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March « 2011 « The Polar Museum: news blog

The Polar Museum: news blog

Archive for March, 2011

The Perpetual Student

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

For many years the Lecture Theatre at SPRI has had a permanent student in situ. Just as the objects in the new museum and store have been conserved, it was decided to give the polar bear a spruce up.

Polar bear cleaning

The bear was donated to SPRI in the 1970s and has always hung in the same spot. A warning sign beneath the bear gives clues as to how skins are prepared. In the past heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury have been used in the taxidermy process to preserve skins and also as pesticides. Of course these metals are also hazardous to humans, so that’s why it is best not to touch!

Polar bear cleaning

A lot of dust was generated during the building works and this can be detrimental to objects as it is hydrophilic (attracts water) and abrasive. So I arranged for a specialist conservator to come in and clean our bear.

Polar bear cleaning

Conservator Sophie Rowe getting ready to clean the bear.

In the picture you can see Sophie is wearing a dust mask, this is to protect her from any contaminants in the bear’s fur.

Polar bear cleaning

This image is mid conservation. Although the fur doesn’t look any different compare the left eye to the right.

Polar bear cleaning

One of the materials Sophie used to clean the fur was smoke sponge. Smoke sponge is a vulcanised natural rubber material, a bit like an eraser. It picks up dirt without depositing it back on the surface again. This is perhaps more of an indicator on how dirty the bear was.

Polar bear cleaning

After a morning’s work by Sophie the bear was ready to get back to studying again.

(Images © SPRI/Fiona Cahill)