Find a Restorer is a scheme offered by the BAPCR to put members of the public seeking a conservator-restorer of paintings in touch with Fellows of the BAPCR. BAPCR Fellows are those practitioners that met the rigorous standards set by the BAPCR Fellowship programme which ran until 2013. The secretary holds a list of current BAPCR Fellows, and can supply the names and contact details for public enquiries. If the picture in question is a work on paper, a print, watercolour or gouache, enquirers should instead contact a conservator with specialist knowledge of that material, such as a paper conservator. 

The BAPCR’s Fellowship programme was suspended in 2013 and so no new Fellows have been created since then. In the UK, many conservator-restorers, including members of the BAPCR, choose now to become accredited via Icon’s Professional Accreditation of Conservator-Restorers (PACR) scheme. Like the BAPCR Fellowship, the PACR scheme offers the public an assurance of the abilities of the practitioner. Icon’s Conservation Register contains details of those Accredited conservators from all specialisms who choose to be listed there.

When contacting a conservator, you will be asked for basic information such as the type of support the painting has been painted on (wood, canvas etc), the paint medium if known (oil, acrylic, egg tempera etc) the date of the work, and the reasons why treatment may be necessary. You may be asked to provide an image, and to bring the painting in person to be examined.

You can expect the conservator to make an initial assessment of the painting and to discuss the painting’s needs and the recommended treatment with you, and to give an estimate for the work required. A report describing the work subsequently undertaken, and photographic record, should always be provided. There are many routes into conservation including postgraduate qualifications and apprenticeship style training (see Training and Careers). Some conservators have chosen not to become accredited by any scheme but should be able to provide information about their experience and training and examples of their work.

Please contact the Secretary using the form below if you wish to be put in contact with a BAPCR Fellow. Please include your postcode in order that we can supply names and contact details of conservators in your area.