This article first appeared in Conservation News 76.

A whole lot of nothing
A review of the Leather Conservation Course held at West Dean College, June 2001

As part of my ongoing CPD, I wanted to improve my understanding of leather conservation treatments. I hoped the course would give me some answers. The course was organised by the Book Conservation Department at West Dean, so I was not sure how useful the course would be to me as a furniture conservator. In fact equal numbers of furniture and book conservators attended the course.

The two-day course was given by Roy Thomson, Chief Executive of the Leather Conservation Centre, and Aline Angus, one of its conservators. As with other West Dean courses I've attended, we started in earnest immediately after dinner with an introduction to leather in its many guises- from an elephant's ear to a still furred fox and even a snake.

Roy and Aline talked through the history of leather making and gave case studies of work carried out by the LCC. We were given samples to identify, not always easy, especially when leathers can be grained to mimic others!

The course was divided between lectures and demonstrations with opportunities to experiment with materials and techniques. The course notes were very useful and together with the LCC publications on Parchment and Case Studies make very good sources for references, including stockists of materials and equipment. All these gave me a really good idea of what could be done and more importantly what one should not do when handling leather objects. As with any short course, it has not made me a leather conservator. But I did learn what I wanted from the course. In many instances all that is required, to quote Aline, is "a whole lot of nothing" and there can't be any harm in that.

Graham Marley   ACR June 2001

• The Leather Conservation Centre: www.leatheruk.com/lcc.htm
• West Dean College: www.westdean.org.uk