During WWII, pilots used air navigation charts with bomb targeting sites during their operations over enemy occupied territory. Maps like this were often hand held in the cockpit by pilots and navigators during numerous missions. After the war, many of these maps were lost, discarded or destroyed. Some airmen brought these maps home where they would become heirlooms and an important part of family history.
Recently we were called by a client and asked to respond to a large loss where our staff would have to work in a sterile and secure environment. For several weeks we worked in isolation as we recovered and processed millions of dollars worth of contents that had been affected by a Category 3 water loss.
There are few things that are so certain in life. Sooner or later we’re all going to die. Fortunately for anyone reading this, it is highly unlikely that you will end up stuffed and hanging on the wall of someone’s den. Although, just as surely as you and I will kick the bucket one day, as a contents professional you are eventually bound to make the acquaintance of some creature that has met exactly that fate.
A private client recently asked for our help in repairing this beautiful plaster relief that belongs to his family. It was severely damaged when it was accidentally closed in a car trunk. Due to the high sentimental value of the relief, it was was extremely important to the client that it be repaired properly and professionally.
In cases where there has been a partial loss to the paint layers, the loss is filled and retouched using reversible fills and retouching pigments. In order to keep the viewer’s eye from being drawn to the repaired areas of loss, the conservator uses a retouching technique referred to as mimetic retouching.
