Display
'Lunar Landscapes'...The Metallurgy of Armour
Saturday 20th October, 2007 - Tuesday 4th March, 2008
- Price: Admission Free
This exhibition, found in the lower ground floor conservation gallery, offers a unique insight into the work of the Conservation Department here at the Wallace Collection. Curated entirely in-house by David Edge (Head of Conservation) and Dr. Alan Williams (Consultant Archaeometallurgist), the exhibition features a full standing late-15th-century armour, previously displayed in the European Armoury gallery. The aim of the exhibition is to show the results of its metallurgical examination (undertaken over many years) which has revealed more information about the date and materials used in making the armour.
The exhibition recreates the layout of a museum conservation laboratory, with the standing armour mounted upon a wooden support-figure, displayed alongside equipment such as a Vickers metallurgical microscope- a machine which dates from the 1970s, but its optics are as good as those in much more modern microscopes. Additional material (e.g. specimens mounted in resin, polishing papers, etc.) are arranged on the desk, along with a copy of Dr. Williams’ masterwork, “The Knight and the Blast Furnace”, the culmination of over thirty years of research into the metallurgy of European armour.
Around the display, illustrated graphic panels explain the principles of optical microscopy and the Vickers metallurgical microscope, additionally illuminating the principal features of ferrous metallurgy using photographic illustrations of different microstructures. Further panels explain the composition of the armour, revealing the results of its analysis and final assessment by the conservation department.
