Image 1: Toy Camel Before Treatment

If you follow our twitter feed, you will have seen back in March we featured a leather toy camel who had come into the Conservation and Museums Advisory Service (CMAS) for some treatment (Image 1). A beloved family toy, it is always an honour to be entrusted with an object that is owned by a private client rather than a museum. This camel had previously entered the lab back in 2016 where it had extensive repairs on the leather and re-stitching. However, some further stitching had failed so needed further repairs.

Image 2: Consolidating leather under magnification

There were a few small areas of leather that were flaking and needed consolidating (Image 2), an adhesive needed to be chosen that would not discolour the leather. The treatment was carried out using a conservation grade adhesive that was viscous enough to flow easily under the flake layers but strong enough to support the leather structure, applied under the flakes using a fine brush.

Image 3: Previous repairs and new areas of damage

It is very important within conservation to document every treatment – as we had previously carried out treatment on the camel we knew what was original stitching, what was a 2016 repair, and could identify new areas of damage (Image 3).

Image 4: ICON Principles of Conservation ©ICON

As conservators we follow the guidance from our governing body the Institute of Conservation (ICON). Although it would normally be dictated that ethically a repair should not visually detract from an object but still be identifiable, for this treatment a thread was selected that blended in with the colour of the original thread, making the repairs less visible. To over come this concern, we produced documentation recording where these repairs took place making them identifiable in the future. What may seem like a simple repair can contain a lot of ethical dilemmas and you can find out more about Conservation Ethics by visiting the ICON website (Image 4).

Image 5: Cotton thread tests

It was decided to use a cotton thread rather than the previously used wool thread as this provided more strength and had a smoother surface preventing damage to the original holes in the leather. Test were carried out to identify a suitable colour for the new repairs and thickness of thread (Image 5). The cotton was coated in micro-crystalline wax to prevent bleeding of the colour into the leather and add an even smoother surface to the fibres.

Image 6: Stitching damaged areas using chosen thread

The chosen thread was stitched into the original holes in the leather and a stitching pattern was used to mimic the original (Image 6). The thread was left slightly loose to allow for any expansion of the leather in the future.
The Conservation and Museums Advisory Service (CMAS) aims to promote excellence in the care and use of collections by providing conservation advice and practical treatments to heritage organisations and the public. We also support museums in Wiltshire to meet professional standards and become sustainable, resilient organisations.

If you have a conservation query, want a quotation to carry out some work, or would like to book a free appointment for one of our conservation surgeries, we would love to hear from you! You can contact the team by email cmas@wiltshire.gov.uk or why not follow us on twitter for more updates on our activities.

Kayleigh Spring, Object Conservator