Conservation of Furniture

This book is a comprehensive resource covering the principles and practice of the conservation and restoration of furniture, and other decorative art objects made wholly or partly of wood. It integrates theory with practice to show the principles which govern interaction between wooden objects, the environmental and conservation treatments and the factors which need to be taken into account to arrive at acceptable solutions to conservation problems.

The practical knowledge and experience of a team of conservators active in the field are bought together with theoretical and reference material from diverse sources and unified within a systematic framework. Specialist conservators from related disciplines cover diverse materials often incorporated into furniture.

* Unique text provides information and guidance on the full range of a professional furniture conservator's work
* Benefit from the knowledge of an international team of experts
* Comprehensive coverage of methodology is applicable to a wide variety of circumstances

Shayne Rivers trained in traditional cabinetmaking and finishing, followed by a further four years training in furniture restoration. In 1998, she graduated from the Victoria & Albert Museum/Royal College of Art joint Conservation programme with an M.A. in Furniture Conservation, having specialised in the conservation of painted, japanned and lacquered surfaces. Soon after graduating, she was appointed to her present position as a Senior Furniture Conservator at the V&A.

Nick Umney retrained as a furniture conservator after several years working in the biological sciences and part time furniture making. He spent ten years working as a Senior Furniture Conservator at the Victoria & Albert Museum, before moving into a management role as Assistant Head of Department. He was Museum Project Manager for the British Galleries Project at the V&A from 1997-2001 before taking on his current role as Director of the Collections Services Division.