The adoption of plastics and rubber to artist jewellers’ repertoire of materials in the late 1960s marks a significant and permanent alteration to the artist jewellery discipline. Since this time the physical and conceptual possibilities of plastics have fuelled and enabled developments in this artistic field. Since the early 1970s museums and private collections have continually acquired artist jewellery created from plastic. Some of these artworks are now exhibiting change or deterioration. Discussion and debate regarding their preservation is a pressing need. To date, whilst there has been recent research into the deterioration of plastic materials found in cultural heritage, almost no published work or debate has addressed artist jewellery specifically. This research positions plastic artist jewellery within the expanding discipline of modern materials conservation and aims to raise awareness of preserving plastic jewellery artworks. The prevalent plastics in use for artist jewellery, their properties and importantly application, to create artistic intent, are identified. Current attitudes of custodians and artists towards preservation, which has a bearing on the past and future prospects of the artworks, are analysed. Despite not having articulated their opinion previously, many jewellery artists have considered the long term prospects of their work as part of their artistic practice. As change and deterioration of the artworks is inevitable the impact of change to jewellery artworks is considered. Understanding how material properties are applied to create intent, as identified, is essential to comprehend meaning and any alterations as a result of change. Finally, having deliberately drawn artists into the preservation debate the nature of their input is considered. Should jewellery artists intervene in their own work when treatment is required? The research is from a humanities rather than scientific perspective and is concerned with objects and their interpretation in the context of preservation. The artworks are the starting point and their context as jewellery objects is the primary concern. Oral testimony of artists is also crucial to draw the artists into the preservation process as stakeholders and because jewellery artists are hitherto unrecorded in this context. What is demonstrated throughout the thesis is that the wearable function of jewellery has a bearing on their perception and interpretation as objects.

For the American sculptor, David Smith (1906–1965), drawing was a language to replace words. It was the subconscious immediacy of drawing that allowed formal concepts to take shape during the laborious process of welding steel. In the 1950s, Smith’s sculptural output increased dramatically in both scale and quantity. At the same time, his drawings acquired a separate identity, largely independent of his sculpture, yet these drawings, and indeed much of Smith graphic process, have to date not been studied in depth from a technical perspective. Utilising the technical study as its mode of inquiry, this thesis investigates the complex tacit knowledge present in Smith’s work, particularly as it exists in the relationship between the practice of drawing and the practice of sculpture, and applies it to the understanding of his oeuvre. Unravelling this tacit or hidden knowledge reveals that Smith attached much significance to materials. More pertinently perhaps, this approach prompts a hypothesis that argues for a simultaneous and synergistic material relationship between sculptural and drawing in Smith’s practice. The elucidation of the tacit within Smith’s work when framed within recent understanding of the importance of tactile perception in experiencing works of art reveals that Smith may have used materials that both perceptually and physically extended drawing into three dimensions and further, that these materials often had resonance with materials used in his sculpture. Studying the technical aspects of Smith’s process inevitably provides a framework for discussion on durability, damage and authenticity in his work. Smith’s extensive investigation into materials - both industrial and artistic – is discussed as a function of his self-identity not as artist, but rather as industrial worker, with a pragmatic interest in the use of durable materials in his work, both graphic and sculptural. The fact that a significant number of Smith’s painted sculptures and drawings have aged poorly is therefore difficult to reconcile. It raises questions about the true durability of his media, why they have deteriorated and, more importantly, how an understanding of the tacit, and of technique and process might be crucial for decisions made for their conservation. In this context the deterioration of a substantial number of Smith’s iconic drawings from the 1950s is discussed in juxtaposition with the now notorious decision in the early 1970s to completely remove badly deteriorated paint from a number of his unfinished sculptures by the then Executors of Smith’s estate, ostensibly to preserve the integrity of his work. That alteration has occurred in both drawing and sculpture in Smith’s work is highly significant, given Smith’s lack of demarcation between the disciplines. It provides a base for discussion on the meaning of intent, damage and restoration in Smith’s work and suggests that even small changes in surface texture, gloss or colour might irrevocably alter our perception of it. The results of the investigation provide several important observations: Firstly, that there is a considerable tacit dimension to Smith’s graphic work not previously considered in studies of his practice and that in understanding this it becomes clear that Smith used drawing in a more complex and vital manner than previously considered. Secondly, that Smith’s drawings were informed to a great extent by both three-dimensionality and by the materials he chose, that tactility and notions concerning the haptic perception of objects might provide insight into Smith’s work, and that this can be applied equally to drawing as much as sculpture. Thirdly, that Smith’s ideological stance as an industrial worker profoundly affected his process and the materials choices he made, and finally, that change in Smith’s works whether the result of deterioration or deliberate intervention might profoundly alter perception and understanding of such nuanced work.

This research is concerned with the detection and removal of hazardous biocide residues from historic applications to herbarium collections. There are two main aims: • To develop a rapid, cost-effective and non-destructive screening method for identifying toxic residues on herbarium sheets; and • To establish the most suitable decontamination method for the removal of naphthalene from herbarium collections, maintaining the integrity of the specimen. The research outlines how the presence of fluorescent marks on specimen sheets throughout the herbarium, at Amgueddfa Cymru- National Museum Wales (AC-NMW), is indicative of mercury(II) chloride contamination. Compelling evidence is given to support the hypothesis that the observed fluorescence is due to the reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(I) during the oxidative degradation of cellulose, occurring as part of the natural ageing process. The rate of fluorescence development is shown to be increased by the presence of naphthalene, and is estimated to take at least 30 years to develop. From the results obtained, it is evident that a hand-held UV-A lamp can provide a rapid and effective method of identifying samples within a collection that are contaminated with mercury, thus providing a rapid and economical means to prioritise which collections require immediate re-mounting. Furthermore, this method will enforce the implementation of safe, standard procedures to protect personnel and visitors when handling the collections, plus enable the removal of a large amount of hazardous chemical from the herbarium environment. It is also demonstrated, through decontamination tests, that the air-drying of contaminated specimen sheets is a more efficient method of removing naphthalene, than either freeze-drying or oven-drying. It is also the most cost-effective, and the least damaging to the specimen. It is shown that the efficacy of the decontamination is dependent upon the paper type. Thin, unfinished, papers are more efficient at losing naphthalene than the heavier, finished and coated papers, as their porous structure allows the naphthalene to remain more mobile. These results provide important information about which specimen sheets are more likely to be successfully decontaminated by the air-drying procedure and can inform the selection and prioritisation process.

This thesis analyses a 12% sample of the 900 extant pairs of eighteenth-century women’s shoes in British museums and argues that shoes are a valuable but currently underused historical resource. The analysis is supported by both primary and secondary literature and contemporary images and much of the research is presented in a visual format such as images, diagrams and tables. The thesis revolves around the following questions: What can women’s shoes tell us about eighteenth-century culture? How can object based analysis of shoes enhance our current understanding of women’s footwear in the eighteenth century? How can we characterise materials, construction and manufacture of such shoes based on extant examples? What implications do these findings have for conservators and others responsible for the survival and management of the extant corpus? By recording the complexity of shoes as composite objects and examining how they are made; from what and how their components were processed and manufactured the thesis greatly increases the current available knowledge. It proposes a methodology for studying shoes and recording subsequent findings. The thesis also recognises the potential of shoes as historical sources. In addition it examines how we might seek to manage shoes as heritage assets in the future and acknowledges the significant role of the conservator in this. A holistic approach involving both curators and conservators in the decision making process relating to conservation and preservation is given. The appendices give full details of the sampled shoes and show the completed survey forms.