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Crafts CouncilStories

How to care for your craft collection


ByJessica Klingelfuss

5 March 2021

Gallerists share tips on displaying and looking after art in your home


Jessica Klingelfuss

5 March 2021

  • Collect 2021
  • Craft collecting

Fabiano Parisi’s photograph Il mondo che non vedo, 2017, displayed in Cynthia Corbett’s London home. On the shelf below is The Beautiful Unperfect – Wedgwood Series 2 (Blue), 2018, by Alissa Volchkova. Photo: Suki Dhanda / Crafts magazine

If the past year at home has made us appreciate anything, it’s how our immediate physical space emphasises the importance of finding quiet pleasure in tactile objects. Building a craft collection and maintaining it can be a significant investment – both financially and emotionally – so ensuring its longevity can seem an intimidating task. Yet a few simple measures can help protect and preserve your artworks, and make living with craft all the more rewarding. Here, gallerists and exhibitors at this year’s Collect art fair share their top tips for caring for and displaying your craft collection.


  • Tafone, by Luke Fuller, 2021, available from Sarah Myerscough Gallery at Collect 2021

  • The Honeycomb Amphora I, by Tomáš Libertíny, 2020, natural beeswax, museum glass, wood, and reused beehives, available from Sarah Myerscough Gallery at Collect 2021

Ensuring your collection's longevity

Dealers and makers can tailor advice specific to maintaining the physical integrity of the work (and ultimately its value), so be sure to consult with them. ‘Generally, it’s the environment that will affect work, so temperature, sunlight, and damp situations should all be monitored,' says gallerist Sarah Myerscough. ‘Dust can be an issue, so glass display cabinets can be a beautiful solution. It’s also a case of the attitude of a collector and the respect they have for the work.’

Different mediums have different needs, and you may have to pay particular attention to works made from organic materials. ‘Wood is susceptible to humidity levels, however this isn’t a real problem in the UK. It’s an organic living materials and some material changes are healthy over its lifetime,’ adds Myerscough. ‘High temperature and direct sunlight should be avoided. No polishes should be used and just a light dust.’ It ultimately comes down to the work itself: textile artist Alicia Rowbotham, who creates sculptural works from silk waste, recommends using a fine-tooth comb to untangle and tidy threads on her wall-hung works.

Once an artwork is in your care, it becomes your responsibility – comprehensive insurance is essential if you don’t want to be left footing a surprise bill, though mishaps are more common than you might think. Some works (such as editions) can be reproduced at your expense if damaged, though this will depend on how accommodating the gallery and the artist are. In such cases, they may require that the original artwork be completely destroyed so that duplicates aren’t circulating. (Artsy has a helpful guide for new collectors on the least exciting – but most important – parts of owning art.)


  • Photo: Jessica Klingelfuss / Crafts magazine

  • Alicia Rowbotham combs one of her textile works. Her work is exhibited at House on Mars Gallery’s virtual viewing room at Collect 2021. Photo: Jessica Klingelfuss / Crafts magazine

Textiles are an attractive prospect thanks to their robust qualities. ‘Tapestries represent some of the oldest works in many important art collections so their longevity has good provenance,’ says Dovecot Studios director Celia Joicey. ‘It is precisely because tapestries are so portable and flexible that they appeal to collectors. In terms of conservation, today it is possible to create lightfast dyes so contemporary tapestries are likely to outlive their medieval counterparts in terms of colour and vibrancy’. Tapestries can be easily stored when rolled around an archive tube with acid-free tissue.

However, with a changing climate comes an increased number of moths that can threaten textile pieces. ‘They will feed on any organic materials containing keratin, such as wool, silk or feathers,’ Paul Hickey, senior operations manager of Integrated Contamination Management (ICM) told us. ‘Our autumns are remaining milder for longer, meaning moths are staying active longer. Many of our clients have been caught off-guard by this.’


Detail of Grangemouth at Night Smoke and Lights, by Kurt Jackson, 2016, available from Dovecot Studios at Collect 2021

And if you are unlucky enough to find your treasures beset by the critters? ‘Infested items should be isolated immediately, packed and well-sealed into polyethylene sheeting until treatment can be arranged,' advises Hickey. 'Smaller items can be treated at home: wrap them in a well-sealed plastic bag, and place them in a freezer at -19 degrees for two weeks.’ The company use a humidity-regulated warm air method to treat infestations of the pests: a sustainable, effective and chemical-free method of treating affected items. And remember, you’re not alone – ICM, who have cared for the V&A, Tate and the National Gallery’s collections – are reporting a ‘huge increase’ in people seeking advice against moth infestations in recent years.

Displaying the work

‘A wall sconce or a plinth may be a great option for displaying artwork,’ advises dealer Cynthia Corbett, whose colourful southwest London home doubles as her gallery space (as seen in Crafts' issue 275). ‘Of course, bear in mind the parameters of your home or office.’ Another factor that may determine how and where you display your works are your fellow residents: ‘The most important thing to consider is safety – away from small hands!’ says Myerscough, ‘and to position the work on a solid base, perhaps a proper display cabinet or shelf.’


Clochnaben Strides Forth I & II, by Susie Thomson, 2021, polished jute twine bound with waxed linen thread, available from Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections at Collect 2021

For Joanna Bird, context is vital: ‘I wouldn’t pair an 18th-century piece with [a ceramic work by artist] Jennifer Lee, for example,’ says the gallerist. If your collection is eclectic, ensure works have enough 'breathing space', as she puts it, so that works don't compete for attention. Also consider 'texture, paint or whatever material you’re placing the piece on,' Bird adds. 'But the main thing is that they get enough space and that they’re well-lit.’ The size of the artwork should also be taken into consideration: tapestries, which are traditionally larger, are ideally displayed so that they can be seen from a distance, as well as up close. ‘Whatever the scale, tapestry looks sensational when it hangs freely,' says Joicey. 'We provide straightforward fittings – both the velcro attached to the tapestry and a batten with all Dovecot artworks.'


  • Indigo Trumpet Cluster, by Eva Zethraeus, 2020, porcelain with glaze and platinum, available from Hostler Burrows at Collect 2021

  • Crumpler, by John Shea, 2019, ceramic and enamel, available from Hostler Burrows at Collect 2021

You can opt for a holistic approach when it comes to displaying your collection, creating a dialogue between the artworks, design of the space and the furnishings. ‘It is lovely when a work can be organically incorporated into its surroundings – a wonderful ceramic can live on a table, a textile can hang above the bed or on the wall of a transitional space,’ says Juliet Burrows, co-founder of US gallery Hostler Burrows, who prefers to eschew formal display options such as cabinets. ‘If one’s collection feeds creativity and brings joy it is imperative that the works surround you in your home in a natural way.’


Objects in Abby and Matt Bangser’s home include Hans Wegner’s AT 304 dining table, Pierre Disderot’s KR5 ceiling light, Alexander Tovborfg’s The Symbolic Figure of the Course of Human History (III) and (IV), 2015, ceramics by Kazunori Hamana on the 1940s Danish cabinet that contains glassware including pieces by Martino Gamper. Photo: Pernille Loof / Crafts magazine

You can draw on the architecture of your home, displaying period-appropriate pieces, or you can use it as a foil, creating lively contrasts. Art fair veteran Abby Bangser and her gallerist husband, Matt, have mixed both approaches in their 1960s house in the modernist enclave of New Canaan, Connecticut – featured in Crafts' November/December 2019 issue. Their craft collection, placed sparingly throughout their house, includes a textile work from the 1970s by Françoise Grossen and contemporary ceramics by Kazunori Hamana, among other pieces.


Carol McNicoll’s bedroom, featuring a patchwork quilt and blind made from vintage needlepoint panels – all works by the artist. Photo: Thom Atkinson

Of course, there's no one-size-fits-all method for displaying your collection – it should be guided by the works themselves, the space and your own reasons for collecting. Ceramic artist Carol McNicoll has broken all the rules with her ‘more is more’ approach in her London home, which is a dizzying visual spectacle with perilously stacked objects on every surface. ‘I hate minimalism,’ she told Crafts magazine last year. ‘There’s nothing worse than pure white space – it’s the last thing on God’s earth I would ever want to live with.’ If cherishing and preserving your collection for future generations is your goal, then this isn't the route for you, but ultimately it comes down to displaying your works in a way that will bring you – and your loved ones – maximum pleasure.

Collect 2021 is now live on Artsy.net, with works on view and commissions available until 24 March. Follow the action online and on Instagram at @collectartfair.


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