Harewood House, Temple Newsam and the Royal Armouries will provide the cultural highlights in a packed programme of events that runs from Friday, October 15 to Sunday, October 17.
The conference, sponsored by the Antiques Trade Gazette, restoration specialists Plowden & Smith and insurers Aon, gets underway on the Friday afternoon with a privileged access tour of Harewood House with senior curator May Redfern and furniture historian Adam Bowett as guides.
Dinner will be held at the Leeds Park Plaza Hotel, where the conference will be based.
Saturday morning takes in a tour of Temple Newsam House, the Tudor and Jacobean mansion containing important pictures, furniture and textiles, hosted by Dr Bowett and assistant curator Emma Kirk.
After lunch Dr Bowett will lecture on scientific analysis vs connoisseurship for an hour. He will be followed by a marquetry cutting demonstration from conserver Jack Metcalfe before Dr Bowett returns to give a detailed examination of a Chippendale desk, its marquetry template, use of timber and pigments.
Saturday evening will see a gala black tie dinner at Bramham Park, a private Queen Anne House set in 66 acres of gardens, the only example of a formal early 18th century landscape in Britain.
On the Sunday, loss adjuster Mark Dalrymple, who is also deputy chairman of the arts and antiques faculty of the RICS, will host an open forum, including an update on the Financial Services Authority regulations for auctioneers and valuers and developments on money laundering.
Richard Hopkinson of Bonhams will then give a lecture on the Staithes Group of artists before a late morning talk on Yorkshire ceramics by John Griffin, founder member of the Northern Ceramics Circle.
The conference will wind up on Sunday afternoon with a tour of the Royal Armouries under the guidance of senior curator of firearms Mark Murray-Flutter.
Northern gems the focus of 2004 RICS conference
THIS year’s RICS art and antiques conference promises three days of tours, talks and enjoyment in and around Leeds.
