image: Oval daguerrotype from 1851 representing Ds. Gerrit Nicolaas de Voogt (1808-1873) pastor of Wychen, with his wife Elisabeth Johanna Betz (1810-1887) and their children Johanna (1836-1909), Johan George (1838-1900), Johannes Everhard (1841-1907), Gerrit Nicholas (1844-1911).
CC-BY Stedelijk Museum Zutphen via Europeana Photography thematic collection
“Protecting daguerreotypes: a new Structural Housing System (SHS)”
Article by Clara Prieto (photograph conservator) published in the Journal of the Institute of Conservation.
Abstract: Research on protection systems for cased daguerreotypes was initiated in 2015, with the aim of developing a tertiary housing system that accommodated the special features and vulnerabilities of daguerreotypes. The main objective was to develop a housing system that takes into account the whole object in its functionality and original structure, while allowing for its handling and viewing without increasing the risk of its damage by such manipulation. Existing tertiary housing systems for cased daguerreotypes were examined, as well as the deterioration patterns and housing materials of daguerreotypes and this article presents prototypes designed and developed from these studies in the first two phases of this ongoing research. In the first phase three prototypes of a new Structural Housing System (SHS) were developed. The SHS is designed to strengthen the first line of defence of the daguerreotype, the case, and protect it during handling and viewing thereby mitigating the risk of further deterioration to any other elements of the daguerreotype. This practical research phase highlighted opportunities for improvement and the second phase of the research focussed on simplifying the structure of the SHS, as well as reducing the number of materials used in its manufacture. As a result, streamlining of its production process was achieved, and two new prototypes were developed such that it is demonstrated that the proposed solutions not only comprehensively protect the daguerreotype but recreate something of its original and intimate viewing experience.
Download: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FtJfdjkBVkia9x95DRE6/full
Clara M. Prieto de la Fuente is an independent conservator-restorer of photographs and graphic art. In addition to conservation treatment and research, she teaches conservation-restoration at the Escuela Superior de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales (ESCRBC) in Madrid. Until 2010 she worked for Anne Cartier-Bresson in the Atelier de Restauration et Conservation des Photographies de la Ville de Paris (ARCP) as Conservation Project Manager. After she received a grant from the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) she returned to Madrid and in 2012 she became a fellow of the Instituto de Patrimonio Cultural de España (IPCE). She holds a Master’s degree in Heritage Conservation and a degree in the Conservation and Restoration of Graphic Art—in 2008 she was awarded a scholarship from the Ministerio de Cultura de España in order to specialise in photographic preservation at the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP), Paris.
