About Me

EMPLOYMENT
March 2008 - present

EDGE Conservation & Restoration Services – self-employed

I left the National Conservation Centre, Liverpool to set up my own private conservation and restoration business, specialising in the conservation-restoration of ceramics and related materials. My clients come from both the public and private sector; auction houses, antique dealers, local and regional museums, universities, borough councils, churches, and private individuals. A sample of projects to date includes:

• I was selected and engaged as the specialist ceramic conservator by the National Museums Liverpool to condition check c80 ceramic objects at on-site stores in Xi’an, China, in preparation for transport to Liverpool for display. This included 8 Terracotta Warriors, a kneeling figure, a horseman and full-size terracotta horse. All items were re-condition checked on their arrival and then installed at World Museum Liverpool to form the First Emperor and Terracotta Warriors Exhibition (9 February – 28 October 2018). During un-packing, old repairs on a Han Dynasty bull had weakened and I undertook interventive conservation at the request of the Project Manager of the Shaanxi History Museum, to enable display. I returned to China in November 2018 to re-condition check all the ceramic and stone items on their return from World Museum Liverpool
• The removal, conservation, fabrication of a bespoke mounting and installation system and installation at the Museum of Liverpool of Galkoff’s Jewish butcher's shop front. This tiled frontage had  the explicit display of Hebrew lettering, considered to be the last remaining of its type in the UK. Approximately 855 faience green and cream lead glazed tiles were conserved.
• On-site conservation of Verre Eglomise mosaics on the façade of Waterstones Bookshop, Preston.
• Surveys of ceramics and glass items for the National Trust from the collections at Snowshill Manor, Hill Top House, Sizergh Castle, Tredegan House, Penryhn Castle, Dunham Massey, Powis Castle, Chirk Castle, Erddig, Kedleston, Packwood House, Lyme Park and Shugborough Hall.
• Surveys of ceramics and glass collections of the 6th Duke of Westminster at Eaton Hall and Abbeystead Estate.
• Survey of 2000+ ceramic items from the collections at Woburn Abbey, including its world-famous collection of Sevres Porcelain.
• Decant of c700 items of the Near Eastern Gallery at Birmingham Museum, including the removal of a large Assyrian frieze that had been mounted into concrete.
• The conservation of c60 pottery and porcelain objects of the Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth.
• The conservation of Arts & Crafts tile panels of a fireplace at Wray Castle.
• The Conservation of 29 Pottery Vessels from the Collections of the National Museums Liverpool for the Quest for Treasures Touring Exhibition. A commercial loan produced for the Asian market by Danish company United Exhibits Group (UEG). The exhibition features the collections of major museums including Penn State University, National Museums, Liverpool, Warrington Museum and Bolton Library & Museum Service. Focussed on West Africa, South America and the Middle East, the exhibition explores ideas of 19th century travel, exploration, collecting and colonialism.
• The conservation of a Della Robbia Madonna and Child plaque on the exterior of St. Josephs Church, Weymouth.
• The Conservation of the oldest dated example of Liverpool delftware; a large tile plaque from Merchant Taylors Boys School.
• The conservation 3 crystal bowls for English Heritage.
• The conservation and re-mounting of a rare Opus Sectile WWI/II glass mosaic war memorial of St. James Church, West Derby, Liverpool. There are only three other known memorials of this type.  It is comprised of nearly 3000 pieces of glass, which are stained, decorated with fired enamels and reverse gilded.
• The conservation of ancient Peruvian pottery, Egyptian necklaces, bronze age vessels and social history items for Warrington Museum & Art Gallery.
• The conservation of several porcelain figures and decorative vessels for the Victoria Museum & Art Gallery of Liverpool University.
• A survey of 50 Greek pottery vessels from the archaeological collections of Liverpool University
• The conservation, re-mounting and installation of a white Vitrolite commemorative plaque of St. Helens Central Railway Station.
• A pre-loan condition assessment, interventive conservation treatment and loan-out condition report relating to a terracotta sculpture and large porcelain fish bowl going on loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London from Knowsley Hall.  

November 2006 – April 2010       

Course Tutor: Ceramic Restoration & Conservation Course, Burton Manor College, Cheshire                                                         This course was validated by the National Open College Network. It ran for 7 weekends (Friday –  Sunday) over each           academic year.    

 May 2010 - Winner of the Nigel Williams Prize

On 23 May 2010 I was awarded the Nigel Williams Prize for the Conservation of a glass Opus Sectile War Memorial of St. James Church, West Derby, Liverpool. 

The Memorial  Out of just over 58,000 entries on the United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials there are only eleven glass Opus Sectile memorials listed; one of these belongs to St.James’ Church, Mill Lane, West Derby, Liverpool. The impressive memorial is comprised of 3000 pieces of glass that form the 2.2 x 1.4m Opus Sectile panel, which is surrounded by a sandstone frame. This stunning glass war memorial features the doomed liner Lusitania. It is a unique tribute to the dead of two world wars of the West Derby community and shows the Cunard vessel steaming at full speed with smoke billowing from her four funnels. Over time, water ingress had caused extensive deterioration and damage to the memorial. The glass panel in particular was badly affected. The complex challenges of this project were not only associated with how to record, dismantle, and conserve almost 3000 pieces of glass, but how to remount them in such a way that the Opus Sectile panel could, if necessary, be easily removed and re-sited in the future.

September 1992 – March 2008

 Head of Ceramics & Glass Conservation, the National Conservation Centre, National Museums Liverpool. I designed, set up and managed two conservation laboratories over this 16-year period. I was responsible for the preventive and interventive conservation of the museums’ ceramics and glass collections; totalling approximately 57,000 items. Much of my work concerned preparing objects for exhibition. Other aspects of my job included: improving storage conditions; surveying collections; the specification of transportation crates; preparing objects for national and international loan; installation of exhibitions and contributing to the education and public programmes of the National Conservation Centre. I regularly presented, communicated and demonstrated the work of the ceramic and glass conservation section to the public in the form of monthly studio tours and live video links from the conservation studio to the front of house. Additionally, I trained many under-graduate and post-graduate students, whose placements varied in length from three weeks to twelve months. Students came from the UK (West Dean College, University College London, Durham University and De Montfort University), the Netherlands, Malta, Sweden and USA.

A sample of projects includes:

• 2004 – 2005. The New Craft & Design Gallery. I was conservation liaison representative for the development of this new permanent gallery at the Walker Art Gallery. Here I worked and liaised between the Conservation Division and curators, architects, and external designers to establish the display of c800 items from the decorative art collections. I also undertook the conservation treatment of the ceramic and glass items for this gallery.
• April – October 2005. National Conservation Centre Interim Management Team.  I was part of a team that managed the Conservation Division in the temporary absence of the Head of Collections Management. Specifically, I managed the development of the Exhibition Policy and exhibition ideas for the National Conservation Centre; to create engaging, imaginative and inspiring temporary exhibitions that offered discovery, understanding and knowledge of the care of our heritage and the wide-ranging role of conservation.
• 2006 – 2007. Stubbs – A Celebration - loan to Tate Britain. I worked with in-house conservators and specialist packers (Kent Services) to determine the most effective and safest method of transporting 4 ceramic plaques. 3 of these plaques are enamels, applied by George Stubbs, on earthenware tablets manufactured by Wedgwood. They are some of the largest produced and are extremely rare and important. The nature of the materials made them High Risk for any handling and transport.
• June- August 2007. The New International Slavery Museum. I undertook conservation assessments, interventive treatments and the installation of ceramic and glass items for this new museum.
• ICON/HLF Bursary Scheme The aim of this 4-year scheme is to provide 50 work-based training opportunities across both public and private sectors. Specifically, I trained, supervised and mentored an intern over 12 months. I ensured compliance to Icon’s and the HLF’s criteria for the scheme. I produced quarterly reports and met with an external regional coordinator to ensure adherence to the aims and objectives of the scheme. The intern has since gained permanent employment in the Conservation Department of the British Museum.
• 2006 -2008 Research into Provenance Project - Oriental Collection LLAG. This saw a collaboration between the Lady Lever Art Gallery and the National Conservation Centre, and the History of Art Department of the University of Glasgow. The overall aims were to bring together the disciplines of art historical research, conservation, conservation science and IT to fully document a discrete Oriental collection; to contribute to our understanding of the wider context of provenance research and the history of taste and collecting,  and to deliver the results electronically in the form of a web-based catalogue. This is the first resource of its kind. I surveyed c750 items of Oriental porcelain and subsequently outlined a conservation strategy for the collection to stabilise deteriorating material and make it suitable for photography/publication. Work included decant of a gallery and interventive conservation of 10% of the porcelain material.