Student Blog: Objects Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

​One of the reasons I decided to specialize in objects at WUDPAC was because “objects" is hardly a specialization at all. Objects come in a virtually infinite number of shapes and sizes, they can be made of any material, have any function, and be from any time. While no museum's collection can represent the full spectrum of objects, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I am spending the year in the Department of Objects Conservation, comes close. Under the guidance of Conservators Daniel Hausdorf and Pascale Patris, I am working on a range of exciting projects centered on objects made from wood. The two projects I will share show that even when the impossibly (and wonderfully) broad specialization of “objects" is narrowed, there can still be great variety.

One of my first projects at The Met was treating a 9th-century Buddha sculpture from Japan whose right foot had cleanly detached near the ankle. Examination revealed that the detached piece from the right foot, as well as the still-attached front portion of the left foot, were not original to the figure. The feet on carved figures like this one were commonly replaced because the orientation of the wood's grain makes those areas inherently weak. Tenons on the soles of The Met's figure's feet slot into mortises in a boxy pedestal—if the figure is tipped forward on its pedestal, the weak areas of the feet are stressed.

​To begin my treatment, I used gel poultices to soften the old glue residues so they could be more easily cleared away. After a discussion with Daniel, we decided the metal rods inserted into the tenons for mounting should be removed because they may have further weakened the figure's feet. I removed the rods and filled the holes they left behind with cus​tom dowels I made out of pine, a wood with characteristics similar to the softwood the figure was carved from. To reattach the foot piece, I used a glue made from fish collagen that I bulked with small resin spheres. This mixture formed a strong bond but also filled the gap between the pieces being joined. Finally, I used the same fish glue, this time mixed with cellulose powder that I toasted until it darkened to a tone similar to that of the figure, to hide the superficial gap between the figure and the foot piece.​

​I have also joined Pascale on a long-term project she has been working on; an investigation of the coatings on an American wooden carousel horse from the golden age of carousels. Carousel figures from the late 19th and early 20th-centuries were finely carved and lavishly painted. Horses or other animals from the outermost circle of figures on the carousel—like the horse in The Met's collection—were especially extravagant. As functional objects, these figures were frequently repainted as coatings were worn away. Together, Pascale and I have taken dozens of samples from across the surface of the horse and examined them under the microscope. We are using these samples, each like a tiny, colorful slice of lasagna, to reconstruct how the horse's paint scheme has changed over time. Our work is ongoing as we begin to make sense of the horse's complicated history.

I have learned a lot from these two projects, and I look forward to continuing to deepen my knowledge and develop my skills with more projects to come!​

— Olav Bjornerud​, WUDPAC Class of 2023