DivyanshProfessional Relations
Knole and Archaeology Conservation Lab at University College London share a very healthy professional and working relationship. Sending the artifacts is just one of the examples of the relationship they share apart from it, the school generally takes a field trip to visit the 15th century home and educate students about the historical site.
Parchment’s Condition
The letters were written on a piece of parchment which is made using the animal skin. And the centuries for which they remained hidden had taken a toll on the animal’s skin and the letters were sent to the departments where there were specialists who could take care of them.
Jan Cutajar
Now once it was sure that the letter needed some specialist’s care, the next step included finding the one who could take care of them and eventually decipher them. Then came Jan Cutajar in the picture and he was the one whom the letter needed badly.
Professional
Jan Cutajar is a conservation expert who is working as a lab teaching assistant at University College London. The first thing that Cutajar did on receiving the letters was to take a photograph of the letters before he could start with his carefully planned process.
A Careful Procedure
Cutajar knew that the process had to be carried out very carefully or else it could turn into a total disaster. Apart from the dust, stains, and the dirt that was stuck on the paper, the paper was itself brittle and any attempt to flatten out the letters and decipher what was written on them could turn out to be destructive.
Tools
Believe it or not, but the letters were lucky that they ended up with Cutajar and he knew exactly what he was doing. He used various tools and objects like rubber powders, brushes, and other special cleaners in the process of restoring the parchment paper. And the next step was placing the pages in a humidifier.