Cypriot pottery in The University of Melbourne: an examination of historical context and conservation issues

Abstract

The University of Melbourne's collection of Cypriot antiquities recently featured in an exhi­bition at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, from 5 September 2007 to 16 March 2008, and a new catalogue on the collection was published in 2008. Together these events demomtrate significant interest in the Cypriot collection. Investigatiom were conducted into seven ceramic vessels providing insights into their historical context and highlighting various conservation issues, such as: the presence of salts resulting in fragile surfaces; the possible presence of organic residues and past restorations resulting in foiling adhesives that are damaging break edges. Further work focused on identifying adhesives ..