The history of the Objects Conservation Workshop is closely connected to the history of the Museum and its collections. The first works on retouching and mending the plaster copies lead by V. Sukhov, an art conservator, started in 1911, before the official opening of the Museum. In 1924 the Workshop for Sculpture Conservation was founded, the conservators who worked there at the time were M. Alexandrovsky, E. Bolotnikova, N. Trofimov, and I. Kasyanenko.

As the museum developed, its collections grew, and new funds had to be established. Thanks to the private collectors and archaeological expeditions of the museum's employees the collections were completed with ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, ancient coins and eastern European applied arts. A permanent exhibition was gradually formed, requiring, along with the constantly growing collections, constant monitoring from the conservation specialists of different fields.

Currently there are several divisions within the Objects Conservation Workshop:

- Ceramics, porcelain and glass conservation

- Metal conservation

- Furniture and frames conservation

- Stone and plaster conservation

- Textile conservation

The ongoing studying and cataloging of museum collections, as well as preparing for the exhibitions, have determined the main directions or work for the workshop's specialists. Since the mid 90-s extensive works on ancient art conservation have been carried out.

The workshop conservators along with the various research institutions specialists have developed and applied unique methods of research, conservation, and restoration of applied arts. The results of their work are presented in our 'Publications'section.