Summer 2021 Art Conservation Lecture Series
Filmed as part of the Summer 2021 Art Conservation Lecture Series.
May 27, 2021
GUUS VERHAAR with AMY WALKER
GUUS VERHAAR with AMY WALKER
Guus Verhaar, post-doctoral researcher at the Rijksmuseum, Corning Museum of Glass, and Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History; Amy Walker, Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at UT Dallas
The degradation of glass in museum collections: new conservation insights through scientific analysis
The analytical study of glass objects in museum collections has two main purposes: understanding its past through compositional analysis and safeguarding its future by characterisation of the material condition. This seminar primarily focuses on research concerning the deterioration of glass in museum collections and also presents analytical results of relevance to the historical glass-making process. The framework for the research is a 3-year tripartite postdoctoral project instigated by the University of Texas at Dallas and jointly supported by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the Corning Museum of Glass.
Historic and contemporary glass objects of an unstable composition, up to 30% of museum glass items, can exhibit a particularly problematic degradation behaviour leading to the irreversible alteration of their appearance and, ultimately, to the loss of their function as items for museum display. Identifying and predicting the behaviour of unstable glass is therefore of great relevance, as this allows for timely steps to be taken to mitigate the process of degradation. It is equally important to gain a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the chemical degradation process. These are the primary goals of the ongoing tripartite project.
This lecture outlines the production process and general composition of glass, the degradation which glass of unstable composition undergoes over its lifetime, and the resultant changes in appearance of the glass which occur in the museum environment. The chemical principles of the formation of the disfiguring surface alteration layer is explained, with the focus on the research being undertaken in the tripartite project to identify unstable glass objects at an early stage. A clearer understanding of the issues of prime concern to museum conservators and curators is developing thanks to the application of several scientific instrumental means of analysis. Amongst these techniques, the lecture highlights current work involving the use of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) which is leading to new insights on composition of the unstable historic glasses under investigation.
BIOS
Guus Verhaar is a post-doctoral researcher at the Rijksmuseum, Corning Museum of Glass and the University of Texas at Dallas (Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History). Guus holds a BSc in Physics and Astrophysics (University of Amsterdam), and a Master’s degree and PhD title in Conservation Science (University of Amsterdam). He has been involved with glass degradation studies at the Rijksmuseum since 2012. His main research interest is the application of a range of analytical techniques for the study of the chemical deterioration of glass in museum collections, with the aim of improving the conservation of unstable glass objects.
Dr. Amy Walker is a Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas. The ultimate goal of Amy Walker’s research is the development of simple, robust materials for constructing complex two- and three-dimensional surfaces by manipulating interfacial chemistry. Metal/SAM, semiconductor/SAM and biomolecule/SAM structures have applications in organic electronics, sensing, catalysis, photovoltaics and optoelectronics. Her group also develops analytical techniques to probe the structures produced.