Course in Identification & Care of Militaria

cochineal

Hello Everyone,

Would collectors of militaria be interested in a course on the identification and care of metal, leather, paper, rubber and costume and any related artefacts? I'm a qualified archaeologist and conservator, have lectured in UCD and worked in the National Museum and with the British National Trust. It would be based in Dublin and probably run on a Saturday. I would have to get at least 20 people along to make it worth running. Sign up below if you're interested. People could bring along objects about which they have questions. I stress I am not an historian i.e it would not be the antiques roadshow - my speciality is the material from which something is made, how it deteriorates and how to prevent this.

Thanks.

Morlar

I would be very interested in that - thanks for posting.

If it covered the paper side - historical documents, field books and so on (even better for me if it were to include photography inc prints and negatives & alu plates).

I would also be interested to hear more from a professional on the subject of medals + ribbons and edged weapons & the like.

cochineal

Hello Morlar,
Yes indeed - I gave a talk to a historical society on Wednesday night on the care of paper-based media including photographs. Ribboned medals would come under textiles and metal so they would definitely be included. Part of the course would cover how to display and mount objects properly as well. I find that poor object mounting often causes the greatest amount of damage to objects and military objects, especially guns, can be very hard to mount. I recently mounted a collection of guns for the interpol office in the pheonix park so I could illustrate the talk with this example. It would be a very practical course too, with attendees getting "hands on" experience. I hope others would be interested.

Dr Strange

Hi cochineal,

very interesting. Thanks for posting. I am a bit too busy for the next foreseeable future but would welcome any nints and tips on conversation!

You could also open your own thread here where people could come with specific questions etc. It's up to you!

paddywhack262

is there any update on this as i would be interested in it myself!

kowloon

If you were to run this during the summer I would be very interested.
You should also put out word to archaeology and History students.