Jean Dendy

Bio

Jean earned her bachelor's degree in English and Anthropology from the University of Victoria, in her native British Columbia.  She then taught English in Japan for two years, where she took a keen interest in Japanese joinery and woodwork. Upon her return to Canada, she studied Cabinetmaking at Rosemount Technology Centre in Montreal, and honed her cabinetmaking skills at Bombardier Aeronautique, making custom furniture for private jets.  

Recognizing the potential to combine her love of science with art and culture, Jean then pursued the Master’s program in Art Conservation (specialization in objects) at Queen’s University in Kingston, with internships at the McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal; The Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She went on to work in furniture conservation for two years at Robert Mussey Associates, Boston, and in 2010 she returned to Canada, taking a position in the ethnographic conservation lab at the Centre de Conservation du Quebec in Quebec City.  She remained there until she joined the conservation team at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2017, where she is the Senior Conservator of Organic Materials.

At the ROM, Jean is responsible for the conservation of the organic materials in the World Cultures collection.  This includes a diverse range of materials from Egyptian mummies to furniture, to moccasins to modern plastics.

Jean’s special research interest is the use of anoxia for storage and display of sensitive organic materials.