Search

It is presented an alternative mounting solution that was developed after the treatment of a group of twelve Chinese scrolls of paintings and calligraphy. These art works are part of the Camilo Pessanha (1867 – 1926) collection that belongs to the Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro, and are currently on loan to the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon. The mounting of these scrolls was part of a project that was managed by the Fundação Oriente, and was supervised and carried out at the paper conservation and restoration department of the Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação. Issues pertaining to exhibition, environmental factors, handling and storage of oriental scrolls are discussed.

This paper presents the conservation treatment of a group of twenty Chinese calligraphies and paintings. These artworks are part of the Camilo Pessanha (1867-1926) collection that belongs to the Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro, and are currently on loan to the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon. The project was managed by the Fundação Oriente, and carried out at the conservation and restoration department of the Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação. There were three groups of works of art: scrolls with paintings and calligraphy on paper; scrolls with paintings on gilded paper; and paintings on silk. A brief characterization of the oriental scroll is followed by an overview of the traditional oriental conservation techniques for this type of art, as well as recently described practices. Ethical and theoretical considerations relating to the conservation treatments will be also discussed.