Artifacts in Use: the Paradox of Restoration and the Conservation of Organs

Artifacts in Use is a new book about the conservation of functional objects. Pipe organs serve as a case study looking into the broader questions of caring for historic objects that continue in use, especially those whose restoration often remains beyond the sphere of professional conservators. The book describes the vulnerability of historical evidence during conventional restoration, and how it can be preserved during restorative conservation and subsequent use. The right to restore and use some historic artifacts is affirmed along with the obligation also to preserve their historical substance for future re-interpretation. The book examines historical value and it analyzes the diverse values we each hold as users, conservators, restorers, and caretakers of the material past. John R. Watson is Conservator of Instruments and Mechanical Arts at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.