Giving the Leeds Ichthyosaur a Face-Lift

Something large and very blue, with a lot of issues, came into the Conservation Studio in April 2015.  Some items can be conserved in a short space of time, others need a little more time spent on them and some can be a labour of love.

The Ichthyosaur lives down in 'dinosaur alley' at the Leeds Discovery Centre (our museum store) and was initially chosen to go out on loan. Unfortunately, this did not happen but it meant that it could come in for some sorely needed conservation work.


The Ichthyosaur before conservation (LEEDM.B.1843.4)

1. Paint-stripping

As you can see the background was very blue, the in-painting was noticeable and there was underlying damage. My first course of action was to strip the paint back to see what was going on! We used a steam cleaner, scalpel, a very small sander and a lot of hard work to do this.



Ichthyosaur after the paint layer was removed

2. Discovering what lies beneath

Once the layer underneath the paint was revealed a number of problems were spotted. There were numerous cracks, missing pieces of bone that had been damaged in antiquity and various types of materials had been used to infill different areas.

Once this was documented the work could begin on stabilising and repainting the fossil.



Filling all the gaps

3. Filling in the cracks

A conservation grade type of Poly-filler™ was used to fill in the cracks and stabilise the fossil. This can easily be carved and sandpapered down lie flush with the surface.

Once these areas had been in filled and left to dry the surrounding matrix needed to be coated with a paint layer.



The background is painted

4. In-painting and colour-matching

After two coats the in filled sections of the fossil needed to be in-painted.  This needs a steady hand and a good eye for colour-matching. We tend to use pigments rather than paints, but it is dependent on the material.

The rule is six feet away you do not notice but six inches up you can clearly see the in-painted section.


The Ichthyosaur is finished!

5. The finishing touches

Nearly there, just the frame needed varnishing and a deep mahogany was chosen to complement the blue grey paint.

I hope you'll agree the finished article, which has been in conservation for one year and three months, looks a lot better than when it started its journey with us.

Emma Bowron, Conservator

(All photographs within this blog were taken for Leeds Museums and Galleries and are licensed under Creative Commons BY NC SA)

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