Saturday, February 29th, 2020

'Keep and Copy’

Quaker Meeting House, Friargate, off Castlegate, York YO1 9RL

We were delighted to welcome M. Faye Prior of York Museums Trust to talk to us once again.  The Society gave the Trust £1000 last year towards the conservation of a rather remarkable embroidered Workbox from the seventeenth century and Faye described the restoration of this box with the aid of a Powwerpoint presentation.  She also spoke about other objects from their collection, and  talked about the care of particular pieces, how items are chosen for conservation and what determines the nature of the conservation eventually carried out to restore them.

In the afternoon session, a previous student from Scarborough College and also a past recipient of one of our Bursaries, Abby Hanna, showed us her Renaissance gown and it’s underpinnings, which she has re-created from an Italian portrait, dated 1531, by Margherita Paleologo, and dressed a model in the gown. She described her extensive research and the complexities involved in making such a garment, the fabrics she chose etc.