Consolidation, protection and surface characterisation of marble antiquities

The surface characteristics of the Ince Blundell collection was used to develop a consolidation procedure and weathering protection layer that is sympathetic to the original antiquity. Weathered marble from the collection has been characterised by DRIFT spectroscopy, XPS, SEM and mercury porosimetry Results have been compared to non-weathered Carrara marble and powdered Italian marble. Highly friable regions, that required consolidation, were mainly comprised of calcite and the pororsity of the substrate was approximately 30%. [Continues.]