The Princeton Maya Vase Conservation Project

The Princeton Maya Vase Conservation Project
by Sarah Nunberg, conservator

I was first introduced to the Princeton University Art Museum’s Maya vase project when curator Bryan Just approached me to treat the Museum’s Ik’-kingdom vessels. Over the course of eight months, I examined the vessels under the microscope, removed samples for analysis, cleaned the surfaces, stabilized damaged areas, and filled losses. After 150 hours of treatment and discussion, my conservation ultimately exposed original outlines filled with intricate details and nuanced surface qualities—and gave rise to new revelations and new questions.

Before conservation began, we consulted historical photographs of the objects. These provided valuable information concerning the surface condition that had been obscured by earlier restoration. A variety of analytic tools, including direct natural light, raking light, magnification, and UV light helped identify the condition of the vases, including surface damage, structural stability, and past restoration.

Comparison of the vessels with the historical photographs and surface examination revealed that conservation work conducted in the 1970s was carried out by restorers who significantly altered the artworks. Before the Museum acquired them, both of Princeton’s two tall Ik’-kingdom uk’ib had broken into many fragments, which were reassembled. In adhering the fragments, the restorers forced sections together, creating multiple stress cracks.

Early restorers filed the vessel fragments after assembly to smooth the uneven joined edges, which further damaged the ceramic, removing slip and painted lines. They also repainted the vessels with acrylic paint, which covered the scratches and losses, obscured the original artwork, and stained the ceramic substrate.

Our conservation aimed to remove the overpaint, revealing and preserving the remaining original surfaces, imparting as little impact on the artworks as possible. I cleaned each vase of modern coatings and overpaint by using solvents on cotton swabs. I reduced fills from the previous restoration to reveal all original surfaces. Most of the cleaning was carried out under a stereo-binocular microscope, which ensured preservation of the original surface decoration and careful removal of coatings.

Unlike the early restorers, we did not re-create false shapes and forms according to our own interpretation. As a result, many forms remain incomplete, thus giving the conservator’s hand a minimal role in the final appearance.

The original slip and surface treatment, revealed after cleaning, is rich in color, with subtly varied slip, intricate details, and nuanced surface qualities. Cleaning the vessels and subsequent surface examination taught us about previously unknown aspects of ancient Maya vessel production, including construction methods and decoration techniques.