Tibetan amulet box

I am a masters student conserving a Tibetan amulet box or ga'u. The
object consists of a copper base filled with soil then covered with
a thin sheet of repousse silver adhered with a copal-like resin. The
silver sheet has been badly damaged as it was torn almost entirely
off the base at some point in the past. I have been experimenting
with the idea of re-adhering the silver to the resin and soil matrix
beneath using water-soluble adhesives but I'm concerned about the
strength of the adhesive compared to this matrix. I would also like
to repair the silver sheet using a similar adhesive, perhaps with
Japanese paper. I cannot find any examples of the treatment of
comparative objects in the literature beyond some treatments of cast
bronze statues from the Himalayas. If anyone has any experience
working with these amulet boxes, thin silver repousse, or anything
comparable I would be grateful to hear your experience.

Katharine Corneli
MA of Archaeological and Museum Objects
Durham University


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:9
                  Distributed: Saturday, July 21, 2012
                        Message Id: cdl-26-9-012
                                  ***