French Marble Krater
This French marble krater had active disintegration, discolouration and organic deposits, previous breaks held together by yellowed adhesives, significant losses, and surface soiling. Given its prominent display, it was to be cleaned, stabilised, and reconstructed for return to display.
This is a work in progress. This page will be updated as conservation treatment continues.
Description
This object is a marble vase which has an everted lip with egg and dart design topped with pearls, a deep relief frieze around the bowl of the vase representing the Bacchanalian procession. It has paired satyr heads which create the base for loop handles on a gadroon, followed by pearl decoration, leaf and dart design, and another gadroon lip followed by a fluted base which flares out over a square, two-tier pedestal. It is almost certainly a neoclassical copy of the Borghese Vase, a calyx krater from the Hellenistic period that bares the same features and identical frieze.
Cleaning
Dry cleaning
The vase was first lightly brushed with a goat hair hake brush and gently scraped in areas with a bamboo skewer to remove loose debris followed by the Museum Vac® to remove it. Sugaring that was already loose and sitting on the vase was also vacuumed.
It was then cleaned with Smoke Sponge (vulcanized natural rubber) and Groomstick (modified natural rubber) to remove superficial soiling. Care was taken not to disturb areas of ongoing degradation.
Wet cleaning
Acetone was used on cotton swabs to remove flecks of paint on the marble surface.
The vase was wet cleaned with 5 drops Dehypon LS45 (non-ionic surfactant) in deionised water on cotton swabs as suggested by Cyril Maucourant (2021) and rinsed with deionised water on cotton swabs.
Application of poultices and paper pulp
The following poultices have been applied at various stages in the cleaning process:
Agar agar in deionised water with <1% Dehypon
Laponite RD
Laponite RD 5% w/v in deionised water with <1% Dehypon
Laponite RD 5% w/v in deionised water with 5% w/v ammonium citrate tribasic
After poultices with ammonium citrate tribasic, the marble surface was rinsed in a basic solution of calcium carbonate saturated deionised water. Paper pulp (cellulose fibre at 500 grade) was then applied the further draw out the mobilised stain.
In some cases, steam cleaning was used to remove stains once they reached surface.
Future steps
Reattach broken handle.
Consolidate areas of ongoing deterioration.
Fill areas of major loss and improve joins where there are existing fills.
This is a work in progress. This page will be updated as conservation treatment continues.
