Astrid Van Giffen-2012

Introduction:

Astrid Van Giffen has been the Associate Conservator at the Corning Museum of Glass since 2009, the premier glass institution in the United States. At Corning, she has worked to restore a number of historical glass objects, and studies methods to conserve glass pieces. This work includes the large collection of Blaschka models maintained by the Corning Museum. In 2012, Astrid Van Giffen was invited to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for one week to assess the collection of models at the UW Zoological Museum. During Astrid’s visit, she aided in the identification of various unknown models and parts, shared methods of conserving the models, and used techniques of close-looking and investigation to speculate on how the UW models may have been originally created.

Identification:

When the UW collection of Blaschka models was “rediscovered” in 2007, the models were found in various states of disarray and disrepair. Many models were removed from their original bases and left unlabeled, while other models remained as only a collection of broken parts. Prior to Astrid’s visit, collaborators Tracy Drier, Ilia Guzei, and Laura Monahan worked to identify and document as many models as possible. This identification process was done by referencing invertebrate model collections at other institutions to the models in the UW collection. However, the identity of some models in the collection remains unclear.

During her visit, Astrid examined the models in the UW collection and conducted a conservation assessment of these models in their various states. She worked to evaluate the models and record their condition, create documentation of models and their components, and photograph interesting deteriorations of models.

Conservation:

Within Astrid’s conservation assessment of the UW Blaschka invertebrate collection, she made suggestions on how to conserve the models and gave a talk about her practice of conservation and restoration of historical glass specimens. During Astrid’s time at UW-Madison she shared the different levels of conservational treatment, which fall under the categories of:

• Preventative conservation (passive)
• Remedial conservation (active)
• Restoration

With any act of conservation, actions made to a model must fall under the principles of maintaining integrity of the original object, be reversible, in case better methods are discovered in the future, and clear documentation of conservation and restoration activities.

Most importantly, Astrid suggested a new form of housing for the Blaschka models, in a different cabinet from other specimens in the museum. This housing must be in a stable environment, with controlled humidity levels, and protected from heat, light, dust, vibration, and movement. With these suggestions, a new cabinet was purchased to better house the models.

Throughout Astrid’s visit and talk, she discussed methods of cleaning and stabilizing glass models to promote their longevity. There was no work done to clean UW models during Astrid’s visit, but the information gathered was highly valuable for future conservational efforts and studies.

Deconstruction:

During the week of Astrid’s talk, many conversations unraveled about how the models may have originally been created. These conversations occurred around close investigation of the models, to determine which parts of models were adhered with adhesives, which pieces were hot-sealed glass components, and what surface applications such as paint, waxes, resins, and enamels were used on models.

In addition, Astrid worked to create careful dimensional drawings of several models present in the UW collection. These drawings document the number and size of glass components for models and propose construction techniques for recreating models. These findings are documented in 2014 paper, titled Proposed Construction Techniques For Blaschka Glass Invertebrate Models. For further reading, the paper can be found linked below.