Abstract
Treatment and Conservation of a Polychrome Egyptian Wooden Sculpture: A Case Study.
Mahmoud Youssif Mohammed* a,b m.youssif@unimelb.edu.au, Mostafa Abdelfatah c, Robyn Sloggett b
a Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum University, Egypt
b CCMC, University of Melbourne, Australia
c Saqqara Conservation Department, Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt
This paper describes conservation of an ancient Egyptian polychrome statuette, discovered in Saqqara in 1984 and identified as Object 18241. It discusses documentation, sampling, investigation of the wooden substrate, micro-organism identification, ground and pigment analysis, and issues of previous restoration. Analysis was conducted with light microscopy, powder X-Ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infra red (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDS). Rhizopus stolonifer and Aspergillus niger were indicated as the main fungi, calcium carbonate as the main compound of the ground layer, and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) in a previous intervention. The pigments Egyptian blue, graphite and dark yellow ochre were identified. Conservation treatment entailed consolidation; cleaning; filling and reconstruction; and stabilisation with cotton, Paraloid B72 and micro-balloons. Assessment and treatment indicated the success of cotton as a filling material, as well as emphasising the importance of comprehensive analysis prior to treatment.
