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A broader view

Lucia Scalisi
Senior Paintings Conservator, Conservation Department

One of the problems in writing an article about work experience abroad is that a straightforward account cannot by any means give a true flavour to the recollection. Having recently read a report of a colleague's work experience in India one could both sympathise and be amused at the frustration of initiation into that environment. You do not go to India to escape people or noise and there is a sad irony in how picturesque poverty can appear to be. Life goes on and on and on and seems more vigourous in India than in the organised, intellectual shelter of a first world order.

Fig 1. The Victoria Memorial, Calcutta.

Fig 1. The Victoria Memorial, Calcutta. (click image for larger version)

The Victoria Memorial Museum stands in the centre of Calcutta, an architectural icon to British rule. It houses a remarkable collection of memorabilia of that era and beyond, encompassing a period in the history of India which, in itself, is a wonder. The conservators who have been recruited to help restore the paintings in this collection are there not to display extraordinary skills or to advance the museum technology of the West but to try, in the most effective way, to apply their skills with minimal resources to the problems of preservation in this demanding environment.

The project organised by the Calcutta Tercentenary Trust (CTT), an Indian-British venture, began with a five year plan commencing in 1990 to conserve part of the collection, a group of paintings made by eminent European artists working in Calcutta and the sub-continent during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The CTT organised funding for the conservation of these paintings along with training for a team of Indian restorers already working in the Museum.

The project has not been without its detractors. One question was why conservators from abroad should be brought in to work on such collections. However, much of the development of expertise and skills in conservation, currently lies in the West. How these skills are made available to regions where conservation policy is a rapidly developing concern is an issue for wider debate. For CTT, getting the skills and the paintings together was a requirement and a challenge. Now, as the project draws towards its five year conclusion with new gallery openings planned for 1995, the venture has seen the fulfilment of its aim to contribute to the restoration and
conservation df India's cultural heritage. A success due to the vision and planning of its founders.

The groups of conservators that have worked together over the last five seasons have taken their skills to a place where running water was not available, where electricity was there for the most part but sometimes it wasn't, and where language was not a barrier but the Western way of lateral thinking was.

Fig 2. One of the Victoria Memorial's trainee restorers retouching 'View of a ruined palace on the banks of the Ganges' by Daniels.

Fig 2. One of the Victoria Memorial's trainee restorers retouching 'View of a ruined palace on the banks of the Ganges' by Daniels. (click image for larger version)

The conservators cleaned, consolidated, lined and retouched paintings by Thomas and William Daniells, Zoffany, Devis and Tilly Kettle amongst others (the collection also has holdings of Stubbs, Reynolds, Ramsay, Hodges and Hickey). Damage by a climate whose seasonal extremes do nothing to enhance the longevity of such fine works, took the project into the realms of environmental protection. Surprisingly the relative humidity, anything from 50 to 100%, did not present mould growth as a problem, rather the city pollution and constant attacks from nesting birds were of primary concern. Conservators encountered problematic cleaning as a result of over zealous past restorations where flaking paint had been scraped off, filled and retouched wholesale. There were no records of past treatments but many paintings arriving from England earlier this century had already undergone lining and no doubt a certain amount of cleaning.

Documentation including a full photographic record of the conservation treatments carried out, has been compiled for each painting. There was no time to explore discoveries revealed by the many hours of intimate contact which the conservator has with the object. Time allowed only to record the possibility that further research may well throw some light upon unanswered questions concerning the provenance and date as well as materials and techniques.

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Fig 3. The author retouching 'The Embassy of Haider Beg Khan to Lord Cornwallis' by Zoffany. (click image for larger version)

Time was spent working with the dedicated team of in-house restorers discussing working practices, materials and methodology alongside practical experience. One of the fruits of this exercise has been the placement of one of the restorers for two months at the V&A with a further two months at the Area Museums Service for South-East England at Kenwood House and a term on the MA conservation course at the University of Northumbria.

I went to Calcutta for the second time in November 1993, returning to the V&A in January 1994. Senior conservators from the Royal Collection, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery and the Louvre amongst others have all been represented on the project. It seems especially relevant for the V&A to have been included in this list given the long-standing relationship this Museum has always enjoyed with India.

I went to Calcutta for the second time in November 1993, returning to the V&A in January 1994. Senior conservators from the Royal Collection, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery and the Louvre amongst others have all been represented on the project. It seems especially relevant for the V&A to have been included in this list given the long-standing relationship this Museum has always enjoyed with India.

The original intention to broaden my experience through working with other collections and with experienced conservators has been achieved. To work in such a dynamic environment with colleagues from a variety of backgrounds was both an education and a privilege.