Platter, 19th century
After Bernard Palissy (ca. 1510–ca. 1589)
Lead-glazed earthenware, 2 3/4 × 20 1/2 × 16 in. (7 × 52 × 40.6 cm)
Restored, date(s) unknown; conserved, 2019
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum, New York City, gift of Francis B. Lothrop, Mrs. George Batchelder, and Jordan Abbott, 1957-29-2

This richly decorated platter is in the style of sixteenth-century life-cast ceramics by Bernard Palissy. Conservator Sarah Barack improved the surfaces of old repairs that had become unstable over time with newer materials that are presently understood to be stable and lightfast. She sculpted and painted these areas to be visually indistinguishable from the surrounding material, as would have been the original intention of the previous repairs. Barack, however, left intact the metal staples used by a previous restorer to repair the platter, which remain visible on its underside. While her choices may appear to be a contradiction—addressing some repairs while leaving others untouched—they are evocative of the work of conservation: to find a balance between moments in the past and the actions of others for the sake of the item’s future.