VISITORS to the Ashmolean were shown how items are cared for in its conservation studios.

The museum took people behind the scenes to demonstrate how scientific techniques are used to maintain art pieces.

Intern Tania Desloge worked on an ivory and silver gilt box from the Wellby Bequest.

The Wellby Bequest is a collection of 500 pieces of silver and gold-plated objects and Victorian oddities, given to the museum by Michael Wellby when he died in 2012.

She said: “My internship at the Ashmolean focuses on interventive conservation.

“It’s really nice to have members of the public come along to the museum’s conservation labs to see what we’re doing.

“The people on the tour were fascinated by our work and it’s great to raise the profile of conservation science and to get people interested in the subject.”

Last month it was provided with a £100,000 grant, partly funded by the Government, and on March 10 received a further £53,905 for 2014/ 2015 and £31,125 for 2015/ 2016.