Conservation In Action: Courier trip to USA with items from the Wellcome Library’s Asian Collection

Since 2011, as part of the Preservation and Conservation team, I have been focusing on the preparation of items from the Wellcome Library for internal exhibitions in the Wellcome Collection temporary exhibition space or for external loans, which have seen borrowers from the UK, Europe and overseas.

As an Exhibition Conservator, I work closely with the Library Exhibition Liaison Officer, discussing condition environmental parameters and display requirements for every single item going to be displayed. The Library receives numerous loan requests per year with peaks of workload during the two months before openings, which fall mostly during Spring and Autumn.

After the first approach from the borrowing institution and confirmation of the list of objects, I start with assessment of the physical condition of each item. Following verification that the items are stable enough to travel and to be exhibited, I continue with their documentation on the Conservation Database and if necessary, I proceed with conservation treatment in order to stabilise their physical condition and improve manual handling. I also arrange the framing and display mounting of items with the valuable help of some external art technicians.


Conservation of Islamic Call. 90, “A saying of the Prophet Muhammad”.



Tear repairing and flattening of object from the back.

Part of my role as Exhibits Conservator is also to accompany the items and install them at the borrowing venue. Last February, I accompanied nine items from our Asian Collection to the Brigham Young University Museum in Provo, Utah, USA.


Items documented and mounted at the Conservation studio before despatch

My journey started on a Tuesday morning, coincidentally on St. Valentine’s Day. Myself and the other two girls couriering from the British Museum and the Ashmolean, Oxford were hoping that as a consolation for the 3.45 am start that morning, we would be given a red rose... but that sadly did not happen. Exhausted, we were instead promptly driven down to a Heathrow Airport warehouse following the climate-controlled, AirRide vehicle that was transporting objects to Utah from four UK institutions (Wellcome Library, British Museum, V&A and Ashmolean).

Two empty crates arrived at the Wellcome Library. The Library material was individually soft- wrapped, carefully placed inside the crate and surrounded with layers of Polyurethane foam

The pallet containing the crates was loaded onto the cargo plane ready to travel to Los Angeles

Brigham Young Museum of Art (BYU) was hosting an exhibition of Islamic Art for the first time, following a long tradition of exhibitions relating to Christianity. The exhibition “Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture” at BYU is the first venue of a touring show that will also exhibit at Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Newark Museum and the Portland Art Museum. It showcases more than 250 objects from various lenders in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Curated by the art historian and artist Sabiha Al Khemir, the show spans the entire main floor of the Brigham Museum.

After an incredibly long journey of thirty hours, we finally arrived at Provo at 1 am. The next morning my day at the Museum was spent checking the condition of the items after all that travelling, noting any possible changes and working together with the local Museum art technician on the display, which had been discussed and agreed previously between the two institutions. Materials such as oil paintings, drawings and prints are often displayed framed and hung on wall using security fixings whereas archival flat items, manuscripts and books are usually placed carefully into showcases and either laid flat (sometimes on a barrier sheet of archival board or Mylar®/ Melinex® polyester film) or laid on custom made Perspex supports.

One of the highlights from the Wellcome Library was Arabic MS 1011, “Scroll of Prayers signed by Zayn al-'Abidin”, which was beautifully displayed on its own, exhibiting a meter and a half of its length.

Marking the base of the showcase with tape in preparation for the display of Arabic MS 1011, “Scroll of Prayers signed by Zayn al-'Abidin”.

Detail of the mounting system which prevents the item rolling back on itself.

Other Wellcome Library items were sharing cases with objects from other lending institutions. The curator and couriers were all working together to make sure that the objects were placed perfectly inside the case. When the final display was refined, the showcases were secured in place, locked and witnessed before our departure.

After returning to London, the Library Exhibition Liaison Officer and I received an email from the BYU Museum Registrar, thanking us for all of our helpful support during the preparation and build-up to the loan and for the work on the installation day. The opening day was a great success and the exhibition is still being well attended.

Marking the space on a showcase for the final display solution



Arabic MS 300, “Map of the World”, was placed on a tilted support to facilitate reading.



The Perspex lid of the showcase was carefully lowered before the final locking.



External view of Brigham Young University Museum of Fine Art



 Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture, Brigham Young University Museum of Fine Art, Provo, Utah, 24th February to 29th September 2012
Author: Luana Franceschet

The 'Orphans' go for a short walk

In 2009 the Wellcome Library acquired four large paintings known as the Acts of Mercy. They had been painted by Frederick Cayley Robinson between 1915 and 1920 for display in the Middlesex Hospital, in the Fitzrovia district of central London. The Middlesex Hospital building was demolished in 2005 (except for its chapel, which still stands), and its assets, archives and responsibilities passed to the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The paintings, being homeless, were then acquired by the Wellcome Library. From the Wellcome Library they were lent in 2010 to the National Gallery for a temporary exhibition focused on them and their painter. More information about the paintings is available in several postings on this blog.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is now constructing a new cancer hospital, the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, in Huntley Street, London, south of the present University College Hospital and not far east of the site of the demolished Middlesex Hospital. 'The Orphans', one of the two pairs of paintings by Cayley Robinson that make up the Acts of Mercy, is being lent to the new cancer hospital, which will open next month, in April 2012. There is a certain appropriateness in the loan because the former Middlesex Hospital had a longstanding interest in, and reputation for, the treatment of cancer. [1]

That tradition went back to 1791 when a surgeon called John Howard sent a letter to "the medical gentlemen of the Middlesex Hospital" proposing that a ward be opened for "paupers afflicted with the disease called cancer". The purpose of this initiative was twofold: to afford relief to the patients and to investigate the causes of cancer. For the relief of patients, an out-patient as well as an in-patient service was suggested. For the purposes of investigation, Howard suggested that notes on cases be kept carefully and made available "to any intelligent or scientific person".

Howard was invited to put his proposals to the Middlesex Hospital Board: he not only did so but also produced an anonymous sponsor who was prepared to pay 3,000 guineas towards the costs. The hospital governors accepted the offer, and the ward opened in 1792. A few years later the sponsor was revealed to be the (by now deceased) Samuel Whitbread (1720–1796), the Bedfordshire brewer whose brewery was based in Chiswell Street in the City of London.

Whitbread's funds created the Cancer Charity, which has been described as "the centre and inspiration of the researches into malignant disease which have flowed from the Middlesex Hospital ever since." In 1914 the Barnato-Joel trustees endowed it with funds to build a new research laboratory. It was absorbed into the Middlesex Hospital's radiotherapy department in 1937. Both before and long after that date, many distinguished researchers, surgeons and physicians carried out at the Middlesex Hospital work towards the two objectives of the charity, relief of cancer patients and advancement of understanding of cancer.

It is that tradition of the Middlesex Hospital that will be continued in the new UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre in Huntley Street. It is remarkable that three specific features of John Howard's proposal to the Middlesex in 1791 are retained in the new building: out-patient treatments, in-patient facilities, and (in collaboration with the UCL Cancer Institute on the other side of the road), making the results of research available by open access publishing. As in the former Middlesex Hospital entrance hall, Cayley Robinson's 'Orphans' will be watching over patients in the atrium of the new building.

The other pair of paintings that makes up Acts of Mercy will remain in the Wellcome Library, and after 8 March 2012 will be redisplayed on facing walls, as Cayley Robinson originally intended. However, anyone wishing to see the four paintings together should revisit the Wellcome Library before that date for a last view of the quartet.

[1] R.S. Handley, 'Gordon-Taylor, breast cancer and the Middlesex Hospital', Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1971, 49: 151-164

Images: 'Orphans', by Frederick Cayley Robinson. Wellcome Library nos. 672831i and 672832i

Frequent flyers

If it could collect air miles, then some of the material inthe Wellcome Library would have a pretty impressive stash of them by now. In 2011, Library material travelled a totalof 10,168 miles on its way to and from various different loans to museumsaround the world.

Countries lent to include The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland,Germany (on quite a few occasions), France, the Czech Republic and Canada, aswell as numerous loans within London and the UK. All of these exhibitions have been temporary,lasting on average around 6 months, and the number of items lent has variedbetween 1 and 12. Click on the map belowfor more details:

It’s not just the collections that are well travelled – we send acourier for most of our loans, and Library staff have notched up an impressive 19,928miles this year in round trips carrying out this important role.

So what exactly is involved in lending the Library’scollections? It all starts with aninitial request from the borrowing institution, giving details of theexhibition and what they would like to borrow. Our Conservation department then assess the item(s) to ascertain if theyare robust enough for loan, and what, if any, work needs doing to them in orderto make them safe for travel and display. After final approval from the Library’s Senior Management Team, therethen follows lengthy discussion between the Library’s Exhibition Liaison andthe borrower regarding display and security conditions, any costs involved,transport etc.

Couriering has already been mentioned, and this is the area oflending that many find most interesting. It can seem quite glamorous , and it’s true that it certainly beats aday in the office, but it can also be very tiring with early starts and manyhours of travelling. Professional arthandlers are always used to transport loans,and their preferred method of transport within Europe is usually by truck. Therefore, if accompanying a loan to adestination in Europe, the courier will travel in the truck, spending manyhours, sometimes even days, on the road. If travelling by air, it is necessary to arrive at the airport hours inadvance of the flight in order to witness the crate containing the loan beingloaded up. This involves going behindthe scenes to the cargo shed at the airport, donning a high-vis jacket andhaving your wits about you in order to avoid the many forklift trucks andlorries that work in these areas.

Once the courier reaches their destination with the loan safely intow, they must witness it being unloaded and securely stored into the borrowinginstitution’s premises, and then they will usually return the following day toinstall the item(s). Installationinvolves witnessing the loan being unpacked, condition checking it to ensure ithasn’t been damaged en route, and then supervising its placing in the displaycase or hanging on the wall. Dependingon the number of items being lent, and how complicated they are to install,this process can take anything from an hour to a couple of days. Then it’s back to the UK, with a de-brief onthe trip when the courier returns to work. The whole process then takes place again, but in reverse, when it istime for the loan to be returned.

With requests already received from various museums in the USA,Spain and UK, 2012 looks set to be another busy year for the loan of Wellcome Library material.

Author: Rowan De Saulles