Dry lacquer sculpture

I am a third year student at the University of Canberra undertaking
a degree in the conservation of cultural materials. As part of a
major project in conjunction with the National Gallery of Australia
I am seeking information on wood-core dry-lacquer sculptures. The
Gallery owns two such sculptures which are believed to be part of a
set of five-hundred made in the late seventeenth century from the
Gohyaku Rakanji (Temple of Five-hundred Arhats) in Tokyo and
attributed to Shoun Genkei.

My project involves examining both Eastern and Western techniques of
conservation relevant to these sculptures as well as finding further
information on their provenance. I would be most appreciative to
hear from any conservators who have encountered these objects to
find out what treatments they have employed--both successful and
unsuccessful--as well as information pertaining to why and when the
sculptures were sold by the temple.

Suzanna Shaw
University of Canberra Residences
PO Box 20
Belconnen, ACT
2616, Australia
+61 2 6206 3133
Fax: +61 2 6201 5419


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:52
                  Distributed: Friday, April 21, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-52-024
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