Join curator Alexander Collins and senior conservator Jürgen Huber to investigate the gilding that adorns many of our 18th-century French chandeliers, clocks, chairs and candlesticks. You’ll learn about gilding techniques from the period as well as its social and artistic significance. Alongside seeing the effects of the technique close-up, you’ll have the opportunity to try out gilding for yourself.

About the speakers: Alexander Collins is Curator of Decorative Arts at the Wallace Collection. Previously, he was Assistant Curator for Portraits of Dogs: From Gainsborough to Hockney and Leverhulme Fellow for the prestigious Riesener Project, in which he researched the furniture of Jean-Henri Riesener and contributed to the Project’s monograph and digital resources. Alexander was also Decorative Arts Curatorial Intern at the Royal Collection.

Jürgen Huber is Senior Furniture Conservator at the Wallace Collection, where he is responsible for preventive and interventive conservation of furniture. After completing an apprenticeship in cabinetmaking in 1987, he gained a ‘Meister im Tischlerhandwerk’ in 1992 and a postgraduate diploma in conservation studies in 1998. He has published and lectured extensively on heritage, as well as the environment and sustainability.

Take part at the museum: This demonstration and tour will start in the Meeting Room, Lower Ground Floor, and move on to galleries throughout the museum.