Surely by now you've heard of the
Staffordshire Hoard?
( =treasure / largest hoard /Anglo-Saxon gold/ ever)
So, I was looking at pictures of the artefacts- and noticed
how dirty it still is.
Not being a conservator, this strikes me as being very cautious conservatorial practice.
(Being of the "Peabody" school of conservation myself;
eg,
eg,
eg)
I mean, they've cleaned up most of it, but not in the
cloissons.
They must be worried that the inlay might fall out.
Or that the dirt holds vital
clues.
Or that the dirt simply fills the losses. As a maker, I would be interested to see the empty cloisons, actually. I may send them a letter. "Dear Sirs, as a
maker..." etc
.
Or perhaps the dirt lends a kind ancient ambience to the artefacts that helps with public perception/fundraising; you know, "
derelicte". (Who knew
treasure needed
fundraising?)
• Possible remedial reshaping for stability of vulnerable crumpled or damaged
sheet gold, or for historical understanding of the object.
• Reconstruction of silver foil with reversible adhesives.
Next they'll be wearing it around the office!
I looked up "staffordshire hoard dirty"...
Theres
actually a Facebook group; WASH THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD, with 20 members.
Because, as one of the members worries: "Who knows where its been?"