Chinese parasol

In the archives of CGNU we have inherited a ceremonial Chinese
parasol which was given by the staff of the General Accident
Shanghai branch to their Managing Director when he visited in 1927.
The parasol has been neglected for many years and is in very poor
condition but according to Dr Zhang, Curator of Chinese art at the
National Museums of Scotland, it is an item of note and none of the
surviving examples of such parasols in Shanghai itself can be dated
as early as 1920s.

As we have no means to display such an important piece we have been
looking, without success, for  a suitable alternative home for the
parasol where it can be viewed and appreciated. Unfortunately the
condition of the piece means that many of the museums contacted,
while agreeing on its importance, were unable to commit to the cost
of conservation that would be required even though the parasol is to
be given as a gift..

I feel that such an apparently important piece should be deposited
in a suitable museum rather than being left to slowly disintegrate
in a box in the archive here. I would be very grateful if members
could suggest any museums who might be suitable homes and would have
the finances to cope with conservation of the piece. For anyone
interested I have a copy of a conservation report carried out for us
by Perth Museum, Scotland and a colour photograph.

The lack of interest has also lead me to begin considering other
options--such as giving the parasol to a conservation training
centre as a training piece. I would be interested to hear any
comments and suggestions on this course of action.

Anna Stone
Group Archivist CGNU


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:16
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 9, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-15-16-009
                                  ***