The “Jane Griswood” coffin nameplate is part of an ensemble of various artefacts that were sent to York Archaeology by Hull Minster in 2022 in the case of their Revival – Back to life project and exhibition.
Each object, the wood coffin nameplate with copper alloy fittings mentioned above, a Tin dipped in iron breastplate, the Holy Trinity cannonball, red opaque Venetian glass beads with its copper alloy clasp and a hand-painted ceramic tankard, were brought to us with the trace of their own history.
The aim of the treatments which followed was to preserve this passage of time while cleaning and conserving each artefact for the upcoming exhibition later that year. Throughout the treatments, the full conservation process was recorded by our Marketing team so that four videos could be realised for the exhibition with an introduction and explanation narrated by the Conservator who realised the treatments.
The object’s condition
The “Jane Griswood” nameplate is made of wood with copper alloy fittings. The wood surface was covered by a patchy layer of sand, silt and small stone inclusions, an overlaying green corrosion could be observed on the fittings. Some of these studs were either missing, broken or covered with active corrosion. Contrary to the hand painted tankard, no past repair could be observed on the surface.
The object has also a partial loss above the name “Jane” on the front and has few detached wooden fragments. The wood itself was brittle around the edges, the loss presents on the front and the back. The wood at the back is characteristic of an air-dried process which leads to a poor and brittle state of the wood. Fortunately, the front was not deformed by the air-drying process, contrary to the curled and deformed aspect present at the back, even if the wood itself was fragilized.
While some part of the corrosion observed was active, the layer was also thin and was only observed on the fittings themselves. However, sometimes, corrosion can obstruct our observation and first approach of the object. For instance, the cannonball had to be x-rayed to identify the current state of the object surface before realising any treatment.
The treatments, a focus on the wood coffin nameplate with copper alloy fittings.
The conservation work realised here aimed to keep the actual aspect of the object and to consolidate when necessary.
Thus, the wooden nameplate’s surface was first slowly and carefully dry cleaned before realising any consolidation. It was then followed by the stabilisation of the copper alloy fittings, realised by the application of a solution which stops the reaction leading to the corrosion process and creates a chemical barrier on the metal surface. However, as some of the fittings were still fragmented, an archival adhesive was precisely applied on the copper alloy to consolidate and avoid any further loss of the previously fragilized studs. Once the copper alloys were all treated, the wooden surface could also be consolidated. The front allowed an application of the solution with a soft brush while the back, more deteriorated and brittle, could only be slowly applied with a pipette.
After this consolidation process was complete, and to ease future manipulation and reduce the fragility of the back curled surface, a backing made of a special archival tissue was applied. However, to allow a complete handling of the object during the exhibition, a 3D copy was realised by Hull Minster during the project.
A last word, the role of outreach films explaining the objects’ treatments for the exhibition
These videos which followed the objects during the exhibition were an interesting way to showcase the role and work of the conservator in the life of an artefact but also the work and aim of the Hull Minster project.
As a conservator, we sometimes are not as visible as other roles but we also become part of the history of the artefact when we are working on them. I am grateful for Hull Minster to have allowed me to share my role in their project and share their aim to the public through these outreach videos.
Further Information
For further information on the Revival – Back to Life project and exhibition, and on the “Jane Griswood” history, you may follow the two links below:
- https://hullminster.org/newsletter
- https://www.hullminsterheritage.org.uk/research/meet-jane-griswood
Thank you for reading, see you all on the next project description.
