Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences

Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaft

Contact

Prof. Dr. Ester Simoes B Ferreira

Prof. Dr. Ester Simoes B Ferreira

Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaft (CICS)

  • Phone: +49 221-8275-3134

Conservation of fluid preserved specimens

Selection of various educational specimens. (Image: TH Köln - CICS - Fabian Neisskenwirth)

This master thesis was dedicated in the development and implementation of a conservation concept for selected fluid preserved specimens of the Ruhr Museum Foundation. The aim was to treat a part of the collection of the now closed Fuhlrott Museum in Wuppertal, considering the material, technological and ethical aspects.

At a glance

Kategorie Beschreibung
Student project Development and implementation of a conservation concept on selected fluid preserved specimens of the Fuhlrott Collection at the Ruhr Museum Foundation.
Supervisors Prof. Dr. Ester Simoes B. Ferreira
Dipl.-Rest. (FH) M.A. Melanie Dropmann
Student Fabian Neisskenwirth
CICS department Natural Sciences
Project partners Ruhr Museum, Essen
Duration 2019 - 2021

Although fluid preserved specimens as part of natural history collections have a rather functional role as vouchers, those made for display purposes are characterized by how they are displayed.

During this project, a conservation concept for fluid preserved specimens from the natural history collection of the Ruhr Museum in Essen was developed to take into account the various material and non-material values of such collections. The heterogeneous state of preservation and the incomplete documentation of the preparations posed a particular challenge.

Material analysis was carried out as part of the documentation process. By means of Raman spectroscopy a noninvasive analysis of the preservation fluid could be performed through the glass. The use of a portable instrument provided by the company Ocean Insight enabled the analysis. Numerous comparisons with other collections of fluid preserved specimens within Germany were particularly helpful to characterise and document the educational specimens within the collection.

A conservation concept for the collection in its diversity, was developed. A decision-making model was created for this purpose combining different ethical considerations and technical requirements.

Finally, a small number of fluid preserved specimens which showed similar conservation problems was treated. However, it was quickly realized that there can be no single conservation concept, but that the conservation problem of each fluid preserved specimen must be treated singularly.

Partners

Thanks go to the partners as well as the numerous collections and archives that ensured access to their holdings during the master project:

Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences

Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaft

Contact

Prof. Dr. Ester Simoes B Ferreira

Prof. Dr. Ester Simoes B Ferreira

Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaft (CICS)

  • Phone: +49 221-8275-3134


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