This bulletin, the first of a new annual series which Archetype Publications is publishing in association with the British Museum, offers a new forum to show a dynamic, behind-the-scenes glimpse of current work of curators, conservators and scientists, conducted on a range of artefacts and materials across the collections at the British Museum. This volume includes papers on: the conservation and analysis of the John White watercolours; the effects of ultraviolet-filtered light on fabrics; shell garniture from Gujarat; the black bronzes of Burma; the use of variscite as a semi-precious stone; the effects of relative humidity on the corrosion of iron; the emperor’s terrapin; and, Aztec conch shell working, and pigmented inlays from the tomb chapel of an Old Kingdom noble.