Practical leather conservation workshop

In September SRAL had the pleasure of hosting a workshop on practical leather conservation for historic leather, led by Theo Sturge assisted by our leather specialist Daniëlle Stobbe. During the 4-day event at SRAL conservation studios in Maastricht, the Netherlands, participants from all over Europe came to learn everything about leather conservation. The workshop started every day with theory and case studies, as in the afternoon the participants worked on practical exercises concerning a whole range of leather working skills.  
 
Theo Sturge is the UK’s most experienced practicing leather conservator. He is an accredited conservator (ACR) and a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (FIIC). He has many years’ experience in conservation and has specialized in leather conservation for over 30 years. He set up his own business, the Sturge Conservation Studio, in 2000. He works almost exclusively on historic leather.  

Topics

The course concentrated on the practical aspects of leather conservation and is based on Theo’s extensive experience. The participants learned among other about:

• the basic properties of leather as a material
• gilt leather
• adhesives used for leather
• repairing materials
• coloring leather
• gap filling
• cleaning
• humification and reshaping
• consolidation
• treatment of red rot 
• finishing leather.

Practical exercises included:

• making a piece of gilt leather
• trials with a range of adhesives and repair materials 
• methods for filling gaps, including moulding, filling with solid BEVA 371, inlays and more
• dying and coloring leather
• reintegration of lost color 
• sewing leather. 

We are confident that everyone who attended this workshop learned a lot about new possibilities and skills in the field of leather conservation.