Services
Institutional & Collection Marking
Discreet accession marking, security identification and inventory work for museums, estates and private collections.
Permanent identity, invisibly applied.
Collections need their objects marked, and curators need those marks to be findable, permanent and effectively invisible in display. Those requirements pull against each other, which is why this work is specified rather than simply ordered.
The studio works to the same principle as conservation practice: the mark goes where it will not be seen in normal viewing, it is applied in the least aggressive medium the substrate allows, and it is documented so a future registrar can find it without searching.
For high-value private collections we also cut covert identification marks whose location is recorded only in the client's own file. We do not hold a register of what we have marked or where. That is deliberate.
Scope of work
- Accession and inventory marking
- Covert security marks at recorded locations
- Reversible and non-contact options where required
- Batch work under supervision on site
- Photographic location records for the client's file
- Written specification agreed before any work
Working notes
The details that decide whether a piece is right or merely finished.
- Placement
Under a foot, inside a rim, behind a mount. Never in a viewing surface, never across a maker's mark.
- Method
Chosen for the substrate: annealed laser on metal, fine hand line where laser is inappropriate, non-contact where the object forbids both.
- Documentation
The client receives location photographs and a specification sheet. The studio keeps no copy after handover.
- On-site work
For collections that cannot travel, the studio can work on site under the institution's own supervision.
Work begins with a conversation.
The studio takes a limited number of commissions each quarter. Enquiries are read by the engraver, not by an assistant.
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