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Originally Posted by SwordsAntiqueWeapons
Where would our museums be without restoration and preservation?
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Fair question, but the two are entirely different approaches to the problem.
Preservation is the prevention of further decay and damage to the object; the act of stopping.
Restoration is the undoing of decay and damage to the object; the act of reversing.
The current museum vogue is mainly for preservation, rather than restoration; on the whole, I tend to agree with that. To my mind, our prime task is to preserve what's been left to us, warts and all; that "neglect" you describe, somewhat sad though it may be, is part of the object's history, part of its authenticity. Its very value, historically, may lie in the travails we bemoan.
There are, I think, cases where restoration is appropriate; for example, as Trenchwarfare suggests, if the object is very similar or identical to an abundant item (ordinary AKM derivatives spring to mind); perhaps one wishes to show an "as-new" example to provide a useful context, by which viewers et al can appreciate the process of decay, the effect of a working life on an object.
I've found myself quietly contemplating (for nothing moves swiftly here) what to do with a jezail I've mentioned on here several times; as you might read (if y'fancy wandering through my posts, for some inscrutable reason
) it has suffered extensive corrosion damage to its barrel, an octagonal, pattern-welded Damascus item which could, potentially, be quite beautiful if suitably restored. That damage occurred, not during the barrel's working life, but when it lay, stored, in a garage, somewhere in England. Question is, is that damage historically relevant or not?
In this case, my conclusion has been negative; the damage was the result of careless storage and should be reversed as far as possible, having only been caused long after any other damages the barrel might have received during its working life. Moreover, there's no shortage of rust-encrusted gun barrels in the world!
Ultimately it's the ol' Theseus' Ship thing again. I tend toward the "Essence" idea, but better than preserving the essence of the ship is preserving its timbers, spars and rigging, full stop - or so says I, me hearties.
- M