This new museum is integrated into Southampton’s Cultural Quarter and displays two permanent galleries and one temporary exhibitions space. As well as showcasing the city’s historical links to the sea, through interactive exhibits and personal testament, a special exhibition commemorates the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic.

The exhibitions team were involved early in the project and were able to work efficiently alongside the museum’s conservators who were treating the objects before mounting.

Plowden & Smith mounted and installed over 700 objects over the three galleries. The most challenging gallery was the temporary exhibition, Titanic the Legend. Here, Titanic merchandise was mounted into wall hung pods. Our team mounted Titanic teddies, mouse mats, board games and more! We had no idea how much Titanic merchandise existed. The team also mounted over a hundred model boats onto large sheets of acrylic suspended behind a large ship model. This has produced a visually appealing display in a small gallery space.

The project ran for two months on-site and the Museum opened on Tuesday 10th April 2012 to commemorate 100 years since the Titanic set sail.

For more information, please visit the Sea City website.

These ancient Chinese objects will be on display until November and is well worth a visit. Please see the Museum’s website here.

For more information, see this article published by The National.

Scagliola is a plaster-like material made from gypsum to which colour pigments and small pieces of stone, such as granite, marble, and alabaster, are added. Once set it can be polished to look like marble. This type of material is particularly complex to restore once broken due to the process of manufacture, as pieces usually become “sprung” once internal tensions are released after breaking. This means that the pieces cannot be adhered to on a horizontal surface without the risk of poor alignment and surface distortion.

To counter this problem, a bespoke intricate wooden support frame has to be made and assembled. This frame holds each piece vertically to enable the restorer to access the table from both sides to ensure pieces are properly aligned, minimising the risk of steps between pieces. A trial run is first undertaken to make sure the sticking order of fragments is worked out and to prevent locking any pieces out during the actual process of adhering the scagliola.

As there were so many broken sections the commode top was left in a very weak condition and the adhesive could not be relied upon to hold the weight of the top. Therefore structural reinforcement was required to unite the pieces. This was made out of aluminium centred lightweight board, which is incredibly strong and light and most commonly known to be used in aeroplane manufacture.

Previous work includes furniture from fine antiques to complex modern furniture such as those designed by Bugatti and historic interiors from paneled rooms, churches to yachts.

Cleaning archaic bronzes requires a great deal of manual skill and knowledge of how metals corrode in order to determine dirt from corrosion products, which should be retained. Other metals such as gold and silver can also remain as inlays in the artefacts and cleaning techniques can be used to bring out these beautiful materials whilst carefully balancing the retention of the patina and corrosion products.

We offer a surveying and monitoring service for archaeological bronze collections to ensure that bronze disease does not develop. One such client is Compton Verney who has a significant collection of Chinese bronzes. One of the case studies illustrated above is of a ritual wine vessel and cover (guang), which dates from the Shang Dynasty, approximately 1100-1200 BC. It was in several pieces and required reconstruction in order to be able to appreciate the aesthetics of the piece.

For more information on Chinese Bronzes please visit Compon Verney’s website: http://www.comptonverney.org.uk/collections/chinese.aspx

As well as this, our technicians are skilled in producing bespoke mounting solutions for private individuals. No matter the size or shape of the object, our team listen to the client’s needs to advise and produce solutions for displaying the object in the best possible way.

The conservation process commonly involves cleaning, re-adhering loose sections of gilded decoration and consolidating flaking and friable surfaces. Further work often includes restoration and the rebuilding of lost areas, which are cast from moulds taken from adjacent parts of the frame; these are then shaped to fit into the area of loss. Once dry the new areas are prepared for gilding using traditional materials such as gesso and clay-bole. The final finish is the application of gold leaf using either water or oil mordents. To match the original gilding the gold leaf is carefully selected from a range of available colours. Depending on the required finish, the newly modeled areas are burnished where necessary, and toned to match the aged original gold.

Gilding in gold, silver and metal leaf, on wood, compo, metal and glass are all treated with the same care. Restoration is always undertaken using traditional methods where possible and appropriate, with a modern understanding for the needs of the object in question. For example, aged gold can throw up interesting problems to overcome. Where losses are significant, but re-gilding is not appropriate, toning with yellow, red and green conservation grade acrylics can “trick” the eye, making the surface appear gold.

The tiles underwent several conservation and restoration processes, including cleaning with a soft brush and vacuum cleaner to remove loose debris and further cleaning with deionised water. In preparation for removing the old fixings and mounting materials each tile was numbered, consolidated where necessary and faced with Japanese tissue to prevent small losses. The tiles were then turned face down to enable the old mounting materials to be removed using mechanical techniques. Old fixing materials such as animal glue were stubborn to remove, especially on the delicate tiles, and so Laponite and water were mixed and used to soften the glue enough to remove the remainder from the back without introducing excessive moisture to the tiles.

Old areas of restoration were removed where necessary and the old break edges were cleaned with a steam cleaner in preparation for re-bonding. Losses were filled, sanded back and re-coloured with good quality acrylic paints and glazes.

To remount the tiles a very light aluminium honeycomb board called Hexlite 620 was used. Panels were cut to fit the profile of the tiles and painted. The tiles were then evenly spaced to incorporate visual integrity of the image. Adjustments to the mounting of some tiles had to be made when the tiles were particularly uneven.

From October 2010 to March 2011, staff worked tirelessly measuring objects and producing mounts which were labelled and boxed ready for installation. A vast and diverse range of objects were involved; from Islamic tiles to meteorites, and Samurai swords to fibreglass fish. Encompassing minute to enormous, straightforward to complex, the team worked alongside conservators and curators to produce mounts of the highest quality for these valuable items.

For the duration of the time spent on-site, the team set up a full workshop with facilities for 6 staff to work in. This allowed the full range of mount-making processes to be carried out and staff were able to tackle any object thrown at them. The diversity of objects allowed the staff to devise a new mounting system for repeat hanging. A universal plate was produced which attached to the wall and mounts could then either be screwed into, or hung from this.

In April 2011 the installation of the mounts and objects into the showcases began.

The biggest challenge was the installation of Window on the World; a wall three floors high spanning the main gallery. This was a combination of showcases and open display and each type of object within the new Museum was represented. It was a complex procedure to install so many objects onto this framework, working at height to ensure that objects were fixed a set distance from the wall and were fully secure.

The project involved an enormous amount of administration and organisation both on-site and back at the Plowden & Smith office. A huge amount of people were involved in the process and at one stage or another, all of the Plowden &  Smith staff were involved.

Despite the long hours and time spent away from home, the team thoroughly enjoyed themselves, aided of course by the Scottish whisky! The opening of the Museum was held in July and attracted over 2000 people, with 100,000 visitors attending the museum in six days.

Please visit the website and take a look at some of the videos showcasing the new galleries. Look out for Creating a new Museum which highlights the work involved by so many different individuals during the project.