INDUSTRY · RESTORATION & CONSERVATION
Material supply for restoration and conservation projects
Conservation buying is unusual: the specification often comes from analysis of the object itself, the acceptable material may be constrained by a brief rather than by performance, and the honest answer is sometimes that the original material should not be used at all.
WHERE WE FIT, AND WHERE WE DO NOT
Specialist artists’ and conservation materials houses have spent decades building historical pigment ranges and will serve a jar-scale requirement faster and cheaper than we can. We are useful when quantity, documentation or the regulatory position turns the requirement into a procurement problem — typically architectural and heritage work, commercial production of traditional finishes, and substitution cases.
Three requirements that reach us
01 · PROJECT-SCALE HERITAGE WORK
A facade, an interior, a listed building
Earth pigments, lime-compatible colourants and mineral paints in kilograms or tonnes, where the colour has to hold across an entire elevation and across more than one delivery.
02 · THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL IS NOT PERMISSIBLE
Analysis identifies a lead, mercury or arsenic pigment
The intervention still has to happen. We investigate the modern equivalent that matches appearance and behaviour in your medium, and state clearly where it differs. What we will not do is publish a legal conclusion about what you may use.
03 · TRADITIONAL FINISHES MADE COMMERCIALLY
Period ranges, ceramics, glass and plaster
Where a traditional colourant goes into a product that is manufactured and sold, the requirement becomes a repeatable grade with documentation rather than a one-off purchase.
What to send with a conservation enquiry
Historical pigment names drift across languages and centuries, so the evidence behind the name is worth more than the name.
1 · The identification and how it was made
A name, a Colour Index reference, or the analysis it came from. If the identification is provisional, say so — it changes what we investigate.
2 · The object and the nature of the intervention
Conservation, restoration, reconstruction or new work, and whether reversibility or authenticity of materials is a requirement of the brief.
3 · The binder or medium
Lime, silicate, casein, egg, oil, gum or a modern dispersion. Copper greens in particular behave very differently by medium, and this often decides usability outright.
4 · Particle size and hue expectation
For mineral pigments the grind is the colour. Say which end of the range you need, or send a reference sample.
5 · Quantity, and whether substitution is allowed
This single answer changes the size of the field more than anything else in the enquiry.
Frequent questions
Do you supply toxic historical pigments?
Cinnabar, lead-tin yellow, orpiment and realgar are listed on our historical pigments page as reference only. They are documented there because conservators need to identify them, not because we offer them.
Can you find a modern equivalent?
This is the most common request in the category. Send the analysis or a reference and we investigate materials matching appearance and behaviour in your medium, stating where the substitute differs in hue, handling or ageing.
Can you advise on what we are allowed to use?
No. We check the current commercial position for a specific substance and tell you what it means for supply. We are not a regulatory consultancy, and responsibility for compliance stays with you and your specifier.
What quantities do you work in?
The useful range starts roughly where a conservation supplier’s stops. Minimum order is set by the manufacturer or the route and is confirmed against the specific material before we quote.
Do you sell to individual conservators?
We work with businesses and institutions. For individual practice a specialist materials supplier is the better route, and we will say so rather than take an order that does not suit you.
How long does a conservation enquiry take?
Longer than a commercial coatings enquiry, and deliberately so. Establishing whether a specific historical material can be legitimately obtained means asking specialist producers rather than checking a channel, and the honest answer is sometimes that it cannot. Where a project has a fixed installation or exhibition date, send it at the enquiry so we can tell you early whether the material fits it.
CONSERVATION SOURCING
Send the analysis, the medium and the quantity
We will state what is obtainable, what should be substituted, and where the substitute differs from the original.