My friend Ann Mactaggart, who has died aged 86, spent a number of years working as an art and domestic science teacher before moving into the antiques business and then using her artistic skills to become an expert on harpsichord restoration. She was also a fine dressmaker, and wrote a book on the subject that was popular at home and abroad.

Ann was born in Bath as the only child of Bob Lewis, a paper mill salesman, and Joan (nee Gamble), a milliner. She had an unusual upbringing, living in Kent on the yacht Esmeralda, which was moored in the Gravesend canal basin, before moving on to dry land at the old Harbour Master’s House in the village of Axmouth in Devon, where the boat was moored alongside.