MAIOLICA LUSTERED SPHINX DISH

Condition on arrival

The dish was structurally stable and sound, and thus it did not require to be fully dismantled. The curators request was to reverse and redo the surface repairs in preparation for its permanent display in the newly refurbished galleries at Somerset House.

Conservation treatment

Discoloured and flaky retouched areas, as well as brittle shallow fills, were gently removed with solvents on swabs. This revealed cleaned break lines and very minor areas of loss, which were filled and levelled flat.

All fills were sympathetically retouched with acrylic mediums, reintegrating colour and the original lustre effect. Successive applications of tinted thin layers reproduced the double colour-lustre effect characteristic of this type of objects.