| Personal Notes | Other Professional Activities |
| Education | Publications |
| Employment | Reviews |
| Awards | Selected Lectures |
| Professional Memberships |
1952
born in
1957-1967 Tioga County and Endicott, New York
1968-1969 Irving/Dallas, Texas
1970-79 Vestal, NY; Chenango Bridge, NY
1979-1988 Cary, NC, Pittsboro, NC
1988-present Williamsburg, VA
Public
school education in
B. Mus. from
Science for
Conservators, AIP Distance Learning Program 1998
Historical
Musical Instrument Making Traditions and Technologies: independent
study since 1972 resulting in the making of 32 reproduction keyboard
instruments, several lectures and publication of five articles.
Conservation
Ethics and Documentation: independent study 1989-present, resulting in
two books and
numerous articles and public
lectures.
Information
Technology for Conservation: independent study 1990-present, resulting
in programming of computer systems for conservation project
tracking, conservation surveys, and treatment documentation. All
systems are in daily use at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
1988-present: Conservator of Instruments and Mechanical Arts
and
(as of June, 2008) Associate Curator of Musical Instruments
at the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,
1977- 1995:
conservator in private practice – conservation of keyboard musical
instruments for museums, musicians and private collectors.
1972-1988:
Church musician in three churches, directing overall program, and
choral conducting
1974-1995:
Self employed, making
reproductions
of early keyboard instruments (4 clavichords, 7 single manual
harpsichords, 7 double manual harpsichords, 11 spinets, 1 regal
organ, 1 fortepiano.)
Southeastern
Historical Keyboard Society (board member)
Comité
International des Musées et Collections d'Instruments de Musique
(CIMCIM)
Grant from the American Musical Instrument Society for online publication of the Clinkscale Database of Early Pianos. 2010
Professional
Associate, American Institute for Conservation
Samuel H.
Kress Publications Fellowship 1999
Member of the United States Senate Curatorial Advisory Board (2011- )
Consultant to the Göteborg Organ Art Center, University of Gothenburg (Sweden).
Chief editor and database administrator of the Clinkscale Online, a comprehensive, international research database of Early Pianos, 1720-1860: www.EarlyPianos.org
Designer of
software for conservation, including development of
CDS-Documentation, a conservation documentation program published
and distributed by Conservation Data Systems, LLC
(www.ConservationDataSystems.com)
2006-present
Member, Board of Directors, the Southeastern Historical Keyboard
Society
Organ Historical Society -
Restoration and Conservation Guidelines Revision committee
Program
Committee American Institute for Conservation National Meeting for
2003
Reviewer,
Kress Publication Fellowships 2002
Organizer of an
international organ restoration conference in 1999
Changing Keys: Keyboard Musical Instrumens for America 1700-1830 (book, forthcoming 2012)
"Conservation" in Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (forthcoming)
Artifacts in Use: The Paradox of Restoration and the Conservation of Organs (book) Published 2010 by the Organ Historical Society.
"The Elements of Conservation: A Conceptual
Model"
in proceedings from the conference "The Conservation of
Archaeological Materials: Current Trends and Future Directions" Nov.
13-17, 2005
Organ Restoration Reconsidered: Proceedings of a Colloquium.
(book) edited by J.R. Watson.
“Conservation of a Jeffersonian Vision:
“Conservation of Six Historic Organs at Colonial
“Instrument Restoration and the Scholarship Imperative”
in Early Keyboard Journal, vol. 19 (2001) pp. 7-31.
“Performance
Standards meet Museum Standards: The Conservation of Organs” in
Towards the Conservation and Restoration of Historic Organs: A Record of the
1999 Liverpool Conference,
Costume Close-up: Pattern and
Construction of Antique Clothing, 1750-1790
(book) with Linda R. Baumgarten. CWF and
Quite Specific Press
,
Makers of the Piano, 1820-1860,
by Martha Clinkscale, illustrated by J.R. Watson, Oxford University
Press, 1998
“Theory and
Practice in the Conservation of Musical Instruments,” with David B.
Blanchfield, Journal of the
Violin Society of
“An 18th-Century
Harpsichord Workshop contributes Two New Technologies,” in
Eighteenth-Century Woodworking Tools edited by James M. Gaynor,
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1997
"Recommendations for the Conservation of Musical Instruments: an
Annotated Bibliography"
(CIMCIM - Comité International des Musées et Collections
d'Instruments de Musique) co-written with five other international
writers. 1993
“Historical
Musical Instruments: A Claim To Use, An Obligation To Preserve,”
Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, Vol XVII
(1991), 69.
“Balancing
Physical Integrity with Aesthetic Integrity: Ethical Problems in the
Conservation of Musical Instruments.” Abstracts. American Institute
for Conservation, 1990. 18.
“Claviers
for
“A Catalog
of Antique Keyboard Instruments in the Southeast,” published
serially in Early Keyboard
Journal, II (1983-84), 64; III (1984-85), 60; V (1986-87), 53;
IX (1991), 71; XV (1997), 93.
“Three
Examples of Keyboard Restoration,”
Early Keyboard Journal, I (1982-83), 16.
Edward
L. Kottick. A History of the Harpsichord.
Conservation Outreach and Issues of Cultural Authority: Making Inroads into a Special Interest Community for the symposium "Playing to the Galleries and Engaging New Audiences: The Public Face of Conservation." Williamsburg, 2011-11-14
Saving Time for the Future: Conservation and the Paradox of Restoration. Association of Watch and Clock Collectors National Syumposium, Keynote address, Williamsburg, 2010-10-28
That the Future
May Learn from the Past: How Colonial Williamsburg Manages
Information in Historic Artifacts
A Philadelphia Survivor: America's Only Harpsichord. (on the 1794 Trute & Wiedberg harpsichord) Southeastern and Midwestern Historical Keyboard Societies, Temple University, Philadelphia, 2009-03-13.
Copying Period Instruments as a Research Tool
Fossils, Oddballs, and Miraculous Survivors: Year 25 of the SEHKS Inventory of Historic Keyboard Instruments. Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. 2008-03
The Restorative Conservation of Organs: A
Conceptual Roadmap
(abstract)
Keynote address for New Dimensions In Organ Conservation
and Documentation: An International Symposium Co-Sponsored by the
American Organ Archives of the Organ Historical Society and the
Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative, University Of Rochester,
Rochester, New York, 2007-10-11
Instrument and Document: Balancing Values in the Conservation of Musical Instruments. American Institute for Conservation, Wooden Artifacts Group Providence, RI, 2006-06-17
The Elements of Conservation: A Conceptual
Model. 2005-11, Archaeology Symposium, Colonial
Overcoming
Obstacles to Documentation American Institute for Conservation, General Session,
A
Conceptual Model and Practical Solution for Conservation
Documentation
American Institute for Conservation, Objects Specialty
Group,
CDS-Documentation: Creating a Database for
Documentation
Computerizing Object Condition Surveys (Colloquium),
The paradox of restoration: restoring the form,
preserving the substance
International Scientific Instruments Symposium,
The Influence of Conservators’ Values in the
Lifecycle of Cultural Property.
American Institute for Conservation General Session,
Musical Instruments in a Decorative Arts
Collection: Can you Carry a Tune in a Tureen?
Antiques Forum, Colonial
Pulling all the Stops: Conservation of
the Wren Chapel Organ. Williamsburg, Music Institute
Jefferson &
The Capitol of
The Conservation of Working Objects
11-8-2001,
The
Keyboard Milieu of Thomas Jefferson
3-17-2001,
The Paradox of Restoration: A Question of Form
and Substance
1-6-2001,
Pianos as Primary Documents: Implications for
Conservation, Restoration, and Copies
05-08-2000.
Performance Standards meet Museum Standards: The
Conservation of Pipe Organs
8-25-1999, Liverpool, UK, British Institute of Organ Studies
A
Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration
10-6-1997, Williamsburg VA, American Institute of Organbuilders
Technology
in the Kirkman Workshop: The State of the Art
8-22-1997
Old
Technologies Meet New: Current Work at Colonial Williamsburg
5-12-1997
The Copy as
a Research Tool: Reproducing a 1762 Kirckman Harpsichord
5-17-1996 Vermillion, SD, American Musical Instrument Society
Recent Trends in Conservation and Restoration
3-1-1996
Musical Instruments in Colonial
1-29-1996 Charleston Museum, Winter Training Institute
Antique Pianos: A Conservator’s View
11-4-1995
The Palace Harpsichord: A Royal
Restoration
10-5-1994
Early Mechanization in the Production of
Keyboard Musical Instruments
05-21-1994
The SEHKS Catalog of Early Keyboards -
Highlights from the First Dozen Years
01-28-1994
The Other Voice of Musical Instruments:
Reading the 1766 Zumpe Piano
10-6-1993
Johannes Zumpe and the Origins of the
English Piano
4-17-1993
Musical Instruments in Colonial
3-9-1993
Overhearing History: The Conservator as
Technological Historian
6‑7‑1992 Buffalo, NY, American Institute for Conservation, Wooden
Artifacts Group
A 1758 Encyclopedia of Harpsichord
Making: Reading the Tool Marks
11-4-1991 Clayton State College,
Reconstructing Historical Musical
Instrument-Making Technologies: The Artifact as Window
3-9-1991
To Play or Not to Play: Antique Musical
Instruments in Museum Collections
9-8-1990
Balancing Physical Integrity with
Esthetic Integrity: Problems in the Conservation of Musical
Instruments
6-2-1990 Richmond, VA, American Institute for Conservation, General
Session
Conserving
our Primary Sources
5-17-1990
Antique Musical Instruments: Preserve,
Play, or Both
3-9-1990
Musical
Instruments: A Unique Challenge in Conservation
6-29-1989
John R. Watson
210 John Pinckney Lane
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 565-8594 office
www.PreservationTheory.org
jwatson-at-cwf-dot-org