Introduction

This remains one of my favorite objects to have worked on, even though it was very early in my career as a conservator. This little toy had been broken at some point and repaired, however, the repairs were rough and not in keeping with the rest of the object. Specifically, whoever had repaired it had not matched the paint to the original. I made only minor changes to the structure of the repairs, except for smoothing out some edges so they looked a bit more like the original. What I did change was the paint on the repaired sections. I was able to blend these areas into the surrounding surfaces while maintaining the look of a toy which had been played with. I imagined the little children who had played with it being disappointed that their little tiger had been repaired so poorly and I hope I brought it back to how they would remember it.

People I talk to often confuse conservation and restoration and assume I try to make things look new again. I often use this toy as an example of how conservation is not about restoring an object to the original, its about bringing the life it has seen back to the surface again. All the little scratches and wear tell a story, one which we as conservators get to highlight and preserve.