Conservation of museum collections usually involves those objects that are fragile or unstable. Textiles such as Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s dress, furniture such as the Robert Walker bed at the Joseph Manigault House, or wood from archaeological contexts such as the pilings from the city’s early fortifications often require conservation treatment…
Read MoreNational Pollution Prevention Week begins the third Monday of September every year and focuses on reducing pollution production at the source. The Pollution Prevention (P2) Act was passed in 1990 by Congress with the goal of establishing a source reduction program within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which would collect…
Read MoreMacaroni chatelaine marked by Jean Antoine Lepine, Paris, 1797. Belonged to Eliza Izard Pinckney. “Madame moves quietly here to there, Step by step, stair to stair, Aloft she carries candle with flame, Light catching the silver of her chatelaine.” “A really fancy tool belt,” is how one might…
Read MoreSome years ago, on a trip to England, Larry Cadigan, a long-time volunteer in the Museum’s archaeology department, brought back a photocopy of an 18th century map he had identified that showed a “Hessian” redoubt on the Stono River on James Island. Ron Anthony, the Museum’s Archaeologist, suspected that the…
Read MoreWhen I open any of our drawers of historical shoes, the first comments I get are inevitably about how small they are. While some of this can be chalked up to tricks of the eye—forward-set heels and narrow insoles can make a shoe appear smaller—feet were indeed slightly smaller before…
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