Cherry the rocking horse

Cherry joined me for the Covid lockdown – we were stable companions for the duration! She had been well loved, well played with, and was looking rather battered as a result. Cherry on arrival Cherry had been restored in the past and had a (now threadbare) velvet saddle and a glass marble for one of …

A Conservation project: the Rhinocerus Hornbill

This amazing piece is a Rhinocerus Hornbill beak with a magnificent casque. The Bird originates from South East Asia and is an endangered species. This, probably Victorian example has chinese imagery carved into the casque depicting figures, landscapes and houses which no doubt describes a story (I wish I knew more!) The casque, which is …

Conserve, Preserve, Repair, Restore

So, er, what do you do? You repair things? Well, no, and yes. Horses for courses, it depends on the object. When conserving an item, the history of the item is taken into account, the materials it is made from, and how these decay, the materials we use on the object, what affect those materials …

A lacquered and gilt Papier mache card table.

This lacquered and gilt papier maché table couldn’t stand on its own when it arrived. The base had been broken and the castor misplaced. The papiér maché skirt had cracked and spread apart, distorting as it had done so.  The apron was broken and loose and pieces had fallen off, some of which were lost. …

Preserve, Reserve or Dispose?

We live in an age of austerity which means that hard economic decisions are being made about our heritage. Everything costs, but some things cost more (paraphrasing George Orwell ). To preserve (conserve) reserve or dispose an item can be a subjective decision, and can have political stresses laid against it. To me it depends …