Some memoirs of a conservator in private practice: Change, continuity, and consolidation

Summary This essay relates 41 years of the author's experience as a conservator in the private sector from her start as a teenage apprentice (the only possible way to gain experience in the conservation of art on paper in 1959), to the present. Her apprenticeship at the old master print dealers, Messrs Craddock & Barnard is described, followed by the setting up of her own studios in London and later in Suffolk. Changes and advances in the field during this period are outlined with reference to training and the formation of the Institute of Paper Conservation.