Here is an excerpt from Andrea’s description of the project.

Here at the IMA we are preparing for a new design center. One of the recently acquired pieces is a side board by architect and designer Eliel Saarinen. Saarinen was a Finnish architect who is better noted for his art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century, and national romantic style than for his furniture.  Our side board was created in 1929, shortly after Saarinen immigrated to the United States. … The side board is a 49 5/16 x 77 9/16 x 20 13/16 in. rectangular chest on four legs, with four doors on the front of the piece, covering three compartments (two sides and one larger, central)and its surface is decorated with a diamond pattern of walnut and burl wood veneers. The diamond appliqué follows an alternating pattern of light and dark burled wood over most of the planar surfaces of the piece.  The piece when acquired has diverse cosmetic and structural issues to its surface. For this specialized treatment the IMA�??s conservation lab invited conservator and wood specialist Mark Minor to work on the piece.  In addition to the stabilization and preservation of the cabinet, the goal of the treatment was to bring the artist/designer�??s intent back to view�??to reduce the muddiness of the varnish and clarify the grain/figure of the veneers.

Sounds cool, right?  Did you know that we also have another IMA conservation project on Flickr?  Don’t miss the treatment of a Thornton Dial work.

Anyway, I�??m going to tell you how I help to keep our numbers clean and looking good (I get lots of help). For the past few years I�??ve invited IMA summer interns working in other departments to help me and the conservation interns wash the �??Numbers�?? (you can go here to Flickr to see a ton of images of our sculptures and Indiana�??s various versions of the same sculpture on exhibit around the world).

Washing these 8 foot tall painted aluminum artworks is a fair amount of work, even when you have the good help I had. It�??s a fairly straight-forward process to clean the sculptures: we simply wash them gently with soap (I use Orvus ) and water. Really, that�??s it, some soap and water, a few ladders and lots of me acting like Mr. Miyagi and demanding perfect motions when doing the work.

Beyond the actual work it�??s also a time when I can provide a real example of some of the maintenance we complete on the outdoor sculptures to interns in the other departments. After all (and this number is for Meg), there are over 50 artworks scattered throughout the IMA�??s grounds, and soon to be a lot more over in the 100 Acres.

There are two other things that I wanted to mention, one is that you can go here and see a drawing by Robert Indiana that shows what the organization of the numbers meant to him and why we arranged them so. I�??m always intrigued by this notion that just by putting two numbers together you can achieve a kind off greater meaning.
The second thing I wanted to mention is the fine Wikipedia article that Jasmine made about the numbers this spring. I have it on good word that invitations for Lunch with the IMA�??s director have been sent out to the 5 that made Wikipedia articles of IMA sculptures. I�??ve been digging around to see if others have been made, but haven�??t found any. Speaking of that, I hope our IT department doesn�??t check how many times a day I look at Wikipedia on this computer�?�.

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/08/15/numbers-blog/feed/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/08/15/numbers-blog/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IndianapolisMuseumOfArtBlogConservation/~3/UFnqwWUkhkc/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IndianapolisMuseumOfArtBlogConservation/~3/4kkYfonBQNM/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IndianapolisMuseumOfArtBlogConservation/~3/peKVm0z7czk/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IndianapolisMuseumOfArtBlogConservation/~3/2oddres_bJY/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/08/05/photo-of-the-week-ima-conservation-on-flickr/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:00:55 +0000 Despi http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=617 As a riveting segment this summer, the IMA Blog will be featuring a Tuesday Photo of the Week, highlighting juicy tidbits of info including works of art, artists, news, events, or locations.

Remember how we said we were going to beef up content on Flickr? Well, it has begun with this set of images documenting the anoxic treatment of a work of art by Thornton Dial.

What is anoxic treatment? Well you either know or you don’t…so if you know, aren’t you dying to see how IMA conservators did it? If you don’t know…aren’t you dying to? Don’t miss out on this chance to expand your vocabulary and knowledge of art conservation.

You will see more conservation on Flickr as the year goes along. The photo-sharing site has proven to be a very useful tool to feature this kind of content. We hope that it is useful in sharing some behind-the-scenes insight for our visitors (and blog readers), but we also hope that those of you who are conservators from other places will find this to be a useful forum for discussion.

And if you visit Flickr you will also find:

• A brand new set of photos Daniel and I created during our visit to the ISEA 2008 conference in Singapore
• New answers to the question: “If you lived forever, what would you take with you?” (Of course inspired by the current exhibition, To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum)
• Photos documenting the Earthworks Camp, a collaboration between IMA and IPS

BM conservator Lisa Bruno and registrar Deana Setzke were here for nearly 2 weeks to oversee the installation all of the artworks into the exhibition cases. As a way to remember all of the hard work that went into the installation of this show, IMA registration department staffer Jesse Speight made a card that I think wonderfully demonstrates all of the things that went into putting this show up.

The Later Canon, 2008, 8 7/8�?? x 11-3/4″, RoseArt Washable Markers, BiC ‘Wite-Out’ Correction Pen, Pencil,
Sharpie Permanent Marker (black) on File Folder

How long did it take you to prepare all of the artworks for the To Live Forever Exhibition?

We started to work on the first object, Coffin of the Lady of the House Weretwahset (37.47a-b), in the Fall of 2006, and were finishing up treatment on the very last object a week before it all left the building! While we have been working on these objects for a little over a year and a half, we have been working on many other projects as well. This includes exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum as well as preparing BM objects for loans to other museums.

There are a lot of different kinds of artworks in this show — from gold to papyrus to stone to ceramic. Did you work on all of these different kinds of artworks or did you have help from other conservators? Or are you a magician able to do all things in your conservation studio?

Many people have worked on this show. Most of the 121 artworks were treated by the objects conservation staff, headed by Lisa Bruno, and include Jakki Godfrey, myself, and intern Emy Kim (I abandoned the lab for 5 months in the middle of it all to go on maternity leave!). The papyrus piece, The Book of the Dead of Neferrenpet (35.1448a-d) was treated by the paper conservation department headed by Toni Owen, and include Rachel Danzing and intern Caitlin Jenkins. The treatment of Elaborately Painted Shroud of Neferhotep (75.114) was a collaboration between paper, objects and paintings conservation.

The Conservation Department of the Brooklyn Museum (Left to Right, Richard, Carolyn, Tina, Jakki, Lisa, Caitlen, Toni, Rachel, Elaine)

Our paintings conservators include Ken Moser (who is also the head of the entire conservation department), Carolyn Tomkiewicz, Richard Kowall and intern Katie Patton. In addition, we had some outside conservators help us with a few treatments. Hiroko Kariya, who has worked with BM conservation off and on over the past 12 years, spearheaded the treatment of the Coffin of the Lady of the House Weretwahset, getting help along the way from our staff as well as from private conservator Catherine Williams. A textile conservator, Kathy Francis, was brought in to help with the textile components of Mummy of Demetrios (11.600a-b) and one of the Mummified Dogs (37.1984E). And those are just the conservators!

Many other departments worked together to create this show �?? the curators, registrars, mountmakers, packers, art handlers, conservation scientists, carpenters, painters, and the list goes on.

What kinds of things did you do to prepare all of the artworks for this exhibition?

When any object is requested for display, we start by carefully examining it to understand its current condition, and to determine what treatment it might need to travel and go on display. We keep extensive records of every object that comes through the lab; and we document its condition through a written report and photographs before, during, and after treatment. We adhere to the code of ethics as outlined by The American Institute for Conservation. It�??s fascinating when an object with a long history of conservation comes through the lab. For some of these objects we have treatment records going back to 1918.

In terms of what we actually do when we treat an object: far and away, our main focus is on insuring structural stability for objects going on such an extensive tour. We want to make sure the objects are structurally stable enough (meaning they will not break or be damaged) to withstand travel to and installation in so many museums. In order to stabilize objects we may adhere previously broken pieces together with a stable and reversible adhesive, or consolidate flaking paint �?? again, with a stable adhesive. Integral to the stability of an object is how they are handled, travel and are displayed.

We work with a mount maker to create mounts or supports that an object may travel on and are displayed with. For example, when you walk through the exhibit, look at the two dog mummies. They are attached to padded boards, and held in place with metal mounts that secure the mummies to the board. Or, look at the ceramic Female Figure, (07.447.502). If you look closely, you�??ll see a metal mount, painted to look like part of the object, which is holding the figure safely in place. Once you start to look, you�??ll see mounts everywhere! We worked with several mountmakers for this exhibition, including David Geiger, Chris Bamford, Tracie Sachs and Larry Bamburg.

We also work with special art packers to make crates with appropriate materials to minimize any vibration while the object travels. All of these factors play into the structural stability of an object.

After all of the structural stability concerns have been addressed, we focus on the aesthetics of an object (making it look nice). This often means we will clean an object. How we clean an object depends on what material it�??s made from. Obviously, we wouldn�??t clean a ceramic and a mummy in the same way. The cleaning process (and stabilization process) is only undertaken after extensive examination and documentation of an object and discussion with the curator. After cleaning, we would discuss with the curator the extent of compensation if certain parts were missing.

Which artwork did you spend the most time working on?

The Coffin of the Lady of the House Weretwahset (37.47a-b) took the most work. While the bottom section of the coffin had been on display at the museum before, the lid probably hasn�??t been on view for a hundred years. It needed both stabilization and cleaning. I won�??t go into the details of the treatment but here are a few before and after treatment pictures �?? you can see what a dramatic difference conservation made.

Left: Lid of the Coffin of the Lady of the House Weretwahset, 37.47, before treatment Right: after treatment

Can you talk about conservation’s role in determining how these artworks are displayed? For example, did you advise on the mounts that will be used to support the artworks while on view or did you help determine things like the light levels at which the objects can be lit?

For every object that goes on display, conservation will weigh in on almost every aspect, working with curators, registrars, designers, and mountmakers. We recommend types of mounts, light levels, environmental requirements (temperature and humidity), safety requirements (type of vitrine, if the case needs to be alarmed, or platform can be used, to name just a few), handling and installation requirements (including case design and materials), packing requirements as well as how long an item can be displayed. If an object will travel to another museum, we work with the registrars to review facilities information of every venue to make sure our requirements can be met.

How did you get all the artworks from the Brooklyn Museum to the IMA?

Artwork can travel by many means of transportation, from special air-ride trucks that minimize vibration, to airplanes �?? both cargo and passenger �?? to ship. While I can�??t go into the details for how the objects traveled to the IMA, I will tell you that a courier was near the art at all times. This person made sure they arrived at the IMA safe and sound.

What’s it like for an artwork to travel halfway across the country?

Scary! No, not really. There is so much preparation for a show like this, and a huge team of excellent professionals working together to ensure that these objects travel safely. It�??s fantastic that people all across the US will have an opportunity to see and learn about these amazing objects.

What’s your favorite artwork in the show and why?

I love them all. When you conserve an object, even if you don�??t really like it at first, you end up spending so much time with it and learning its secrets, that you end up liking them all in the end. If I really had to choose, my favorite piece would be the Coffin of the Lady of the House Weretwahset (37.47a-b). It needed a lot of treatment, so we spent a lot of time getting to know her. What was really neat is that the coffin was reused in antiquity [go here (for a video that discusses this]. On the side of the coffin, you can see where the previous occupants name was scratched out and the name of the second occupant was written in. I know that the curator, Ed Bleiberg, went into this in much more detail in the catalog. I also love the shallow saucer (09.889.29) because it�??s so simple and such a fundamental shape. They used these shallow bowls 5000 years ago and we�??re still using shallow bowls today. Finally, I love the footcase of a mummy (73.89). I find it fascinating that even in death the Egyptians are stomping on their enemies (look on the underside of the footcase)!

I noticed one of the artworks in the show is a gaming board. I believe the game that is played on there is called Senet. Have you ever played Senet (of course, not with the museum piece!)?

I have not �?? but it sounds like fun! [You can go here to play an on-line version of Senet]

Since this show is called To Live Forever, and demonstrates some of the ways Egyptians dealt with the idea of the afterlife, did you find yourself considering your own mortality when working on this show?

Not really �?? I was too busy for that! When working with such ancient objects I always think about the people who made them. I think about every day things like what they may have looked like - what they had for lunch the day they were making that particular object - what they were chatting about with the other people in the workshop. I think about all the hands the objects passed through until now �?? ending up in my hands. I especially love handling an object, like a tool or a piece of ceramic, where you can feel the finger impressions of the maker. I think about the mummies in this show, like Demetrios, and what an amazing journey he has been on. Thousands of years old �?? living in Egypt in a time when no one there even knew the Americas existed, and here he is, in Brooklyn, NY. He�??s even been in Brooklyn longer than most of us have been alive. Now he�??s going to travel all over the US.

One piece in the show is the now-famous mummy, Demetrios, that the Brooklyn Museum had CT scanned. Can you tell us anything in particular we should look for when we see this piece?

You should take some time to look at that beautiful portrait, and the gilded parts on the body. I love that his feet were drawn on the linens and gilded.

I�??m not really sure how productive I would be in -40 degree weather (really, who wants to sleep in a snow filled bedroom or use a frozen porta-potty, but it�??s been cool to read how these conservators recently completed treatments on an historic iron-alloy match box and a sewing box, reams of paper and a screw packet, to name just a few things.  Their adventures in this dark and frozen world are always worth a read and besides where else are you going to hear about people riding around in Haaglands and Piston Bullies?   I wonder what kind of license you need to drive one of those things.

Besides imagining myself working in a snow-filled tundra, I�??ve been digging around on the internet for other blogs about art conservation.  Not surprisingly I can find only one blog devoted to conservation in Antarctica, but what did find out is that there are a lot more blogs related to book and paper conservation than any other specialty in my profession.  I enjoy the irony of this: that the people that are responsible for preserving the thing that the internet seems to be eliminating are the ones that seem the most interested and comfortable using it.

Take for example blogs by Jeff Peachey, Holly Robertson, and Beth Heller.  Jeff Peachey always has something interesting to share about working as a book conservator: from talking about type-setting tools to posting about one of the larger topics currently being discussed in my profession: certification.  Holly Robertson�??s blog Do I really want to touch that with my hand? provides a behind-the-scenes look into a book conservator�??s work at the University of Virginia Library.  And Beth Heller�??s blog Beth Heller Conservation covers a lot of territory (who knew she had something from her collection traveling to space?)

In addition to blogs about book and paper conservation, there are a few blogs out there about archaeological digs.  The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology Dig Diaries (hosted by the University of Michigan), is a blog where you can find out what conservators Suzanne Davis and Claudia Chemello are doing at the site in Tel Kedesh Israel.  Besides reading the weekly updates and seeing the field pictures, I�??m a big fan of the Find of the Week.

I would be remiss if I didn�??t mention who I believe is the first person to blog about an art conservation project: The Brooklyn Museum�??s Lisa Bruno first post back in 2006 was about a large-scale treatment of a replica of the Statue of Liberty.  Since then, the BM has posted all sorts of conservation-related material: from the installation of a �??Period Room�??, to John Steele�??s own �??Dig Diaries�??,  to an in-depth discussion of the conservation of an Egyptian mummy that�??s currently on view here at the IMA as part of the To Live Forever exhibition.

I don�??t claim to have uncovered all of the blogs out there about art conservation.  Have you seen any that are interesting?  If so, will you leave me a comment with a link so I can check it out?

I had the pleasure of taking a tour through the IMA�??s conservation lab last week, for a chance to get a quick look at their space and see a sliver of all of the amazing things that go on down there. I am intrigued by conservation: it requires a high degree of patience, the hand skills of a surgeon and knowledge of a wide range of subjects like chemistry and art history. The lab is a huge space, 7000 sq. ft, and has separate rooms for painting, works on paper, sculpture and textiles.

The last room we toured, textile and fashion conservation, was the highlight for me. I have taken some Costume History classes, so I�??ve had a minute amount of first hand experience handling the F.I.T. collection- and this was mostly for examining construction. I don�??t really know anything about the steps that need to be taken for preservation or display. They mentioned Shared Beauty, an exhibition of Eastern rugs and Western beaded handbags, which had recently gone up in the Paul Textile Arts Gallery. So, I took a swing through the exhibit to see what it was all about. I was floored! I was hooked! Okay, no more rug puns.

I decided to learn a little more about Shared Beauty, and got a chance to meet with Kathleen Kiefer, the Senior Conservator of Textiles, and Jessica Barner, the textile conservation technician. Kathleen explained a little more about the work they did to get the bags and rugs ready for the show, and Jessica gave me a tour of the lab and the gallery space, showing me some specific examples of the work they did to prepare the objects for the show.

Most of these objects were in great condition, and the vast majority of their time and effort went into preparing the rugs for hanging. It�??s a delicate process involving, first, the repair of any damage the rug might have sustained, like worn or loose areas, but mostly the careful stitching of Velcro (on a twill tape support backing and perfectly centered) onto the backs of the rugs. This matches up to Velcro that is affixed to the wall. The silk rugs get propped onto strainers, angled boards covered in ultra-suede, to remove some of the pull of gravity off their more delicate knots and weave. Kathleen also mentioned that they had to devise a safe way to get the upward facing fringe to lay flat against the strainers. She used gold thread, tacked at intervals, to combat gravity and invisibly keep the fringe upright.

For the bags, not much work was needed. However, laying flat with no armatures or mounts, the bags did need a little more body shape. Kathleen and Jessica (assisted by Petra Slinkard, Curatorial Assistant, Textile and Fashion Arts; Brose Partington, Mount Maker; and Susan Mefford, a Textile Lab volunteer) created custom pillows for each one out of specially selected materials. Because the bags are enclosed in cases, the most important aspect is the material in and around them. A lot of fabrics and materials like plastics will give off gases harmful to the objects nearby. The ultra-suede used for displays is chosen specifically for its chemical stability. It also comes in lots of colors!

I highly recommend this exhibit. The bags are breath-taking in their intricacy; they glitter in their cases, miniature representations of the motifs on the rugs. The rugs are grand, lush interpretations of millennia old traditions, but look so modern. I longed to touch everything- a feeling, I think, that is natural in a gallery of objects so deliciously tactile. When you visit, you can think about all the loving attention each object got in order to make it there for you!

• Shared Beauty is open on the second floor through March 8, 2009.
• Simply Halston, a sampling of women’s wear by (Hoosier!) fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, is open in the gallery next door until January 4th, 2009.
• The word textile, from the Latin texere, to weave, technically means interwoven threads, while fabric can mean woven, knit, looped, knotted, or fused fibers.
• The oldest carpet in the world, the Pazyryk carpet from 500 B.C.E., was discovered frozen in a Siberian cave burial site in 1949.
• The rugs in this show come from 5 major areas: Iran, Turkey, Caucasus (modern day Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia), India, and Turkmenistan.
• The IMA began their textile collection in 1888 with the purchase of an Irish embroidery.

It�??s a video of Grant Romer of the George Eastman House talking about the famous Abraham Lincoln glass plate negative. I think there�??s a lot to like about this video: it�??s a great subject; the video is well produced (note that this �??video�?? is made entirely from still images); and I think Grant Romer�??s voice sounds a lot like William Carols Williams’. What’s not to like? Download audio file (Williams-WC_08_Just-to-Say_prod-Emerson_08-50.mp3)

While it�??s surprising that the renowned Lunder Conservation Center of the Smithsonian doesn�??t appear to have any of their videos up on youtube.com or Google Video, they have some good ones embedded in the web page (see if you can spot one of the Issac Mizrahi aprons ). I recommend this excellent video of objects conservator Helen Ingalls talking about a treatment she completed on a marble sculpture of Tecumseh.

As a graduate of William Henry Harrison High School (go Raiders!), I�??m well aware of the important place in American history that Tecumseh and his younger brother The Prophet hold so I was thrilled to see this treatment.

The third video is just part 1 of 5 videos of the 1999 restoration of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts�?? important painting by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, The Immaculate Conception.

You can find the rest of the videos on the museum�??s web page and also check out a massive amount of documentation that was done before, during, and after the treatment. The conservation work was completed by Joan Gorman, David Marquis and the rest of the folks at the Midwest Art Conservation Center.

I would be remiss not to point out that IMA has begun to create some content about art conservation within its website. You can go here to check out the youtubers that have been made and you can go here to learn about the Sebastiano Mainardi Conservation Project . Since there�??s been some recent talk about creating more content about art conservation for the IMA�??s web page, I�??d like to ask you what you think:

What kinds of things would you like to see more of from the conservation department?

• Discussions of the techniques and materials of artworks?
• Discussions of the condition of artworks?
• Demonstrations of conservation projects & treatments?
• Or something else all together.

Let me know, will you?

In the comments on that last post Karen T discussed the importance of being able to make a 1:1 comparison between a radiograph and a painting, and then Christina responded with some first-hand experience with our new system. I confess, though: I cheated a bit and asked Christina to answer that question because, after all, Christina is an experienced paintings conservator here at the IMA, and I�??m not.

Christina and I were talking about all of this when the Chief Conservator, David Miller, walked into the lab and joined the discussion (you can find out more about both of them on the Mainardi web page). To make a long story longer, the three of us decided to put together an example that illustrates how the new system handles the 1:1 comparison issue. So David and Christina printed out an image to demonstrate a 1:1 comparison of the radiograph and the painting. The photo above is of Christina holding a 13�?? x 19�?? print out of a radiograph of the IMA�??s Edward Hopper�??s 1943 painting Hotel Lobby. The painting was fully radiographed as part of a technical study of Hopper’s painting technique for an exhibition (and catalogue) opening at the IMA in August of 2008, called Edward Hopper; Paper to Paint, that explores the relationship of the artist’s drawings and studies to the finished painting.

Here you can see a close up of the 1:1 comparison. You�??ll have to wait for the exhibition to open later this year to find out more about what was being looked at in this painting, but in the mean time have a look in the bottom right corner of the radiograph and you can see a piece of hardware that is helping to keep the painting�??s stretcher in place.

In case you want to know, here�??s a spec sheet on our new printer and here�??s a spec sheet on the 13�?? x 19�?? photo paper we used. Finally, you can go here and here to see two documents that discuss the Print Permanence Ratings for this printer and paper combination. And, if your super geeky like me you can watch part 1 and part 2 of our printer in action. Weeee �?� watch it print!

In addition to the two images I�??ve shown here, I�??ve uploaded some more to my Flickr page that attempt to illustrate the printing process and to show our comparison in the gallery.

Beyond the 1:1 comparison issue, there are a couple of other things to consider when comparing the use of film radiographs to digital. A lot of paintings (and objects) are bigger than a single piece of film or photo paper. With film, conservators often trim and combine multiple sheets onto a light box so that the assembled radiograph can be compared to a painting. It seems logical that the exact same thing could be done with a print out, but we haven�??t had a reason to try it yet. However, one of intriguing tools of CR is the ability to make enlargements of certain sections of radiographs. And, within these images you can make measurements and a variety of annotations. The image below illustrates some of these functions.

As for the other comments about the conservation of radiographic images, I�??d like to say thanks, Alison, for keeping the CR topic close to the broader issues. I think it�??s important to keep it in context and I certainly don�??t mind at all if the discussion gets broadened to include the archiving and sharing of film-based radiographs (though I think we should draw the line and not include the whole topic of conservation documentation in the digital form in this post �?? we could be here for months if not years if we got started on that one!).

Taking this post off topic, I want to point out one of my favorite punk bands: the X-Ray Spex; it doesn�??t get much better than Warrior in Woolworths, and besides what conservator wouldn�??t like a lead singer named Poly Styrene.

Anyway, please feel free to add a thought, comment, or question. As I mentioned, we haven�??t had this equipment for very long and though we�??ve mastered some aspects of it, to some extant we�??re still finding our way with it.

A former professor of mine recently called with some technical questions about the Conservation

Department�??s new x-ray equipment. Instead of responding to him via e-mail I thought I would provide a kind of open response here. And why not, right? It just might be interesting to you and perhaps also to my colleagues in the conservation world. Besides, in my mind, the IMA�??s blog seems to be the perfect place to discuss x-radiography considering the previous non sequiturs of Cheesecake and Redbuds.

I�??m a little worried, though, because I doubt many of the folks upstairs realize that we have the capacity to produced x-rays down here in the basement and this might make them a bit nervous. I think it�??s fair to say that most people have a fear of x-rays for good reason, because they have the potential to change humans on the atomic level, and that�??s unnatural at best; but, trust me, we�??ve taken a lot of safety precautions to make sure that all of the x-rays that we produce stay in the room that they are produced in. The room is an enclosed space that is lined all the way around with an 1/8 of an inch of lead. We use a Geiger counter to confirm that this room is successfully containing the energy.

Now I�??m not going to take the time to fully explain what an x-ray is or how an x-ray tube actually produces x-rays. If you�??re interested, go here to learn what x-rays are or go here for a brief discussion of how they are produced (the links will introduce you to such things as anode, cathode, colliding electrons, KV, MA, and so on). I will say that an x-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation that carries a relatively large amount of energy and momentum. Depending on an x-ray tube�??s capabilities, x-rays can penetrate through various objects �?? from canvas paintings to this covered bronze vessel with handle (60.24, called a �??You�??) from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c 900 BCE) and even through large pieces of stone. Our �??you�?? (pronounced: yo) is a traditional type of Chinese ritual vessels; you can go here to find out more about the other types of Chinese ritual vessels.

In the radiograph above of this Chinese vessel (notice I removed the lid), you can �??see through�?? it because the x-rays have penetrated all the way through the copper alloy from which this vessel is made (it�??s about 3/8 of an inch thick). You should be able to see that this vessel was actually broken into many pieces and then the fragments were re-assembled at some point (Jim Robinson, the IMA�??s Jane Weldon Myers Curator of Asian Art, believes this was likely re-assembled shortly after it was recovered from burial. Side note: you can go here to see a video of Jim and the director talking about the new Maya Lin installation, Above and Below.)

X-ray technology has been used frequently in the field of conservation for many years. In fact the IMA purchased its first x-ray tube more than 30 years ago; but last year that tube finally broke down. We were all pretty bummed about that until, out of the blue, the IMA was given a gift from an anonymous donor that allowed us to purchase a bigger and better x-ray tube and shift to a Computed Radiography system. I really have no idea who this donor is, or these donors are, but I�??d like to say thanks. Seriously, thanks a lot! I know that the whole conservation department has been energized by this new piece of equipment.

So, the old system that we had produced radiographs just fine but we had to use x-ray film to capture the images �?? if you want to get a sense of what this film was, think of large piece of black & white film (14�?? x 17�??) and you�??re in the right ballpark. Though you can make high quality and clear images using film, the process is time consuming, messy, and, in a way, a thing of the past. Plus to view film radiographs they need to be lit from the back (or they can be scanned as a digital file, but you then loose some of the resolution). There are plenty of examples of analog technology that already are or soon will be digital.

As I mentioned, the digital technology we now use to capture images is called computed radiography (CR). While CR requires the same kind of tube to generate x-rays, one of the main differences between CR and film is that instead of shooting on film, we now shoot onto reusable phosphor imaging plates that are scanned and then viewed on our computer. So, instead of developing film in a series of chemical baths, we simply stick this �??plates�?? in a scanner (here�??s a spec sheet on our imaging plates and here�??s a spec sheet on our scanner). If you don�??t mind hearing high-pitched noises, you can even watch one of these plates go through the scanner at this link (and, no, I don�??t need to be reminded how geeky it is that I made a youtuber of this process; clearly I realize I�??m a bit geeky, but oh well). Needless to say, this process is much easier and faster than developing film by hand.

With this new system we now have the capacity to do things we�??ve never done before �?? plus we�??re kind of proud to be among the first institutions to use CR in a museum conservation department. CR has been used widely in the medical and industrial fields for some time now but it�??s relatively new to the museum world. When I say that we can do new things with this system this is because with our new x-ray tube we can produce x-rays of higher energy. Our old tube could only produce x-rays up to 110KV but now our new one can go to 200KV. Here�??s the spec sheet on our new tube.

With our old tube I didn�??t have the capacity to generate strong enough x-rays to penetrate through the Chinese vessel pictured above. Previously to do something like this we would have to collaborate with nearby industries to use their x-ray equipment. For example, in 1981 the IMA worked with Detroit Diesel-Allison to produce radiographs and other technical analysis of this vessel and others like it for the out-of-print catalogue Beauty and Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art. Of course collaboration is always a good thing, and we�??re always looking for new partners with which to collaborate, but in this case it�??s much faster to be able to do this work in our own lab.

Since this object was radiographed in 1981 I have an excellent film-based example to which I can compare the new digital file that I created with the CR system. This is important because one of the main questions about the difference between film-based radiography and CR revolves around the idea of the quality of the image, its resolution. That is to say, can the CR system make an image that is of the same quality as what used to be made with film? The other part of this question is if CR can produce high-quality images when higher KVs are used.

I think so, but it may be a bit difficult for me to prove it here because, of course, I can�??t really show you the film-based radiograph over the internet and the monitor I used to view CR files is a high-resolution monitor (here�??s a spec sheet on our new monitor). Clearly, the best way to do this kind of comparison would be with me down in the department�??s analytical room. Since we can�??t do a side-by-side comparison, I�??ll explain to you an example of what our CR system can do.

Jim Robinson mentioned to me one day that this vessel had an interesting example of early recycling. I�??ll let Yutaka Mino and Jim explain what they observed about bottom of the You in their catalogue back in 1981:

�??The exterior of the base has a grid design of raised lines, and the chaplets in the bottom are randomly placed. Two chaplets are of particular note. One is under part of the inscription, showing that the characters were not cast with the vessel. The other interesting chaplet has a fine spiral pattern of leiwen on it. This means that an old, possible broken or unsuccessfully cast vessel was salvaged and used in the manufacture of this object. The practice of recycling old bronzes is manifested in other bronzes.�??

I think you can see these chaplets clearly in the radiographs I created (here�??s a spec sheet on the software we use). Have a look: can you find the three chaplets in this image? In case you�??re wondering, chaplets are used in the casting process to act as a kind of spacer between the inner and outer molds. In this image the chaplets appear kind of like islands in the rest of the copper alloy. These chaplets were inserted into the mold before the liquid metal was poured in.

Look closer, can you see the chaplet with the spiral pattern on it? Can you also see the grid design of raised lines that Yutaka and Jim were talking about? Pretty cool, huh?

So, finally, I think that CR produces images that are of equal or higher resolution than film radiography, and it�??s faster and easier to use. Plus, the images that are created are easier to share, and even potentially be blogged about. If you�??ve read this whole post, thanks and congratulations; I really didn�??t mean for it to be this long, it just sort of happened.

If you have questions, post them in the comments and I�??ll answer them the best I can.

More Info:
You can check out more images that I put up on my flickr.com account.

The digital radiographs I produced were shot at these settings.

Radiograph from the side 170 KV 3 MAs 1.7 minutes
Radiograph top 125 KV 3 MAs 1.4 minutes
Radiograph of lid only 110 KV 3 MAs 1.1 Minutes

Further Reading:
Here�??s an interesting article from JAIC:
“Technical Examination of the Classical Bronze Horse from the Metropolitan Museum of Art”

From the California State University Northridge:
“Piece Mold, Lost Wax & Composite Casting Techniques of the Chinese Bronze Age”