The Early American Industries Assoc. and their magazine were for a time dominated by pro conservators and curators of historic collections dismayed by the results of their own choices in restoration and preservation. Put the wrong space-age metal pinch dogs in the stones of the Parthenon and get deterioration in 20 yrs. equivalent to that of the previous 2000. "Do no harm," reversability of treatment, non-replacement of parts was the mantra of a generation. I once saw the missing area of a sleigh runner "amalgamated" with epoxy dough because the treatment was theoretically reversible. Once modelled with various clay working tools and glazed/painted, it didn't have even the "formal" honesty of substitutions of Perspex feet, moulds, finials on irreplacable examples of historic furniture.
On the flip side, a piece of junk in the presence of a hygrothermograph is still a piece of junk. When "Do no harm" means "Do nothing", intimacy with the artifact is stopped in its tracks. Undoubtedly the use of materials and treatments consonant with the original is desirable in restoration and we all applaud the artisan/scholars who do this in the doublegun field. Those who proscribe corrective structural and cosmetic procedures should be sure to present their bona fides as competent/incompetent restorers alongside their superior attainments as evaluators of photographs.
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