Bowhill’s 19th century Boudoir gets 21st century facelift

20th July, 2017

The Boudoir at Bowhill House in the Scottish Borders – which maintains its original décor dating back to 1834 – has undergone an extensive conservation project to restore it to a bygone era.

The room’s rare, hand-painted Chinese wallpaper has been painstakingly preserved by conservators in a process that took some 14 weeks.

Conservators Mark Sandiford and Louise Drover carried out the project at the historic home of the Duke of Buccleuch and the results can be seen by the public when the House opens its doors to visitors from 1st July.

The intricate wallpaper in the Boudoir, which was a favourite retreat for the late Duchess, is believed to be amongst just two examples within the UK, it had been badly damaged over the years by silverfish. The delicate process of restoring it by hand ensures it will be preserved for future generations.

Mark and Louise who are amongst the world’s most respected and experienced paper and leather restorers, had to carefully remove the wallpaper from the wall, in its individual lengths to conserve it. Each piece was washed, old linings removed and tears and holes repaired. New linings of hand-made Japanese paper were applied.

The materials used in the project were either ’as original’ or of conservation quality to ensure longevity. The conserved wallpaper was re-hung in its original position in the Boudoir and any losses carefully re-painted.

Now complete, the exquisite room can be seen by the public from 1st July with two tours per day running at 1pm and 3pm entitled ‘Boudoir and Bedrooms’. This will also give visitors a glimpse of the Duke’s study, the Victorian Dressing Room as well as some of the upstairs bedrooms which are used in the present day.
Mark Sandiford was delighted with the opportunity to carry out conservation work in the Boudoir, which is one of the most historically intact rooms in the house reflecting its original grandeur from the early 1800s.
He said: “We worked 8am-6pm, 10 days on four days off, for 14 weeks to conserve the beautiful wallpaper in Bowhill’s Boudoir. The room has seventeen lengths of wallcovering and each one had to be individually removed, washed, repaired and re-lined.
“The primary objective was to ensure the physical and chemical stability of the wallpaper, aesthetic improvements were a secondary objective but very welcome as the wallpaper was quite dirty having been on the walls since 1834. This project should ensure that people can continue to enjoy the wallpaper for the foreseeable future”.
“The room truly reflects the era in which the house was built. It is unusual to see original features like retained so thoroughly, so I am thrilled we were able to conserve this beautiful Chinese wallpaper so it can be viewed and enjoyed for years to come.”
Mark is no stranger to working in stately homes and has undertaken similar conservation projects for the Swedish royal family, Blenheim Palace, Woburn Abbey, Longleat and many of the National Trust homes.

He was trained at Camberwell, Royal College of Art and the V&A and is one of only two people in the world who is formally qualified to do conservation/restoration work of this kind.

Mark continued: “I approached this project as both a conservator and a decorator as my career prior to this one was as a painter and decorator – however my parents were artists and I wanted to explore my passion for art and put it good use.

“This is demonstrated in the hard work that has gone into restoring the beautiful wallpaper, which has been transformed now we have removed much of the dirt and damage it has amassed over the last 190 years or so.”

Scott Macdonald, Head of Collections and Conservation for Buccleuch, added: “Several restorers were approached, and to be honest, Mark and Louise’s report was extremely impressive in terms of its detail and the level of experience it displayed.

“We felt the importance of this room, and the fact that we want it to survive for another 200 years, merited the investment in resources, and we are delighted with the results, which hopefully achieve what was required, without losing the essence of a room so redolent of a lost era”.

Bowhill looks forward to welcoming the public to see the results of the work when the House opens to the public between July 1 and 31.