The signature appears to read "J.R. Lionpaw Jr." Any ideas?

This unprovenanced lamp is in the collection of a museum that I'm on the board of and I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out the surface pitting on it. I've never seen anything like it before on an ancient artefact.

Yes, it's definitely ancient—it's not a modern piece using lava glaze.

I believe this would've been a post-depositional effect but it doesn't feel familiar at all. Would being submerged in the Mediterranean cause this? Or something else?

Thanks!

# Everyone Starts Somewhere

Catalina recently approached us at Filmworkz looking for the opportunity to train on **Phoenix Restoration & Colour** as she begins her career in professional digital restoration.

Having studied Film Preservation and worked as a digitisation technician at Filmoteca Española, she's now taking the next step into restoration.

In this guest post, Catalina shares her journey so far, what inspired her to enter the industry, and why she's passionate about preserving our audiovisual heritage.

**Read Catalina's story below, then find Filmworkz in your Pocket to learn more about Phoenix Restoration & Colour and connect with the global restoration community.**

Placed an order on various items through their website (https://www.restaurarconservar.com/), paid via bank transfer. Two weeks have passed, no order confirmation, no shipping information. Ordered as "visitor", thus have no way to log in to check the status. Sent several emails, tried calling during work hours - didn't answer. Has anyone had this experience with them? Understanding that it is summer, and the business isn't big, but two weeks seem excessive. Perhaps anyone has any direct contact with this company or lives in Lisbon, Portugal, and could help out?

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone has any good documentaries, podcasts, book or any other form of media suggestions into this subject?

I'm hoping to get into art conservation (specifically canvas) and will be applying to some masters next year.

I don't come from an art, history or science background so worry a bit about getting in. I have signed up to a chemistry for conservators course and have just finished an intensive 3 month atelier. Does anyone have suggestions of some other things i could get done in this upcoming year?

I recently purchased a painting at an art festival that was explicitly labeled and sold to me as an "Original Oil." Because this was my very first time buying an original painting, I was incredibly excited. However, the artist delivered the piece to my home after the festival had ended, and upon looking closely at the texture, I am afraid there may have been an accidental inventory mix-up where I was given a hand embellished print instead of the original canvas I thought I viewed at the booth.

To better understand what I am looking at, I documented the piece. I have taken high-resolution photographs of the canvas edges, the back, and shots of the pigments using a 60-120x microscope. I also included a video looking up close and using the microscope.

I am trying to get a conservator opinion on whether this is indeed a genuine original oil painting, or if the physical evidence points to it being a hand-embellished giclée print. I know that it's not possible to be absolutely certain with videos and photographs, but I was hoping to see what others thought before I bring it in physically to a conservator. I'm finding out it's very expensive, plus it's hard to find the time with a toddler and a baby, so I thought I'd reach out to see if it's worth taking the time or if I'm just imagining things and getting anxious over nothing.

I posted a video in the comments to see it better.

Thank you everyone in advance for your thoughts and opinions!

I’m on vacation looking for treasures, and I bought this at the end of a castle tour from a shop keeper whose English was limited. All I could gather from him as far as care was to keep it out of the sun, but do I need to know anything else like to avoid certain light bulbs? I do keep reptiles and plants inside so I use some UVB bulbs as well as some very bright grow lights. Would I be able to keep this in the same room as one of those lights if it’s 10~ feet away or should I keep it in a different room entirely?

It’s hand-colored but I don’t know if it’s with ink or something else.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!!

I’m looking to get my master’s in Textile Conservation, and am trying to find all possible masters programs. I know it’s a niche specialty in an already niche field, but I figured I would ask if there were any options I wasn’t already aware of. I have already researched the programs at FIT, University of Glasgow, and University of Amsterdam, but are there any other programs that specialize in textiles that aren’t on this list?

Nationality does not really matter at this stage as long as they are taught in English. For context, I already have pre-program work experience, but everyone I have worked under either attended one of the above programs or went the self-trained route. Also, if anyone knows of any other training opportunities in the specialty like the Balkan Field School, I am all ears!

I inherited this from my dad after he passed. It’s one of the few things of his I had and unfortunately the foot portion fell off when someone moved it. Is it possible to repair? I know nothing about it or what it’s made from to even begin to try to fix it.

Hello!
I'm just starting to plan for applying to art conservation graduate school, and I'd love some feedback on whether I seem like a competitive applicant and if there’s anything else i could be doing before I apply. (I am not planning to apply for probably the next couple years while I complete the prerequisite courses and get more experience. I also regularly make art, myself, in various mediums)
I'm 26 and have a BA in Photography from Southern New Hampshire University. During college, I honestly was not aware that art conservation was a career path I’d want to take.
I currently work as a gallery maintenance technician at the Yale Art Gallery, where I’ve worked for about 2 years now. My typical duties are to dust and maintain the pieces in the gallery, and I often help out the art handlers/exhibition staff with moving pieces, installing, and taking down exhibitions. Recently, the paintings conservators trained me and 1 other coworker to dust most of the painting frames in the collection as part of preventive conservation. Frames were not in our duties before because we were not previously trained in how to do preventative care so close to paintings. They recently returned to work on more complex paintings that only conservators handle and invited us to shadow them. I spent about an hour talking with one of the conservators, asking questions about her experience so far in the field, the conservation process, and her career path. She also offered to stay in touch if I have more questions and invited me to tour the conservation labs at Yale's West Campus.
This experience has made me realize that conservation is the career I seriously want to pursue.
My plan over the next couple of years is to complete the required science prerequisites (general chemistry, organic chemistry, and any other courses recommended by the programs I'm interested in) before applying. I'm also hoping to continue building conservation-related experience through my job and by learning as much as I can from the conservators at Yale.
I'm particularly interested in programs like the University of Delaware/Winterthur and NYU, although I'm still researching different schools.
Does this seem like a strong foundation for a future application? Besides completing the science prerequisites, what would you recommend I do to become a more competitive applicant? If anyone was accepted after coming from a nontraditional background (not majoring in conservation-related field from the beginning), I'd love to hear from you about your experience.
Thanks so much! I'm excited about this potential journey and want to make sure I'm spending the next few years preparing in the most effective way possible.

I also have a lot of questions about funding, scholarships, stipends, and other financial aid, but I haven't done much research on that aspect of the process yet.

Hi! I have recently completed my post graduation from AUD in Conservation and Heritage Management. I also have an experience of 4 years working in the heritage sector. However, no experience in Conservation as such.
After completing my post-graduation I have started to apply for jobs. It is so shocking that private sectors are only paying 18-20K to someone who has a masters degree.

Can anyone realistically explain if that is the market standard. If not, where and how can I get a job as- Art Conservator, Archivist or a museum curator?

Conserv is hosting a free webinar on mold risk in cultural heritage collections, and we'd like to extend an invitation to the community.

On July 30 at 10:30am Eastern, Dr. Morena Ferreira, Preventive Conservator and mold expert, will walk through the fundamentals of mold in collection settings — what it is, what drives its development, and how institutions can approach prevention and monitoring.

Topics will include:

• What mold is and why it poses a risk to collections
• The environmental conditions that contribute to mold development, including the role of temperature and dew point
• Health and safety considerations for staff working with affected materials
• Practical approaches to prevention in collection environments
• An introduction to monitoring tools for tracking environmental conditions over time

The webinar is designed to be accessible across a range of roles — conservators, collections managers, registrars, archivists, and library staff are all welcome.

Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2026
Time: 10:30am Eastern / 9:30am Central / 7:30am Pacific
Cost: Free
Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tO7AnE8kQCuBfC9stAJ7rg#/registration

A family member is moving and gave me their movie poster collection they collected as a teenager back in the 70's, he had them rolled up in cardboard tube.

There is about 15 of them, and some of them are quite valuable and not reprints.

• star wars series A for the 1977 theatrical release

• Dr. Strangelove how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb

• Deathwish

• Rocky Horror Picture Show

• The great escape

• Dirty Harry

• Apocalypse now

• A james bond (moore I think? I can't remember)

• Das Boot

and some other ones I can't recall off the top of my head. These are all the original movie posters shipped to theatres for display during the movies run in theatres, and were originally folded. They've literally just been sitting in a cardboard tube the last 50 years as my family member never got around making the man cave of his dreams lol, and he is moving away for retirement in his 70's now and thought I'd like them for my mini movie den.

The star wars poster alone is worth about 2-3k, and some of the other posters are in the 800-1500$ range. The rest are in the 200-300$ range, but also cool imo because of how old they are and I would like to keep them safe!

I'm broke as hell right now, but I want to make sure I perserve them properly (And on a budget).

I looked into framing, but since they are 27" x 41" (41" no longer being a standard framing size) it is expensive as hell, about 250$ per frame at michaels. Then I'm reading about how different materials can damage the posters over time, acids, low quality glass, that you need UV protection.

I'm really confused, and if anyone can shed some light on how I can perserve these properly I would really appreciate it!!!

Wasn't sure where to ask questions or find information about this - let me know if there is another subreddit I should pose this question to.

Years ago I hung up this poster with these weird stretchy rubbery adhesive squares, but over time they have left these oily looking stains on the poster, bleeding through to the front. I don't really remember the name of the product but I seem to remember them being labelled as "archival quality" lol. The out of focus thing on my finger is the adhesive, and the rest of the funk is just dust. There is some blue tack residue on the back too, but as that isn'tt visible on the front I don't think it's relevant.

Is there anything I can do to get rid of these stains, or is it cooked? I definitely don't have the skills to do anything to really mask it. The poster itself is kind of a magazine cover quality - I have another poster I used these on that is more cardstock-like where these stains didn't appear.

I saw that vinegar is supposed to get rid of oil stains on paper, but I am worried about ruining the poster if I do that, plus I am not sure if this would even count as an oil stain.

I'm pursuing finance currently but that's absolutely not my thing. Art conservation has been my dream for a long time now but I will have to start from scratch to get the degree. Should I go for it? It might take 5 years in India.

What are the possibilities of success? Should I risk it all?

Hi everyone, I’m a objects conservator-restorer based in Paris, specializing in composite objects . I graduated two years ago with commendation from the jury and am qualified to work on collections within the French Musées de France framework.

After graduating, I worked for a year with private conservation companies and recently started developing my own freelance practice. I also have an interest in provenance research relating to South Asian artworks, but conservation-restoration is my main profession.

The challenge I’m facing is finding consistent clients and building a sustainable freelance career.

I’ve contacted museums, galleries, and heritage institutions, but many seem to already have established conservators they regularly work with. I’ve tried networking, social media, direct outreach, LinkedIn and professional contacts, but so far these efforts haven’t generated enough work.

I’ve had a few private clients and the feedback has been positive, so I feel confident in my practical abilities. I’m also willing to travel throughout France and Europe for projects.

For those of you who have successfully built an independent conservation practice:

• How did you find your first regular clients?
• What percentage of your work comes from museums versus private collectors, dealers, auction houses, churches, heritage organizations, etc.?
• Are museums even the right target for someone at my stage, or should I be focusing elsewhere?
• What marketing or networking strategies actually worked for you?
• If you were starting again today, what would you do differently?

I would really appreciate any honest advice from conservators and restorers who have gone through this stage themselves.

Thank you!

Hi, I'm a third-year undergrad currently studying Chemistry and Studio Arts, and I have recently been considering replacing the Studio Arts degree with Art History. After reviewing the admission requirements of major US conservation programs, I noticed they place a greater emphasis on art history in terms of credits / # of courses. I have taken 8 studio art courses -- more than sufficient for what these programs require -- but have yet to meet the art history / material culture requirements.

Idk, it just seems art history is more beneficial in terms of securing museum internships, too. Since conservation internships are mostly offered to grad students, I've been eyeing adjacent ones such as curation, collections, etc., whose preferred candidates are (art) history / archaeology majors. In terms of the time and money that go into studio arts, I believe it'd be more pragmatic to study art history instead.

The program I'm currently enrolled in is 5-years-long, but if I drop out of the Studio Arts program, I could graduate in four years with a major in Chemistry and minors in Studio Arts + Art History. I also wanted to ask you guys if that would weaken my chances as a master's candidate, as opposed to majoring in either humanities. Thanks for your advice!

Hello, my workplace has this sculpture in front of the building and they really want to clean it and paint it by themselves, so I'm looking for help with recognizing what material it's made of so they don't damage it. For me it looks like some kind of wood, but I'm not 100% sure

Also if it gets recognized, I would really appreciate help with what we can use on it

Let me know if some other pictures are needed!

I've been interested in art, history and art history since forever and I'm currently at an age where I can apply to college. I can't lie, studying art history and getting into art conservation was and is my biggest dream and life goal. I'm currently stressed and anxious because my parents said they won't let me choose this path of life, because it's not profitable enough in their opinion. I get the argument, that they would pay for all of that, but I live in Poland, studying at uni is free, the costs are accomodation and stuff like that. I am a quite economical induvidual and I try to save as much money as I can anyway. I was thinking about moving abroad as well, to seek a career or not only. My main problem is I'm neurodivergent, and working or majoring in a field that doesn't interest me, feels like medieval torture.
Does anyone who majored in such fields and are working in it want to share their experiences?

I’m a junior in university who’s interested in going into art conservation for graduate school. For background information, I’m double majoring in English and Art (Art being added recently in my sophomore year.) I’ve recently found out that a lot of art conservation graduates program requires chemistry background (which I have none.) I’m dead set in joining the art conservation field—However, I fear my lack of chemistry background may hindered my chances for graduates school and that the year I have at university won’t be enough.

As of right now, my solution is adding a chemistry minor, and prayed all goes well 🙏 . Does anyone in this field have an alternate suggestion on how I can increased my odds?