This blog has been written by Wayne who has been volunteering with us at the museum store since 2021. He has also been doing a university course on preventative conservation. Wayne has been looking at how museum objects can be stored, displayed, and generally looked after in ways that protect them from damage.
As part of Wayne’s course, he had to do a student placement where he would put some of what he has learned into practice. He chose to do his student placement with us! Read on to find out what he's been up to.
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| Wayne lightly dusting a uniform cap with a paintbrush and the Museum Vac at the Museum Store |
My Work Placement with Wakefield Museums and Castles
I'm Wayne. I have just completed my university student
placement module with Wakefield Museums and Castles at the museum store. I have
also been a volunteer here for a long time now and so it was nice to take on a
different role.
During my placement I worked closely with various members of
the Museums and Castles Team on different projects. The guidance and generosity
of the staff played a crucial role in my development. They helped me expand my
knowledge further by putting into practice what I have been learning.
My first project was to look at light levels. I was checking
if the light in the museum and the museum cases was too bright for the objects
on display. Different types of objects have different reactions to brightness
levels. Some of these reactions can cause permanent damage or colour fading to
the object. Light levels are checked with a light meter. This measures the
brightness of light in lux, or by the amount of light that falls on a surface,
which is measured in lumens per square metre.
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| Rows of boxes of carefully stored objects in the Museum Store |
I started the project by locating light-sensitive objects
(objects most likely to fade or become damaged) that are on display in the
museums, using the collections database. I then checked how long they had been
on display for. Damage caused by light can also be affected by how long an
object has been exposed to light.
To prevent light damage from happening, it is important to regularly test, monitor, and set light brightness. We also calculate how long the object can be displayed for before it becomes at risk of light damage. When an object reaches its display time limit, it should be moved to dark storage where it can “get some rest”.
The next stage of my work was to identify which
of the museum objects on display have reached their display limit so that they
can be swapped and moved to dark storage.
Food collections
Now this may sound strange to many people that already know
food and museum collections don’t go together normally! Food can rot or attract
pests like mice and insects. These may then damage other objects as well.
However, there are some food objects in the museum collection. They can tell us a great deal about the past. One such object is a hot cross bun from the Crimean War. This bun is nearly 200 years old. It is said to have survived inside a pocket of a soldier because he forgot it was there “like you do”.
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| The hot cross bun that survived the Crimean War! |
This brings me to my next project, which I also decided to
base the written part of my student placement on. Before I could start the
project, I had to locate all the food objects in the museum collection. This
was not easy! A lot of the object records on the collections database describe
the wrapping, or box, but not always whether the food itself was still in the
packaging.
Once I identified the food, I looked at its condition and
whether it was in sealed packaging and whether it had dried out or started to
rot or fall apart. I then looked at how these food-based objects could be
stored and displayed in a way that would prevent or stop any deterioration.
After I started to research this, I soon realised that there
was a gap in information in this area. The information I did find included
protecting the food from the threat of pests by keeping them in sealed
containers. These will keep out even the smallest insect.
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| A freshly repacked box with food collection objects - not to be mistaken for your lunch... |
The food was also placed inside separate plastic bags. This
meant that more than one object can be packed in a box, but each object is
still sealed and separate. I also placed a humidity strip and silica gel into
the boxes. The humidity strip monitors how much moisture is in the box and the
silica gel absorbs it.
Once everything was repacked into plastic boxes, I put all
of the food objects into the same storage area. This will make it easier to
check them, as this will need to done regularly.
Working with the museum team, we did make the decision to
remove some of the food from its packaging and dispose of it. Some of these
objects included food that were in open packets, like some crisps from 1981
that really did smell bad!
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| Out-of-date commemorative Bovril Flavour crisps, anyone? |
There were also some bonbons that had turned brown in
colour. We did keep the packaging for the museum collection, however.
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| A jar of plums 'bottled on the first day of the Great War, 1914-18' |
I would like to thank all the staff at the museum store and many others that made my work placement an enjoyable experience.
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