Icon Private Practice Group 2026 Annual General Meeting followed by a Project Exchange

Join the Private Practice Group Committee on Wednesday 23rd September at 5.30pm for our AGM where the Committee will share summaries of the group's activities throughout the past year and discuss events and other exciting prospects upcoming for 2026.

If you would like to raise any issues during the AGM, or if you have any other questions, feel free to get in touch with us via [email protected]

The AGM will conclude with a Project Exchange, where the following private practitioners will present:

Hana Bristow ACR
Recovery and Conservation of HMS Vanguard (1906) Artefacts from Scapa Flow, Orkney

This talk describes Hana’s involvement in the recovery and conservation of three remarkable objects – a ship's bell, a tompion (gun muzzle plug) and badge (originally attached to the tompion) – from the protected wreck of HMS Vanguard (1906) in Scapa Flow, Orkney.

HMS Vanguard was destroyed by an accidental explosion in 1917, with the loss of 843 lives, making it one of the deadliest accidental disasters in British naval history. The wreck has been designated as a war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act (1986). However, these exceptionally well-preserved objects lay beyond the exclusion zone, leaving them vulnerable to damage and theft. Following a marine archaeological survey in 2017, a partnership between Orkney Islands Council, the Ministry of Defence, Royal Navy Museums and other stakeholders was established to recover, conserve and ultimately display the objects as part of a permanent memorial to the crew.

In July 2025, Hana joined the recovery team at sea and subsequently undertook the conservation of the brass bell and badge, while the tompion, with its fragile composite organic materials, was transferred to the Mary Rose Trust for specialist treatment.
As a conservator in private practice, this was Hana’s first experience of dealing with marine archaeological material from the point of recovery. Hana will discuss the research, planning and practical challenges involved in delivering the project from the perspective of a sole practitioner working in Orkney, and reflect on the insights gained from collaborating with marine archaeologists and a range of stakeholders.

Karina Lavings and Rosie Kelly
Stearic Acid Crystallisation in a Graham Sutherland Mixed-Media Artwork: Investigation, Analysis and Treatment

This presentation discusses the investigation and treatment of a large mixed-media work on paper by Graham Sutherland. The artwork, comprising gouache, chalk, wax crayon and ink on paper mounted to hardboard, exhibited extensive pale crystalline deposits across areas of the painted surface. The deposits resembled fine snowflake-like crystals and had developed despite the artwork being stored in environmentally controlled conditions for many years.

The project combined detailed surface examination under varied lighting conditions and magnified photography with scientific analysis to determine the nature and source of the deposits. Samples were analysed using FTIR-ATR by an external analytical laboratory, identifying the material as stearic acid. This common additive, used in mid-twentieth-century hardboard manufacture to impart hydrophobic properties, was found to have migrated from the secondary support rather than originating from the artist’s materials.

The presentation will outline the investigative process and discuss how analytical findings informed both treatment and ethical decision-making. Particular consideration was given to whether the hardboard support should be removed. Given its apparent historical significance, structural role, and the presence of inscriptions on the verso, a strategy of cleaning, monitoring and preventive recommendations was adopted. This case study highlights the value of analytical collaboration and measured intervention when addressing material change in modern artworks.