The State Hermitage Museum: Information

Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Works of Applied Art Made from Organic Materials

Laboratory director Yekaterina G. Man'kova
Telephone: (812) 710-97-47, 710-97-45
Fax: (812) 710-97-45
E-mail: object_conservation@hermitage.ru

The Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Works of Applied Art Made from Organic Materials was organized in 1985 by the top-qualified art restorer K.F. Nikitina. The reason for its creation was the acquisition by the State Hermitage of finds from archeological expeditions, in particular from the Pazyryk barrows (5th-4th centuries B.C., Altai Mountain Region), the burial site of Moshchevaya Balka (8th-9th centuries, Northwest Caucasus), and also works of applied art dating back to the 10th-14th centuries from the Old Russian urban settlements of Staraya Ladoga and Pskov.

Archeological finds made of materials of organic origin are poorly preserved in the ground. They are destroyed by the action of the surrounding milieu, whether it be air, soil or water. The problem of safe-guarding objects made of organic materials such as textiles, wood, paper and leather led to the need for developing reliable methods of their conservation at the Hermitage.

In the 1960s the laboratory staff co-authored with chemists new methods for conserving archeological wood. At this time a method was developed for use with wet archeological wood whereby the monomers within the wooden matter are polymerized. Experimental work and evaluations were carried out on a means of preserving wood using polyethylene glycol; this method subsequently found wide application in restoration activities around the world.

Ever since the Hermitage received materials from the Khakas Archeological Expedition beginning in 1969 and continuing in the 1970s, experimental work has been going on to find a more rational method of conserving dry archeological leather and furs. By 1973 a unique methodology was developed which has been successfully applied in the conservation and restoration of an assortment of fur garments recovered from the Oglakhty burial site in Southern Siberia dating from the 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.

During these same years a method developed in the laboratory has been used to restore a musical collection of percussion instruments made from tusks and bones of mammoths and decorated with ornamental paintings.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Hermitage did much to restore objects of decorative and applied art from various countries and peoples, from antiquity to our days.

There is a huge amount of works of applied art that do not pertain to archeology. These may be said to characterize man in his everyday activity: toys, parts of armaments, religious materials, luxury goods, household utensils. Developing methods for conserving works of this applied nature presents the restorer with certain difficulties. The condition of the object is influenced by the process of its regular usage. The original appearance, construction and structure of the material of the object may be substantially altered as a result of renewal and repairs. In each concrete case the restorer selects the appropriate methodology and materials.

At present the laboratory staff are working on the restoration of wooden polychrome sculpture and also on both Russian and Western European as well as Oriental lacquers.

In the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Works of Applied Art Made from Organic Materials there are 8 staff members, of whom 6 are expert art restorers.

The art works restored in the laboratory are put on display in numerous exhibitions, both inside Russia and abroad. The restorers participate in domestic and foreign conferences as well as in training programmes. They maintain professional contacts with their colleagues in Russian and foreign museums.

Restoration programmes:

1. Restoration of the Monk Nitiren sculpture. Japan, 17th centur
2. 18th-century Iranian shield. The specific features of its manufacture, conservation and restoration

In the laboratory
Larger view