ABSTRACT
The survival of the encaustic portraits excavated at Hawara owes much to the dedication and abilities of two inspiring people. When the portraits were found, the delicate wood panels and the pigmented wax had suffered from the burial conditions, especially those at the damper end of the cemetery. Our conservation of the encaustic portraits in the Petrie collection began in 1981. In the 23 years since then the method of mechanical cleaning we developed has been refined but has essentially remained unchanged. Considerable blurring of the peaks and troughs of the original tool marks of the artist can be seen after solvent cleaning. In addition, many of the portraits have absorbed organic compounds and salts during burial, which can react with the solvent to produce blooms on or in the wax layer.
