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Careers in Antique

While antiques are technically objects over 100 years old, almost anything can be collectable: books, furniture, jewellery, clothing, china, toys and domestic utensils. Objects �rom the quite recent past are often described as bric-a-brac rather than antiques. Although it helps to enjoy old and beautiful objects, a shrewd business sense and an eye for a bargain are essential. It is also a business where getting on easily with people is important. Customers, after all, don't have to buy antiques and it is often subtle selling techniques which clinch a deal.

GETTING STARTED

As has already been suggested, the range of objects loosely described as antiques is very wide. At one end is the market stall heaped with if!.teresting junk collected from jumble sales; at the other, the auctioneer �rom Sotheby's knocking down a Rubens for five million pounds. The, range of qualifications and background required can be equally varied. Top auction houses often prefer someone with an art history degree; your local junk shop may just be looking for a pair of strong arms to heave old sofas around!

The essential thing is to gain experience, to actually handle antiques. Go to museums and stately homes, attend auctions and make contacts. You will also find a wide range of books trom which to learn about antiques and their collection. Apart trom the grand end of the market, most businesses are small (over 20,000 of them) and there is litde formal training. The best way to start is to go round antique shops asking for a job. A local auction room might be another possibility, perhaps as a porter fetching and carrying at auctions. Here you would become familiar with the names of items, their construction and also the price that they currendy fetch at auction. Helping at a weekend market might be another way of getting experience - even running your own junk stall, if you are confident and yet prepared to make mistakes!

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

There is relatively little formal training, and much of that is privately run and expensive. If you are capable of work to degree standard, you might consider art history as a suitable course. This will give you a knowledge of painting and sculpture and the upper end of the antiques market (e.g. oriental prints, Middle Eastern carpets and so forth) but not much of the less grand side of the business (Victorian furniture, art nouveau vases, etc).

For art history degrees, you normally need three A levels (or the equivalent) including one, and preferably two, languages trom French, German, Latin and Italian. Southampton Institute of Higher Education offers a BA degree in Fine Art Evaluation, which gives exemption from ISV A (Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers) exams. You can also study for ISV A qualifications part-time or by home-study if in a relevant job.

Private courses

Some private courses are intended for future professionals; others are more for the interested amateur. These courses are not cheap and they cannot guarantee you a job, but they can be very helpful (NB local authority grants are unlikely to be available). You may also find evening classes in your area, though these are essentially aimed at the interested amateur. The following are a few of the better-known course providers:

• The Courtauld Institute of Art - Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R ORN.
• Christie's Education - 63 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3JS.
• Inchbald School of Design - 7 Eaton Gate, London SWl W 9BA.
• Sotheby's Institute - 30 Oxford Street, London W1R lRE.
• Study Centre for the History of the Fine and Decorative Arts -21 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4SA.
• The Victoria and Albert Museum - Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL.

Repair and restoration courses

The next section looks at the restoration and conservation of works of art, which is really a quite separate area of work. There are various courses in restoring ordinary antiques, both full and part-time. In many areas of antique restoration it may be possible to be apprenticed to a skilled restorer rather than going to college.

West Dean College - West Dean, Chichester P018 OQZ. Tel: 01243 811301

This is a college for arts and crafts, specialising in the restoration of antiques. Courses are offered in the conservation and restoration of clocks, fme metalwork restoration, furniture, musical instruments, porcelain and ceramics, rare books and manuscripts.

The following are just some examples of other courses available:

Embroidery and fabrics

Royal School of Needlework - Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey KT8 9AU.

The Textile Conservation Centre - same address.

Clocks

British Horological Institute - Upton Hall, Upton, Newark NG23 5TE.

Hackney Community College - Keltan House, 89-115 Mare Street, London E8 4RG.

Furniture

London Guildhall University - Admissions Office, 133 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QA.

Manchester College of Arts and Technology - Lower Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3ER.

Rural Development Commission - 141 Casde Street, Salisbury. Ryecotewood College - Priest End, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 2AF.

Musical Instruments

London Guildhall University - Admissions Office, 133 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QA.

Newark and Sherwood College - Friary Road, Newark, NG24 1BP.

Pictures

Royal College of Art (in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum and Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) - Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU.

Restoring works of Art

Restoration and conservation is a very complex and painstaking business, but it can be extremely rewarding work. It's about giving a new lease of life to objects which have deteriorated over the years. The training is long and involves learning about the scientific side of the work, as well as art history and practical skills.

Restoration work may be on a very large scale, such as the restoration of works of art which were badly damaged after the fire at Hampton Court Palace. Or, it may be restoring carpets for the National Trust. "Whatever the task, the work involves something unique, delicate and valuable (if not priceless). Everything that is collectable may need conserving at some stage. Today, conservation work is not only found in the traditional fields of fine art, archaeology, furniture and ceramics, but also with glassware, sculpture, musical instruments and books.

Restorer

All works of art suffer from the passage of time. Acid rain corrodes statues; the varnish on paintings turns brown with age and misuse. In some cases the artists have used a medium which has deteriorated with the course of time. They may have used a pigment which was not chemically stable and the colours in a painting have totally altered. Even the base material on which a work was done does not last for ever. In the past, works of art have been altered by other hands, figures added or painted out. There is also the question of whether you restore a work to what it may have been, or conserve it, preserving it as it is at present for future generations.

Obviously, the background knowledge, skills and understanding necessary to make these kinds of decisions are not things you can acquire overnight. Add to that a working knowledge of materials and their behaviour, the necessary technical skills, and the sheer stamina required to spend hundreds of hours on one job, and you will begin to get some feeling for the nature of the work. Imagine the hours of painstaking work involved in removing a painting from the decaying canvas on which it was painted, and relaying it on a new backcloth. On a larger scale, consider the ten-plus years it took to restore the sculpture and stonework on the spire of Salisbury Cathedral.

Conservator

To be a conservator you need to:

• be interested in all sorts of objects, and their history;
• know how they were produced;
• have some scientific knowledge;
• be patient and painstaking;
• have good eyesight and colour vision.

Where conservators and restorers work

The public sector

This includes the famous national museums and galleries, like the British Museum and the National Gallery, and many other galleries all round the country which are run by local authorities, universities and trusts. There is also work with English Heritage and the equivalent Scottish and Welsh bodies.

The private sector

There has been quite an expansion in the numbers of firms in this sector. In the main, private firms are very small businesses which specialise in a particular area of work. They contract to carry out restoration and conservation work for private collectors, antique dealers, auctioneers, owners of historic houses and the National Trust. Private sector conservators may have started direct trom a college course, or learned their trade in public sector organisations, or through an apprenticeship to a specialist.

DEVELOPING YOUR CAREER

There is a limited career structure in the public sector, but moving up in an organisation usually means moving away trom practical work to more managerial work. In the private sector, your prospects depend very much on the success of the business, which will mean having business skills as well as being a good restorer.

TRAINING

There is a wide range of courses at art colleges, further and higher education colleges, universities and private colleges. Painting and archaeological restoration/conservation are usually offered as postgraduate courses. For these postgraduate courses you will need a first degree in art history or science. Other areas, such as furniture, textiles, ceramics and books and manuscripts, are offered at various entry levels. In addition, it may be possible to be apprenticed to a restorer, particularly in such specialisations as textiles, furniture and stone-carving.