Conservation and storage

Compared with many items, ceramic objects are resilient, and fare relatively well in harsh light conditions. 

“This can be useful from an institutional perspective,” says Helen Ritchie, the research assistant at the Fitzwilliam Museum, who is in charge of curating and interpreting applied arts. “Galleries with large windows could pose a hazard to paintings or textiles, but ceramics can be put there, which means they often get some of the best spaces.” 

As Alun Graves, the senior curator of ceramics and glass collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, says: “Ceramics are a particularly robust form, environmentally speaking. After all, ceramics provide the archaeological record: pottery survives in the ground. Even if you smash it to pieces, the material is practically indestructible.”

But prolonged exposure to water can pose a real risk, especially in porous materials such as earthenware and other low-fired pieces. 

“If something gets very wet there’s the potential for it to soak up the dirt into the clay, so, we do have to worry about flooding,” says Helen Walsh, the curator of ceramics at York Museums Trust. 

The golden rule of handling ceramics is that objects should not be picked up by their handles, knobs, rims or decorative motifs. Always use two hands and pick up uniformly from the base. Due to the slippery nature of many glazes, clean, dry hands are preferable over cotton gloves. However, latex gloves are ideal for lustreware and gilding, as the moisture, oils and acids transferred from bare hands can disrupt the surface.

Old repairs pose the biggest conservation risks, often especially in non-European objects. 

“The trickiest ceramics to conserve in our collection are Islamic because they were often stuck back together when they were found in the early-20th century,” Ritchie says. “The old glue can start to fail, and then they require quite extensive conservation.”

If disaster strikes, if possible photograph the broken object in-situ. Pieces should be collected and stored together in a padded tray or box, with smaller fragments (and even tiny chips) stored in plastic bags. Don’t try to fit pieces together as this can cause abrasions and prevents a good fit when repaired.

One of the trickiest issues when displaying ceramics is that they are best viewed from all sides. Open display can solve this issue, but it comes with an increased risk of breakages. Walsh’s tip for combating a wobbly display or unwanted handling is to use a dab of Copydex glue. 

“If you put that on the bottom of the pot it stays in place and you can peel it off after display, whereas museum wax or gel soaks into the surface,” she says. “Copydex won’t fasten it solid – but it creates that bit of resistance so that if someone tries to pick a piece up, they think better of it.’

Sticky labels should never be applied directly to ceramics, as they can leave a residue, stain the surface of an object, or lift delicate overglazes and gilding. Ideally, pieces should not be stacked, but if space is critical, white cotton flannel or polyethylene foam should be used between each piece to mitigate scratching and even out pressure. 

Storage cabinets should have a glass front in order to reduce handling and should be firmly fixed to prevent accidental bumping or abrasive contact. If objects themselves are wobbly, foam blocks can be used to create an even surface. 

Advice for restoring, conserving and storing ceramics can be found at the following: