Global InformationPeter van Geersdaele information
Peter van Geersdaele OBE | |
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| Born | Peter Charles van Geersdaele 3 July 1933 London, England |
| Died | 20 July 2018 (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Conservator |
| Years active | 1949–1993 |
| Known for | Work on the Sutton Hoo ship-burial |
| Spouse |
Maura Bradley (m. 1955) |
Peter Charles van Geersdaele[needs English IPA] OBE (3 July 1933 – 20 July 2018) was an English 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. He later helped mould an impression of the Graveney boat, in addition to other excavation and restoration work.
Van Geersdaele studied at Hammersmith Technical College from 1946 to 1949, after which he engaged in moulding and casting at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 1951. 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.