Die restauratorische und konservatorische Neubearbeitung einer Deichselzier aus Bronze

Abstract

The new conservation and restoration treatment of a bronze pole decoration

The Middle East Museum Berlin provided a bronze object from the Zincirli Collection, for a diploma thesis in the Department of Restoration/Excavation Technique at the Fachhochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, in which a new conservation and restoration treatment concept is to be carried out. It studies a decorated pole of an Assyrian chariot from the last third of the eighth-century B.C.. The object, which was excavated in the year 1892 in Zincirli, came to the Royal Museums of Berlin due to the division of finds and was treated in the course of a number of years with an electrochemical method. Afterwards the fragments were cast in a nitrocellulose lacquer, which contained aluminum particles. The task was to remove the approximately 400 fragments of the object from the lacquer mass, glue them, and then prepare the pieces for presentation in the permanent exhibition of the Middle East Museum Berlin. The fragility of the substance required a secure and stable underground for the presentation. However, a risky casting method was not carried out here, so that for this purpose the backs of the groups of fragments were documented using a mobile optical digitiser developed by the Gesellschaft zur Förderung angewandter Informatik (GFal) Berlin. Subsequently, the digitisation data was prepared at the Technical University Dresden for the product engineering needs. The results of the mill work show the accuracy between the restored object and support plates.