Restoration or Conservation Which Do You Need?

Consult an appraiser if you’re in doubt about the value of the object.
Expect to pay for an estimate. You may not have to, but be prepared.
Ask questions about the work to be done. What materials will they use, and why? What are the alternatives? Responsible professionals want you to make an informed choice.
Save any loose pieces, no matter how small.

Cautions

Avoid phone estimates. A ballpark is for baseball.
The lowest price isn’t necessarily your best choice. Quality work takes time.
Don’t attempt a repair yourself unless you’re confident about your skills and the appropriate materials to use.

Nothing lasts forever, at least not without some help. Anyone who cares for old things knows that it’s rare indeed to encounter a piece that hasn’t already had repairs. It’s not uncommon to encounter three or four generations of repairs of varying quality on a 200-year-old object, be it a painting or a sideboard. Historically, restorers have been responsible for repairing the damage caused by the vicissitudes of environment, accident, and use. Their clients set the standard for what were acceptable levels of restoration, and the restorers worked to that standard.
More recently, standards for caring for the more valuable objects have changed. Connoisseurship, technology, and the marketplace have combined to elevate our understanding and appreciation of original methods and materials. It is no longer enough that “rare and important” pieces have survived regardless of what work was required to ensure that survival.

Rare and important now indicates that the appearance of a piece is consistent with its original maker’s intentions, and that the information that the piece contains about its original materials, technique and appearance has been protected, preserved, and where possible revealed. Conservation as a separate profession emerged some three decades ago to address the needs of these rare and important objects. Generally speaking, a conservator works principally on objects that may have or are known to have historic or artistic significance.

Restoration and Conservation Compared

It isn’t always easy to make distinctions between restoration and conservation, nor is it always necessary. The two disciplines have much in common. Both strive to provide the owner with quality work and a satisfying result, and both share a common distress in having to undo and correct poor previous work. Sometimes a conservator and a restorer will prescribe identical solutions to a problem. For example, if you have milky white marks on your dining table, both professionals will recommend carefully cleaning the surface, abrading it with fine steel wool, and padding it with denatured alcohol until the marks disappear [Fig. 1]. Both of them will also recommend that your guests be more careful with hot dishes or wet containers.

With more complex problems, the differences between restoration and conservation are manifest both in approach and in execution. A restorer’s priorities are to improve appearance and function. This may or may not require removing and replacing damaged elements and coatings. If there is information present about the original materials and techniques of the maker, there is not necessarily a separate priority or capacity to look for and preserve it.

However, if the restoration has been performed without identifying and protecting remnants of original material and technique, the piece slips further away from its origins. Simultaneously, it moves further away from being a meaningful or valuable representative of its type. For example, once a piece of furniture has been refinished or reupholstered, information about early finish layers, or nailing patterns and threads captured under tacks becomes fragmentary and difficult to find [Fig. 2].

For conservators, it is paramount to identify and protect evidence and remnants of original material and technique. Before they undertake to treat an object, they must satisfy themselves that what they are going to do will not damage or destroy information about original elements (e.g. finish remnants, paper fragments, construction techniques).

Both restorers and conservators rely on their own experience and the piece itself for information about original appearance and what has happened to bring it to their attention. A conservator adds the ability to access information that is not visible to the naked eye. S/he has recourse to an array of analytical techniques that make it possible, for example, to characterize resins, identify pigments, describe finish layer sequences, and view the internal configuration of a joint without disassembling it.

For example, with fluorescence microscopy tiny samples of finish can be viewed in cross-section for information about layer sequence and composition [Fig. 3]. If the finish cross-sections reveal that there are remnants of original finish buried under the layers of newer finish, then steps can be taken to protect those lower layers. If the finish cross-sections have revealed that the coating you’re looking at is only the latest in a series, then tests can be conducted to remove it without damage to the original surface over which it was applied. Elsewhere, deteriorated original fabric remnants found under a nail head can be identified for color and type (e.g. linen, silk, wool) and the information gained used to guide choices about the replacement fabrics.

Where to Turn?

As the discriminating owner, where should you turn for quality care: a restorer or a conservator? Begin by asking yourself how valuable the piece is—historically and/or artistically—to you or to the market. An appraiser can help if you’re in doubt. Many of our possessions are neither rare nor important except to us. Your vase may not need the diagnostic capability and protection of information that a conservator offers, in which case a restorer is your better choice.

Then, too, you may not have to decide. A good restorer will refer you to a conservator if judged appropriate, and vice versa. Alternatively, call a museum curator. Based on your description, the individual may be able to steer you in the right direction and, at the very least, doesn’t have a vested interest in your choice.

In short, 99 percent of what we own probably will be well served by a good restorer when something goes awry. For the other one percent that is old enough, rare enough, or complex enough, conservation may be a better choice for interpreting and protecting its story.

Most importantly, enjoy what you have and take good care of it.

Melissa Carr

Melissa H. Carr is a furniture conservator at Robert Mussey Associates in Boston, Massachusetts, and the former chair of the Wooden Artifacts Specialty Group of the American Institute for Conservation. She holds degrees in chemistry and furniture conservation.