Hawzah News Agency –The staff of the laboratory of the Al-Kafeel Museum of Precious and Manuscripts Museum at the al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine has completed the maintenance and restoration of two precious pieces for candle holders of the Ottoman style, their manufacture dating back to 1300 AH.
These two pieces were received as a gift to the al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine. The official of the Laboratory Division, Mr. Hussein al-Me'mar said: "The staffs of the laboratory division have experience and competence in dealing with such precious pieces, whether metallic or others, including this piece, which is considered precious because of the accuracy of its manufacture and its antiquity.”
He added, "The maintenance stages go through several stages until the conclusion, and they are summarized as follows:
- Photographing and documenting the piece before maintenance from several sides and angles.
- Recording and documentation, which is divided into two parts, the first is engineering documentation and the second is a general and historical description, to know the age of the piece and the year of its manufacture and other matters.
- Stages of treatment (maintenance and restoration). These pieces have gone through two stages of maintenance and treatment, the first by manual methods and the second by mechanical methods to treat what has not been treated manually.
- Cleaning the piece using special chemicals that are compatible with the nature of the metal, and in a way that does not affect it and its properties.
- Coating the piece with a protective paint that gives it the final shape, taking into account its conformity with the real shape of the piece.
Adding, "The shortcomings of these two candle holders were then completed by making a candle mold that was placed on top of them, and then these two pieces were ready to be displayed in the museum exhibition hall."
He concluded, "The restoration and maintenance work that takes place in the laboratory, are done in accordance with the standards of museum conservation, without affecting their historical value."