Art conservation

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Case studies

In recent class, Hannah Covel was examining a multicolored Berber wallet, and she had been working with art history professor Ikem S. Okoye on its heritage. There’s nothing known about its recent provenance, but microscopy determined it was made from goat or sheep leather.

She also showed off an earlier project: a shovel blade excavated from the Wye House, a plantation on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Her research determined that shovel blades were made in adult and child sizes (this was for an adult) and for different purposes (she’s not sure what kind this is). She used a scalpel and other tools to separate the pieces from the dirt it was found in. Then she used that special adhesive to glue together the largest pieces, stowed tiny remnants in a plastic bag and packed it all in a custom-made box.

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