PRESERVATION OF WALLPAPERS AS PARTS OF INTERIORS

Discussing principles of conservation
show a whole pattern repeat. Finds of additional applications,
such as borders and dados, are very scarce, since wallpaper
samples are usually taken randomly from the middle of a wall.
Such small fragments without detailed documentation are
almost useless.
Conservation in its narrow sense is an activity which is
based on a respect for the existing material, its use, associations
and meanings. The aim of a conservation process is to consolidate
an object’s current condition and preserve all its relevant
properties, including its original environment. Since wallpaper
forms an integral part of an interior, its removal from its original
location changes its function and meaning, and alters the
properties of its original structure.
A type of conservation which seeks to implement measures
and actions to avoid and minimize future deterioration
or loss 275 is often called “preventive conservation”. It has often
been defined as the branch of conservation that attempts to
avoid damage before it happens. 276 However, most preservation
activities, whatever their nature, attempt to prevent future
damage. When a conservator has to perform any preservation
treatment upon an object, the future stability of that object is
necessarily taken into consideration. 277
Another modern principle of conservation is closely related
to the values of an object. This is known as “value-led conservation”.
Its guiding criterion is neither meaning nor function,
but the set of values people place upon an object. 278 Conservation
decisions should be based on the analysis of the values an
object possesses for different people in order to reach a consensus
among all the parties involved. 279 According to the principles
of value-led conservation, value and function are closely
connected concepts, which means that the value of an object
275
Preventive Conservation. Terminology to Characterize the Conservation of Tangible
Cultural Heritage, International Council of Museums – Committee for Conservation,
accessed January 24, 2013,
http://www.icom-cc.org/242/about-icom-cc/what-is-conservation/#.UQGy0x26drM.
276
Muños Viñas, Contemporary Theory of Conservation, 21.
277
Ibid., 22.
278
Ibid., 178.
279
Ibid., 179.
152