Entries by category: Preservation

During the preservation and rehousing process of the Holtermann glass plate collection, the Collection Preservation team has occasionally come across a broken plate.

The broken plates are cleaned, and then rehoused in museum mount board sink mats. The sink mats hold the broken pieces safely and securely in place, but still allow viewing access. The sink mat and cover is then sandwiched and sealed together with an archival paper tape for storage. All materials used in this process including tapes and board pass the Photographic Activity Test (PAT) and will not adversely affect the glass plate negative.

Martin Polkinghorne of Collection Preservation and Storage recently travelled to Hill End, Mudgee and Gulgong for a short trip away and took a few happy snaps for fellow Holtermann team members. For months, the preservation Holtermann team have been rehousing and cleaning plates depicting the 19th century shopfronts of Gulgong and Hill End and we were struck by how well preserved the historic streets and shopfronts of Gulgong still are!