A CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH TO URUSHI CONSERVATION: CONSOLIDATION OF METAL FOIL DECORATION ON THE MAZARIN CHEST

Abstract

The Mazarin chest is one of the finest pieces of Japanese export lacquer (urushi) to have survived from the first half of the seventeenth century. Much of the value of this piece lies in the decoration, which is finely executed using a wide range of techniques. To date, the conservation of Japanese lacquer has been characterized by distinctly different approaches in Japan and the West. In an effort to reconcile these differences, a unique collaborative Anglo-Japanese approach has been adopted for the conservation of this object. In 2005, 12 Japanese and western consolidants for metal foil were compared, ranging from synthetic resins to collagens and urushi-based adhesives. In the absence of urushi-gatame treatment of the photo-degraded surface, Paraloid B-48N was selected for consolidation of metal foil (hyomon, kanagai and kirikane) decoration on the Mazarin chest.

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