This bulletin, is the first volume of an annual series which Archetype Publications publishes in association with the British Museum. The British Museum Technical Research Bulletin offers a forum to show a dynamic behind-the-scenes glimpse of the current work which curators, conservators and scientists have conducted on a range of artefacts and materials across the collections at the British Museum. 12 months after publication, the articles of each bulletin are uploaded onto the British Museum website for public viewing.
Foreword
David Saunders
A shell garniture from Gujarat in the British Museum
Barbara Wills, Susan La Niece, Bet McLeod and Caroline Cartwright
New visions of a new world: the conservation and analysis of the John White watercolours
Jenny Bescoby, Judith Rayner, Janet Ambers and Duncan Hook
The effect of ultraviolet-filtered light on the mechanical strength of fabrics
Capucine Korenberg
An elusive stone: the use of variscite as a semi-precious stone
Andrew Middleton, Susan La Niece, Janet Ambers, Duncan Hook, Richard Hobbs and Guy Seddon
The emperor's terrapin
Margaret Sax, Janet Ambers, Nigel Meeks and Sheila Canby
Aztec conch shell working: high-tech design
Caroline Cartwright and Nigel Meeks
Writing that cannot be erased: investigations of a box of pigmented inlays from the tomb chapel of an Old Kingdom noble
Janet Ambers, Rebecca Stacey and John H. Taylor
The black bronzes of Burma
Maickel van Bellegem, Philip Fletcher, Paul Craddock, Susan La Niece and Richard Blurton
Effects of relative humidity on the corrosion of iron: an experimental view
Quanyu Wang
