The course will be held in the laboratory surrounded by the magnificent Corning glass collection.
Discussions centre on aspects of deterioration, restoration methods and proper conditions for storage and display. Practical sessions focus on cleaning, reconstruction, adhesion and gap filling and the use of different techniques and materials.
The course is aimed at practising glass and other conservators and requires a background knowledge in conservation.
Astrid R. van Giffen is Conservator of Ancient through Modern Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass, where she has worked since 2009. Her main research interests and areas of publication include the glass models by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, the deterioration of glass, developing new treatment techniques for glass objects, and most recently technical analyses of Chinese glasses. Before joining CMOG, van Giffen was the Samuel H. Kress Fellow in Objects Conservation at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies of the Harvard Art Museums. Van Giffen holds a conservation degree from the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands with a specialization in the conservation of glass and ceramics. She is a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation and a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.
In 2020 Stephen Koob retired from his position as Conservator at the Corning Museum of Glass where he had worked since 1998. Prior to this, he was conservator, specializing in ceramics and glass, at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. He has taught many workshops on Glass Conservation for IAP in USA and Europe and continues to work as a consultant on glass conservation around the globe. He is the author of the book, Conservation and Care of Glass Objects (2006).
