Sheila Landi
In Stamford we are surrounded by historic buildings, our shops sell antiques and collectables and many of us own older things, perhaps an antique piece of furniture, a silver teapot or granny's wedding dress, that may not have much financial value but are dear to us. So what happens when we want to repair or conserve one of these objects? On our doorstep we are fortunate to have, sited in the Stable Yard of Burghley House, workshops which provide such specialist work. In 1992 the first of these was set up by Sheila Landi, one of the most respected and experienced textile conservators in the country. Mrs Landi had retired from running the Textile Conservation workshop at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1989, after 17 years as its head and a total of 26 years working there. During that time she had worked on some of the most rare and valuable textiles in Britain, amongst them the hangings of the black and yellow bed from Burghley. She continues to work on such precious and fragile pieces, but lavishes as much care on a lace handkerchief brought in by a member of the public as she does on a nationally important set of tapestries. After setting up the Textile Conservation Consultancy in 1989, in 1992 she came to live in Stamford, having spent the intervening time since her leaving the V&A working on the collections at Greenwich and at Waddesdon Manor.
At present work is in progress on such diverse things as an exquisite angel-embroidered velvet altar frontal dating from about 150 which comes from a local church; a very rare, remarkable and beautiful survivor in the form of a mantua (a woman's robe) of about 1735; and a large and very jolly (but very mouldy) banner made last year by children at Mansfield Ladybird Centre.
Textile conservation is not just a matter of being able to sew a fine seam. It can be tough, heavy work. Sheila Landi has worked on many large and unwieldy carpets and tapestries, some of which have required her to develop techniques and complex equipment to cope with the demands of the individual job. She seems as happy working on such engineering projects as on the textiles themselves. An ability to recognise and understand the structure of individual objects is also needed, together with sound practical skills, manual dexterity and plenty of patience. Each job needs careful assessing before any treatment starts and there is usually much discussion and analysis between the workshop members before a single stitch is applied or removed. Mrs Landi's enthusiasm and passion for her subject is boundless, she is at present translating from Italian a book on textile conservation written by one of her ex-students as well as tackling the challenging jobs in hand.
The workshop usually has about four people working in it under Sheila Landi's tutelage and is happy to take on private work. If you wish to contact Sheila Landi or to find out about the other craftsmen based in the Burghley Stable Yard, go to the website, www.burghley.co.uk
At present work is in progress on such diverse things as an exquisite angel-embroidered velvet altar frontal dating from about 150 which comes from a local church; a very rare, remarkable and beautiful survivor in the form of a mantua (a woman's robe) of about 1735; and a large and very jolly (but very mouldy) banner made last year by children at Mansfield Ladybird Centre.
Textile conservation is not just a matter of being able to sew a fine seam. It can be tough, heavy work. Sheila Landi has worked on many large and unwieldy carpets and tapestries, some of which have required her to develop techniques and complex equipment to cope with the demands of the individual job. She seems as happy working on such engineering projects as on the textiles themselves. An ability to recognise and understand the structure of individual objects is also needed, together with sound practical skills, manual dexterity and plenty of patience. Each job needs careful assessing before any treatment starts and there is usually much discussion and analysis between the workshop members before a single stitch is applied or removed. Mrs Landi's enthusiasm and passion for her subject is boundless, she is at present translating from Italian a book on textile conservation written by one of her ex-students as well as tackling the challenging jobs in hand.
The workshop usually has about four people working in it under Sheila Landi's tutelage and is happy to take on private work. If you wish to contact Sheila Landi or to find out about the other craftsmen based in the Burghley Stable Yard, go to the website, www.burghley.co.uk
