The diverse use of AJK dough in conservation

AbstractIn the 1960s a conservation filler known as AJK dough was developed at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, as an alternative to plaster. It was used into the 1990s to conserve a wide variety of materials. Applications included the reconstruction of ceramics, gapfilling wooden objects, adhering and reinforcing fossils, and repairing musical instruments. It was made by kneading together Alvar (polyvinyl acetal), jute flock and kaolin powder with solvents. Butvar (polyvinyl butyral) was used from 1980, when Alvar ceased to be manufactured, creating a very similar material called BJK dough. In the 1990s, difficulty in obtaining the raw ingredients, and concerns with its disadvantages, led to other materials being used in its place. However, it is now being encountered in museum collections where its inappropriate use has led to physical damage to objects. This article provides a review of AJK dough and its uses in conservation. The properties of the dough that caused it to be so w...