Architectural Collections Management and Conservation

Tom Taylor uses a fiber-optic
boroscope to examine the source
of moisture without cutting extensive
amounts of plaster.

The Department of Architectural Collections Management and Conservation has two major responsibilities: the collections management and the conservation of Colonial Williamsburg's architectural collection, comprising 600 structures, 15,000 architectural fragments, and 70 architectural models.

Architectural collections management and architectural conservation are fairly new concepts at Colonial Williamsburg dating to 1980 when Thomas H. Taylor, Jr., PhD was hired as the Foundation's first architectural conservator. The Department of Architectural Collections Management and Conservation was established in 1991 and is a component of the Research Division.

Architecture at Colonial Williamsburg is considered a "collection" equally significant as the other collections that Colonial Williamsburg maintains (archaeology, decorative arts, folk art, and library). The Department of Architectural Collections Management and Conservation was created to comply with Colonial Williamsburg's Collection Management Policy by ensuring the care and curatorial management of the Foundation's structures, fragments, and models.

Architectural collections managers at Colonial Williamsburg are guided by standards set by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Collections Management Policy and a group of practices and procedures developed by the staff to apply the Policy to the architectural collection. The collections managers also abide by the AAM Code of Ethics for Museums and the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums as well as the APT/AIC New Orleans Charter for the Joint Preservation of Historic Structures and Artifacts, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Guidelines, and the APTI Williamsburg Resolutions on Architectural Fragments.

To preserve the architectural collection at Colonial Williamsburg, architectural conservators conduct detailed examinations of the architectural collection, design conservation treatments, and practice preventive conservation. Following the tradition of Colonial Williamsburg's earliest practitioners, architectural conservators use documentation to ensure preservation of the information about the collection and conform to appropriate preservation standards. The staff completes reports and surveys for conservation inspections, monitoring, condition assessments, treatment, preventive maintenance, and planned preservation projects.

The annual inspection of Colonial Williamsburg
buildings uses an interdisciplinary team of experts.

Jessie Reid repairs a cracked window pane
at Wetherburn's Tavern with an acrylic polymer.