Asia-Europe effort conserves ancient Japanese scrolls

[caption id="attachment_2729" align="alignnone" width="496" caption="The Princess stares wistfully at the moon"][/caption] The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin with the support of The Sumitomo Foundation in Tokyo, have now commissioned Restorient to conserve one of their most treasured Japanese paintings.

Restorient is a conservation unit attached to The National Museum of Ethnology in the Netherlands. The Sumitomo Foundation provides grants, by public subscription, involving international exchanges, culture, environment, and basic science.

This pair of hand scrolls date from the 17th century and are comprised of twenty-one lavishly decorated paintings interspersed by twenty-six calligraphic panels that tell the story. It will be possible to follow the conservation of these magnificent hand scrolls on the Restorient blog.

We at Restorient are delighted to have the opportunity to share this remarkable project, and to offer some insights into this type of specialist conservation.