Marking

Following the debate on barcoding objects, a recent product from
security firms may provide a new approach worth developing.

Alpha-Dot is a lacquer containing microdots with a unique PIN number
which can be painted onto a concealed area of an object. The dots
are described as barely visible and only a tiny amount of varnish
containing one or two dots is required for the object to be
identifiable.  The dots are decoded by an electronic reader.  At
present the kit costs 24.95 pounds sterling in the UK and the
company telephone number is +44 573329

The idea was developed for home security. The owner purchases a kit,
paints a small splash of varnish on each valuable item and registers
a splash of their varnish (with the PIN number) with the company.
Obviously this is not entirely suited to museum use (though it would
be very useful in the case of the theft) but could be developed to
provide a museum with a series of PIN numbers for individual object
identification.

In the cases of repatriation it is worth remembering that an item
may be stolen from its new home and an irreversible  means of
identification could be vital to prevent its subsequent sale on the
art market.  This peril has been clearly demonstrated in Mali and
Nigeria where returned items have hardly been placed in the museum
case of their new home before they have been stolen and vanished via
auction into private collections.  Whilst reverence is due to an
item of a religious nature or human remains, the museum labelling
may help to protect it in future.  If the labelling is not
offensively conspicuous then I would strongly urge that it be
retained. If it is too obvious (as sometimes happens with items
numbered at the turn of the century) then it should be resited in a
more discreet area.

Helena Jaeschke
Archaeological Conservator

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:8
                  Distributed: Thursday, July 10, 1997
                        Message Id: cdl-11-8-003
                                  ***