Abstract
Up to the early 20th century, carriages and sleighs have played a central role in society and thus are present in many museum collections today. Yet, the heritage of horse-drawn vehicles (Hippomobile heritage) remains a vastly understudied area in heritage scholarship. A first effort to shed light on this unique heritage has been made, since October 2022, with the Belcaire project, aiming at developing an informed conservation plan for the hippomobile heritage collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History (KMKG-MRAH) in Brussels. However, given the material complexity of these vehicles, focused analytical-technical research projects are also necessary to fully understand the chemistry of the different materials constituting a carriage. This is where the Imcotech project comes into play, aiming at gaining a deeper understanding of one of the most complex materials found in carriages: lacquer coatings.
Because of their nature and use, horse-drawn vehicles were systematically exposed to environmental agents such as (UV) light, moisture, atmospheric pollution gases and dirt/dust. The water-sensitive materials that form part of these vehicles were protected against the adverse effect of the environment through the application of impermeable lacquer coatings. These coatings had also a fundamental decorative function, since they would ultimately determine the final appearance of the vehicles (conceived not only as a mean of transport, but also as a fashion statement and a symbol of social status).
Today, the complete lack of research on the history, composition and chemistry of these complex multilayered coatings, makes it impossible to design a well-informed conservation plan for hippomobile heritage. Consequently, the lacquer on the exterior of historical horse-drawn vehicles, when original, is often found in a poor conservation state. Given the key twofold function of lacquer on carriages and sleighs, i.e., protective and decorative, its degradation can have dramatic consequences on the overall condition of the objects and cause a drastic loss of aesthetic, historical and thus (future) valorization value for the museums they are kept in.
Imcotech aims at filling this critical knowledge gap by means of a multidisciplinary approach, combining (1) research of written and visual sources and (2) reproduction of historical lacquer recipes, with (3) material characterization of historical vehicles by means of advanced analytical methods. The fundamental information obtained in this project will allow to shed light on the composition and technology of these impermeable coatings. These results will complement previous research conducted on European lacquer for indoor applications (ELinC project, focus on furniture and other small objects), finally allowing to obtain a complete picture on lacquer materials and on the historical evolution of waterproofing and material technology as a whole. Moreover, the results of Imcotech will represent a key step towards completion of the ambitious goal of Belcaire, ultimately enabling a better preservation of hippomobile heritage for future generations.
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