CLEAN-UP ACT: The contrast between the cleaned and uncleaned portion of a marble lion at the Salar Jung Museum after `claypac' treatment is stark.

Hyderabad: Dust and pollution are taking a toll of the marble statues in Salar Jung Museum. These days they look more brown than white, particularly the ones kept in the veranda.

To restore their pristine glory, the museum authorities are using `claypac' technique.

The results are stunning. The restored statues look sparkling white.

It is for the first time that the museum has adopted the claypac technique, a method usually used by the Archaeological Survey of India.

This technique was employed some time ago to clean the Taj Mahal and Victoria Memorial, the white marble souvenir of the British era in Kolkata.

Using this procedure, the SJM authorities restored 10 Italian marble statues, which were gathering dust in the veranda.

After clean-up, these statues have now been shifted to a new gallery where they will give company to the Veiled Rebecca. This gallery is scheduled to be opened next month.

Brown tinge

The museum has another 10 such statues, which have acquired a brown and black tinge over the years.

Most of them are copies but are of immense importance from the point of craftsmanship, says Museum Director A. Nagender Reddy. At a makeshift workshop set up in the museum garden these statues are getting a new lease of life at the hands of two Orissa students, Vidyadhar Vishwal and Amulyakumar Jena, who have done MA in conservation.

They use Fullers earth, popularly known as `Multani mitti' along with sodium carbonate and bicarbonate to clean the statues.

Procedure

First the statue is cleaned with wet soft cotton and then non-ionic detergent is used.

Thereafter a paste is made of the Multani mitti by mixing small amount of ammonia solution and hydrogen peroxide.

The entire statue is given a 2 cm thick coat, wrapped in a polythene cover and left to dry for 72 hours.

"Then the statue is washed with non ionic detergent. This process is repeated two to three times till the marble regains its brightness," Mr. Reddy said.

Now that the statues are spruced up how will the museum preserve them?

Well, it plans to display them in glass enclosures.

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