Change or damage? Defining damage for veneer and marquetry collections

"Change or damage?" is a three year post-doctoral research project
studying changes to veneer and marquetry furniture in historic
houses. The project includes non-destructive monitoring of objects
in real-time to determine changes taking place due to the display
environment. However the point at which these small, constant
changes become damage has not been established.

    <URL:http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/graduate/csh/research/changeordamage>

In June 2011 a seminar was held to discuss what the term damage
means for veneer and marquetry furniture collections.  This brought
together a small number of conservators, curators, historians,
scientists, collections managers and other heritage professionals
working in areas related to furniture or on similar research.  These
ideas have informed my definition of damage that will be utilised as
an endpoint of when changes become damage within my research.  Due
to the tasks undertaken, the number of attendees was limited however
the information and findings from the seminar, including my
definition are now available on the project website

    <URL:http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/graduate/csh/research/changeordamage/what-is-damage>

I would really like to gather a wide range of opinions so please
visit the site and have your say including telling me whether you
agree (or not) with the definition.  I would especially like to hear
observations and opinions on the processes that are used to decide
and determine whether objects are damaged, as much as whether the
definition is correct. Using this feedback alongside other currently
ongoing work the damage definition will be reassessed towards the
end of the research project.

The project is funded by the AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage
Programme.

Dr Naomi Luxford
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Centre for Sustainable Heritage
Bartlett School of Graduate Studies
UCL
Central House
14 Upper Woburn Place
London WC1H 0NN
UK
+44 20 3108 9019


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:42
                  Distributed: Friday, March 16, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-42-005
                                  ***