Artifact & Object Conservation—Archeological Egyptian Artifacts

ancient artifact conservation

Egyptian Polychromed and Gilt Cartonnages

RLA was retained by a private collector of artifacts to conduct an assessment and provide conservation services for four Egyptian polychromed and gilt cartonnages. These ancient painted pieces had been poorly mounted for years and had broken and bent in several places. Numerous old and unstable repairs with tape and stronger-than-necessary adhesives had strained the original materials, causing additional tears and bending. Using museum standards for ancient artifact conservation, RLA was able to reverse poor repairs to the ancient Egyptian objects. We repaired breaks and cracks in the paper and fabric structures of the cartonnages, consolidated loose fabric and paint with conservation grade resins, removed and replaced old repairs with lighter weight materials, dry cleaned surfaces, filled and inpainted losses to the ancient artworks, and designed and created new safer mounts for the works using rare earth magnets to secure the pieces to their original mounts.