JAIC 2003, Volume 42, Number 3, Article 7 (pp. 463 to 477)

THE TREATMENT OF CHINESE ANCESTOR PORTRAITS: AN INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE PAINTING CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES

VALERIE LEE, XIANGMEI GU, & YUAN-LI HOU

ABSTRACT—In 1991, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, acquired a collection of 83 Chinese ancestor portraits in the format of hanging scrolls. The museum decided to make 34 of the scrolls the subject of an exhibition called Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits, which opened in the summer of 2001. The condition of the paintings was evaluated, and it was determined that some paintings required a complete remounting while others required minimal stabilization. In this article, some specifics of Chinese painting conservation will be discussed, and a complete remounting process will be thoroughly described. It is our hope that this article will provide a better understanding of Chinese painting conservation while making its techniques more familiar to Western conservators.
[Spanish Abstract] [French Abstract]

Article Sections:

1. INTRODUCTION
2. OBJECTIVES AND MATERIALS OF CHINESE PAINTING CONSERVATION
3. EXAMPLE OF A REMOUNTING
4. CONCLUSIONS
a: Notes , Materials , References , Author Information

Entire Article