Project Update!
Conservation work started this week on the original dock from Courtroom No. 2, where Oscar Wilde once stood.
The team from Plowden & Smith, led by Senior Conservator Pavol Hudacek, started by removing the plastic handrail from the top of the dock that had been a later addition. Revealing some rather makeshift packing material in the form of a folded-up piece of a cigarette box.
Back at Plowden & Smith's studio, Senior Paper Conservator Karina Lavings was able to carefully unfold the segment of the cigarette box and preliminary checks on the packaging design indicate the cigarette box dates from 1965-1970, suggesting it was between these dates that the plastic handrail was added to the dock.
What else will the conservation work on the dock reveal?
For your chance to see the ongoing conservation work in action, visit us on Friday 22nd May, when Conservator Pavol Hudacek will be back on site and happy to chat to visitors.
Thanks to the #NationalLottery #HeritageFund for your vital support. @HeritageFundUK
We are delighted to announce that conservation on the dock begins next week!
Thanks to National Lottery players, we are conserving the historic courtroom dock where Oscar Wilde and countless others have stood. Visitors will have several opportunities to see “conservation in action” over the coming month, as the bulk of the conservation work will take place on site at the Museum.
On Friday 8th and Friday 22nd May, visitors can watch the conservator work as part of their visit to Bow Street Museum. Visitors are welcome to chat with lead conservator Pavol Hudacek, who is very happy to explain the work he is doing!
Link to admission tickets in bio.
Our Senior Ceramics Conservator Madeleine has been part of the Plowden & Smith team for twenty years today!
Madeleine leads our ceramics and glass conservation studio and has a wealth of expertise which extends to working on stone and enamel. From Picasso plates to Tang Dynasty terracotta she has conserved and restored countless iconic pieces. Join us in celebrating Madeleine's continued dedication to the craft of conservation🥂
#conservator
The RCP Museum team were excited recently to be able to visit conservators and mount makers @plowden_smith who are working on a bust from the RCP collection - a bronze head of Alexander Fleming sculpted in c.1955 by artist Frank Kovacs.
The base the sculpture was sitting on was badly damaged so a brand new base will be created a template for it can be seen in the images here. The bronze will also be getting a gentle clean and wax by the specialist conservators to get it in the best condition to be put on display once more.
We look forward to seeing the bust as the work progresses.
We are grateful to the Tay Charitable Trust who funded this work as part of the @rcphysicians Adopt a Treasure Scheme.
Find out more about the scheme via the link in the RCP Museum bio.
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#histmed @medicalmuseums
This year marks Bacon 400, the 400th anniversary of the death of Sir Francis Bacon. It was an honour to restore this portrait of Bacon for The Francis Bacon Society, and to see it on display in The Hall at Gray’s Inn.
Sally Gibbins, Principal of The Francis Bacon Society, and Katherine Gwyn, Archivist and Records Manager for The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, talk us through the history and enduring legacy of this portrait.
We also went behind the scenes with our paintings conservator Lily, who explains the treatment steps she took to restore this piece and mend the central tear. She carries out a technique called “facing”, which involves applying Japanese tissue with adhesive to the tear area, acting as a protective layer. Using a heated mat to mend the tear, Lily is then able to fill, retouch, and integrate the damaged area with the rest of the image.
@honsocgraysinn
#Bacon400 #artconservation #paintingrestoration #FrancisBacon
Happy Easter Monday!🐣🌼
Nothing says Easter quite like a basket of exquisite @officialfaberge eggs.
The cultural phenomenon of Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs began in Russia in 1885, when Tsar Alexander III gifted his wife a white enamel hen egg, designed by jeweller and goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé.
We have been lucky enough to work on many Fabergé pieces over the years, including an egg!
#Fabergé #EasterMonday #FabergéEgg #Easter #ArtConservation
Unsure of how to spend your Easter weekend? Our holiday recommendation is the Britten Pears sculpture park at Snape Maltings in Suffolk.
Many artists have exhibited and installed their work throughout these grounds since 1967, when the Snape Maltings Concert Hall was established by Benjamin Britten and opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The estate features notable pieces by artists including Henry Moore, Damien Hirst, and Ryan Gander.
A highlight of the visit is this Barbara Hepworth series of sculptures, The Family of Man (1970). Hepworth is known for her organic abstract sculptures that exemplify modernism. The bronze sculptures, also known by their earlier title Nine Figures on a Hill, each represent a different familial figure and stage of life.
This heritage site is a perfect family-friendly destination, featuring converted Victorian buildings, independent shops, cafés, performance venues, and galleries.
#BrittenPears #SnapeMaltings #Easter #sculpturegarden
Taking a closer look at a 17th-century map…
Watch the Kunyu Wagnuo Quantu (c.1644) being carefully removed from our Map Room wall for conservation assessment.
This fascinating map, which centers China and the Pacific, was created through collaboration between Chinese scholars and artisans after interactions with Western-style cartography.
On display in our Map Room since the 1930s, this week our Collections team and expert conservators took it out of its custom-built case to examine it up close.
#map #cartography #chinesehistory #culturalheritage
As Easter is approaching, we want to share a restoration project that we are honoured to have completed for St. Winefride Church in Wimbledon, not far from our studios.
This outdoor wooden crucifix is situated atop the church's WWI memorial, tiled forecourt, and surrounding mound. The statue and memorial had suffered from long-term weathering and deterioration. Prior to our treatment, the wooden cross had shown significant structural and surface issues such as warping, surface soiling, and rotting, as well as multiple missing tiles at the base.
In the studio, our senior conservator Pavol carefully stabilised the structure, and replaced the damaged lower section, roofing material, and tiles. He then re-touched the gilded decorative elements and re-coated the statue in a weather-resistant coating. Our team has returned the historic monument to its home at St. Winefride, where it can be viewed today.
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Please note that our offices, studios, and workshops will be closed for Easter holidays on Good Friday and on Easter Monday, 3rd April - 6th April.
#RestorationProject #ArtConservation #WoodenSculpture #Easter #Memorial
Our studio has completed restoring this 1940’s enamel Tube sign, which depicts the Metropolitan & District Lines (westbound) as they stood more than 80 years ago. To bring this piece back to life, our conservator Lucie has meticulously cleaned the surface of the sign, consolidated the exposed metal, and filled the losses with a conservation-grade resin. The final stages involved refining the fills and hand-painting the missing letters.
You may notice that the top line reads Mark Lane, a station that was closed in 1967 and replaced by a new station slightly to the west, now the present-day Tower Hill. Similarly, the Walham Green stop, located on the bottom right of the map, is today known as Fulham Broadway. The original names were preserved to maintain the sign’s historical integrity.
Read more about the work done by our expert team below:
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#Enamel #CeramicRestoration #districtline #artconservation #beforeandafter
Here at Plowden & Smith, varnish removal and reapplication is often an important step in painting restoration, specifically for surfaces that have become discoloured over time. Each painting that comes through our studios tells its own narrative, and each is approached differently by our conservators to bring them back to life.
Varnish ultimately protects a painting from exterior elements such as light, dirt, abrasions, etc, by unifying the gloss and enhancing the appearance of the painting. However, over time the varnish oxidises and, together with prolonged exposure to UV light, begins to darken and develop a yellowish tint. This is seen in the 'before' of this portrait, A Young Lady Smiling, prior to its restoration by our senior paintings conservator Federica.
Before the varnish removal process begins, our conservators test a range of organic solvents to conclude the safest removal method for each pigment. Some paints have different levels of sensitivity to the chemical solvents than others, so it is essential to test all colour fields in a painting. UV light is a useful non-destructive analytical technique for varnishes, as they exhibit visible fluorescence under UV. This helps to characterise layers and identify any layers of historic retouching hidden beneath the surface.
Once the discoloured varnish is removed, the colours begin to brighten and previously obscured details become visible again. In this instance, Federica has used rigid solvent gels to remove the varnish layer in gentler, more controlled way. More commonly, solvents are carefully applied to the surface with a cotton swab. After the painting is effectively cleaned, the conservators revarnish the piece with conservation-grade, synthetic resins that, if needed, can be safely removed in future conservation treatments.
#VarnishRemoval #ArtRestoration #PaintingConservation #varnishremovalstudio #portrait
Getting "locked out" is when a broken object is being reassembled and the last piece, or pieces, no longer fit back in place.
This iron age pot is approximately 2000 years old, discovered in a British river estuary in several shards. The last piece of the pot's rim would not fit into the re-assembled fragments so it was brought in to our Ceramics studio for some expert care.
Our Senior Ceramics Conservator, Madeline, talks us through the first stages of conserving this ancient artefact. Softening the adhesive and documenting each piece for re-assembly.
Keep an eye out for part two where it all comes back together using conservation grade adhesives.
#CeramicConservation #Antiquities #conservationstudio #behindthescenes #ironage
