article for July 3, 2020
Article of the day for July 3, 2020 is Peter van Geersdaele . Peter van Geersdaele (3 July 1933 – 20 July 2018) was a British conservator best known for his work on the Sutton Hoo ship-burial. Among other work he oversaw the creation of a plaster cast of the ship impression, from which a fibreglass replica of the ship was formed. From 1949 to 1951 he engaged in moulding and casting at the Victoria and Albert Museum. From 1954 to around 1976 he was a conservator at the British Museum, rising to the position of senior conservation officer in the British and Medieval department. Following that he became an assistant chief of archaeology in the conservation division of the National Historic Sites of Canada for Parks Canada, and then the deputy head of the conservation department at the National Maritime Museum in London. He retired in 1993, and during that year's Birthday Honours was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his services to museums.
