Grant recipients

This page is about some of the recent recipients of grants from the Trust.

Sarah Morton - 2006/07 Sarah Morton was an intern at the Museum of London in the second year of her MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums at University College London. During the internship she worked on a wide range of projects and consolidated the practical skills she learned in the first year of the MSc as well as developing new skills and treating materials she had not previously worked on. She commented that “One of the most interesting projects … was the display of the sarcophagus and human remains discovered during excavations at St Martin in the Fields. The project was particularly challenging as the ethics of displaying the remains and the effect of any conservation treatments had to be carefully considered… Along with my conservation skills my time management and organisational skills have also developed. Overall I feel that the internship provided a good base for my career as a professional conservator. The skills I developed … have allowed me to make the transition into a professional role in which I will continue to learn and develop”.

 

Gregory Bell - 2006/07 Gregory Bell did a one-year course at West Dean College on the conservation and restoration of antique clocks. Having successfully made a test piece, which was also deliberately damaged and repaired, he was allowed to work on a number of clocks. These differed both in themselves and in the repairs needed by each. Two copies of a report on each repair were made, one remaining at the college and the other going to the customer. During the year Gregory also heard lectures by the course tutor and by visiting experts – including a freelance illustrator who demonstrated that by using good observational skills and studying the original style of the maker the repairer can make replacement parts that blend in with the original components of the clock - as well as visiting stately homes, museums and workshops. He was invited by an established clock-maker to visit him to see how he ran his clock business. Having finished the course, he started working towards establishing his own workshop. He commented that he was then in a position “a long way from where I started”.

 

Amanda White - 2006/07 Amanda White was funded for the second year of a two year part-time MA course on Conservation of Historic Objects at the University of Lincoln. This included two taught modules and her own research project. During the year she worked on awide range of objects, including a Moroccan leather bag, an 18th-century japanned Cloisonnerie chair from Belvoir Castle, a Crown Derby porcelain peacock, a copper alloy pin and a Victorian photo album. The last belonged to her own family. She cleaned and repaired the album, cleaned the photographs and made a box to protect the album from further damage. With the chair, she both cleaned and consolidated the frame and replaced and retouched the decoration. For her research project Amanda designed, implemented and analysed a collection condition survey for Newark and Sherwood museum service’s social history collection. Concluding her report to the Trust, Amanda noted that she had secured her first professional conservation post – a threemonth contract with Sharjah Museums, in the United Arab Emirates – and added “Exciting times are ahead!”.

 

Mid career training The Trust also gives grants for mid-career training. The number of applicants, and the number of grants given, has risen over the years as the Trust has become better known. In the past three years grants have been given for courses that covered a wide range of subjects, varying from pest management and plant fibre identification to the use of adhesives for textile conservation, the examination of paint layers, new methods of cleaning painted surfaces, the conservation of wax models, Japanese conservation techniques and the Chemistry for Conservators distance learning course.Collection care issues such as the packing of loans, mount making for museums, storage of art on paper as well as more general conservation techniques were also covered. The Trust also funds attendance at conferences, both in the UK and abroad,often helping to finance participants who are giving a paper. The conferences attended have covered paper, bookbinding, leather, upholstery, mosaics, modern paints and the threats posed by fungi as well as a wide variety of ICOM conferences and meetings. Applications for CPD training grants are considered three times a year, in March, June and September.

 

Rebecca Tabram - 2005/06s Rebecca Tabram completed the MA in Conservation course at Camberwell College of Arts in July 2006. Rebecca specialised in book conservation and during the first term she worked on “a small family ‘archive’ of books and letters, which presented a variety of conservation issues in microcosm, such as cataloguing, palaeography and research into ownership as well as book structures and materials”. Her studio project in the last two terms was to work on two bibles with contrasting aspects of structure ownership and damage. She wrote “Over the year I have developed a greater understanding of the ethical issues that are encountered in conservation practice along with some of the skills needed to put theory into practice. The course has helped me broaden my perception of what book conservation encompasses; having come to the field from bookbinding my ‘idea’ of book conservation was that it involved the restoration of single items. I now see that while there is still a place for such treatments, restoration is only a small (and often contentious) part of the whole process of cultural preservation”.

 

Rosamund Weatherall - 2005/06 Rosamund Weatherall completed her MA in Textile Conservation at the TCC at the University of Southampton in 2005. In the first year Rosamund was introduced to “many of the core skills required to make an assessment of the condition and subsequent treatment of a textile artefact” while in the second she focused on advanced conservation techniques. Her projects included treating a black silk dress (c1905) which had suffered significant damage. The treatment involved the removal of adhesives with which it had been repaired and resupport of the affected area. She also worked on “a fragment of a Paisley-style shawl forming a decorative panel in an organ, which had suffered soiling and significant damage… The project was both challenging and fascinating as in discovering the history of the manufacture of shawls of this type I was able to give a more informed treatment to the fragment”. Rosamund said “The course has continued to develop my understanding of the techniques used in textile conservation within an ethical framework. I am confident that it has equipped me to make an immediate contribution to the profession”.

 

Joanna Russell - 2005/06 Joanna Russell was awarded a grant towards the costs of a one-year internship at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, in paintings conservation. Her internship was informal in structure, enabling her to get involved with different projects, often collaborative, as they arose. She took part in several practical projects in the studio, which involved mending tears, surface cleaning and varnish removal (in one case of a portrait by Kneller, and which in another revealed several unexpected changes, including the replacement of a hat and the addition of an Order of the Garter collar), strip lining (a portrait of the Duke of Wellington) and packing a very large painting. She took part in projects in private and National Trust properties and in the Fitzwilliam Museum, and also made a study trip to Poland, where she visited conservation studios and schools. She commented that her internship gave her “a lot more practical experience of conservation treatments, and enabled me to see the different approaches to treatment used by conservators in another studio to that in which I trained”. Her internship was subsequently extended for a second year.

 

Student Bursaries 2002-2003 - profile of Helen Thomas Student Bursaries 2002-2003 – profile of Helen Thomas Helen Thomas successfully completed the postgraduate diploma in ceramic and glass conservation at West Dean College in the summer. The first term introduced two new materials – stone and glass – and the second term was mostly spent on work placements with a private conservator in Sussex and then at the National Museum of Scotland. For her final project in the third term, Helen studied nineteenth century restorations of Bronze Age pottery at the National Museum of Scotland. The fills were now regarded as a threat to the vessels because of shrinkage and cracking and a method of removal had to be found. However, they consisted of a type of picture frame 'compo' made from animal glue, linseed oil and rosin which was very resistant to all the usual solvents. Helen worked on the use of enzymes to soften the fills so that they could be removed more easily by hand.

 

Student Bursaries 2002-2003 - profile of Chris Insley During his second year at the City and Guilds Art School, Chris Insley studied polychromy, stone conservation, wood conservation, chemistry, drawing, microscopy and the conservation of picture frames. He compiled a reference collection of 77 different pigments, both ancient and modern, and experimented with painting using some of them. He also worked with many different fillers for wood and compared the results using scientific tests. Chris also took part in an audit of sculpture at the Imperial War Museum outstation at Duxford where he learnt the importance of documentation and preparing a conservation strategy. At the end of the year he wrote "It has been really enjoyable to get my hands on some historical objects. To be able to analyse a polychrome surface and then apply the resulting nowledge to make informed decisions was a bit un-nerving at first. But the year as a whole has taught me to take a calm methodical approach to conservation problems". Chris is currently engaged in the third year of his studies with support from the Anna Plowden Trust.

 

Student Bursaries 2002-2003 – profile of Sarah Houlbrooke Sarah Houlbrooke completed the second year of her course in painting conservation at the Courtauld Institute of London University in July. She wrote "The course has focussed on developing an ability to take responsibility for my work and making independent decisions. massing evidence about the state of a painting has involved the use of technical skills such as taking samples of paint for cross sections, the use of x-rays and UV light. There has also been a significant emphasis on communication and collaborative approaches in practice, for instance,working in teams conducting off-site conservation surveys and regularly presenting work in progress to the rest of the department."

 

 

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