Conservators like to think about things in terms of the material from which they are made.
The AICCM’s directory of Professional Members allows you to search initially by five main specialties. We’ve included a list of different types of objects you might own under each heading below, so you can see what kind of conservator you might need to find.
It’s rare to find a conservator who can fix everything, so our list of members in private practice includes a free-text space where conservators can describe their areas of specialty in more detail.
Sometimes conservators will need to collaborate to determine the best treatment options for objects made of a variety of materials – e.g. painted furniture or a bark painting might require the expertise of a paintings and an objects conservator, or the treatment of an upholstered chair might find a textiles and objects conservator working together.
Conservators may also work as educators, scientists, technicians and managers.
Conservation treatment – books, paper, photographs, audiovisual
Ambrotypes, archive material, books, cards, cassette tapes, CD-ROMs, certificates, daguerreotypes, digital prints, documents, DVDs, drawings, engravings, etchings, film, glass plate negatives, illuminated manuscripts, leather bindings, letters, magnetic media, maps and plans, motion picture film, paintings on paper, parchment and vellum, photographic prints, postcards, records, screens, scrolls, tintypes, video tape, wallpaper, watercolours, woodcuts
Conservation treatment – objects, outdoor monuments
Aboriginal objects, archaeological specimens, armour, anchors, bark paintings, boats, bone, brass, bronze, carvings, ceramics, china, clocks, coins, dolls, ethnographic collections, feathers, frames, fur, furniture, glass, guns and cannons, iron and iron work, ivory, jewellery, leadlight, marble, maritime items, metal objects, mirrors, models, musical instruments, natural history specimens, outdoor sculpture, plastics, pottery, saddles, scientific equipment, sculpture, silver, stained glass, stone, tapa cloth, taxidermy, tins, waterlogged wood, weapons
Conservation treatment – painted surfaces, frames
Bark paintings, frames, frescoes and murals (paintings on walls), gilded surfaces, miniatures, oil, acrylic or tempera paintings on wooden panels or canvas, painted wood, polychrome sculpture, religious icons, rock art
Conservation treatment – textiles
Banners, bedspreads, blankets, christening gowns, costume, curtains, fans, flags, furs, hats, lace, quilts, rugs and carpets, screens, scrolls (fabric), shoes, soft furnishings, soft toys, tapestries, upholstery, wedding dresses
Conservation treatment – built heritage and landscapes
Adobe structures, building elements and finishes, cemetery monuments, fences, fountains, grave stones, landscapes and gardens, masonry, paint removal, plasterwork, ruins, tiling, walls, war memorials, wooden structures, woodwork