Graciela Ainsworth ACR

22 Apr 2025

Founded in 1990 by Graciela Ainsworth, our practice began in a repurposed metal workshop in Scotland and has since grown into one of the UK’s leading sculpture conservation studios. Over the past three decades, Graciela Ainsworth Sculpture Conservation has built a reputation for excellence, combining hands-on expertise with a deep respect for historical materials and techniques.

In 2014, the company became a limited business, with long-standing team member Iain Fox—who joined in 1996—becoming co-Director. Today, our dedicated team of conservators, many of whom have been with the company for over 20 years, continues to grow in experience, undertaking diverse conservation projects across the UK. Former team members have gone on to work with institutions such as the V&A, British Museum, NMS, and Historic Environment Scotland.

We are proud to have contributed to award-winning projects, including the Hampton Court Palace conservation, which received a Civic Trust Conservation Commendation in 2017. Our consultants include architect W.R. Ainsworth OBE and Dr Jonathan Kemp, who has worked with the practice since 1992.

Graciela herself balances conservation with her own sculpture commissions, notably sculpting one of the first female busts for the National Wallace Monument. She continues to share her expertise widely, delivering lectures, training, and consultancy work in the UK and internationally, including recent training in India for the conservation of the Kolkata Scottish Graveyard.

Conservation of six 1760’s Stucco Muses, Great Hall Seaton Delaval, NT

Graciela Ainsworth and her team were chosen to conserve six large in-situ stucco Muses, modelled over wrought iron armatures. Challenges included corroding fixings, poor condition from historic fire damage and exposure, and the presence of nesting birds and bats. Treatment required careful cleaning, grouting, pinning, and filling, as well as addressing severe corrosion and consolidating fragile jute drapery—despite previous reports advising against the use of consolidants.

Conservation of the 1640’s Renaissance polychrome sandstone statue of John Cowane, Cowane’s Hospital, Stirling

The renaissance sandstone statue of John Cowane on John Cowane Hospital, Stirling, Scotland, was to be conserved. The majority of the work was to research the original paint scheme, and several options were given to the Client, dependant on if any original paint was found, following analytical research. The conservation work was carried out with and for Benjamin Tindall Architects and Patrons of Cowane’s Hospital Trust, with Curatorial and Conservation research in Scotland and the Netherlands.

GSA Plaster Cast Collection conservation work following the 2014 and 2018 fire’s

Following the 2014 Glasgow School of Art fire, we surveyed their entire plaster cast collection. Eleven key casts—five large free-standing sculptures and six Cantoria relief panels—were selected for conservation. Fire damage altered their surface colour and compromised structural integrity. Some works were treated in situ, others in our studio. Treatments addressed surface contamination, internal stability, and complex material degradation caused by heat, soot, and soluble building debris.

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