Alla torda
Diorama
Grant Museum of Zoology, University College London, London
This poor bird is part of one of the Grant Museum's only taxidermy dioramas. It was likely made in the early 1900s and has been well chewed by pests.
Because of its extensive deterioration, the Grant Museum decided to use it as a teaching object, rather than conserve it by replicating missing feathers. Instead I cleaned the debris and created a teaching kit for museum educators to teach students about pest damage.
See below for more details of my treatment process or clink the link below to learn more about what I found during my cleaning process.
Cloth Moths and Carpet Beetles, Oh My!
The diorama consists of a wooden box containing a taxidermied razorbill with a backdrop of wallpaper with adhesive and sand to replicate the sea bird's natural habitat.
The following images show the extent of the damage to the pin feathers on the bird's head as well as the remnants of moths and carpet beetles. The diorama was frozen prior to its entry into the conservation lab to prevent the spread of pests to other objects (left).
Treatment Process
After treatment (A): I cleaned the diorama of frass, pests, and lost pin feathers. I then placed the material into lidded Petrie dishes so students can view the contents under a microscope and created a guide for interpretation (B). I created a lid with a Mylar window to allow the bird to be viewed and minimize handling. The diorama fits into a box with all the Petrie dishes for easy storage and viewing.
A
B
