16.5: Values Assigned to Objects
-
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
The identity which conservation aims to safeguard can be seen as the sum of the values assigned to the object. Values are accumulated (and lost) throughout the life of the object. Value may change when an object is studied and reinterpreted, and it is quite possible for apparently insignificant, mass-produced objects to be assigned new value, perhaps because of changes in fashion or because of a link with a significant person or event.
One set of values is related to the material character of an object. A wide range of organic and inorganic materials has been used to provide surfaces for writing, some of them more durable than others; the character and working properties (e.g. hardness, ductility) provide insight into the eventual form of the writing (Brown 1998). The Babylon exhibition, held at the British Museum in 2008 (Finkle and Seymour 2008), included the display of large numbers of clay writing tablets which demonstrated very clearly not only the technique of impressing a writing tool into soft clay, but the remarkable survival of the tablets themselves (though some or many of these may have been made more durable by baking as part of conservation treatment — see below). In the case of books, the form of the book and the style of the binding may have technological, historical and aesthetic value, and may carry important information about previous ownership (Foot 1984). Although the wording of a text may be highly significant on its own, preserving the material original means that there remains the potential to learn more from it in the future. In addition to text, documents may carry other important material evidence, such as seal impressions or signatures, which indicates the text’s authenticity and legal standing.
Complementing the material values assigned to an object are the meanings which may be attached to it. Obliterated text on a coin or medal may be frustrating if the aim is to identify it, but it may add other values by indicating how long the coin may have been in circulation, or how lovingly a medal may have been polished. Here, loss of material may mean gain in another aspect of meaning. The material and form of writing has meaning, e.g. for early printed text, both the uneven layout and the heavy impressions left in the page indicate the difficulties of regulating early hand printing, especially if cheaply produced ( Figure 1 ). Handwriting provides an insight into the person: the skill of a medieval scribe seen in the Domesday book (National Archives 2009); the apparent energy and confidence of John Stewart Mill’s handwriting, as seen in the documents displayed in the exhibition entitled Taking Liberties held at the British Library in 2009 (Ashley 2008).