GEORGE
Laser Cleaning and Team Management
November 2017 - September 2019
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Upon arrival into the conservation labs at Cardiff University in 2010, emergency structural work was undertaken to stabilize George for future treatment. In November 2017 I was made team lead and together we began determining our treatment pathway in conjunction with our professors and the museum curators. This statue is from The Museum of Cardiff collection.
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In February 2019 we began treatment with laser cleaning the unfinished plaster cast surface. Working with a Nd:YAG Lynton Laser at 1064 nm, with a 0.012 J/cm2 fluence, we removed decades of ingrained dust from the surface. Pencil marks outlining the internal structure will be maintained, and areas on the base covered with Japanese tissue (from emergency structural work) will not be laser cleaned. The laser cleaning occurred between February - September 2019, with the majority of the front half of the cast completed. The remaining work will be completed by future students.
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Full treatment pathway includes:
Vacuum away surface dirt, using soft bristle brushes and museum vac
Laser cleaning the surface
Infilling ankles with B72 20% mixed with silica spheres
Repositioning of right arm to correct angle using B72 20% and glass micro balloons
Consolidation of cracking plaster with B72 20% on body, and Araldite 2015 on base
Spot laser cleaning where required
Recommended sunk mounted base made out of Hexlite 620 board to reduce handling and further support George
