Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

9
Conservation preliminaries
This chapter covers some of the general issues
that affect the approaches to, and execution of,
furniture conservation. These include the context
in which conservation takes place, the ethical
principles that guide our work and the
importance of documentation as a tool in conservation.
Information is also given on aspects
of setting up a workshop, the tools, machinery
and equipment required and the health and
safety implications of the work. The outline
presented of the practical processes typically
involved in furniture conservation provides a
framework for discussion in subsequent chapters.
In most cases the principles underlying
the discussion will be the same throughout the
English-speaking world. However, the international
nature of the audience and rapidly
changing nature of law mitigate against specific
instruction, though in some cases examples
have been given from the UK and European
perspectives.
9.1 Context
This section briefly addresses the historical
context of conservation, seeks to define the
profession, elucidate the role of some important
professional organizations and outline what
is involved in the business side of delivering
conservation services.
9.1.1 Historical background
Although there would always have been people
whose function was to repair furniture in
use, the rise of furniture conservation has been
closely associated with the development of
museums. Private, royal and ecclesiastical collections
existed from early times but the earli-
est public collections in the UK date mainly
from the eighteenth century, though the
Ashmolean Museum in Oxford was established
in 1683. Steady growth of museums continued
until there were some 900 museums in Britain
in 1963. From this point growth in numbers
was nearly explosive, rising to 2300 establishments
in 1988. Corfield (1988) has traced the
emergence of conservation as a profession.
Traditionally, remedial work on furniture
was the province of the furniture restorer, a
person (most likely male) who, until recently,
was very likely to have trained as a cabinetmaker
or joiner and who would use very much
the same skills of making and finishing. The
same would be largely true of upholstery and
gilding. The last forty or so years have seen
both diversification and systematization of
approach and greater awareness of and concern
for the historic value of original material.
There are probably several reasons for this,
including changes in training and routes into
conservation, the influence of conservation
professional bodies and an increase in
accountability. All this has been underpinned
by the far greater interest in and expenditure
on, the heritage implied by the expansion
noted above.
Diploma and degree courses in conservation
of paintings were introduced at the Courtauld
Institute in London in 1932. Archaeological
conservation, for which there is no trade equivalent
and for which more emphasis is placed
on the verity of the historic record, was also
one of the first to be taught at degree level.
Opportunities then became available in other
National Museums and Galleries, to people
with backgrounds in the sciences as well as
those educated and trained in art history and
the practical arts, though evidence of interest
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