ICON Ceramics and Glass Group Conference 7th - 8th September 2017

Ashmolean Museum

& Magdalen College

Oxford

Foreword from the Committee

We are delighted to be able to welcome you to Oxford this weekend, The CGG has organised a vibrant programme of speakers and visits in Oxford this September. Presentations from an international pool of speakers will be held at Magdalen College; one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford founded in 1458. Speakers and posters will cover a range of conservation topics concerning ceramics, glass and enamels including 3D printing in clay. The conference will be drawn to a close with an outdoor drinks reception in the exquisite college Cloisters.

The CGG conference has been planned to coincide with Oxford Open Doors held on the weekend of September 9th and 10th. Delegates are encouraged to visit some of these historic venues across the university and city, many of which only open to the public once a year. University college chapels are particularly strong in stained glass and highly recommended.

We do hope that you enjoy the weekend, learn something new and take the opportunity to enjoy Oxford's rich cultural heritage.

ICON Ceramics and Glass Group Committee

ICON Ceramics and Glass Group Conference Thursday 7th September 2017 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

13:30 Arrival – Ashmolean Museum

14:00

The Conservation Labs and galleries both opened in 2009 as a part of the museum redevelopment. The galleries are devoted to the history of conservation and contemporary conservation practice. The gallery tour will be led by Mark Norman, former UKIC chair and recently retired Head of Conservation at the Ashmolean. Group 1 - Visit to the Galleries Group 2 – Visit to the Conservation Studios

15:00

The Conservation Labs and galleries both opened in 2009 as a part of the museum redevelopment. The galleries are devoted to the history of conservation and contemporary conservation practice. The gallery tour will be led by Mark Norman, former UKIC chair and recently retired Head of Conservation at the Ashmolean. Group 3 - Visit to the Galleries Group 4 – Visit to the Conservation Studios

19:00 – 22:00 Conference Dinner Pizza Express at Golden Cross Walk, 8 Cornmarket St, Oxford OX1 3EX

Friday 8th September 2017 Magdalen College, Oxford

08:45 – 09:15 Arrival & Registration 09:15 – 09:30 Welcome & Opening Remarks Session 1 09:30 – 10:00 Wendy Walker, Metropolitan

Museum Two Della Robbia Reliefs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Conservation Treatment and Insights into Workshop Practices

10:00 – 10:30 Ariel O'Connor, Smithsonian Museum

Preserving Fragility: Conservation of Kristen Morgin’s Unfired Clay

10:30 – 11:00 Tiago Oliveira, TO Conservation

De Rijp whaling scene – Conservation and Restoration of a Delft tile picture

11:00 – 11:20 Morning Break & Student Poster Session Session 2 11:20 – 11:50 Nick Teed & Laura Tempest, York

Glaziers Trust Protective Glazing Stained Glass

11:50 – 12:20 George Bailey & Andrew Schroeder, Australian War Memorial

Radioactive Glass and Enamels

12:20 – 12:50 David Huson, University of the West of England

3D Printing technologies for Ceramics Conservation

12:50 – 14:10 Lunch Session 3 14:10 – 14:40 Ceramics and Glass Group AGM 14:40 – 15:10 Sabrina Schaffarczyk, Uni. of

Applied Sciences Berlin Graduate

18th c. Figure of Zeus

15:10 – 15:40 Rebecca Gridley, Metropolitan Museum

Decision Making in the Restoration of a 16th Century Glass Vessel

15:40 – 16:00 Afternoon Tea Session 4 16:00 – 16:30 Dr Tatiana Shlykova, The

Hermitage Recent Projects Ancient Ceramics vs Fritwares

16:30 – 17:00 Dana Norris, Watt and Norris Conservation

13th c. Fritware Bowl from Kashan

17:00 – 17:15 Questions 17:15 – 17:30 Closing Remarks 17:30 Drinks in the Cloisters

SESSION 1

Two Della Robbia Reliefs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Conservation Treatment and Insights into Workshop Practices Wendy Walker, Carolyn Riccardelli

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has in its collection two masterpieces by Andrea della Robbia (1435-1523) that have recently undergone major conservation treatment. The lunette of Saint Michael the Archangel, which sustained extensive damage after a tragic fall in 2008, returned to The Met’s galleries in 2015 after years of meticulous reconstruction. While daunting, the treatment of the lunette was relatively straightforward including cleaning, dismantling, bonding, filling, inpainting, and dealing with the problems of metamerism. The project culminated in the creation of an elegant mounting system designed to secure each of the sculpture’s original 12 interlocking sections independently. More recently, a massive tondo with a central representation of the virtue Prudence was treated in preparation for a loan. The tondo was found to be structurally unstable in its 150-year-old mount, as well as having many aesthetic issues due to previous restoration campaigns. Conservators disassembled the sections with the goal of remounting this large work in preparation for travel. Following disassembly, a previously unknown numbering system was revealed that led to a dramatically different arrangement of the tondo’s garland. These and other findings, such as glaze repairs, led to insights into workshop practices and the traditions of della Robbia manufacture in 15th century Florence. Biography Wendy Walker specializes in the conservation of ceramics and has a particular interest in the technology of pottery. After attending West Dean College to train in the Conservation of Ceramics, Glass and Related Materials, she worked at the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum before coming to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1999. During her career she has worked as site conservator at excavations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East and in her present position at the Met she conserves a range of ceramics including Greek and Roman terracottas, Italian Renaissance maiolica, European porcelain and early American Art pottery. Recent conservation treatment of several della Robbia works at the Met, study days, and research trips to Italy have resulted in an enduring interest in the technology of these pieces and workshop practices.

Preserving Fragility: Conservation of Kristen Morgin’s Unfired Clay Ariel O'Connor

The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum invited artist Kristen Morgin to present work in an exhibition titled “Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational 2016.” This invitational showcased four artists who take innovative approaches to their mediums with themes of transformation, ruin, and rebirth. Kristin Morgin’s work ranges in size from full-size cars and cellos to nostalgic assemblages of toys and games. They appear to be discarded and found objects, but are made from unfired clay painted with a variety of media including house paint, acrylic, tempera, ballpoint pen, white-out, and graphite. The fragile nature of unfired clay, and the wonder with which people approach a work made from this material, is inherent to the work itself. One particularly fragile piece titled “Snow White and Woodland Creatures” is made from 1mm-thin unfired clay painted to look like playing cards and torn paper nailed to the gallery wall, and sustained cracking and damage during transit to the museum. In the past, many of Morgin’s other works have sustained similar shipping damages due to their extreme fragility. The artist typically repairs them with wood glue, then paints the cracks with new elements, thus changing the work. For this Smithsonian exhibition, we wanted to attempt a repair with conservation materials in the two weeks before the exhibition opened. This paper will outline the research and testing into the most appropriate method to repair the works without staining the clay or solubilizing the varied commercial paints on the surface. The selected materials and final treatment will be discussed. The nature of fragility and inherent vice will be a theme throughout. Biography Ariel O’Connor is an Objects Conservator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) Lunder Conservation Center in Washington, DC, USA. Prior to joining SAAM in 2016, Ariel worked at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Walters Art Museum, Harvard Art Museums, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She graduated with an M.A. and C.A.S. in Art Conservation from SUNY Buffalo State in 2009 and a B.F.A. in Dance and Spanish Language and Literature from Tulane University. In addition to museum conservation, she has exercised her childhood love of archaeology as a conservator for the Aphrodisias Excavations and Gordion Excavations Project in Turkey, and the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project (Poggio Colla) in Italy.

De Rijp Whaling Scene: Conservation and Restoration of a Delft tile picture Tiago Oliveira, Liesa Brierly, Birthe Christensen, Sue Prichard This tile panel was conserved in preparation for the re-opening of the Queen’s House (Greenwich) in 2016. It had been waiting for attention in a dark corner of the Museum’s stores for some time and our joined efforts were able to bring this beautiful 17th Century Delft tile picture to a brighter life. The Delft tile picture is made up of 113 tiles that were set into a heavy plaster backing re-enforced with wires and held within a steel frame, making this a very heavy object to hang safely on the walls in the Queen’s House. Furthermore previous restorations had started to fail in some areas and a number of tiles were clearly set in the wrong orientation. In this paper we describe the removal of the backing and the conservation and restoration processes the tiles undertook in preparation for display. We have combined two tested mounting methods used for similar tile panels in museum environments from the Rijksmuseum and the V&A and explain why this was the best option. We also present interesting historical findings regarding the tiles’ original display and manufacturing periods as well as the decision-making process its re-assembly required. We believe this case study will be informative to delegates as it highlights the unseen process of treating this iconic object. Biography Tiago holds an MA in Conservation Studies from University of Sussex/West Dean College (2012). His thesis looked at a commonly used zinc mortar in stone conservation and its likely application as a filling material for outdoor architectural tiles. On completion of his studies he worked with private and public institutions both in the UK and abroad. In 2013-14 Tiago was selected for the HLF/Icon internships programme in Conservation of Ceramics and Related Materials with Sarah Peek Ltd in Brighton. Later in 2015 he has founded TO Conservation studio in London. Liesa Brierly, Preventive Conservator, Salzburg Museum, Austria (formerly at RM Greenwich) Birthe Christensen, Head of Conservation & Preservation, Royal Museums Greenwich Sue Prichard, Curator of Decorative Arts, Royal Museums Greenwich

SESSION 2 The Old Library, Merton College Oxford: Stained Glass Protective Glazing Trial Laura Tempest, Nick Teed The fourteenth century Old Library of Merton College Oxford contains a scheme of 39 stained glass windows; an assembled collection of glass ranging from medieval times to the early twentieth century. Glass belonging to the original glazing scheme is situated across the seven single-lancet windows in the library’s eastern wall. Merton College has a long tradition of caring for its glass, and in 2016 enlisted the help of York Glaziers Trust in conducting a trial programme of conservation, protective glazing and environmental monitoring on window eI, which contains some of the earliest glass in the library. This paper explores three main aspects of the project; firstly, the conservation treatments carried out, including the improvements made to the strength and aesthetic appearance of the glass through by repairs with conservation grade epoxy resin; secondly, the design and implementation of an internally ventilated protective glazing solution featuring a bespoke framing system for the stained glass and the use of Lamberts Restauro UV(c) glass for the protective panels, which provides the added benefit of the protection of books, manuscripts and other photosensitive materials in the library; and the third, the introduction of environmental monitoring devices to substantiate the effectiveness of the protective glazing and to inform the future conservation approach to the windows in the library. Biography Nick Teed, MSc, ACR - Nick began his career as a stained glass conservator in 1999 at the York Glaziers Trust and since 2004 has supervised the studio in his role as Conservation Manager. Nick has experience in managing numerous large conservation project for York Minster, including the Great East Window, as well as for many clients across the UK and for a number of Colleges at Oxford University. In addition to conservation Nick has specialisms in the design and manufacture of bespoke protective glazing systems, and in the digital photographic recording of stained glass. Nick is and ICON accredited conservator. Laura Tempest, MA - Following an MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management, Laura began her career as a conservator at York Glaziers Trust while also working as an Art Historical Research Technician, employed by the University of York for the HLF funded project ‘York Minster Revealed’ to provide art historical support in the conservation of the Great East Window. She now focuses on conservation, recently working on the stained glass of Trinity College Chapel, Oxford; the East Window of Agher Parish Church, County Meath; windows n4 and n5, Balliol College Chapel, Oxford and the Old Library, Merton College Oxford

Window LW e1 in The Old Library, Merton College, Oxford

Radioactive Glass and Enamels George Bailey, Andrew Schroeder

During a recent refurbishment and reorganisation of the Australian War Memorial’s object storage areas, the opportunity was taken to do a targeted search for radioactive material within the collection. Although not specifically targeted, a number of glass and enamelled objects including aviators’ sunglasses, binoculars, enamelled medals and badges, camera lenses, firearm scopes and glass vessels from a communion set were identified as being radioactive. Radioactive materials may be included in manufacture by accidental inclusion, for specific chemical properties such as colouring or optical clarity, or deliberately to capitalise on the radioactive properties, such as autoluminescence. Naturally occurring radioactive substances, such as uranium and thorium, may be incidentally included in the materials used to make ceramics and glass. High quality camera lens and other optical instruments have thorium added to the glass to improve optical clarity, and uranium has been used for centuries as a colourant in glass, enamels and ceramic glazes to give yellows, greens, pinks and reds. Thorium was used in the production of gas lantern mantles. Radium and promethium may also be present as luminous paint on clocks, watches and compasses and vehicle instruments. Tritium has replaced radium and promethium in many luminous applications, but is very difficult to detect. Methods for identifying the radioactive substances and determining the activity are discussed. Safety implications for conservators and other museum staff are discussed, along with display, storage and handling methods to minimise radiation exposure to staff and the public. Biography George Bailey graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science, Conservation of Cultural Materials, from the University of Canberra in May 1991, specialising in conservation of objects and metals. George started work at the Australian War Memorial (AWM), as an assistant conservator in May, 1990. Since 1998 George has been the Senior Objects Conservator at the AWM. George’s main conservation interests are the conservation of aluminium objects, and radioactive material in museum collections. George Bailey*, Senior Objects Conservator, Australian War Memorial. GPO Box 345 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia george.bailey@awm.gov.au

3D Printing Technologies for Ceramic Conservation David Huson

3D scanning and 3D printing technologies are tools that allow the formation of individual parts or objects in a variety of materials directly from 3D CAD (Computer-Aided Design) files without the use of modelling or moulding techniques. They are frequently used to reverse engineer parts or components of parts. In recent years, these methods have been developed from an expensive industrial prototyping process into a custom manufacturing process comprising a range of different technologies utilising an increasing number of plastic, resin, metal and now ceramic materials. While many of these processes are still very expensive, as the original patents begin to expire low-cost equipment and software is beginning to appear and is widening access to these technologies. 3D printing in ceramic materials has proved more difficult to achieve than with plastics and metals, but a recent upsurge in interest in this area means that several solutions are now becoming available including the powder/binder ink jet process developed by David Huson at the University of the West of England. 3D printing in ceramics could be utilised for creating ceramics replacements such as lids, handles or other removable parts and by combining with 3D scanning techniques could be used to make replacement missing parts. This presentation will review current ceramic 3D printing processes and assess their suitability for use in the area of ceramic conservation and restoration. Biography David Huson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England in Bristol. Having worked for over 25 years in the U.K. ceramic industry, he is currently researching 3D printed ceramics, photo ceramics and the use of digital fabrication techniques for Art/Crafts, Designer/Maker ceramics and industrial applications. In 2011 he was awarded the Saxby medal by the Royal Photographic Society for his work on 3D imaging.

SESSION 3 The 18th Century Zeus Figurine, Museum Angewandte Kunst FFM When the King of Gods Became a Victim of Historic Restoration Sabrina Schaffarczyk

One of the rarities of 18th century ceramics manufacturer Kurfürstlich-Mainzische Ofen-Steingut- und Fayence Dirmstein is an earthenware object, measuring 19,2 cm height and 7,3 cm width. The white, glazed figurine portrays Zeus with his attributes. It was covered with various deposits, and showed discolored, partially displaced restoration treatments, all leading to a poor appearance. Information on the provenance or previous treatments are missing. Therefore, the project focused on saving the authentic material, and sampling information in general, like traces of use and the state of conservation. Examining the painted signet underneath, it was possible to assign it to its manufactory, which only existed from 1778 to 1788. Further investigation defined previous conservation treatment. A variety of obsolete adhesives, refills and retouches could be revealed using UV-radiation and instrumental analysis such as XRF and FTIR, as well as by micro-analysis. Inner metal rivets were detected using X-ray radiation. Conservation and restoration ethics demand minimalism and authenticity. Equally, conservation treatment should correlate the institution’s requirements of aesthetics and safety on display. Therefor the conservation concept incorporated a reduction of degraded materials to the original state and a coherent overall pattern. To avoid moisture penetration into the ceramic, surface cleaning was performed using highly volatile solutions. Likewise, the retouches and fillings were released. Old adhesives were replaced with stable, and correctly positioned ones. Gaps were filled plaster based and concluded with a minimum of retouches and glazes. As the project outcomes, the well secured figurine has achieved its actual form, and detailed surface properties are visible again. Biography Sabrina Schaffarczyk is a student of conservation and restoration at the University of Applied Sciences, HTW in Berlin, where she has concentrated on archaeological and historical heritage. She has been working nationally and internationally as a restorer since 2012. Her workplaces included the Wuqro Museum in Ethiopia or the National Museum of Denmark. Besides she is employed by a Berlin gallery. In 2017 she ended her first period of study with a bachelor’s degree. The thesis dealt with the measures of the ceramic as stated above.

Decision-making in the Restoration of a 16th-century Glass Vessel Rebecca Gridley, Karen Stamm A group of Austrian façon de venise (“style of Venice”) glass vessels from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection will be featured in an exhibition that examines how the value of luxury objects was determined in 16th-century Northern and Central Europe. Many of these blown vessels were ornately decorated with diamond-engraved patterns and passages of gilding, paints, and translucent glazes. Applied after the glass had cooled, these so-called “cold painted” and gilded decorations remain particularly susceptible to loss and abrasion. One of the vessels brought to the conservation lab had lost all but a few traces of its cold-paint and gilding, likely the result of handling and past cleaning efforts. The vessel’s foot had also been broken off, lost, and replaced before it was acquired by the museum in 1891. The object’s inclusion in the exhibition prompted discussions with the curator about whether conservation treatment should address this historic restoration. The replacement foot is not representative of the vessel’s original profile, and is incongruous with its elegant and delicate form. Executed in a plaster-like material, the restoration was covered with an opaque blue paint and struck a jarring contrast with the translucent glass. This paper will discuss the decision-making process that led to removing this historic restoration and designing a new replacement foot, which could be cast in a visually sympathetic material. The profile of the replacement foot was created in consultation with the curator, and with reference to objects of same period and manufacture. The paper will also detail the practical challenges encountered during conservation treatment, as well as the modeling, casting, and mold-making materials selected for the project. Biography Rebecca Gridley is an Assistant Conservator in the Objects Conservation Department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she works on Decorative Arts objects for museum’s British Galleries renovation project. Rebecca holds a B.A. in Art History from Yale University, and earned an M.S. in the Conservation of Artistic & Historic Works and an M.A. in History of Art & Archaeology from the Conservation Center of The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (NYU). Before graduate school, she worked in private practice conservation firms in Chicago and New York. She has since held graduate internships in conservation at The Met, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The Frick Collection, and the American Museum of Natural History, and worked as a student conservator at Villa La Pietra in Florence and NYU's archaeological excavations at Selinunte in Sicily. Rebecca is currently serving as Chair of the American Institute for Conservation's Emerging Conservation Professionals Network (AIC-ECPN).

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

SESSION 4 Comparative Desalination Study of Ancient and Medieval Ceramics Based on the State Hermitage Conservation Practice Dr. Tatiana Shlykova

Dr. Arthur Lane considered Ancient and Near Eastern ceramics dramatically different in style and technique. It is the technique that suggests not merely peculiarities of appearance of an item but central approaches to its conservation treatment. This is the very case with Ancient and Medieval wares. Desalination procedure implies the use of water through immersion, electrodialysis or pulp application. Whereas these methods in most cases work perfectly when applied to Ancient ceramics, they cannot be used without the risk of damage in glazed Near Eastern wares treatment. This is especially important when dealing with fritware ceramic. Several case studied from the State Hermitage practice demonstrate the difference of desalination approaches applied to different types of ceramic bodies and coatings. Moreover, being made of different ceramic materials and thus quite different in style and appearance, Ancient and Near Eastern wares may suggest diverse approaches to loss compensation as well. In place of conclusion one may say that cross-disciplinary conservation and research projects focused on particular type of objects or on single outstanding items is nowadays a world accepted practice. This is the case with the State Hermitage experience connected both with Ancient and Near Eastern wares, the fact allowing comparison and generalized conclusions. Biography Tatiana V. Shlykova was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. She graduated from the Saint-Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design as ceramics and glass designer. Completed her post-graduate study at the Conservation department of the Saint-Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design and defended PhD thesis devoted to Iranian ceramics. She has been a ceramics and glass conservator of the State Hermitage museum since 2002.Member of Union of Artists of Russia. Member of Association of Art Historians and Art Critics. Author of more than 60 papers in Russian and English, including one monograph.

Conservation of a 13th Century Kashan Bowl Dana E. Norris ACR

The Kashan bowl project was carried out in two phases between 2008 and 2015. The bowl (EA1956.88) is an important ceramic object in the Islamic Art collection at the Ashmolean museum. It was originally wheel thrown and turned before being glazed and subsequently decorated with metallic lustre in the Monumental Kashan style. The decoration consists of figures painted in lustre on a white ground within reserve panels surrounded by a repeating arabesque pattern. The object is large for its type measuring approximately 50cm in diameter and 12cm high. As a highlight in the collection the bowl was selected for permanent display in the new galleries which opened in 2009. Extensive overpainting on the surface of the bowl was examined and then removed from the surface at that time. The treatment revealed inconsistencies in the inscription, pattern and glaze colour. It also highlighted areas of structural instability including a large join running through the centre of the object. In 2014, due to a private donation to the museum, it was possible to carry out a second phase of conservation work on the object. The goal of the treatment was to determine if all the shards were original to the bowl and to stabilise it structurally. The bowl was dismantled and each section cleaned under a microscope while recording the body type and position within the vessel. The project funding extended to cover outsourced analysis of a group of fragments with bench top XRF (X-ray Fluorescence). The results confirmed that the bowl is comprised of 13th century fragments from a single object and an elaborate fired restoration. In the final stage of treatment 168 shards from the bowl were reassembled for long term display in a case devoted to fakes and forgeries in the Islamic Ceramics Gallery. Biography Dana Norris is a Ceramics and Glass Conservator and partner at Watt and Norris Conservation in Oxford. Her interest in ceramics began as an undergraduate at Kent State University where she completed a BFA in Crafts in 2002 concentrating in Ceramics. In 2006 she completed post graduate conservation training and has subsequently worked as a project conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. She is currently a PhD student at Cranfield University researching the technology of Chinese enamels and is interested in the conservation of ceramics, glass and enamels on metal.

The Chantry Library began life as the library of the Institute of Paper Conservation (IPC). After an initial period based at the India Office, it was re-established in the Conservation Department of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford, under the management of Judith Chantry (1943-1999), paper conservator at the Ashmolean and qualified librarian.

In 2001 the Oxford Conservation Consortium (OCC) moved to Grove Cottage, with the Chantry Library, supported by a generous bequest from the Chantry family, and still under the ownership of IPC. In 2005, ownership of the Library passed to Icon, and in 2016 Icon and OCC announced that OCC had become the new owner of the Library. The strength of the library is in its collection of journals, conference postprints, and non-UK publications. We have a small section on ceramics and glass, and would be happy to receive your suggestions for publications which you have had difficulty finding elsewhere. Visiting the Library Please contact the library to make an appointment to visit during open hours. The Library is accessible to disabled readers. Regretfully, there is no parking at the Chantry Library. Email: chantrylibrary@gmail.com Tel.: 01865 271520 The Chantry Library, Oxford Conservation Consortium Grove Cottage, St Cross Road, Oxford OX1 3TX Searching for Chantry Library Holdings The Chantry Library collection can be searched through SOLO, the University of Oxford’s online catalogue of the major collections of the University libraries: http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/

The Nigel Williams Prize 2019

Applications are invited from any member of Icon and/or IIC, in either the public or private sector for the next Award in 2019.

The primary focus of the project must be on the conservation/restoration of ceramics,

glass, or a related material and may be either preventive or interventive - or both.

The Icon Glass and Ceramics Group would like to thank Nigel Williams’ family for their continuing sponsorship of this prestigious Prize. It serves both as a memorial to Nigel’s

work and as a form of encouragement towards continuing high standards within the profession.

For all details regarding the Prize, conditions and how to apply, please see the Icon website: www.icon.org.uk

(Groups/Ceramics&Glass/Nigel Williams)

The Nigel Williams Prize Nigel Williams was the British Museum’s foremost expert on the conservation of ceramic and glass objects. His premature death from a heart attack in 1994, while working on a British Museum excavation in Jordan, left the conservation profession with a huge gap. In 1961, in the days before conservation was a profession, the 16-year-old Nigel was recruited by the British Museum, as a museum assistant in the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities. He worked on all types of antiquities – metals, glass, stone, ivory and wood – but ceramics became his abiding passion. His first success was the Sutton Hoo ship excavation. Originally discovered in 1939, this was back-filled because of the war, and only re-excavated in the late 1960s. Nigel was chosen to head the small team charged with conservation – or, in some cases, re-conservation – of the finds. They worked both on site (the mammoth task of making an entire fibreglass and resin cast of the excavated ship in situ was exactly the sort of challenge that delighted the resourceful Nigel) and in the museum, on the magnificent burial goods found with it. Nigel’s enthusiasm and attention to detail set an example to those now entering the museum world with as conservators. The highlight of this stage of his career was the dismantling of the 1940s restoration of the Sutton Hoo helmet, and its re-restoration to a new and altogether more credible shape based on the painstaking study of the profile, colour and morphology of more than 500 fragments. In the late 1970s the excavation of the wreck of the Colossus, which had gone down in 1798 off the Scilly Isles, produced fragments of Greek vases from the collection of Sir William Hamilton. As many of these vases were known from contemporary illustrations, restoration was possible with relatively few fragments. This made good TV, and the BBC’s Chronicle programme showed Nigel Williams to be a ‘natural’ in front of the camera. Many people still remember the magic moment when he uttered a four-letter word when a partially completed restoration started to crack as it was being moved during filming. Above all, Nigel Williams will be remembered for his re-restoration of the Portland Vase. Probably the most important surviving piece of Roman glass, this had been smashed by a vandal in 1845, then restored, and re-restored in 1948. By the mid-1980s the experimental post-war adhesive had failed and it had become imperative to dismantle the vase into its 200 or so fragments and start again. The job took an entire year, again filmed by Chronicle. New adhesives were tested and new ways of colouring the resin in-fills were tried, until a restoration process was evolved which could be recommended for such a world-famous item. During the last years of his life Nigel was much in demand as a lecturer, both in Britain and abroad. He delighted in sharing his knowledge with others. For many years he had been teaching evening classes in ceramics and glass restoration, and he encouraged his British Museum staff to do the same. He was as much at home with one student and a pile of sherds as he was with a projector and an audience of 200 – or with a television crew and an audience of millions.