Our conservators come from vastly different backgrounds and specialize in treating countless types of objects, from oil or watercolor paintings to wood furniture to metal sculptures. Each piece is handled with expert attentiveness and care, whether it is large or small. One of our recently completed projects was on the smaller side—an ivory sculpture, measuring just over six inches tall.
Before Treatment
Before Treatment
The sculpture represents a male figure, carrying fruit, with a monkey on his back and a boy at his side. The piece came to The Center covered in a moderate layer of grime. Both figures displayed minor stress cracks in the ivory, and the boy was separated from the original contact point at the proper left side of the man.
Before Treatment
Before Treatment
In addition to the stress cracks, there were also areas of complete separation and loss. The man’s proper left foot was detached, but luckily the client retained the fragment. The boy’s left foot was also missing, yet the fragment was lost. There were also edge losses to the end of the right sleeve of the man’s jacket. Since the original fragments were not retained, new pieces needed to be fabricated and sculpted to repair the piece fully.
During Treatment Detail of Boy with Areas of Loss
After initial photography, the sculpture was sent to Josh McCauley, a Senior Conservator in our Objects and Sculpture Department. Josh started treatment by gently cleaning the surface of the piece using a dry technique so as not to disturb the sensitive ink layer present on the piece. The retained foot fragment was also cleaned this way.
During Treatment
During Treatment Detail of Sculpted Foot
During Treatment Detail of Sculpted Foot
Next, the fragmented foot and the boy were reattached to the main sculpture with a reversible resin adhesive. The client also elected to have the areas of loss replaced. Since we do not use ivory in our treatments, Josh sculpted the repairs from synthetic ivory and colored it to match the surrounding surface area.
During Treatment
Once the repairs were dried and set, the piece was carefully packaged and sent back home. “I was very pleased to see the results of my treated sculpture,” our client told us. “The repaired cracks are seamless and the synthetic ivory perfectly matches the rest of the piece.”
After Treatment
After Treatment
