This week in objects conservation, ancient ceramic artifacts are being moved into the lab as our objects conservator prepares them to go on display. Many of the ancient ceramics at CAM were conserved more than 50 years ago, with adhesives that don’t hold up well over time. As a result, old repairs are failing. This figurine of a horse and rider had separated at an old repair on the leg. A brittle aged adhesive remained on both pieces. The old glue will be carefully removed, and a more stable conservation-grade adhesive, with better aging properties, used to repair the edges of the break and to re-attach the leg.  Over the next year the objects conservation lab will be full of archaeological objects getting ready for the future installation of our Near Eastern collection.

Image Credit: Figurine (Horse and Rider), 6^th Century BCE, earthenware with painted decoration, The Nelson and Helen Glueck Collection, 1995.251.