Treated at CSI Studio in District Heights, Maryland for a Traveling Exhibit

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) works closely with Premier Exhibitions, Inc., the salvor-in-possession of the R.M.S. Titanic, to preserve the collection of nearly 5,500 artifacts recovered from the wreck-site. CSI provides conservation treatment of objects, as well as design and fabrication of display mounts.

Artifacts that present some of the greatest challenges for conservation and display are the ship’s fittings, which can be very large but may have become fragile from deterioration of the iron and steel. The davit arm and base that were treated by CSI consist of massive iron castings with carefully milled steel and brass fittings. Used to lower the ship’s life rafts, they tell a poignant tale of the Titanic’s sinking as one side of the base shows the screw for the arm in its lowered position while the other is still raised, showing that one of the too few lifeboats that could have saved lives was not lowered.

In addition to fully treating the piece, CSI was contracted to design an exhibition mounting that could hold the davit arm in its extended position and display it as if it were attached to the davit base. The mount had to support the massive castings, cantilever the arm out from the base while not damaging the fragile artifacts or being too visually obtrusive. It also had to be capable of ready assembly and disassembly at numerous exhibition sites. An iron frame was forged and welded together to maintain the industrial characteristic of the artifact and a carefully machined base was constructed of steel. The display has been successfully in service since 2004.

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