The people behind the objects

Conservator inspecting the back of the headboard of the King James II bed at Knole. ©National Trust Images/David Levenson

Perhaps I don’t feature people often enough in this blog.

Conservator the late Linda Shelley dusting an urn in the Entrance Hall at Osterley Park. ©National Trust Images/Ian Shaw

It is easy to overlook the people who actually preserve and open up the collections of the National Trust. Many of them beaver away modestly behind the scenes.

Volunteers conserving textiles at Tyntesfield. ©National Trust Images/John Hammond

Also, unlike objects, people tend not to stay still for very long and are therefore more difficult to capture in photographs.

Food historian Peter Brears carrying a silver item to the Dining Room at Attingham Park. ©National Trust Images/David Levenson

But here are a few of the many different types of people involved with the collections of the National Trust, with some of the objects in their care.

Scrubs up nicely

Portrait of ‘young’ Sir George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (1622-1684), by circle of Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), at Dunham Massey, photographed following conservation. ©National Trust Images/Matthew Hollow

In June 2012 we managed to buy this portrait of ‘Young’ Sir George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer of Dunham Massey (as I reported at the time). It was sent to London-based conservator Sophie Reddington for treatment and Sophie has just sent me these images of the work.

The portrait before conservation. ©Christie’s

The picture was quite dusty and dirty and even had some white splash marks which appeared to be emulsion wall paint. At some point it had also been relined using too much heat, causing the paint to melt in places.

The portrait midway during varnish removal. ©Sophie Reddington

Sophie cleaned the painting with deionised water and then removed several layers of discoloured varnish with various solvents. Old retouching and overpainting was removed, again with solvents and also mechanically with a scalpel.

Lord Delamer’s sleeve during varnish removal. ©Sophie Reddington

Then Sophie refilled the small paint losses with acrylic putty, applied a first coat of new varnish and added new retouchings, followed by a final coat of varnish sprayed on in several thin layers.

The portrait after the filling in of the losses and the application of the first coat of varnish, but before retouching. ©Sophie Reddington

Where the canvas had become brittle and torn around the sides and the back of the stretcher Sophie mended it with nylon gossamer impregnated with adhesive.

Fragile and brittle tacking edges before treatment. ©Sophie Reddington

Sophie also treated the frame, consolidating loose parts, retouching damaged areas with watercolours and bronze paint, lining the rebate with paper tape and felt and reinserting the picture.

The same tacking edges after treatment. ©Sophie Reddington

On the back of the frame there is a label of James Bourlet and Sons, London frame makers, as well as the more recent Christie’s label.

Labels old and new on the back of the frame. ©Sophie Reddington

All this has vastly improved the readability of the image and given it a new lease of life.

A room with a blog

The breakfast Room at Osterley Park, before its recent repainting in ‘Batman grey’ and the start of the conservation project. ©National Trust Images/Mark Fiennes

Some rooms have views, other have blogs — and some have both. The Breakfast Room at Osterley now has its own blog, documenting the conservation process that aims to rediscover its original yellow colour scheme.

The Breakfast Room as the contents are being removed. © National Trust

Between 1949 and 2011 the Breakfast Room had undergone several redecorations, including a green and a yellow scheme, carried out first by the Victoria & Albert Museum and latterly by the National Trust.

James Finlay scrutinizing the evidence. © National Trust

The room was recently painted grey when it was used as one of the sets for the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. The fees charged for the filming have now enabled Osterley to instigate a full-scale investigation into the original yellow.

A paint scrape from the dado, showing a yellow layer on top of an earlier blue one. © National Trust

In 1772 Agneta Yorke visited Osterley and described the Breakfast Room as being ‘a lemon colour with blew ornaments.’

An unpicked sample of the 20th-century wallpaper, showing different layers of paint, paper and linings. © National Trust

But descriptions of colours are notoriously subjective, and it would be ideal if we could identify physical traces of the original paint.

The discovery of a doorway which once connected the Breakfast Room to the Library Passage. © National Trust

20th-century layers have now been stripped off and paint scrapes have been taken. The various findings are now being analysed, and you will be able to follow the story on the Osterley Breakfast Room blog.

Knole uncovered

©John Miller

The team at Knole has now started a two-year programme of emergency repairs. This is the first stage of a much larger project aiming to secure the whole of the house for the future.

©John Miller

The roof of the east front is currently being opened up and the cement render used during previous repairs is being removed.

©John Miller

Modern cement was once widely used to patch up old buildings, but its hardness actually caused more damage to the softer traditional building materials.

©John Miller

Investigations are underway to assess how the damage to the roof timbers can be best repaired and to find out what the structure can reveal about the building’s history.

©John Miller

As curator Emma Slocombe says: ‘There have been many more interventions and build stages in the external envelope of the building than we had thought. We are fascinated by each new revelation. It is an incredibly moving experience to see Knole in this state.’

©John Miller

Some lucky visitors were recently able to take scaffolding tours of the building, to see Knole’s skeleton for themselves.

Retouching the floor

The new lime mortar grouting between the flagstones in the Great Hall at Knole being painted. ©National Trust

The Knole conservation blog keeps providing fascinating insights into the reality of looking after a large and complex historic house.

The Great Hall at Knole. Both the floor and the carved screen date from the remodelling of the house in 1605-1608. ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

A recent post included images of the bright new lime mortar grouting of the stone floor in the Great Hall being painted to make it blend in – a wonderful example of the artifice required to preserve the aesthetic balance in a historic interior.

The floor in raking light, showing the difference in wear between the dark and the light flagstones. ©National Trust

As the Knole conservation blog tells us, the Great Hall was part of the original palace built by Archbishop Bourchier in about 1460, but the Purbeck marble floor probably dates from the extensive remodelling of the building by Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, in 1605-1608.

Conservator from Cliveden Conservation working on the survey of the floor. ©National Trust

Over time the black flagstones have been worn away more than the white ones, due to their slightly different physical properties.

Completed map of the condition of the floor before remdial work. Red indicates 70% surface damage, green 10-70% damage, orange 0-10% damage. ©National Trust

Cliveden Conservation recently carried out a survey of the floor in preparation for doing some remedial work.

Conservator from Cliveden Conservation injecting runny mortar into a crack in a flagstone. ©National Trust

The subsequent programme of work included removal of surface dirt, consolidation of flaking areas of stone, injecting of cracks with runny mortar and repointing between the flagstones with lime mortar – and some artful retouching with mortar colour.

Knole’s big project one step further

Late-seventeenth-century mirror, its ebonised frame inlaid with pierced gilt brass chased with acanthus patterns, one of a pair, probably English, in the Cartoon Gallery at Knole. The pilasters with grotesque decoration are topped by ram’s masks, the old crest of the Sackville family. ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has just announced that the Inspired by Knole project qualifies for a ‘first round pass’. This means that the HLF is recognising the project’s potential, and that the Knole team can now develop a detailed business plan for it.

The Cartoon Gallery. ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

The aim of Inspired by Knole is to improve the state of conservation of the house and its collections ad to put it on the map as one of the UK’s most spectacular examples of  a combined Tudor palace and Renaissance mansion.

Trompe l’oeil grotesque decoration in the Cartoon Gallery, probably created by Paul Isaacson in about 1608 for Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset. ©National Trust Images/Matthew Hollow

Plans for the project include the rewiring of the building, the installation of conservation heating and the creation of an on-site conservation studio which will be open to visitors.

Painted motif of a vase with a small lemon tree or branch in the frieze of the Cartoon Gallery, probably by Paul Isaacson, c. 1608. ©National Trust Images/Matthew Hollow

In addition the Knole team wants to open up more of the attics and tower rooms to the public, to develop new ways of volunteering and to make Knole a centre of heritage skills training.

Gilt table and candlestands in the Cartoon Gallery, thought to have been given to Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, by Louis XIV in 1670-71. ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

The HLF will make its final decision about the £7.5 million grant application in 2013, but this initial response is very encouraging and will help the National Trust with its other fundraising towards Inspired by Knole.

The ongoing behind-the-scenes work at Knole can be followed on the Knole Conservation Team Blog.

The Prince of Wales at Knole

HRH the Prince of Wales walking through the Outer Wicket and into the Green Court at Knole with property manager Steven Dedman and assistant director of operations Nic Durston. ©Professional Images

HRH the Prince of Wales recently visited Knole to learn about the major conservation project that is beginning to get underway there. Among his many duties Prince Charles is also President of the National Trust.

The Prince of Wales ascending the early-seventeenth-century Great Staircase with curator Emma Slocombe. ©Professional Images

Knole is a rare example of a Tudor palace that has survived and accumulated many subsequent layers of decoration and collections. Over time the house has developed some serious structural and conservation problems which are now being tackled.

The Prince of Wales talking to house manager Helen Fawbert in the Ballroom. ©Professional Images

Curator Emma Slocombe guided His Royal Highness around the house. Prince Charles saw how the furniture is cleaned – testing the suction on a ‘museum vac’ – and how pest infestations are treated.

The Prince of Wales and curator Emma Slocombe looking at the decorative plasterwork in the Ballroom. ©Professional Images

He also inspected the ’Eyemat’, an extremely realistic photographic replica of a seventeenth-century Goan carpet. The Knole team is using this to test how an experimental heating mat, which has been placed below it, will cope with the footfall of thousands of visitors.

The Prince of Wales and Emma Slocombe looking at the seventeenth-century furniture in the Brown Gallery, mostly acquired as ‘perquisites’ – royal hand-me-downs – by the 6th Earl of Dorset when he was Lord Chamberlain to King William III. ©Professional Images

The Prince of Wales appeared to be impressed with what is happening at Knole and the visit gave a great boost to everyone involved with the conservation project.

More images of the visit and a photograph of a previous visit of a Prince of Wales to Knole (1898) can be seen on the Knole Conservation team blog.

Looking after King James

Conservator examining the portrait of King James I. ©National Trust

I keep finding new blogs being written by National Trust colleagues about the places where they work and the projects they are engaged in. My latest discovery is the Montacute House blog, which has actually been going for some time.

The portrait on display at Montacute following conservation. The painter took great care in rendering the different textures of the leather wallhanging, the fur cape and the silk costume. ©National Trust

One of the subjects that Montacute intern Emma Harnett and volunteer Andrew May have been posting about is the return of the portrait of King James I of England and VI of Scotland by John de Critz the Elder, which we recently purchased at auction. The picture had originally been given to Sir Edward Phelips, the builder of Montacute, as a mark of esteem by the king.

Samples are being taken and stored in phials for later analysis. ©National Trust

The portrait underwent conservation treatment before it was put on display. Here you can see a conservator taking tiny paint samples for analysis.

The back of the picture, showing the relative thinness of the panels. ©National Trust

The wooden panel that the portrait is painted on was found to be quite thin and slightly warped, with small cracks in places.

King James now has his own QR code. ©National Trust

A so-called panel tray has now been fitted to the back of the painting. This is a kind of box that supports the back of the picture but also allows it to move when there are changes in humidity levels, helping to prevent further damage.

I am looking forward to more interesting posts from the Montacute House blog.

Inn side story

The Corinthian Arch at Stowe. ©National Trust/John Millar

The eighteenth- century gardens of Stowe in Buckinghamshire were effectively one of the Britain’s first public theme parks. Visitors flocked from near and far (and even from abroad) to see the temples, monuments and scenery created by Baron Cobham and his successor Earl Temple.

A view of the New Inn by Jean-Claude Nattes, 1809, in Buckinghamshire County Museum

Such were the visitor numbers that Lord Cobham built an inn at the main Bell Gate entrance to the park, called the New Inn, to provide accomodation for some of them.

The New Inn following its restoration. ©National Trust/Brian Cleckner

The building later became a farm and had recently fallen into decay. It was bought by the National Trust in 2005 and has now been restored and turned into a visitor centre.

Eighteenth-century graffiti at the New Inn. ©National Trust/John Millar

The 75-strong building team and over 250 volunteers restored as much of the original building as possible, studying  historic documents and images and using materials and construction methods of the period. Appropriate period furniture was introduced whenever possible.

The Parlour, with a draught-excluding settle next to the fireplace. ©National Trust/Brian Cleckner

The National Trust has created additional visitor facilities on the footprint of the farm and stable block, including a cafe, shop and conference centre, using larch wood sourced from the nearby Ashridge estate.

The Tap Room. ©National Trust/Brian Cleckner

The Heritage Lottery Fund provided a £1.5 million grant towards the £9 million cost of the project, which was also supported by other fundraising initiatives and donations.

The courtyard seen from above, showing the layout of a traditional inn. ©National Trust/John Millar

The reinstatement of the New Inn as the entrance to Stowe also means that visitors can now begin their walk around the gardens from the same spot as their eighteenth-century predecessors did, which should help to make the experience more authentic and enjoyable.  

Conservation: walking the walk and talking the talk

The Regency curtains that until recently hung in the Sultana Room at Attingham, showing signs of wear and tear. ©National Trust

I just wanted to mention some more lively blogs focusing on the conservation work taking place at the historic houses of the National Trust.

Conservator applying a coat of water-based acrylic to the painted floorcloth in the Entrance Hall at Attingham, to help protect it against tens of thousands of visitors' feet. ©National Trust

The Attingham Park Mansion blog has been chronicling the big winter cleaning and maintenance round, but also shows the results of archival research into the history of the Noel Hill family, the cataloguing of the collection of photographs as well as a recent Marie Claire photoshoot.

Hoisting the 3rd Duke of Dorset back into position at Knole. ©National Trust

The Knole conservation blog shows the recent reinstatement of the Reynolds Room following an environmental control trial which involved a life-size mock-up of the room being placed in front of the walls (and which I reported on earlier).

One of the internal gutters at Knole, with evidence of recent snowfall. ©National Trust

The blog is also witness to the considerable problems that the house is facing with water ingress, often due to strange historical drainage solutions such as gutters that run inside the walls, demonstrating the need for the major conservation project that has just got underway there.

Finished toile for a corset of the type that the lady in the Dunham portrait would have worn. ©Jennifer Craig

I have already mentioned Jennifer Craig’s blog about her project to recreate the costume worn by the lady in the Jacobean portrait we recently acquired for Dunham Massey, but Jennifer has since added a number of interesting posts about her research into seventeenth century embroidery and corset-making.

Oyster, not gold. ©Jennifer Craig

Jennifer also remarks how the recent cleaning of the portrait has shown that the colour of the lady’s jacket is oyster, rather than gold as we all thought prior to the removal of the old varnish – demonstrating the importance of conservation in not only protecting but also revealing the true nature of historic objects.