See The Conservation Studio on BBC's Hidden Treasures of the National Trust

Hill Top, Lake District

Collaborative Conservation of Beatrix Potter’s Dolls’ House

Beatrix Potter’s dolls’ house contains tiny items that feature in some of her illustrated books. It was conserved in the studio in preparation for a new and exciting exhibition themed around her book, ‘The Tale of Two Bad Mice.’ Just like any other house, it takes a team to look after it, and between November 2024 to January 2025 over 300 hours were spent cleaning and repairing this house in miniature, items conserved included sofas, chandeliers, cutlery, plates of food and carpets. Conservators specialising in furniture, objects, paper and textiles, collaborated to deliver the care required to make it ready for exhibition. The dolls’ house is now on display at Hill Top.

Upton House and Gardens, Warwickshire

Revealing a history of changes in Tintoretto’s Wise and Foolish Virgins

When Tintoretto’s Wise and Foolish Virgins (c. 1546) first came to the studio it was marred by layers of darkened and discoloured varnish. A gem in Upton House’s collection of old master paintings, its gloomy appearance compromised the signature dynamism of the 16th century Venetian master’s painting technique, causing the work to fade into the background of the corridor in which it hung.

Just before coming to the studio, technical analysis had been undertaken externally by conservation scientists at Art Discovery. The results pointed to a fascinating history of changes made to the painting, with further intriguing discoveries made during the course of treatment at the studio.

The changes presented our conservation team with a number of dilemmas when it came to inpainting historic losses on the work. Watch in series 3 of Hidden Treasures of the National Trust to see how we worked with curators to resolve these issues, enabling Tintoretto’s great work to shine once again. You can see the work as part of a special conservation focused display at Upton House.

Ham House and Garden, London

Discover the Hidden Gem of Ham House: A Chinese Lacquer Folding Screen

National trust is unveiling one of the secrets of Ham House with the stunning Chinese coromandel lacquer folding screen, a masterpiece of 17th-century craftsmanship. This six-panel screen, adorned with intricate scenes of Han palace life, lush landscapes, and vibrant flora and fauna, has been hidden from public view since 1905 due to its delicate condition. Now, thanks to a meticulous two-year conservation project at the conservation studio, this exquisite piece will be ready to shine once more.

The screen, known in Europe as 'Coromandel lacquer,' showcases the remarkable kuan cai Chinese technique, where decorations are engraved into black lacquer and then painted and gilded. This creates a striking effect, reminiscent of large, coloured prints with dramatic black backgrounds. The motifs, inspired by Chinese woodblock prints, offer a glimpse into the opulence and artistic excellence of the late 17th century.

Don't miss the chance to experience a piece of history that has been lovingly conserved and will be back on display at Ham House.

Lanhydrock, Cornwall

The Secrets of a Seventeenth Century Flemish Art Cabinet

This Antwerp Cabinet, dating from 1650, showcases diverse materials available to artistic guilds via international trade through the Port of Antwerp. Although these cabinets were relatively standard in construction, the commissioning client would choose the ornamentation including the paintings and decorative metal work as a display of their wealth and intellect.

Over the past year, our conservators, conservation scientists and curators spent over 275 hours researching, analysing, and conserving the cabinet.

The cabinet had suffered losses to tortoiseshell veneers and ebony ripple mouldings, with decorative mounts masked by bronze paints. The pierced brass panels and paintings were obscured by restoration coatings and dirt.

For the ethical replacement of losses the conservator used synthetic materials to mimic tortoiseshell and ivory. Tortoiseshell losses were replaced with cast polyester resin backed with red painted Japanese tissue, and ripple moulding losses with pigmented resin sections cast from silicon moulds.

The cabinet is now ready to impress and delight visitors of the Gallery at Lanhydrock.

Dyrham Park, South Gloucestershire

Conserving a rare view of early colonial Barbados

Dyrham’s parks newly acquired painting, A View of the Port of Bridgetown, Barbados, has undergone almost 500 hours of conservation treatment. This large panoramic work offers a rare glimpse into what was once England’s wealthiest colony in the Caribbean, its success underpinned by the sugar industry and the enslaved African people that cultivated it.

The painting was historically owned by Dyrham Park’s late 17th century owner, William Blathwayt. As Auditor General of Plantation Revenues, he was a man heavily invested in the vast profits generated by the Caribbean sugar industry. Evidence of that industry can be seen in the numerous windmills that scatter the landscape, the flourishing port city below, and the busy maritime scene in the foreground.

In the past the paint surface had suffered extensively with overcleaning abrasion, physical damages and flake losses. This had resulted in previous restorers liberally applying non-original paint to mask these areas of loss, obscuring much of the original in the process too.

Honouring the paintings status as a key piece of material evidence pertaining to historic Bridgetown, varnish and overpaint removal was undertaken to reveal the damaged but authentic surface. The subsequent, more minimal but painstaking inpainting process focussed on just the areas of loss. The ships and their complex rigging lines had been particularly badly damaged. These were carefully reinstated in collaboration with experts from the National Maritime Museum.

The painting will be back on display in Dyrham Park

Ham House and Garden, London

Gilded Dolphins brought back to life

The Dolphin chairs, so named for their flamboyant carvings of gilded sea creatures, were supplied by Jean Poictevin in 1673, and have furnished Ham House’s North Drawing Room since 1677. The complex restoration history of the chairs, never before consistently treated as a set, presented an intriguing conservation challenge.

They are now undergoing a five-year conservation programme, across both National Trust conservation studios which, for the first time, considers the Ham House suite in its entirety.

Previous campaigns of over-gilding and restorations using bronze paints, and brown overpainting of the water elements completely altered the appearance. However, our technical investigation has identified the original scheme, still present on some of the chairs. The gilded dolphins were once highlighted with brilliant red glazes, while the silvered water elements, now tarnished and degraded, would have shimmered with a yellow toned glaze.

Our furniture conservators have stabilised the fragile surfaces, removed bronze paint repairs and reduced heavily applied overpaint and toning layers. Areas of surface loss have been built up with gesso, then gilded or silvered to regain the integrity of the carving, tonal layers were used to unify the suite. Completed chairs are now on display at Ham House and three more chairs will arrive in the studio at Knole in later this summer.