Restoration Department

The LNMH Restoration Department ensures the preservation of the objects in the Museum’s collections, including assessment of their state of preservation, recommendations for their optimal storage and display, and in-depth research, conservation and restoration where necessary.

The Museum restorers specialise in the restoration of specific materials including polychrome wood, textiles, paintings, documents, books, works of graphic art, ceramics, porcelain, glass, furniture, archaeological material and metal objects. The Museum has a physical chemistry laboratory where the material of the collection items can be studied and identified to support their restoration and scientific research.

Scientifically based restoration has been performed at the Museum since 1931 when the State Historical Museum established a restoration laboratory under the direction of chemist Kārlis Edvīns Avots. After World War II, the Museum’s restoration laboratory was re-established in 1946 under the direction of Eduards Ceriņš, Pāvels Šimanskis, Elizabete Egle and Sarmīte Gaismiņa. The restoration workshops were originally located in Riga Castle, however, in the 1980s, a separate building on Vecpilsētas Street was equipped for the workshops. Since 2020, the restoration has been performed in the Museum Storage fitted out with the equipment necessary for research and restoration.

The knowledge and skills of all LNMH restorers have been assessed in accordance with the State Inspection for Heritage Protection Restorer Qualifications Assessment Procedure.

Type of service Unit Price
Micro chemical/histochemical study of the object 1 componet 25,00 €
Thermographic research of the object 1 sample 20,00 €
Stratigraphic study of the object 1 sample 35,00 €
Microscopic examination of the object 1 sample 25,00 €
PH-metry of the object 1 sample 7,00 €
Freezing an object 1 object estimate
Conservation and restoration of the object 1 object estimate
Descriptive part of restoration documents 1 object
(1800 characters)
35,00 €
Photofixation for restoration documents 1 picture 5,00 €
Preparation of the object research protocol 1 object estimate
Photographing an object using a microscope 1 picture 15,00 €
Raman spektroskopija 1 hour 50,00 €
XRF spectrometry (qualitative, semi-quantitative determination) 1 hour 50,00 €
Rental of restaurateur workplace equipment 1 hour estimate
Full price list of the museum (in Latvian).
Head of the Restoration Department Margarita Karpe

margarita.karpe@lnvm.lv