We recently carried out a last minute tricky job for The Mucha Foundation supporting a badly damaged original poster prior to framing for exhibition. These posters seem to be characterised by poor quality paper, touchy gold ink and fugitive colours, combined with gorgeous art nouveau Alphonse Mucha designs too, of course, and really complex printing …
Over the summer we worked to conserve two extraordinarily rare and ephemeral textiles known as Illuminations or Transparencies. Privately owned, they were conserved for the exhibition ‘Georgian Illuminations’, currently showing at the Sir John Soane’s Museum until 7th January 2024. Dating from the early 19th C these hand painted cloths were temporarily tacked inside the …
We’re looking forward to what promises to be a feast for the eyes, Brighton Museum’s exhibition Lee Miller: Dressed. We’ve spent the summer conserving and mounting the costumes and are now building up to the final days. In 2021 we worked with Farleys House & Gallery to help them condition check and store their newly-discovered collection …
The Royal Museums Greenwich ‘Battle of Solebay’ tapestry is now finally back in the Queen’s House where Willem Van de Velde the elder and his son designed this very set of tapestries more than 350 years ago for Charles II. After a long weekend finishing off the lining of the tapestry we waved it off …
By Tabby Gibbs, Studio Intern, Summer 2022 My name is Tabby, and I was lucky enough to spend my summer as an intern with the team at the Zenzie Tinker Conservation studio in Brighton. As I am now beginning the final year of my MPhil in textile conservation at the University of Glasgow, I am …
Finally we are released from the press embargo and can formally introduce one of our major tapestry conservation projects for this year – the conservation of the Royal Museums Greenwich Battle of Solebay tapestry. The tapestry will be part of an exhibition ‘The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, Art and the Sea’, due to launch in …
I want to extend a huge thank you to Zenzie Tinker for the amazing opportunity to work with her team for the beginning of June to the end of July on different site works, such as the vacuuming of William Morris wall coverings at The Ironmonger’s Hall, condition checking Lee Miller’s clothes at Farleys House …
Continue reading “A summer internship (with Camille Lafrance)”
Conservation of a Pale Green House of Worth Ballgown (Part 2) Having focused mainly on the skirt conservation in my previous Conservation Story about this gown, I would like to turn now to the bodice. While similarly dishevelled in state to the skirt, its return to splendour posed a completely different set of conservation conundrums. …
My first Instagram post of the year, 2nd January 2020 showed a photo of a clean, tidy, empty studio and said, “Happy New Year and new decade to all our followers. It feels like the lull before the storm – we look forward to sharing some of it with you this year”. Of course at …
Between 2015 and 2018, we had the very great pleasure of undertaking the de-installation, conservation and re-installation of 12 costumed funeral effigies for display in Westminster Abbey’s new galleries …