Third Edition. Antique quilts are both precious and fragile. Thoughtful care can help preserve them for generations to come. This comprehensive book by professional quilt restorer Ann Wasserman offers a wealth of practical information to aid both? collectors hoping? to find professionals to care for their collections, and? quilters and quilt? owners who want instructions they can follow in the home.The discussion begins with guidelines for assessing each quilt's condition. A chart delineates how factors such as appraisal, heirloom, and historical values, and age or vintage, can affect the choices of treatment. Repair of damaged areas can take one of two approaches - "restoration" or "conservation." Step-by-step instructions and illustrations are given for both approaches, including information on appropriate needles, threads, fabrics, and sewing stitches. The techniques presented are applicable to patchwork, appliqué, crazy, whole cloth, and other styles of quilts. Worn fabrics, holes and tears, re-backing, and re-binding are some of the types of damage covered.A chapter on the cleaning of old quilts discusses wet washing, drying, dry cleaning and vacuuming, and compares the relative safety of these methods. Instructions for safe ways to approach cleaning quilts are given.The discussion of quilt storage includes instructions for rolling or folding, and the merits of acid-free supplies. Storage environment is also important, including temperature and humidity levels and insect control.Displaying antique quilts includes instructions for hanging quilts, plus guidelines for lighting, location, and periodic vacuuming.A bibliography, lists of suppliers, conservation labs, appraisers, and restorers are included.

This publication presents fascinating new findings on ancient Romano-Egyptian funerary portraits preserved in international collections. Once interred with mummified remains, nearly a thousand funerary portraits from Roman Egypt survive today in museums around the world, bringing viewers face-to-face with people who lived two thousand years ago. Until recently, few of these paintings had undergone in-depth study to determine by whom they were made and how. An international collaboration known as APPEAR (Ancient Panel Paintings: Examination, Analysis, and Research) was launched in 2013 to promote the study of these objects and to gather scientific and historical findings into a shared database. The first phase of the project was marked with a two-day conference at the Getty Villa. Conservators, scientists, and curators presented new research on topics such as provenance and collecting, comparisons of works across institutions, and scientific studies of pigments, binders, and supports. The papers and posters from the conference are collected in this publication, which offers the most up-to-date information available about these fascinating remnants of the ancient world. The free online edition of this open-access publication is available at www.getty.edu/publications/mummyportraits/ and includes zoomable illustrations and graphs. Also available are free PDF, EPUB, and Kindle/MOBI downloads of the book.

Master conservator Douglas R. Armstrong imparts his many years of first-hand, practical experience in the field of marine artifact conservation within the pages of "Practical Conservation of Archaeological Objects". This newly updated version for 2012 includes his methods of cleaning coins recovered from a number of shipwrecks, in particular the inventory of the Chanduy Reef Capitana, and the Consolacion in Ecuador. This is a manual of proven methods that all collectors, be they archaeologists or treasure hunters, at land or at sea, will find indispensable when restoring and conserving a wide range of objects, ranging from buttons, cannon, sword handles, or glassware, to pieces of eight. The author was the first craftsman to handle many objects hereto untouched by conservators of the day, not the least of which are delicate pistols, one of the first wrought iron guns, the original Tumbaga bars of the Bahamas, and a bronze saker made for King Henry VIII. The book is richly illustrated with before and after photos of these projects and is fully indexed. The technology and tools used are described in great detail. Truly, this is a manual that every conservator needs at hand.

Eighteenth-century gentleman scholars collected antiquities. Nineteenth-century nation states built museums to preserve their historical monuments. In the present world, heritage is a global concern as well as an issue of identity politics. What does it mean when runic stones or medieval churches are transformed from antiquities to monuments to heritage sites? This book argues that the transformations concern more than words alone: They reflect fundamental changes in the way we experience the past, and the way historical objects are assigned meaning and value in the present. This book presents a series of cases from Norwegian culture to explore how historical objects and sites have changed in meaning over time. It contributes to the contemporary debates over collective memory and cultural heritage as well to our knowledge about early modern antiquarianism.