Restoring a 400-year-old Chinese Handscroll Painting: A Story Told by the Conservator Eddie Jose

Join conservator Eddie Jose as he speaks of the yearlong process, and challenges he encountered while restoring a 400-year-old Chinese handscroll. Such conservation is usually behind the scenes and inaccessible to the public.

Conservation, especially that of an East Asian scroll painting, can really be a labor of love. It requires the conservator to have intimate knowledge, strong restoration skills, and a deep appreciation of the painting itself. Chinese paintings on silk are very susceptible to aging. Hundreds of years of handling, and possibly poor storage conditions left this scroll in terrible condition before its conservation, with extensive damage, such as loss of pigments, cracks, broken mounting, and loss of silk.