Conservation and restoration    Kontakt

The Museum of Central Bohemia has fully equipped workshops for the conservation

and restoration of objects made of metal, textile, paper, ceramics and wood, and its

unique radiation laboratory and plasma chemistry laboratory are of exceptional

importance. The Conservation Department’s staff work on conservation and

restoration of items from the museum’s collection, and as their capacity allows they

work for other organisations which lack the appropriate specialists or technical

equipment, or for private customers. The museum also provides technical and

practical assistance, especially to new restorers and students on attachment to the

museum. The museum is not equipped to restore paintings or sculptures.

Plasma treatment

The Museum of Central Bohemia in Roztoky uses plasma chemical technology

primarily for the restoration and conservation of metal archaeological finds. The

controllable reduction of oxides in hydrogen plasma is one of the latest techniques.

Unlike mechanical treatment, this chemical reaction does not only improve the quality

of the surface, but also allows entire sets of metal objects to be processed, speeding

up the restoration process. The introduction of plasma chemical technology in the

museum in 1996 was made possible by Switzerland, which donated the equipment to

the Czech Republic.

Benefits of plasma treatment:

• it simplifies subsequent mechanical cleaning, reducing the risk of damaging an

•  object’s original surface.

• better and faster stabilisation of findings

• chloride ions (catalysts of corrosion) are removed from silver at the specified

•  temperature

Plasma chemical treatment can be carried out separately, but is usually part of the full

treatment of an object. For more detailed information contact konzervace@muzeum-

roztoky.cz.

Conservation irradiation laboratory

The cultural heritage deposited in museums, galleries, castles, chateaux, libraries and

private collections is subject to devastation caused by insects, moulds and fungus. It is

beyond the capacity of the small number of restorers, conservation workers and

private collectors to combat those hazards using the classic methods. For that reason

a conservation radiation laboratory was founded at the Museum of Central Bohemia in

1981, using the biocidic effects of ionising radiation emitted by radioactive isotope of

cobalt. That technique is particularly useful for woodworm, as it is highly effective for

the entire volume of wood under attack, and as it does not use any chemicals, it does

not harm the finishes of the objects treated – varnish, shellac, etc. The cobalt source

only emits gamma radiation, which like RTG or UV radiation cannot activate the objects

treated, nor leave behind any residues that are harmful to health (gamma radiation is

also widely used to sterilise medical implements and certain foodstuffs). The

conservation irradiation laboratory accepts objects made of all kinds of organic

materials for treatment: wood, leather, textiles, paper, etc. For more detailed

information contact ozarovna@muzeum-roztoky.cz.