Harold Plenderleith

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Harold James Plenderleith

conservator and archaeologist.[1]
He was a large and jovial character with a strong Dundonian accent.

Biography

Harold Plenderleith was born in

FRSE
.

He then joined University College in St Andrews in 1916 but after two terms went to officer training school due to the

First World War becoming a Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1917. He served on the Western Front from August 1917. He received a shrapnel wound in the arm on the Ypres Salient. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 for a successful night raid on a German pillbox.[5]

In 1919 he then returned to study

First World War
. Scott and Plenderleith began applying their knowledge of Chemistry to the deterioration of museum objects and began scientific conservation in the United Kingdom. As an archaeologist he was involved in the excavations of the tomb of
Sir Leonard Woolley's site at Ur, and the Sutton Hoo
ship burial.

In 1934 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Alexander Scott, Arthur Pillans Laurie, Sir James Irvine and William Peddie.[8]

In the

Second World War he worked with Sir John Forsdyke on the relocation of precious artefacts from the British Museum into mines and quarries in Wales to avoid bomb damage. On the night of 10-11 May 1941 when the British Museum was bombed, he crawled "like a snake" into a burning book storage area to investigate the damage.[9]

Plenderleith retired from the British Museum in 1959 to become the first director of the International Center for the study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (

International Institute for Conservation
from its creation in 1950 until 1971 and was IIC's President from 1965 to 1968. He received many medals throughout his career, including: the Gold Medal of the Society of Antiquaries in 1964; Unesco Bronze Medal, 1971; the Conservation Service Award of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 1976 and the
ICCROM Award
, Rome, 1979.

He died in Inverness on 2 November 1997 aged 99.

Family

He was married twice. Firstly (and for over 50 years) he was married in 1926 to Elizabeth K S Smyth. Following Elizabeth's death in 1982, in 1988, aged 90, he married Margaret MacLennan (nee MacLeod). He had four stepchildren by his second marriage but no biological children by either marriage.

Publications

Books

  • The Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art: Treatment, Repair and Restoration by Harold James Plenderleith, A. E. A. Werner. Oxford Univ Pr,
    ISBN 0-19-212960-0
    (0-19-212960-0)
  • The Preservation of Leather Bookbindings by H. J. Plenderleith. British Museum,
    ISBN 0-7141-0227-X
    (0-7141-0227-X)
  • Qumran Cave 1 by George L. Harding, D. Barthelemy, J. T. Milik, R. De Vaux, G. M. Crowfoot, Harold James Plenderleith. Oxford Univ Pr,
    ISBN 0-19-826301-5
    (0-19-826301-5)

Chapters

  • Hall, A. R.
    (eds.). A History of Technology: From Early Times to Fall of Ancient Empires. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 623–662.

Articles

Honours and awards

  • Gold Medal of the Society of Antiquaries in 1964.
  • Unesco Bronze Medal, 1971.
  • The Conservation Service Award of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 1976.
  • The ICCROM Award, Rome, 1979.

Memorial lecture

Since Plenderleith's death, the Scottish Society for Conservation and Restoration (SSCR) have organised an annual Plenderleith Memorial Lecture, the SSCR merged with several other organizations in 2005 to form the Institute of Conservation, and today the lecture continues annually under the auspices of the Committee of the Icon Scotland Group.[11]

References

  1. Independent.co.uk. 6 November 1997. Archived
    from the original on 9 May 2022.
  2. ^ Independent (newspaper): obituaries 6 November 1997
  3. ^ "Society of Antiquaries of London - Harold James Plenderleith, C.B.E., M.C., B.Sc., Ph.D., LL.D., F.B.A." Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  4. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  5. ^ Independent (newspaper): obituaries 6 November 1997
  6. ^ "UR-SF 8/3/4/1 Harold James Plenderleith (B.Sc. 1921; Ph.D. 1923), laboratory notes". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  7. ^ "British Museum - History". www.britishmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008.
  8. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  9. ^ Shenton, Caroline (11 November 2021). "How WWI veterans saved Britain's treasures in WWII". Historia Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  10. ^ "ICCROM - Directors-Generals since 1959". Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  11. ^ "Icon | the Institute of Conservation".
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