The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT

estoratIon anD conserVatIon restoratIon anD conserVatIon
thinning and thread loss it was possible to
see the canvas base, also covered by later
overpainting. On the canvas, there were numerous
tears and holes made by nails, as well
as rust stains. The flax lining of each panel
was also badly soiled and deformed, and infected
with mould fungi spores. The lining
canvas shows signs of old repairs: threads for
fixing glass beads, additional embroidery
with chenille and woollen threads made at
different times.
The restoration lasted for a year and consisted
of several stages. First, each panel
was detached from its backing and the old
threads used for mending the glass bead
embroidery were removed. In the areas
where the chenille embroidery pierced the
canvas lining, the lining was removed without
affecting the chenille threads and ultimately
completely detached from the panel.
The glass beads were temporarily fixed in
place where there was a danger of them
coming loose. The next stage was the cleaning
of the panels. It was necessary to soften
and remove the coarse paint coating from
the velvety surface of the embroidery and
the dense layer of soiling from the whole
surface of the panels. Once each panel had
been cleaned, the next step was to back it
up against a new canvas and to reinforce the
embroidery. First, all the “weak spots” of the
embroidery base and the most badly damaged
panel edges had to be strengthened.
Then, loose and crumbling glass beads were
fastened following the embroidery pattern.
Where the canvas had been badly damaged
and many glass beads lost, modern beads
were strung in accordance with the original
embroidery technique. Chenille threads
over the whole surface of the embroidery
were reinforced with silk threads in matching
colours.
During the restoration and conservation
procedures, the thick layer of dirt and mould
and the later paint were removed from all
the panels; the glass beads and embroidery
threads were held fast in place all over the
surface; the deformities were partially rectified;
the panels were backed up against an
entirely new canvas and made ready to be
mounted on a stretcher.
The restored glass bead panels are on display
at a temporary exhibition in the Hermitage.
They represent the result of cooperation between
two museums – the State Hermitage
and the Peterhof State Museum Reserve.
Panel. After restoration
laBoraTory for ScienTific
reSToraTion of preciouS
meTalS
Headed by I. Malkiel
The hoard of mrS. liKhachyova
Restored by I. Malkiel
In May 1978, a precious hoard was found
at the Voskhod Factory in Leningrad. It was
later given to the Department of the History
of Russian Culture at the State Hermitage.
The items in the hoard, which date back to
1824–1910, were made by the best craftsmen
and companies in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Before they were stashed away, all the
objects had been meticulously polished and
packed. There was a date – March 1917 –
on one of the newspapers used for wrapping
them, which provides a terminus ante quem
date for the hiding of the hoard.
The restoration of the pieces began in
March 2008. The work was hampered by
soil corrosion, since all the objects had been
wrapped in newspapers and hidden under
floorboards. Besides, gilded silver tends to
darken with time because of the porous
structure of the gilding and the diffusion
of the silver itself. The copper component
of silver alloys and solders had oxidized, so
that the objects, coated in a green oxide
layer, had fallen apart where they had been
soldered together. Soil corrosion and other
hostile factors turned “new metal” into “archaeological
metal”. Some of the objects
in the hoard (knives, spatulas etc.) were
made of a combination of silver, bone, and
iron, with iron being the most susceptible
Coffee pot. Before and after restoration
Items from Mrs. Likhachyova’s hoard. Before restoration
Items from Mrs. Likhachyova’s hoard. After restoration
to changes in outside conditions. After the
hoard had been extracted, the condition
of the iron objects deteriorated rapidly: the
changed humidity and the access of oxygen
to the dilapidated metal caused a rapid attack
of corrosion. In order to preserve the
iron details of the knives, spatulas and pins,
it was necessary to cover them with a special
anti-corrosive solution. Nearly all the
iron objects were oxidized and covered with
a corroded crust, while iron pins fell apart.
Laser cleaning of works of art has now become
a familiar technique; it is successfully
used by restorers all over the world,
who have by now accumulated considerable
experience of using laser technology
for cleaning metal objects. While the laser
cleaning of metals is still in its early stages,
laser welding has long been a key technique
used by restorers in many of the world’s museums.
State-of-the-art laser technologies
make it possible to restore unique metal artefacts.
The Hermitage was the first museum
in Russia to use the latest generation of laser
welding tools in its restoration practice, in
compliance with all the requirements of museum
work.
This work was interesting not only as a treatment
of a whole set of precious objects with
a high artistic, historical and social value,
but also as a major restoration project. After
the end of the procedures, which took
two and a half years, all the objects were displayed
to the public.
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