In October I was employed by Madeleine Katkov to work on a very unusual oak pair of benches with early Renaissance carved panels, possibly the first to enter Britain. They reside in an almshouse,
The Hospital of St. Cross.
 |
| One of the main panels during conservation. |
As a contrast to most of the work I carried out in 2013 this was a piece of wooden furniture, though on a large scale. Most of the cleaning was carried out with gentle swab cleaning using ammonia water.
 |
| A panel during cleaning. |
The projects was carried out by Madeleine and myself along with a few members of the local community who quickly developed the skills and attitudes required for such a delicate conservation project.
 |
| Paint uncovering on one of the pendants. |
In addition to the cleaning there were some paint layers on the carvings which were uncovered with chemical and gentle mechanical methods.
Next Friday's post will discuss some more work at St. Cross, this time up in the tower.
