Issue 46 April 25 web - Flipbook - Page 11
His Majesty The King tries his
hand at gilding during visit to
royal conservation workshop
His Majesty The King has visited Royal Collection Trust’s
Decorative Arts conservation workshop in London to
hear from conservators about their work. His Majesty
viewed objects being conserved for the forthcoming exhibition The Edwardians: Age of Elegance, and tried his
hand at applying gold leaf to a gilded dragon that will go
on display to visitors in Buckingham Palace’s East Wing.
Sophy Wills, Senior Metalwork Conservator, and David
East, Art Handler, show His Majesty objects that are
being prepared for the exhibition The Edwardians: Age
of Elegance, opening at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham
Palace in April. They include: a silver and enamel bowl
given to Queen Alexandra by her Russian relations; an
elaborate table mirror, inscribed with ‘To age and youth
I tell the truth’; a screen from King Edward VII and
Queen Alexandra’s private rooms at Sandringham
House, featuring photographs of their glamorous social
circle; and a Frederic Leighton sculpture of an athlete
wrestling with a python.
The workshop’s expert staff use a combination of
centuries-old techniques and the latest technologies to
conserve furniture, ceramics, sculpture, giltwood and
metalwork from the Royal Collection, ensuring that
these objects can be enjoyed for generations to come and
can be seen by the public in palaces, museums and
galleries across the UK and around the world.
His Majesty is Patron of Royal Collection Trust, a charity
caring for the Royal Collection and welcoming visitors
to the royal palaces. The Royal Collection is one of the
world’s great art collections, held in trust by The King
for his successors and the nation. With over a million objects, it is a unique record of the tastes of British kings
and queens over the past 500 years, with many items still
used today for their original purpose.
This 19th-century gilded dragon is one of a pair that
surmount a decorative pelmet above a window in the
East Wing of Buckingham Palace. Their gilding had worn
away over the centuries. Once their conservation is complete, they will be returned to the Centre Room Lobby,
where they can be seen by visitors during tours of the
East Wing.
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
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