Storage and Display

For preservation it is important that artefacts are kept in a suitable environment following treatment. The optimum is not always possible as museum preferred standards are difficult to achieve. An awareness of the best environmental conditions for an artefact will however, allow collectors to assess their own particular environments and strive for the best possible conditions. It is generally easier to establish a suitable environment when artefacts are placed in storage than when they are on display.

Principles for storing and displaying stabilised metals are described elsewhere (see the chapter Metals). Specific details pertaining to particular metals may be found in the relevant sections of that chapter. In some cases formerly wet metals that have been stabilised will be more susceptible to damage by the environment and by inappropriate materials used in storage and display areas than will their historic counterparts.