. 


55

AN INNOVATIVE 

STRETCHER FOR 

CANVAS PAINTINGS 

By Osama M. El‐Feky

AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS 

One of the most important deterioration factors of paintings on canvas is the inadequate fixation to a 

stretcher frame. In addition, metallic nails are often used, causing corrosion and tears in canvas edges, 

etc. Climatic changes will cause expansion or shrinkage, leading to a sagging or rippling canvas 

resulting in the need for the painting to be re‐stretched. Paintings with a fragile stretcher need to be 

stretched on a new one. The objective of this study aimed to invent a new stretcher frame avoiding the 

drawbacks of the traditional ones, made of plexiglass which is a transparent material. This frame 

consists of four sides with chamfered inner edges and mitered corners with slot and tenon joints that 

can be expanded by using a control unit containing eight gears. The sides can be moved easily by 

turning the gears, which aids the adjustment of the painting when it expands or contracts. Around the 

new stretcher frame there are four plexiglass pieces which are covered by toothed rubber and eight 

straps for fixing the oil painting to the frame 1 . 

Introduction 

In 2003, the author designed and executed a new 

modern stretcher frame to control the rate of 

canvas tension by using a screw system which 

pushes a free wooden frame that the canvas is 

fixed to [1] (Figure 1). In 2007 a new stretcher 

frame made of transparent Plexiglass (10 mm) 

was applied to the “Musicians” by Emile Bernard 

(1895) oil on canvas that belongs to the Museum 

of Fine Arts in Alexandria. This idea arose because 

there is another painting on the back of the 

painting's canvas support and using the Plexiglass 

stretcher frame allows the observation of the rear 

of the oil painting. Stainless steel nails were used 

to fix the fabric edges on the Plexiglass stretcher 

frame [2] (Figure 2). 

Generally, stretcher frames have several disadvantages 

including many technical shortcomings; the 

members of the old wedged stretchers are often 

not chamfered, where the inner and the outer 

edges are not rounded off. They are not grooved 

on the miter and the grooves and/or tenons tend 

to shrink these defects affect the appearance and 

the state of preservation of the painting. If the 

textile support is lying on members that have not 

been chamfered, a pronounced wedged stretcher 

crack can form. If the outer edges under the textile 

support are not rounded off they endanger the 

stretched edges. In post‐stretching, if the wedged 

stretcher is not grooved on the miter, when the 

frame is more powerfully enlarged, creases occur 

in the corner area. If the tenon and the groove are 

not precisely matched, or are altered as a result 

of shrinkage, the members twist in the grooves 

as the textile support is stretched, and creases 

occur running from the corners into the painting 

(Figure 3). Wrinkles may sometimes appear in the 

canvas, and these may be caused by the fact that 

the wedges driven into the corners of the stretchers 

have come loose or fallen away altogether [3]. 

The wooden wedges of the traditional stretcher 

frame can fall off by transporting the painting 

from place to place leading to a loose canvas 

support, so it will be necessary to re‐fix the keys 

again and by continual repetition of this process, 

the painting will be subjected to many creases 

and deteriorations over time. 

1 This invention was presented to the Egyptian Patent Office, 

a Performance‐Based Organization of the Government 

of the Egypt, and Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, 

Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research 

under the No. 192/2010 in 7‐2‐2010. 


57

OSAMA EL‐FEKY 

Figure 1. A modern stretcher frame was designed and executed 

to control the rate of painting stretch by using screw system. 

Using a hammer on the wooden wedges of the 

traditional stretcher frame is not an accurate 

process to control the rate of the stretching of a 

painting because it leads to many drawbacks on 

the painting's layers such as cracking and/or 

paint loss in cleavage parts, especially in the 

case of paintings with weak adhesion. The old 

stretcher frame cannot allow a satisfactory adjustment 

to one side of a painting without the 

adjustment of the others. On the other hand, 

the wooden stretcher frame may be attacked by 

fungi and insects that are capable of destroying 

it wholly or in part (Figure 4), even spreading to 

the oil painting support and to the upper layers. 

Figure 2. Applying a transparent stretcher frame on a double 

face oil painting. 

occurs mainly in a direction tangential to the 

growth rings. The shrinkage 5‐10% in the tangential 

direction and 2‐6% in the radial direction [5], 

resulting in many defects such as curving, warping, 

twisting, cupping, splitting, and cracking; 

these factors affect not only the supporting 

structure but also the appearance and stability 

of the oil painting itself. 

Wood is a material that is highly susceptible to 

atmospheric influences because of its hygroscopic 

character, which leads to shrinkage and 

swelling due to humidity fluctuation [4]. 

Shrinkage and swelling take place when moisture 

content decreases or increases, respectively; 

however the volume changes are never 

equal in all directions. The dimensional change 

The wood used in stretcher frames emit a low, but 

still detectable, amount of vapors such as carbon 

dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, 

chlorohydroxide and ammonia gas, depending on 

either exogenic factors such as temperature, and 

relative humidity or endogenic factor as wood 

species, binder level, binder type, and production 

conditions, etc. [6], and produces number of 



Figure 3. Tears and cuts in the edges area of the painting due 

to not chamfered wooden bars. 

Figure 4. Fungal infection (left), and attack of insects (right) in 

the wooden stretcher. 

volatile organic compounds, including aldehydes 

and organic acids [7], such as formaldehyde, 

acetic acid, formic acid, sulphuric acid, resulting 

in corrosion, discoloration and deterioration 

which are speeded up by high temperature and/ 

or high humidity levels [8, 9]. 

Sometimes drawings, signatures, or other important 

words are covered by the wooden stretcher 

frame which hinders the accurate and precise 

study by specialists or art students, which may 

lead to the necessity to remove the stretcher 

frame from the painting to allow a complete observation 

and study of the back of the oil painting 

then re‐fix it again to the stretcher frame, 

this process leads to damaging the fragile oil 

paintings. On the other hand, iron nails in the 

wooden frame cause several harmful effects to 

both the frame and the edges of the oil painting 

such as corrosion, tears and cuts specially by repeating 

the fixation process. Furthermore, using 

the screw systems in the corners of the modern 

stretcher frame requires thick sides resulting in 

heavy weight addition. The plexiglass stretcher 

frame made in 2007 was fixed in the corners, so 

it is difficult to control the degree of stretching 

of the oil painting due to the expansion or shrinkage 

of the oil painting in hot or cold weathers. 

The aim of this study is to invent a new stretcher 

frame that avoids the drawbacks of traditional 

frames. Its concern is to give a complete fixation 

and precise adjustment in any part of the painting 

when it expands or contracts, and to avoid 

the harmful effects and strains on canvas which 

result from the use of iron nails to fix the oil 

painting on the frame. It aims to protect the oil 

painting from various deterioration aspects such 

as cuts, tears in canvas, cracking, separation and 

falling off of painting layers. It strives to provide 

a maximum degree of safety and protection to 

the oil painting for the longest possible time. 

Material and Laboratory Tests 

The new stretcher frame is made of Plexiglass, 

which are "poly acrylates, composed of poly‐ 

(methyl methacrylate)” [10]. It is a transparent 

material and its chemical stability can be ensured 

by the results of testing using a FT‐IR Nexus 670 

infrared spectrometer, Nicolet (USA), before and 

after artificial aging in a climatic chamber (60°C, 

70% RH, 360 nm) for 400 hours constant. Also, 

the transparency and yellowness resistance of 

the material can be ensured by using Hunter lab 

colorimeter Model D25 A‐2 before, during and 

after the exposure to artificial aging. 


59


Description of the new stretcher frame 

The new stretcher frame (35x50 cm) was made at 

the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, 

Ministry of High Education and Scientific 

Research, Cairo, Egypt. It consists of four main 

sides, each side has a 7 cm width, the internal 

edges are chamfered by 5 mm to avoid direct 

contact between the back of the painting and the 

sides of the frame in the fixation process. The 

corners were mitered with slot and tenon joints to 

allow for free movement of the sides of the frame 

(Figure 5). The internal surface of each side of the 

frame has two teethed columns (4.5 cm) made of 

Plexiglass, so that the complete frame contains 

eight columns (Figure 6). A control unit was supplied 

to the frame, it consists of a small fixed 

frame (18x33x0.5 cm), it contains eight gears 

where each gear faces a teethed column, and 

each gear can be turned using a constant haft 

(Figure 7). 

An innovative method was used to fix the oil 

painting on to the stretcher frame without using 

any metal nails. This method depends on preparing 

4 streaks of Plexiglass (2 cm height, 0.5 cm 

thickness) surrounding the outer edges of the 

frame in the same dimensions, so it will surround 

all edges of the oil painting during the stretching 

process. All outer edges of the frame and the 

facing streaks are covered by a teething layer of 

rubber to restrict and control the stretching process 

of the oil painting on the frame. A column 

(12 cm length) was fixed in the middle of each 

streak; its latter part was screwed (4 cm length) 

into place. In the screwing part, two slices of 

plexiglass were fixed by two nuts, the first slice 

(Figure 8, element A) used to press on the inner 

part of the frame side for preliminary fixation for 

the edges of the oil painting on the frame. The 

second slice (Figure 8, element B) was used to 

press on the inner edge of the control unit to 

Figure 5. The corners of the stretcher frame were mitered with 

slot and tenon joints to allow the free movement for sides of 

the frame. 

Figure 6. Presence of two teethed columns in the internal surface 

of each side of the frame, so the complete frame contain 

eight column. 

Figure 7. A control unit was supplied to the frame, it consists of 

a small fixed frame, it contains eight gears where each gear 

faces a teethed column, and each gear can be turned using a 

constant haft. 



Figure 8. The streak contains a column in the middle; the later 

part of the column was screwed. In the screwing part, two slices 

of plexiglass were fixed by two nuts. 

Figure 10. Placing of the oil painting face down on a flat surface 

followed by putting the new frame on the back of the painting. 

Figure 9. Schematic diagram of eight straps made of plexiglass, 

in a rectangle shape without long side. A screwed gape was 

made in the short side of each band to be suitable for the 

entry of the nail. 

avoid mobility of the edges of the frame after 

fixation of the oil painting. Eight straps were 

made of plexiglass with a rectangle shape without 

long side (the long side has 9 cm length, while 

the two short sides have 2 cm length). A screwed 

gape was made in the short side of each band to 

be suitable for the entry of the nail (Figure 9). 

These straps were used to fix the edges of the oil 

painting in the new frame, where the entry of the 

nails in the screwed gapes causes pressure on the 

straps on the streaks surrounding the oil painting 

in the frame resulting in tight stretching of the 

oil painting securely on the frame. 

Fixation process 

Firstly the painting should be placed face down 

on a flat surface. The new frame should be put in 

the back of the oil painting where the inner chanfered 

edges of the four sides facing the back of the 

oil painting with upward haft of gears (Figure 10). 

Then, the edges of the oil painting should be bent 

on the outer edges of the frame (Figure 11). The 

four streaks should next be fixed surrounding the 

edges of the painting, then the teethed rubber 

layer, which covers the outer edges of the frame 


61


and the facing streaks, should strictly stretch the 

oil painting (Figure 12). 

The first slice (A) of these streaks should be fixed 

in the edges of the frame for preliminary fixation 

of the paintings edges (Figure 13). Then the 

eight straps should be fixed surrounding the 

back edges of the frame. This process should be 

carried out in all four edges of the frame, where 

as each edge contains two fixed straps, one of 

them is on the right and the other on the left 

side (Figure 14). 

The painting should be adjusted on to the new 

frame and tightly stretched, using hafts of the 

gears to move the teethed columns to push the 

sides of the frame outwards (Figure 15). This 

process is used to achieve complete control in 

specific stretching on one side or more of the 

frame without the need to remove the painting 

from the frame. 

In the final stage, the second slice (B) should be 

fixed to the inner edge of the control unit to avoid 

falling of the edges of the frame after fixation of 

the painting; this process should be carried out 

in all edges of the frame (Figures 16 and 17). The 

conservator should take into consideration that 

the slice (B) should be disentangled from the inner 

edges of the control unit before performing 

the fixation of the oil painting on the frame using 

the gears, and after finishing fixation process, 

slice (B) should be fixed again. 

Figure 11 (top). Bending of the edges of the oil painting on the 

outer edges of the frame. 

Figure 12 (center). Putting the streaks surrounding the 

edges of the oil painting. 

Figure 13 (bottom). Fixation of the first slice of the streak in 

the inner edge of the frame. 



Results and Discussion 

Using this new frame, the oil painting can be 

either vertically or horizontally stretched. This 

frame is used to overcome the disadvantages of 

the traditional frames and provides a maximum 

degree of safety and protection of the painting 

over the long term, giving a complete and accurate 

control in the stretching of the painting to 

prevent its flaccidity in case of expansion or shrinkage 

with complete safety for the oil painting. The 

control unit in the new stretcher frame is used for 

the complete and precise adjustment in any part 

in the oil painting as it expands or contracts, so 

the oil painting can be accurately adjusted on 

the frame to prevent tearing. It is considered as 

a good method to enable specific adjustments, 

without having to dismount the picture. This new 

frame resists different biological infestations 

either by insects or fungi, so that, it provides a 

great protection for the oil painting over time. In 

addition it has a greater resistance to several defects 

such as curving, warping, twisting, cupping, 

splitting, and cracking. On the other hand, the 

material of the new stretcher frame is chemically 

stable as analyzed by FTIR (data not shown) and 

therefore no interaction or defects are formed by 

contact with the back of the oil painting, so that 

no harmful effects occur. In addition its transparency 

and resistance to the yellowness of aging 

have been confirmed by extensive scientific tests. 

Figure 14. Fixation of the straps surrounding the back edges of 

the frame 

Conclusions 

Plexiglass is a transparent material allowing the 

observation of drawings, signatures, or any other 

important written words that may be found on 

the back of the oil painting to be easily and accurately 

studied by specialists and art students 

without the need to remove the oil painting from 

its stretcher. 

Figure 15. Adjustment of the oil painting on the new frame 

using hafts of the gears to move the teethed protrusions to 

push the sides of the frame to outside. 


63


The fixation process of the oil painting on the 

new stretcher is a new method that does not depend 

on the use of metal nails, so no tears or 

cuts take place at the fixation area in the painting's 

canvas, even by repeating the fixation 

method several times. It is an innovative method 

to fix the oil painting onto the frame that 

does not depend on the use of any metals thus 

avoiding any corrosion in the edges or deterioration 

of different layer of the oil painting. 

This new frame is a helpful method for paintings 

conservators all over the world because it maintains 

the stability of the painting allowing fixation 

and re‐fixation of the canvas on the frame 

without any tears or cuts in the edges of the 

paintings. It also protects the oil painting from 

cracking at the ground and paint layer levels 

which leads to separation and loss of paint. 

Figure 16. Fixation of the second slice (B) to the inner edge of 

the control unit to avoid falling of the edges of the frame after 

fixation of the oil painting. 

References 

[1] O. M. El‐Feky, In the thought of restoration of 

oil paintings, The Anglo‐Egyptian Bookshop, 

Cairo, 2004, pp. 203‐205 

[2] O. M. El‐Feky, “New Restoration Method for 

a Doubled Oil Painting of Emile Bernard, 1895 

A.D.”, The Fifth International Conference on 

Science and Technology in Archaeology and Conservation, 

Granada ‐ Baeza, Spain, 7‐11 July 2007 

[3] M. John and F. Mournce, The care of Antiques, 

Arlington Book, London, 1980, pp. 89‐90 

[4] A. J. Stamm, Wood and Cellulose Science, 

Ronald Press, New York, 1964, p. 509 

[5] J.C.F. Walker, B.G. Butterfield, T.A.G. Langrish, 

J.M. Harris, and J.M. Uprichard, Primary Wood Processing, 

Chapman and Hall, London, 1993, p. 595 

Figure 17. The oil painting after fixation on the invented 

stretcher frame. 



[6] E. Roffael, “Volatile organic compounds and 

formaldehyde in nature, wood and wood based 

panels”, European Journal of Wood and Wood 

Products 64(2), 2006, pp. 144‐149, 

doi: 10.1007/s00107‐005‐0061‐0 

[7] M. Ryhl‐Svendsen, “The PROPAINT Project: 

Preliminary Results from Studying Gaseous Pollutants 

within Microclimate Frames”, Facing the 

Challenges of Panel Paintings Conservation: Trends, 

Treatments and Training, Getty Conservation 

Institute, 2009 

[8] A. Schieweck, and T. Salthammer, “Chemical 

emissions and secondary reactions in museum 

showcases”, 8 th Indoor Air Quality 2008 Meeting, 

Vienna, Austria, 17‐19 April 2008 

[9] H. Phibbs, "Sealed frames for preservation", 

Supplement to Picture Framing Magazine, 2002, 

p. 14 

[10] K. J. Saunders, Organic Polymer Chemistry, 

Chapman and Hall, London, 1976, pp. 131‐133. 

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 

e‐conservation magazine is open to submission 

of articles on a wide range of relevant topics 

for the cultural heritage sector. 

Next deadlines for article submission are: 

for Issue 22, November 2011 – submissions 

due 30 th September 2011 

for Issue 23, February 2012 – submissions 

due 15 th December 2011 

Nevertheless, you can always submit your 

manuscript when it is ready. Between the 

receival of the manuscript until the final 

publication may pass up to 3 months 

according with: 

‐ the number of the manuscripts on hold, 

submitted earlier by other authors 

‐ the release date of the upcoming issue 

‐ the pre‐allocated space in the magazine 

to each section 

OSAMA M. EL‐FEKY 

Conservator‐Restorer 

Contact: osmelfeky@yahoo.com 

Please check our publication guidelines 

for more information. 

Osama El‐Feky is a conservator‐restorer specialized 

in oil paintings. He has a Ba and MA in Conservation 

from the Department of Conservation 

and Restoration from the Faculty of Archaeology 

of Cairo University, Egypt. In 2003 he obtained 

his PhD from the same university with a thesis on 

comparative evaluation of materials and methods 

used for the conservation of oil paintings. He 

currently works as Assistant Professor at the 

Department of Conservation and Restoration of 

Cairo University. 


65

DETERIORATION AND 

RATES OF WEATHERING 

OF THE MONUMENTAL 

ROCK INSCRIPTIONS AT 

WADI HAMMAMAT, 

EGYPT 

By Hesham Abbas Kmally

DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT 

The famous ornamental stone known in antiquity as ''Bekhen‐stone'' comes from the Wadi Hammamat 

area and it has been used for ornamental purposes since the ancient Egyptian times. The Wadi 

Hammamat is one of the most ancient archaeological sites in Egypt because of the important rock 

inscriptions scattered in the area, dating from before the earliest Egyptian dynasties to the late period. 

These rock inscriptions suffered from serious damage due to natural weathering, pollution, salt 

efflorescence and other physicochemical weathering. Field observations referred that hard cement 

mortars were used for re‐pointing the greywacke rock inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat. The different rate 

of expansion and contraction between the cement mortar and the greywacke rocks will eventually lead to 

the separation of the two materials. This paper tries to clarify the main types of deterioration and 

measure the chemical alteration and geological characteristics of the monumental greywacke rocks. In 

order to achieve this, several studies were performed using a petrographic microscope, SEM micrographs, 

X‐ray fluorescence and X‐ray diffraction analysis. The results have shown that the greywackes have a 

moderate weathering and high content of ferromagnesian minerals. 

Introduction 

In Wadi Hammamat there are outcrops for about 

two kilometers of the Bekhen‐stone (conglomerates, 

silt stone and greywackes) that were quarried 

by the ancient Egyptians from the Predynastic 

times until the Roman period. These rocks, 

called the Hammamat formation, are a thick sequence 

of late Precambrian age distributed in the 

Eastern Desert of Eygpt. The Wadi Hammamat 

area can be found halfway of the road between 

Qift and Qusier. This area contains hundreds of 

hieroglyphic and hieratic rock inscriptions (Figure 

1), texts that represent royal and private 

names varying in length from a single word to 

several lines. Some inscriptions show a number 

of cartouches of several kings of Egypt who sent 

several military and quarrying expeditions to extract 

greywacke rocks. These rocks were used to 

make several statues, vessels, sarcophagi and 

other ornamental structural elements from the 

Predynastic time to the Roman period. Romans 

built watchtowers on the tops of the mountains 

to guard the road, wells and quarries (Figure 2). 

The Hammamat quarry still contains remains of 

ancient quarrymen's huts on the north side of 

Qift–Qusier road, built with dark greywacke and 

silt stone (Figure 3). The region also includes Bir 

Hammamat, located in the Central Eastern Desert 

of Egypt at Wadi Hammamat, which is a Roman 

watering station serving traffic travelling along 

the Qift‐Qusier road (Figure 4). 

The Hammamat Group includes a thick sequence 

of unmetamorphosed, clastic, coarse‐medium 

and fine grained sediments of molasse facies 

[1, 2]. 

The Hammamat sediments formed by alluvial fan 

braided stream [3] and composed mainly of conglomerate, 

greywacke, arkose, siltstone and 

little of mudstone [4], are affected by a very low 

grade regional metamorphism, characterised by 

the presence of muscovite, sericite and chlorite 

[5]. In time, the rock inscriptions were affected 

by several types of deterioration, namely exfoliation, 

flakes, pits, joints, fissures, overloading, 

thermal expansion, dissolution and salt efflorescence. 

The Hammamat quarries have influence 

by natural hazards, including torrential rains and 

flash floods, salt efflorescence, mechanical and 

chemical weathering. In most cases these hazards 


HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY 

Figure 1. Example of rock inscriptions from Wadi Hammamat. 

and weathering agents work together influencing 

or strengthening each other. Moisture and rains 

are considered the primary factors of deterioration 

of the rock inscriptions in the studied area. 

The interaction between the stone and moisture 

or rain results in the appearance of destructive 

subsurface patterns such as flaking, crumbling 

and cracking of the stone surface. 

Granular disintegration represents the most important 

weathering process as result from the 

hydration and dehydration of salts and hydrolysis 

processes. The intensive alteration of greywacke 

rocks is very porous, individual mineral grains are 

weakened and bonding between them is lost during 

witting‐drying cycles of moisture and salt 

crystallisation, ultimately causing flakes and granular 

disintegration of the inscriptions [6, 7]. 

Figure 2. Roman stone watchtowers on the top of hills. 

In arid or semi‐arid regions insolation weathering, 

the alternating warming and cooling of rock 

surfaces through solar heating, is capable of 



Figure 3. Remains of workmen huts. 

Figure 4. Bir Hammamat, a Roman watering station for 

travellers. 

breaking up rock inscriptions through thermal 

action [8]. Insolation weathering causes fracture 

of the minerals on the rock surface while the 

great temperature difference between the rock 

layers causes exfoliation [9], making the greywacke 

rock to become weaker and more deformable. 

The majority of the rock fragments and 

different grains in the Hammamat sediments are 

composed of several elements with different 

chemical weathering. Thus, the major element 

contents (wt%) in the sedimentary rocks were 

used for calculating the rate of chemical alteration 

and paleo‐weathering conditions [10‐14]. 

by SEM in the laboratories of the Scientific Mobark 

City in Alexandria. 

The present study tries to define the deterioration 

features and describe the conservation state of 

the rock inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat. A detailed 

petrographic study covering about 20 thin 

sections was also performed. 

Results and discussion 

Field observation 

Materials and methods 

Fresh and weathered samples were collected from 

the rock inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat. The 

altered samples of siltstone and greywacke surfaces 

were studied by polarizing microscopy (PL), 

scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray fluorescence 

(XRF) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) to 

determine their mineral composition, alteration 

products, morphological and the degree of chemical 

weathering. The major elements of greywacke 

rocks were determined by XRF at the central laboratories 

of Egyptian Geological Survey, Cairo. Greywacke 

samples were coated with gold and examined 

Through a complete survey carried out by visual 

observation and digital photography at Wadi 

Hammamat quarries, we realised that there are 

different deterioration processes with varying 

degrees of weathering and decay features in the 

studied area. According to Fassina, all sedimentary, 

metamorphic and igneous rocks exposed to 

a weathering agents deteriorate continually as a 

result of physical and chemical processes [16]. 

Geologically, the Hammamat stone belong to the 

sedimentary rocks and have several weakness 

zones such as bedding, lamination, spherical and 

oval nodules from soft material. These zones are 

weaker than the rest of the rock, being more sus‐ 



ceptible to weathering and erosion. Mechanically 

or structurally, the Hammamat stone inscriptions 

are predominantly dissected by many joint sets 

of different attitudes and separated by weathering 

processes as rectangular, angular and cuboidal 

joint blocks (Figure 5A). The process of jointing 

greatly increases the amount of surface space 

exposed to weathering. These joints in the rock 

allow the circulation of water and facilitate the 

disintegration of minerals by hydrolysis processes, 

leading to more mechanical and chemical weathering. 

Several small and large pieces of greywacke 

are separated from the rock inscription walls due 

to the combination of bedding planes and vertical 

joints or inclined fractures (Figure 5B). It is also 

worth mentioning that the fall down of greywacke 

blocks lead to damage of many inscriptions. 

ranges between 43% in summer to 48% in winter, 

while the temperature ranges between 21°C and 

41°C and increase from north to south [18]. The 

temperature changes of the greywacke surface 

are due to warming by the sun during the day 

and cooling by night. The expansion and contraction 

are important thermophysical factors 

affecting their capacity to transform heat into 

mechanical external energy (tensile and shearing 

stresses) leading to fractures and flakes in 

greywacke rocks. Spalling and flaking were observed 

on the rock inscriptions as a result of the 

thermophysical action (Figure 5F). Contour scaling 

phenomena was observed commonly in the 

studied area as several lamellar parallel the greywacke 

surface as a result of thermophysical action 

and salt crystallisation (Figure 5G). 

Wadi Hammamat was subject to heavy rains in 

1925, 1954, 1960, 1979, 1987, 1991 and 1996 

with an average amount of rain fall of 40‐300x10 6 

mm 3 over the area [17]. Several flash floods were 

also recorded in the Eastern Desert during the 

last decades (1969, 1980, 1984, 1985 and 1994) 

[18]. The rock slides in the area are attributed to 

structural features and a period of very high rainfall. 

The area has an arid desert climate, very high 

moisture in the early morning, appearing as condensation 

of water droplets on the surface of the 

greywacke and siltstone. Rocks may deteriorated 

and weaken by moisture and the action of water 

may reduce the compressive strength of sandstone 

up to 60% [19, 20]. The weathered rock inscription 

surfaces show a dark brown ferruginous layer 

a few millimetres thick (Figure 5C) as a result of 

chemical processes (water action) that change 

ferrous iron to ferric iron in greywacke rocks. 

Also, chemical weathering leads to dissolution of 

calcite and clay nodules (Figure 5D) that create 

many fractures and extension fissures connected 

with the empty nodules (Figure 5E). The relative 

humidity (RH average) of the Eastern Desert 

Use of hard cement mortars for re‐pointing 

greywacke rocks 

This is probably the most common form of humaninduced 

stone decay. Sedimentary rock walls need 

to ‘breathe’ through porous to allow water to 

easily evaporate from them. Most cement mortars 

are harder, massive and less porous materials, so 

any evaporation is concentrated in the face of 

the rock rather than in the mortars filling joints, 

fractures and cleavages of greywacke rocks. This 

result in soluble salts crystallising in the surface 

layers of the greywackes and not in the adjoining 

mortar leading finally to flakes and crumbles of 

the rock rather than the pointing (Figure 5H). 

Interactions between the atmosphere and greywackes 

or adjoining mortars lead to the formation 

of altered surface layers and producing damage 

in the original greywackes structure. The appearance 

of salt efflorescence deposits over the rock 

inscriptions is common as a result of the reaction 

of Portland cement with the rock and/or atmosphere 

pollution (Figure 5I). The main cause of 

damage of the cement mortars and their adjoining 



Figure 5 (left to right, up tp down). Deterioration aspects of Hammamat quarry.(A) Several joint sets produced cuboidal jointing 

blocks. (B) The vertical joints intersecting the bedding plane and inclined fractures lead to damage the rock inscriptions. (C) The 

greywacke rock surfaces appear as a dark brown ferruginous layer. (D) Dissolution of calcite and clay nodules leads to serious 

loss of rock inscriptions. (E) Extension fissures developing on the rock inscriptions. (F) The mechanical spalling in the rock inscription. 

(G) Contour scaling on the greywacke surfaces as a result of high salt content near the surface. (H) Rock inscriptions flakes 

and crumbles as a result of repairs with Portland cement. (I) Whitish deposit over the surface due to the reaction of Portland cement 

with greywacke rock inscriptions. 



rock inscriptions is probably sulphating formation, 

in particular of gypsum and anhydrite. Sulphate 

damage is closely related to the location of the 

cement repair, indicating that the sulphate source 

is internal, obtained from a sulphur‐rich clinker 

phase in the cement mortars. Sulphates are also 

obtained from atmosphere pollution and soils. 

The different rate of expansion and contraction 

between the cement mortar and the greywackes 

will eventually lead to the two materials separating, 

a phenomenon referred to as ‘bossing’. 

Petrography of the altered greywackes 

(Polarizing Microscope) 

A – Greywackes 

The examination of the greywacke samples thin 

section under polarized light microscope showed 

that the greywacke rock composed mainly of quartz, 

plagioclase, epidote and lithic fragments of sand 

size embedded in a finely crystalline pelitic groundmass 

(Figure 6A). The pelitic groundmass consists 

of chlorite, calcite, quartz, musco‐vite, sericite, 

epidote and iron oxides. Lithic frag‐ments are 

subangular to rounded, composed mainly of glassy 

fragments and reworked siltstones. Quartz occurs 

as subangular to subrounded grains and stained 

by fine grained dust of ferric iron oxides as a 

result of alteration. Some quartz crystals show 

turbid colour, fractures and opening of microfractures 

as a result of mechanical external energy 

(tensile and shearing stresses) (Figure 6B). 

Plagioclase grains dissected by microfaults and 

partially altered to epidote and sericite (hydromica) 

as a result of mechanical and chemical 

weathering (Figure 6C). Also, some of the weathered 

plagioclase grain is completely kaolinitized 

due to chemical weathering. In some slices, plagioclase 

lamellae are bent as a result of deformation in 

greywacke rock. Sericite occurs as randomly small 

flakes and scaly aggregates that are frequently 

interlacing the quartz and plagioclase grains. The 

scaly aggregates of sericite filling the fractures 

in the quartz grains and replaced several plagioclase 

grains as a result of chemical activity of 

water and mechanical stress action, ultimately 

causes disintegration of the greywacke rocks. 

Calcite occurs as original mineral either as alteration 

product of feldspar minerals or as a result 

of the chemical alteration by water. It appears as 

irregular patches scattered in the interspaces 

between the other constituents as a cement joint 

between grains and sometimes occurs as nodules 

scattered through the greywacke rocks. Epidote 

occurs as original mineral or as alteration products 

of feldspar minerals. Chlorite occurs as original 

mineral in the groundmass that cemented the 

greywacke rocks. Chlorite coats the quartz and 

plagioclase grains and gives the green pigmentation 

of greywacke rocks. Iron oxides are represented 

mainly by irregular granules, dust and 

films of hematite covering the other mineral 

constituents in the greywacke rocks. The greywacke 

appears stained with a dark brown colour, 

indicating the presence of iron oxides suggesting 

extensive invasion of water and exposure to 

oxidizing conditions for a long period of time. 

B‐ Foliated greywackes 

These rocks are fine grained, greenish grey in 

colour and foliated. They are composed mainly of 

subangular to subrounded quartz, plagioclase, 

clastic grains together with lithic fragments of 

sand size set in fine grained matrix of silty sand 

size consisting of quartz, chlorite, calcite, muscovite, 

epidote and iron oxides. The foliation is 

raised by the parallel arrangement of quartz, 

plagioclase, lithic fragments, chlorite and muscovite. 

The weathered plagioclase grain is partially 

kaolinitized and replacement by calcite patches 

due to chemical weathering. 



Figure 6 (left to right). The examination of the greywacke samples thin section under cross polarised microscope.(A) greywacke 

rock composed mainly of quartz, plagioclase and epidote embedded in pelitic groundmass. (B) Quartz crystals occur 

fractures and opening of microfractures. (C) Plagioclase grains dissected by microfaults and partially altered to epidote and 

sericite as a result of mechanical and chemical weathering. 

Scanning Electron Microscopy 

SEM micrographs of the deteriorate rock inscriptions 

show that the greywacke surface is rough, 

porous, crumbling, and fractures have flakes, 

scales and etch pits due to alteration and weathering 

processes (Figure 7A). Mechanical weathering 

effects take place in hot deserts such as 

Wadi Hammamat. The absorbed sun heat causes 

not only heating of the rock surface but also 

external mechanical stress for linear and volume 

expansion or contraction of the rock and its 

minerals [21]. These stresses are causing many 

fissures and flakes in greywacke as seen in SEM 

micrographs (Figure 7B). Several rock fragments 

weather and the surfaces can be seen rough, scaled 

and flaked as a result of the thermal action. On 

the other hand, the action of rain, moisture and 

groundwater on the greywackes can cause a different 

expansion and consequently contraction of 

minerals upon drying. Between wet and dry zones 

a shear force may set up and causes many fractures 

both between and within mineral grains. The SEM 

micrographs of grey‐wackes show many deep 

fissures inside the internal structure and the 

opening of the mineral grains boundaries as a 

result of water action. Water weathering leads to 

changes of the mechanical behaviour and strength 

parameters of the rock. The rock strength parameters 

were changed by the development of 

crack fractures and microfractures due to water 

absorption [22]. 

Pits are also present on the studied samples, with 

diameters and depths ranging from macroscopic 

to microscopic scales. Secondary minerals such as 

chlorite, sericite, kaolinite and calcite typically 

cemented the greywackes. With prolonged wetting 

and draying, these secondary minerals become 

soft and fail readily, creating numerous pits. 

For instance, the dissolution and leaching of 

calcite by acidic water lead to the formation of 

irregular pores which may be randomly distributed. 

Moreover, the increase in number and size of 

pits in the greywacke is due to the intermineral 

space that results from transformed several primary 

minerals into fine aggregates from secondary 

minerals have total volume less than the 

total volume of the primary minerals (Figure 7G). 

For instance, several feldspars are pitting as a 

result of partially or completely altered to sericite 

(hydromica) and clay minerals, through the 



Figure 7 (left to right). The SEM micrographs of external deteriorated greywacke surfaces (rock inscriptions). 

(A) The weathered greywacke surfaces are porous and fractures have flakes and scales. (B) Many fissures and flakes of rock 

break away from the greywacke surfaces (C) Kaolinite grains and several secondary minerals contain many residual pores 

between them. 

dissolution and leaching processes. Generally the 

connected pores and microfracture within greywacke 

minerals act as channels through which 

the soluble salts and the alteration products migrate 

and cause many deterioration features in 

greywackes. These soluble salts entrapped in the 

pores, between grains and cover the greywacke 

surfaces, often causing microfractures, pores and 

fractures. In some weathered greywacke close to 

the position of the Portland cement mortars, the 

SEM micrographs show that the gypsum salts precipitate 

in pore spaces and coatings the calcite 

grains as a result of chemical processes. Ollier 

stated that a thermal and hydra‐tion stresses 

developed when salts precipitated in the pores 

and cracks between or in the grains of the rock 

[6]. The salt crystals expand and exerts hydration 

pressure against the pore and crack walls 

when hydrates. Ultimately the thermal and hydration 

processes lead to disintegration of the greywacke 

rock. Sulphates may be coming from the 

atmosphere (pollution) or cement mortars. 

Interactions between the greywackes and the 

atmosphere or adjoining mortars leads to the 

formation of gypsum salts, producing damage to 

the original structural of greywacke rocks. SEM 

micrographs of some greywacke samples adjoining 

the cement mortars show crumple of the gypsum 

crust and rolled the outer layer of greywacke, 

ultimately separated from the rock inscriptions. 

Commonly, the salt weathering leads to flaking 

and scaling the stone surface [23, 24]. 

X–Ray Diffraction Analysis 

Four samples of greywacke rock inscriptions were 

collected and studied by X‐ray diffraction to determine 

their mineral composition. The results of 

the analyses is shown in Table I. The altered greywacke 

sample from the Hammamat quarry wall 

consists of quartz (SiO 2 ), microcline (KALSi 3 O 8 ), 

plagioclase, calcite (CaCO 3 ), halite (NaCl), anhydrite 

(CaSO 4 ), iron oxide – nontronite (smectite 

group), orthoclase, hematite (Fe 2 O 3 ), magnetite 

(Fe 3 O 4 ), halloysite, kaolinite (hydrated aluminum 

silicate), greenalite (Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ ) 2‐3 SiO 2 O 5 (OH) 4 , 

chloritoid, magnesio chloritoid and forsterite 

(Mg 2 SiO 4 ). 

The clay minerals shown in Table I are represented 

mainly by nontronite (smectite group) kaolinite 



Table I. Results of X–ray diffraction analysis of greywacke rocks from Wadi Hammamat. 

Sample Material Type Chemical composition 

1 

Quartz (51.65%), Microcline (3.2%), Calcite (5.89%), Halite 

(9.66%), Anhydrite (6.25%), Iron oxide (6.76%), Nontronite 

(smectite group, 5.58%), Ca‐plagioclase (anorthite, 1.14%), 

Epidote (7.39%), and Chloritoid (Brittle mica, 2.48%) 

2 

3 

Greywacke rock 

from Wadi 

Hammamat 

Quartz (63.65%), orthoclase (14.51%), Hematite (3.63%), 

Anhydrite (13.56%), Epidote (4.65%) 

Quartz (62.35%), Microcline (6.01%), Calcite (8.11%), 

Magnetite (8.3%), Hematite (11.97%) 

Chloritoid (3.25%) 

4 

Quartz (53.65 %), Halloysite (4.9%), Kaolinite (hydrated aluminum 

silicate) (4.56%), Gypsum (10.46 %), Hematite (4.33%), Greenalite 

(Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ ) 2‐3 SiO 2 O5 (OH) 4‐ (8.5%), Magnesio chloritoid (5.7%), 

Forsterite (Mg 2 SiO 4 ) (7.9%) 

and halloysite, commonly dispersed as a result of 

chemical alteration of feldspar minerals and ferromagnesian 

minerals. The clay minerals normally 

occur as alteration products, filling the fractures, 

microfractures and cleavages. The change of the 

moisture content of clay minerals can cause significant 

problems related to the high swelling pressures 

such as the opening up of microfractures and 

fractures and lead to rock falls. The crystallisation 

of soluble salts in pores and cracks between or in 

the grains of rock is one of the major causes of 

greywackes decay in nature [25, 26]. Halite and 

gypsum accumulation occurs on the faces of the 

Hammamat stone inscriptions due to the influence 

of meteoric water, conden‐sation, groundwater 

and Portland cement. XRD analyses have shown 

the predominance of gyp‐sum in their crystalline 

phases (gypsum and anhydrite). The accumulation 

of gypsum and halite salts behind the rock inscription 

surfaces lead to a detachment of the stone 

material in the form of granular disintegration, 

contour scaling and flaking. 

X‐Ray Fluorescence Analysis 

Three samples from the altered greywacke rock 

inscriptions were collected and analysed by XRF 

to determine their elements. The results of this 

analysis are listed in Table II. 

There are some differences between the chemical 

composition of greywacke rocks in amounts of 

SiO 2 , TiO 2 , MnO, K 2 O, Fe 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 , CaO, MgO, CaO 

and Na 2 O. These differences may be due to the 

alteration and deterioration processes. The high 

amount of Na 2 O in greywacke samples is attributed 

to the greater amount of Na‐rich plagioclase and 

alkali feldspar. The greywacke samples have a 

high content of iron oxides due to the mineral 

alteration and high content of MgO due to the 

high amount of phyllosilicate minerals such as 

chlorite, mica and clay minerals. Moreover, the 

CaO content is higher in greywacke samples, which 

can attributed to the greater amount of Ca‐rich 

plagioclase, epidote and carbonate minerals. 



Table I. Results of X–ray diffraction analysis of greywacke rocks from Wadi Hammamat. 

Samples 

Element Contents (wt %) 

SiO 2 TiO 2 Al 2 O 3 Fe 2 O 3 MnO MgO CaO Na 2 O K 2 O Total 

1 65.08 0.58 13.25 6.05 0.06 2.51 9.65 2.03 0.75 99.96 

2 

64.22 0.70 13.90 6.60 0.15 5.10 4.65 2.62 0.98 98.92 

3 

66.69 0.82 14.50 2.95 0.10 2.12 6.17 4.70 1.19 99.24 

Chemical Classification 

Degree of Weathering 

Different diagrams were constructed to classify 

the sedimentary rocks according to the chemical 

analysis such those of Pettijohn et al. [27], Crook 

[28], and Blatt et al. [29].The analysed samples 

were plotted using Blatt’s Ternary diagram [29]. 

This diagram indicates that the plotted samples 

fall in the greywacke field lying close to the Fe 2 O 3 

+ MgO field. This is again confirmed by plotting 

the samples on the Log (Na 2 O/K 2 O) versus Log 

(SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ) diagram, suggested by Pettijohn et 

al. [27], where the studied samples mostly fall in 

the greywacke field. Furthermore, the samples 

were plotted on the Na 2 O ‐ K 2 O diagram by Crook 

[28] where the all greywacke samples fall in the 

quartz‐intermediate field. Combining the three 

diagrams, the greywacke rock inscriptions can be 

described as ferromagnesian rich and quartzintermediate 

greywacke. The chemical classification 

diagrams also prove that the greywackes 

have a high content of ferromagnesian minerals 

such as chlorite, mica, chloritoid (brittle mica), 

Magnesio chloritoid and forsterite (Mg 2 SiO 4 ) as 

detected by XRD. The petrographic study suggests 

that the ground‐mass in greywacke consists essentially 

in ferro‐magnesian minerals and calcite. It 

is know that the ferromagnesian minerals were 

rapidly altered as a result of chemical processes 

and converted into clay minerals. 

The degree of chemical weathering for greywacke 

rocks can be quantified by applying the Chemical 

Index of Alteration (CIA) [15]. The CIA was used 

to quantify and to calculate the degree of rock 

alteration and deterioration [10]. The CIA can be 

obtained by using the following equation: 

[Al 2 O 3 / (Al 2 O 3 + CaO* + Na 2 O + K 2 O)] × 100. If 

the CIA value less than 50% it indicates that the 

rock is unweathered. In case the CIA value ranges 

between 50% and 75%, it indicates that the rock 

have a moderate weathering While if the value if 

more than 75% this indicate that the rocks suffered 

strong weathering. The CIA values of the 

samples analysed were of 58, 69 and 73, indicating 

a moderate weathering. This index reflects 

the chemical alteration of plagioclase, orthoclase, 

microcline and mica to kaolinite. Generally, this 

index is used for calculating the total chemical 

weathering of greywackes in Wadi Hammamat. 

Conclusions 

The greywacke rock inscriptions have significantly 

deteriorated in the last decades. Several types of 

rock deterioration can be found, namely exfoliation, 

flakes, efflorescence, current detachment 

of stone material and deformation. The site is 

affected by a series of joints, faults, cracking, 



sliding movements, dislocation block and rock 

falls. It is worth mentioning that the fall down of 

the stone blocks leads to the damage of many 

rock inscriptions carving on greywacke rocks. 

Furthermore, two types of the failure might result 

from thermal weathering (insolation weathering), 

including exfoliation and disintegration of the 

stone. In addition, water from rainwater, moisture 

and groundwater assist in the weathering of 

greywacke minerals, increasing the chemical 

weathering and leading to the formation of clay 

minerals. The petrographic analysis reveals that 

all the greywacke rocks are mainly cementing by 

calcite, iron oxides, sericite, chlorite and clay 

minerals. The ferromagnesian (chlorite, chloritoid, 

magnesio chloritoid and forsterite), iron 

oxide, calcite and clay minerals were easily altered 

and removed by chemical weathering. With 

increasing grade of the chemical weathering by 

the dissolution of calcite and clay minerals the 

amount of microfractures and voids increases in 

the greywacke rocks and causing damage of the 

rock inscriptions. The XRF analysis reveals that 

the greywackes have a high content of Fe 2 O 3 due 

to the alteration processes and the high content 

of MgO due to the high amount of ferromagnesian 

minerals. Gypsum, anhydrite and halite were the 

common salts developing in the greywacke rock 

inscriptions. High gypsum content near the surface 

is a crucial factor for flaking, pitting and 

contour scaling, when the areas with high load of 

halite are characterised by a visibly darker weak 

surface. Gypsum and anhydrite formation cause 

damage of the Portland cement mortars and 

their adjoining rock inscriptions. The reaction 

between the cement mortar and the greywackes 

will eventually lead to flake, crumble and deteriorate 

greywacke rocks. The chemical classification 

diagrams confirmed that the greywacke rock can 

be described as ferromagnesian rich quartz‐intermediate 

and have a high content of ferromagnesian 

minerals as detected from petrographic 

studied, XRD and XRF analysis . These minerals 

are easily altered and finally transformed into 

clay minerals and cause intensive disintegration 

of greywacke rock inscriptions. Moreover, the CIA 

values of the analysed greywacke samples indicated 

a moderate to less strong weathering. Consequently, 

we believe that the temperature change, 

moisture, rain, salts, and incorrect restoration 

representing the very important factors lead to 

the disintegration of greywacke rocks. 

Geochemically, the greywacke deterioration can 

be attributed to the dissolution of calcite, clay 

and iron oxides. Feldspar and ferromagnesian 

minerals by intensive alteration were easily removed, 

altered into iron oxides and clay minerals 

very rapidly and cause different deterioration 

features in the greywacke rock inscriptions. 

Acknowledgments 

The author wishes to thank Dr. Mohamed Fathy, 

geology in the laboratory of Egyptian Geological 

Survey in Cairo for his helping during laboratory 

work. This work has been supported by the High 

Institute of Tourism and Restoration, 

Alexandria‐Egypt. 

References 

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[2] M.K. Akaad, and A.M. Nowier., “Lithostratigraphy 

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[3] B. Grothaus, D. Eppler and R. Ehrlich, “Depositional 

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[6] C.D. Ollier, Weathering, Longman, New York, 

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[8] M.J. Selby, Earth's changing surface. An introduction 

to Geomorphology, Oxford University Press, 

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temperature: A laboratory study”, Permafrost 

and Periglacial Processes 14, 2003, pp. 61‐67, 

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[10] H.W. Nesbitt, and G.M. Young, “Early Proterozoic 

climates and plate motions inferred from 

major element chemistry of lutites”, Nature 299, 

1982, pp. 715–717 

[11] J.R. Price, M.A.Velbel, “Chemical weathering 

indices applied to weathering profiles developed 

on heterogeneous felsic metamorphic parent 

rocks”, Chemical Geology 202, 2003, pp. 397‐416 

[12] Z. Jin, J. Cao, J. Wu and S. Wang, “A Rb/Sr 

record of catchment weathering response to 

Holocene climate change in Inner Mongolia”, 

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 31, 2006, 

pp. 285‐291, doi: 10.1002/esp.1243 

[13] S.L. Yang, F. Ding, Z.L. Ding., “Pleistocene 

chemical weathering history of Asian arid and 

semi‐arid regions recorded in loess deposits of 

China and Tajikistan”, Geochimica et Cosmochimica 

Acta 70, 2006, pp. 1695‐1709, 

doi:10.1016/j.gca.2005.12.012 

[14] S. Ceryan, “New Chemical Weathering Indices 

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[15] D.E. Kirkwood, H.W. Nesbitt, “Formation and 

evolution of soils from an acidified watershed: 

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Cosmochimica Acta 55, 1991, pp. 1295–1308, 

doi: 10.1016/0016‐7037(91)90308‐R 

[16] V. Fassina, “Atmospheric pollutants responsible 

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1991, pp. 67–86 

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pp. 7‐59 



[18] A.A. Abdel Monein, “Overview of the geomorphological 

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004‐0364‐y 

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and Sandstone, Springer‐Verlag, New York, 1972 

[28] K.A.W. Crook, “Lithogenesis and geotectonios: 

the significance of compositional variations in 

flysch arenites (greywackes)”, in R.H. Doti, and 

R. H. Shaver (eds.), Modem and Ancient Geosynclinal 

Sedimentation, Society of Economic Paleontologists 

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of Sedimentary Rocks, Prentice‐Hall, 1980 

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The Metamorphic Rocks, Geological Survey of 

Egypt, 1934 

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Sons, Chichester, 1994 


Conservation scientist 

Contact: heshamabbas@windowslive.com 

[24] S. Hoerle, “A preliminary study of the weathering 

activity at the rock art site of Game pass 

shelter(Kwazulu‐Natal) in relation to its conservation”, 

South African Journal of Geology 108(2), 

2005, pp. 297‐308, doi: 10.2113/108.2.297 

[25] I.S. Evans, “Salt crystallisation and weathering: 

a review”, Revue de Geomorphologie Dynamique 

19, 1970, pp. 153‐77 

[26] E.M. Winkler, and P.C. Singer, “Crystallisation 

pressure of salts in stone and concrete”, Geological 

Society of America Bulletin 83, 1972, pp. 3509‐3514 

Hesham Kmally is a conservation scientist 

specialised in conservation of rock inscriptions. 

He obtained his Master degree in Geochemistry, 

Petrography and Structural Studies of Rocks from 

South Valley University, Egypt in 1999. He was 

director of the Conservation Center at the Nubia 

Museum in Alexandria, Egypt up to 2003, after 

which he pursued a PhD in Archaeological Quarrying 

and Conservation of Rock Inscriptions in 

Aswan from the same university in 2005. He now 

works at the Conservation Department of the 

High Institute of Tourism, Hotel Management 

and Restoration, Egypt. 


education 

SUSTAINABILITY IN THE PRESERVATION 

OF CULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH 

EDUCATION 

Training in Wood Conservation and 

Restoration in Malta 

By 

Ninette Sammut

TRAINING IN WOOD CONSERVATION IN MALTA 

Sustainability in the preservation of cultural heritage is multi‐faceted. Education is one of the facets. 

Courses in conservation, restoration and conservation science help reach this aim by bringing together 

policy makers, enforcement units, educational institutions, the employment sector and people with 

different backgrounds of knowledge, skills and competences. This is the outcome of a three year project 

co‐funded by the European Union that Heritage Malta has conducted as the lead partner. Through this 

project four accredited courses were designed within the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), 

namely at EQF levels 1, 3, 6 and 7. The courses at EQF levels 1, 3 and 7 have been implemented 

throughout the period of this project with the courses at EQF levels 1 and 3 to be established as part of 

the prospectus of two of the national educational institutions, namely the Lifelong Learning Directorate 

in the former case and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) which is mainly 

responsible for vocational education and training in the latter. 

Introduction 

The type of objects that need to be safeguarded 

range from organic to inorganic, from natural to 

man‐made and from a single material to composite 

materials. Furthermore, the object materials 

could have been sourced within the country or 

imported. 

Natural resources in Malta are limited to stone, 

sun and sea. Wood was also one of its natural resources 

but through its extensive use through the 

ages to make way primarily for agriculture and 

grazing of animals [1] and then for structural, 

technologic, storage and decorative purposes [2], 

it became a treasured material. Cultural identity 

is kneaded within such purposes and hence the 

importance to preserve, conserve and restore 

wood objects/structures. Yet, the lack of knowledge 

about how to cherish this material, the performance 

of interventions within the consideration 

of conservation‐restoration ethics and the 

desire to avoid maintenance in a fast moving world 

are main issues that are leading to the destruction 

of this local patrimony. 

The need to preserve wood objects/structures 

brought about the need to educate and train 

people in conservation and restoration, hence 

the design and implementation of this project cofunded 

by the European Union, European Social 

Funding (ESF). The title of this project is ‘Wood 

CPR: Education and Training in Wood Conservation 

and Restoration’. 

The courses in this project were developed to give 

its participants the opportunity to realise that 

one is living in a global society where everybody 

is a citizen of the world, according to Whithead’s 

philosophy of education [3]. This approach seeks 

to link new and past knowledge acquired in different 

ways and from different contexts to different 

forms of knowledge within the established disciplines. 

That is linking competences, skills and 

knowledge acquired throughout one’s life while 

bringing people together. 

Wood as material heritage in Malta 

Although wood is not considered one of Malta’s 

natural resources, the existence of objects made 

from this material indicates its extensive use 

through time. The species of such wood is not 

limited to one but to a variety of species which 

could be found locally or imported. The uses of 

the various types of wood depended on its 


81

NINETTE SAMMUT 

physical properties, morphology and anatomy. 

Such characteristics determined whether the particular 

type of wood would be used to construct or 

embellish an object/structure, to manufacture a 

piece of fine or utilitarian furniture, to seal or 

support a building structure, and as a means of 

transport. 

The concept of reuse was more practised in the 

past. This can be observed through scientific investigations 

of panel paintings which have shown 

evidence of over‐painted surfaces, and through 

research in notarial documents, specifically those 

related to dowry or wills, which refer to pieces 

of furniture inherited from one generation to 

another. Past craftsmen utilised wood as beams 

to support limestone slabs in ceiling structures 

and to be able to span large areas. 

Other uses in buildings include apertures such as 

window frames and balconies (gallarija in Maltese) 

which became more elaborate during the Baroque 

period [4] complete with shutters to redirect or 

block natural light, and solid wood doors with lock 

systems to divide spaces and safeguard what is 

behind them. Such apertures characterise streetscapes 

in Malta’s capital city, Valletta, which is 

considered a world heritage site by UNESCO, and 

in Birgu, one of the three cities characterising 

the waterfront of the Grand Harbour (Figure 1). 

Extensive use of wood has also always made for 

the internal decoration of churches. 

Other uses of wood include its utilisation to produce 

tools used in quarrying and wood working 

as well as machinery such as windmills and wax 

candle factories. Wood was also used for the 

manufacture of traditional fishing and passenger 

boats ‐ an integral part of Malta’s heritage. 

As in other countries, there are hazards in Malta 

that threaten the survival of this material result‐ 

Figure 1. Wooden balconies at Birgu as part of the streetscape. 

ing from natural and/or anthropogenic factors. 

Such factors include mishandling, lack of knowledge 

or maintenance, unnecessary or wrong 

interventions, exposure to the surrounding environment 

and biological infestations, vandalism, 

fires and floods. The combination of the nature of 

artefacts, the relative scarcity of such material on 

the island, and the hazards to which it is exposed, 

led to the necessity to create courses that address 

such matters and disseminate knowledge, skills 

and competences. 

Sustainability through an integrated approach 

to conservation practice 

Huge strides ahead with respect to sustainability 

in wood preservation have been made at first 

through the grant offered by Malta Environment 



Planning Authority (MEPA) [5] and through this 

European Union funded project where the foundations 

to sustain the preservation of wood objects/ 

structures were built upon training. This project 

started during the first quarter of 2009 and last 

until the end of 2011. 

The importance of wood as material heritage in 

Malta should be considered as an essential part 

of the local heritage and also as part of the world 

heritage. The importance to preserve wood 

through education resulted from the fact that: 

‐ grants given in a local scheme to restore wooden 

balconies were offering the opportunity to skilled 

craftsmen to diversify their dying business to the 

field of conservation‐restoration without any 

consideration being given to ethics related to 

this specialised field because the skilled craftsmen 

were not trained according to international 

ethics existing in conservation‐restoration; 

‐ there has been a general increase in appreciation 

of cultural heritage in the last decade, which 

has led to an increase in demand for conservationrestoration; 

‐ the amateur woodworker was increasingly attracted 

to the restoration practice by taking it up 

as a hobby; 

‐ there was lack of awareness on preservation of 

material heritage irrespective of a high interest 

in antiques; 

‐ anyone going through vocational education 

training could not specialise in wood conservationrestoration; 

‐ training in conservation‐restoration of wood at 

bachelor level was being taught as a small component 

in comparison to other materials; 

‐ training of scientists supporting conservatorrestorers 

did not have the necessary background 

knowledge related to conservation science. 

These considerations brought about the need for 

such a project. The main aims were: (a) to increase 

awareness in preservation of material heritage; 

(b) to train people coming from different educational 

backgrounds; (c) to give equal gender 

opportunities; (d) to address skills mismatches; 

and (e) to propose a strategy for future grant 

schemes in relation to restoration of wooden balconies. 

This brought the need to design courses 

at different EQF levels within the frameworks of 

the Copenhagen and Bologna Processes, namely 

the following courses: 

‐ Preservation of Material Cultural Heritage at 

EQF level 1; 

‐ Wood and Furniture Heritage Skills at EQF level 3; 

‐ Conservation‐Restoration of Wood at EQF level 6; 

‐ Conservation Science applied to Wood at EQF 

level 7; 

The courses were designed from a “life‐long learning” 

perspective where irrespective of age, 

whether active or inactive and irrespective of one’s 

level of education, the person wishing to engage 

in such courses could progress accordingly. Such 

an exercise brought together various other local 

state entities: the Malta Qualifications Council 

(MQC); the Institute of Building Construction & 

Engineering within MCAST; the Employment & 

Training Centre; the Malta Environment & Planning 

Authority; the National Women’s Council 

and the Federation of Women’s Council; and the 

Commission for People with Disabilities (KNPD). 

Partici‐pants who showed difficulty in providing 

an accredited certificate to be able to follow the 

courses at EQF level 3 and EQF level 7 were given 

the opportunity to get it accredited to the right 

EQF level through the Malta Qualifications Recognition 

Information Centre (MQRIC), which is 

part of MQC. 

Three out of the four designed courses were implemented. 

Ten editions of the same course with 

a maximum of one hundred and fifty participants 

were delivered in the case of the course at EQF 


83


level 1 in both Maltese and English languages. 

The course at EQF level 3 was open for a maximum 

of fifteen participants while the course at EQF 

level 7 was open for a maximum of eight participants. 

The language in this case was English. The 

course at EQF level 6 was intended to run at a later 

stage, which is after there are specialists trained 

in wood conservation science at EQF level 7 to be 

able to support EQF level 6 students in their 

studies. The lecturers were all Maltese or foreign 

qualified professionals. The ratio of theory versus 

practical of each course varied according to the 

needs within the course content. The assessment 

methods of the courses in levels 1, 3 and 7 include 

the preparation of assignments, reports, examinations 

and presentations to the public depending 

on the course level. In all cases a certificate 

is awarded. The same assessment methods are 

proposed in the course at level 6 but in this case 

a degree is awarded. 

The EQF level 1 course treated basic conservation 

skills. It addressed all materials, namely ceramics, 

glass, metal, stone, wood, canvas, textile and 

paper. Such materials can be found either singularly 

or assembled together composing objects. 

The properties of each material were initially 

tackled on their own and then in combination 

with each other. The effect that such materials 

can have on wood and vice versa was discussed 

through practical exercises and on site visits to 

museums. Through this course participants were 

made aware of the vulnerability of such cultural 

heritage objects. They were also taught how to 

reduce this vulnerability from a preventive conservation 

perspective. The pedagogic role of the 

lecturer was primarily to provide opportunities 

for participants to develop and demonstrate 

skills which allow them to pursue a career as museum 

attendants, housekeepers, cleaners, handlers, 

maintenance personnel, and antique dealers 

within an ethical framework. The teaching was 

Figure 2. People attending level 1 course. 

also aimed at avoiding damage by “thinking before 

acting” and knowing when one needs to 

consult a professional in the field (Figure 2). 

The EQF Level 3 course aimed towards a more 

practical background and therefore prospective 

students had to have sound knowledge of wood 

and good hands skills in woodwork. These prospective 

students included either those who have acquired 

a certificate at EQF level 2 by MCAST (the 

maximum qualification which could be acquired 

at the beginning of the project) or those who were 

already practising wood restoration. In both cases, 

the certificate at EQF Level 1 course was a prerequisite. 

Throughout the EQF level 3 course the 

participants have put into practice the conservation‐restoration 

ethics acquired through the EQF 

level 1 course under the vigilant eyes of the qualified 

conservator‐restorer. Documentation methods 

and ethics were largely discussed as well as 

the non‐existence of ‘recipes’ applied in conservation‐restoration 

practice was made very clear 

to the participants especially during their practical 

sessions (Figure 3). It was imperative to 

pass clearly the message, especially to students 

at this level, that evidence is lost with every 

single restoration intervention that is taken. 



Figure 3. Students undertaking restoration work on a 16 th century sacristy. 

The participants were instructed on historical 

manufacturing techniques. Towards the end of 

their course they were capable to reproduce part 

of a traditional wooden balcony (Figure 4). This 

will allow them to become part of the list of 

skilled carpenters recognised to undertake balcony 

restoration projects such as the one promoted 

by MEPA. 

The course at EQF Level 6 was designed in the 

framework of the current course content being 

offered at bachelor’s level by the University of 

Malta. This is a 4‐year degree which currently 

trains conservator‐restorers in the following 

areas: paintings, objects (ceramics, glass, metals, 

and stone), textiles and paper. The first year is 

considered a foundation year across all areas of 

study and streaming together with hands‐on 

practice which starts from the second year onwards. 

The course designed in this project focuses 

on wood. The area of study in wood conservationrestoration 

as part of the degree course was not 

offered at this stage: professionals in conservation 

science related to wood needed to be trained 

beforehand to be able to support students in their 

conservation projects. The study‐units covered 

in the course content include the use of wood 

throughout the ages, stylistic analysis, manufacturing 

techniques, scientific analysis of wood, 

past interventions/restoration and evaluation of 

conservation treatments. 

The EQF Level 7 course in conservation science 

aimed to promote research and innovation in 

conservation science education in relation to 

conservation‐restoration of wood and wooden 

structures and artworks. The aims of this course 

were to strengthen the human resource capacity 


85


Conclusion 

The appreciation of cultural heritage should be 

communicated through an integrated education 

approach in this global society. Sustainability in 

the preservation of cultural heritage through 

education should be encouraged. It is a way of 

how tangible and intangible cultural heritage 

can be safeguarded. 

Figure 4. Reproduction of part of the traditional balcony. 

to aid in training of future conservator‐restorers 

and create a common language to ease communication 

between the persons trained through 

this course and the conservator‐restorer. Lecturers 

from the Department of Agricultural and 

Forest Economy, Engineering, Sciences and Technologies 

of the University of Florence (DEISTAF) 

delivered this 9‐week long certificate course. 

Lectures were delivered 4 weeks in Florence and 

5 weeks in Malta. The course content included 

study‐units of applied physics and chemistry related 

to the morphology of wood at micro and macro 

levels, the deterioration process influenced by 

physical and chemical reactions, and practical 

sessions in analytical techniques using different 

instrumentation including sample preparation 

within the ethical and legal framework related to 

conservation‐restoration. This course brought 

together a multi‐disciplinary team of professionals 

specialised in their own field without having 

much in common, yet finding common grounds 

through the analysis of wood objects (Figure 5). 

This European‐funded project presented various 

challenges throughout the various stages of research, 

design and implementation of the 

courses. The fact that the courses had to be designed 

around needs in conservation‐restoration 

in the local context posed a further challenge 

than just designing and implementing general 

courses in preservation, conservation‐restoration 

and conservation science. Yet this challenge is 

what will make it sustainable in the long run: 

offering new opportunities to all those already 

involved in wood working by providing further 

training and increasing awareness on the need 

to preserve wood objects in their current environment. 

It should be pointed out that in this 

case two of the four courses, namely those at 

EQF level 1 and 3, are already featuring in the 

prospectus of two educational institutions for 

the next academic programmes. 

The course created at EQF level 1 will help a person, 

irrespective of his background, to appreciate 

cultural heritage through the use of materials. 

This will increase the interest and transform 

such awareness to further training in the fields 

of conservation‐restoration and conservation 

science. Through this approach, other professions 

and existing courses would be directed to sustain 

directly the preservation of cultural heritage. 



Figure 5. Laboratory work by the participants on micro‐CT. 

References 

[1] P. J. Schembri, "Physical Geography and Ecology 

of the Maltese Islands: A Brief Overview", 

Options Meditérranéennes 7, 1993, URL 

[2] L. J. Saliba, "Education and Afforestation in 

Malta", Options Méditerranéennes 9, 1971, URL 

[3] A. N. Whitehead, The Aims of Education and 

Other Essays, Free Press, New York, 1967 

[4] G. Bonello, "Mysteries of the Maltese Gallarija 

in Treasures of Malta", Progress Press, Vol. IX 

No. 2, Malta, 2003 

[5] Traditional Maltese Wooden Balcony Restoration 

Grant Scheme, http://www.mepa.org.mt 

[accessed on 31 st July 2011] 


Conservation Manager 

Contact: ninette.sammut@gov.mt 

Ninette Sammut is the manager leading the educa‐tion 

arm of Heritage Malta. Her qualifications 

and experience as a conservator‐restorer 

and her involvement in education in the past 10 

years, including vocational and tertiary education 

and training on national and European 

levels, led to her choice in this leading position 

and as project leader of this EU‐funded project. 


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