A CONDITION REPORT IS PART OF GOOD CONSERVATION PRACTICE
A condition report is a document for you to keep after conservation works have been carried out. It should be a clear record which outlines the method, thinking, and any analysis and research that has been carried out as part of works on the object. A condition report should also include advice on how the object should be maintained going forward.
A condition report often includes a condition assessment which may have been done separately, or as part of the current works.
The aim with our reports is to give clients a useful document that records the input of all parties involved in preserving the bronze. We will always provide a condition report but how extensive you’d like it to be is up to you and something we will discuss during our first meeting.
LUCY BRANCH MA ACR UNDERTAKING A CONDITION ASSESSMENT FOR HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES
BUILDING A PICTURE
Unlike a condition assessment which is simply based on the evidence the object presents, a condition report might also include gathering evidence from multiple sources. The history of the object may be unclear from the current condition and, much like a detective, we seek other sources to build a better picture of what the object was.
Extensive research is often a large part of a condition report. It can be time consuming but hugely rewarding. It’s not uncommon that original patina has been entirely lost which means that we have to move to historic text and image research to find the evidence we be sure how an bronze should be restored. This case-building exercise is formalised in a conservation report.
Analysis of corrosion products also helps us to be sure that we are not making assumptions.
Newspaper reports enabled us to find evidence of the original patina on Epstein’s wonderful monument to Field Marshall Smuts in Parliament Square, London.
Raman analysis helps us build a picture of what is happening on a bronze’s surface.
ONGOING CONDITION REPORTS
These reports are carried out at regular frequencies and they serve a different purpose to standalone reports. Frequencies can vary from monthly, quarterly, annually or even as part of quinquennial survey. The frequency at which you need a report generally relates to the questions that need to be answered.
If a conservation issue is ongoing then a monthly or quarterly report will be more helpful than one in isolation. Tracking condition can only be done over a duration and ongoing reports link to one another providing an element of analysis and synthesis that isn’t possible to achieve with a one-off report. This makes it a useful tool for assessing rate of change, factors relating to change and how stable your bronze actually is.
Reports can not only document condition changes, but also how well conservation treatments have faired during a marked period. This is helpful because it enables custodians to see the longevity and benefit of a treatment. There are occasions where treatments are unsuccessful, this prevents money being wasted on a program of works if they are not doing what was intended.
Conservation reports are also an ideal place to diarise certain situations that have occurred around your bronze which may influence its condition such as stone-cutting works taking place alongside a feature or unexpected weather occurrences such as 2022’s Saharan red-sand drops! It’s easy to forget about situations such as these but they can be important factors in why a bronze’s condition has altered.
Be Guided By Us
LEARN THE PRINCIPLES OF BRONZE CONSERVATION
We’ve written a guide specifically for custodians, managers and all those responsible for bronze . It’s easy to understand and there’s no expectation you have any training in conservation.
Available in paperback and ebook wherever books are sold.
