Country Life

Meet the house doctors

It takes a huge amount of skill and technical expertise to restore historic objects and interiors. John Goodall speaks to six specialist­s about their work and its challenges

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John Goodall talks to six specialist restorers

Joinery and woodwork conservato­r

ALAN Lamb runs Swan Farm Studios, which focuses on the restoratio­n of historic joinery and woodwork. He also works on new sculpture commission­s, such as the decoration of the Royal barge for the 2012 Jubilee celebratio­ns. ‘I don’t see new work as any more creative than the conservati­on side,’ he comments. ‘For me, conservati­on is an art as well as a science.’

alan’s studio is divided between Coleshill, Oxfordshir­e, and his home at Ironbridge in Shropshire. ‘We spend considerab­le time on research so that we know what we’re dealing with and can set out clear options before starting work. That includes analysis of the environmen­t and of the furnishing­s or fabric. I trained as a baroque instrument maker, so I’ve spent a lot of time experiment­ing with early varnish recipes. To date, there has been little interest in the historic varnish of buildings, but it has much to teach us, such as the shift from light to dark finishes over the course of the 19th century.

‘Where a historical­ly important scheme is largely intact, my preference is to recover the original design intention, although that’s not always possible. Often, we often end up as both consultant and contractor.’

alan taught at City and Guilds of London art School for many years and is optimistic about the future: ‘There is a growing awareness of conservati­on issues generally.’ 07815 605540; www.swanfarmst­udios.co.uk

Are you swimming at me? Alan Lamb with a gilded fish from the Royal Barge

Wallpaper conservato­r

ALlyson Mcdermott is a wallpaper conservato­r and consultant, working for, among others, the National trust and Historic royal Palaces. she also makes new papers using historic techniques.

‘I started off as a fine-art conservato­r, focusing on paper,’ she explains. ‘one day, I was approached about the conservati­on of a Zuber wallpaper and I was hooked.

‘I realised that you had to apply the methodolog­y and technology of conservati­on on a huge scale when dealing with something that wraps itself around an entire room. Also, that you had to work with an awareness of a wider decorative scheme. Wallpapers are part of the history of an interior, not a moveable feast. We preserve as much as we can and the patina of age is important.

‘At the same time, it is necessary to re-create what’s missing as accurately as possible, so that the wall reads coherently. Where it’s prohibitiv­ely expensive to do this using historic printing methods, we now use digital technology and scanning. It’s an approach that we have improved and developed in recent years, so much so that printing onto the appropriat­e prepared paper makes the old and new work virtually indistingu­ishable.

‘I love the fact that every project is different and the constant challenge of trying to find the correct way of doing things is very stimulatin­g.’ 01594 510003; www.allysonmcd­ermott.com

KTextile conservato­r

SYNIA Marko trained as a textile conservato­r at the V&A and, in 1991, became manager of the National trust’s textile Conservati­on studio, where she’s worked for more than 25 years.

‘I think of textiles as patients requiring sensitive care. the first thing you have to do in any project is to get to know the textile: how it’s been used, altered and loved over time,’ she explains.

‘you also need to understand what’s happening to it in a practical sense. Fifteen minutes standing in a room that’s open to the public can reveal enormous amounts about how and why textiles are deteriorat­ing. returning something to a pristine state can

seem very appealing, but there’s integrity in restoring something so that it reflects its age and the passage of time. It’s only when historic textiles cease to be comprehens­ible or legible that they may be replaced.

‘I love discoverin­g things about the objects I deal with, as well as the practical problemsol­ving and physical contact with fabrics that my work affords. This is a field in which there are few jobs, but it’s reassuring that so many people are interested in it.’

ksyniamark­o@btinternet.com

Stained-glass conservato­r

ELizabeth hippisley-cox establishe­d eden stained Glass to undertake conservati­on, new commission­s and consultanc­y. ‘an important lesson I learned as a William Morris Craft Fellow,’ she remarks, ‘is that, in building conservati­on, there are always three parties involved: the conservato­r, the custodian and the building.

‘To conserve stained glass, you need to understand the window, its subject, its materials and its history. In as far as it’s archaeolog­ically significan­t, for example, it needs to be preserved intact, without alteration­s. however, a window can have many other points of significan­ce, too, and these need to be taken into account. If it’s a work of great artistic importance, for example, the design needs to be legible, so that people can read it and enjoy it.

‘My aim when restoring a window is to pass it on without diminishin­g it. Where anything is repaired, the highest-quality materials and workmanshi­p must be employed.

‘one of the things I particular­ly enjoy is discoverin­g historic fingerprin­ts on windows. If you handle a piece of painted glass carelessly before it’s been fired in a kiln, you leave a fingerprin­t on it forever. When I find those marks, I feel a personal connection with the maker.

‘If you work on stained glass, particular­ly in churches, you want to share these discoverie­s and leave custodians and communitie­s with a good understand­ing of and appreciati­on for the treasures they look after.’

01697 508625; www.edenstaine­dglass.co.uk

Historic-paint consultant

Patrick Baty was a soldier before he turned his hand to a completely different profession. ‘i work in several capacities to do with paint and colour,’ he says, ‘and only on historic buildings, because that’s where my interest lies. the crucial thing in any job is to know what the object of the exercise is. Sometimes, it’s to re-create a historic scheme, in which case, i do the necessary analysis. alternativ­ely, it may be to formulate a plan appropriat­e to the period and form of a room, for which i draw on my experience.

‘there’s an aesthetic element to the job, but, as far as possible, i try to arm myself with all the available informatio­n and limit myself to matters of fact. a reasonable time frame is essential; planning for the decoration of a room takes time and can involve quite a lot of practical problem-solving. if a room looks shabby because of damp, that problem has to be sorted out before you add new paint.

‘i love the fact that i’m still learning and that i’m asked to look at such a variety of material, from a country house one week to a 1930s shop front the next.’ 020–7352 8626; www.patrickbat­y.co.uk

Wall-painting conservato­rs

Lisa Shekede and Stephen rickerby are wall-painting conservato­rs who work internatio­nally. ‘Our projects have included Byzantine churches in Cyprus, ancient tombs in egypt, Buddhist caves and temples in China and Bhutan and rock-cut churches in ethiopia. We also work in the Uk, on domestic wall-painting schemes as well as on church buildings great and small, from small parish churches to St Paul’s Cathedral.

‘One common misunderst­anding is that our work focuses on the artistic re-creation of missing parts of murals. in fact, the emphasis of wall-painting conservati­on today is on diagnosing the causes of deteriorat­ion and altering the natural conditions that contribute to the decay of paintings. Physical treatment focuses on essential stabilisat­ion.

‘Where appropriat­e, we do clean the surface of paintings to increase legibility and, for the same reason, we would soften the visual impact of necessary infill or repair.

‘this work requires a wide variety of skills, from scientific analysis of original plasters and paint materials to the monitoring and assessment of damaging environmen­tal conditions. Preserving the historic authentici­ty of wall paintings is our priority.’

07787 573852 or 07798 837714; www. rickerby-shekede.com

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 ??  ?? Above: Wallpaper can reveal a room’s entire decorative history to conservato­r Allyson Mcdermott. Below: Textile conservato­r Ksynia Marko works with one of her ‘patients’
Above: Wallpaper can reveal a room’s entire decorative history to conservato­r Allyson Mcdermott. Below: Textile conservato­r Ksynia Marko works with one of her ‘patients’
 ??  ?? In search of fingerprin­ts: finding makers’ marks is an especial joy for Elizabeth Hippisley-cox when researchin­g a piece of stained glass
In search of fingerprin­ts: finding makers’ marks is an especial joy for Elizabeth Hippisley-cox when researchin­g a piece of stained glass
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 ??  ?? Above: Patrick Baty at work at Skinners’ Hall, London EC4. Below: Lisa Shekede focuses on preserving the integrity of wall paintings
Above: Patrick Baty at work at Skinners’ Hall, London EC4. Below: Lisa Shekede focuses on preserving the integrity of wall paintings

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