 |  | | | Restoring the Fitzwilliam Museum vases | 12 May 2006 | | |
 When a visitor to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge fell and shattered three late 17th century Chinese porcelain vases in January, he said he had tripped on his shoelace.
Photos of the man lying on the floor surrounded by shards of pottery were relayed around the world and created a media storm. Last month a man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and is curently on bail.
The Qing vases were decorated with peonies, phoenixes, pheasants, and butterflies, and were worth a half a million pounds before they were smashed into over 400 pieces.
But now they are being restored. Penny Bendall, a ceramics conservator who has worked for Sotheby's, the National Trust, and the Royal Collection, is the woman doing the job. She holds a Royal Warrant and has been practising the art of conservation for 18 years.
In an exclusive interview for Woman's Hour, Penny Bendall showed Jennifer Chevalier how she was putting the vases together again.Fitzwilliam MuseumDisclaimer
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