Taking down the Gortyn Law Code
Over a period of two weeks in September 2018, the Gortyn Law Code was taken down at the Museum of Classical Archaeology (MoCA). The team tasked with the de-install were Kirstie Williams ACR, UCM Organics Conservator; Susanne Turner, Curator at MoCA; and Hannah Price, then Museum & Collections Assistant at MoCA. What is the Gortyn Law Code? The Gortyn Law Code,…
When is it shiny enough? Conservation of a Dividing Engine
Over the summer, staff at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science are preparing for their exhibition ‘Astronomy and Empire’ opening in October 2017. Kirstie Williams, University of Cambridge Museums Organics Conservator, was asked to conserve the Dividing Engine for the exhibition. First off, what’s a Dividing Engine? A dividing engine is a device that is used to mark…
‘It’s amazing what you can do with pegs’: the conservation of a Papua New Guinea skirt
Recently the conservation lab at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has been a hive of activity with conservation students and project conservators. Here is one challenge we have tackled: the conservation treatment of a Papua New Guinea grass skirt. The grass skirt was conserved so that it can be displayed in the MAA Spotlight Gallery as part of the…