East Asian Lacquer

This title, published in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum and with the assistance of The Getty Foundation, contains papers from a two-day conference on the ‘Mazarin Chest Project’ a UK-Japanese collaborative effort at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Text in English & Japanese Contents:
Material Culture: The effects of consolidation on the appearance of powdery pigmented Japanese lacquer surfaces; The autofluorescence of Asian lacquer; Japanese lacquered armour in context: cross-sectional analysis as an aid for appraisal; An investigation into the cleaning of red urushi lacquer; The French connection: developing a conservation treatment plan for eighteenth-century Chinese lacquer panels adapted for an American Beaux Arts-style house; A cornucopia of carving techniques: an analysis and treatment of a Qing dynasty lacquered screen; Light-induced deterioration of urushi, maki-e and nashiji decoration; Conservation of the photodegraded surface of the Mazarin Chest; Maritime trade in Asia and the circulation of lacquerware; How many ‘Mazarin Chests’ were there?; Two boxes and two balustrades: private orders for fine Japanese export lacquer; Japanese lacquer in eighteenth-century Europe: status and value – market price of craftsmanship and the canon of the grand arts; Mid-Edo period lacquer production seen through historical European collections. Science and Conservation: Developing a methodology for the artificial ageing of urushi and a preliminary examination of urushi-based conservation options; Solvent effects on East Asian lacquer (Toxicodendron vernicifluum); Stress measurement in East Asian lacquer thin films due to changes in relative humidity using phase shifting interferometry; A methodology for modelling the mechanical response of urushi lacquer under varying environmental conditions; New evidence for the use of Southeast Asian raw materials in seventeenth-century Japanese export lacquer; Delamination and flaking of East Asian export lacquer coatings on wood substrates; Construction methods of Japanese writing boxes (suzuribako).