RAdICAL Workshop 2013

In July 2013 the Conservation Institute and the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage held the second Recent Advances in Characterizing Asian Lacquer workshop at the Center for Conservation and Preservation on Yale's West Campus.

Eighteen conservators and scientists from the United States, France, and Brazil worked together in research teams to study historical lacquer samples from their own collections and to present and discuss their findings.

The workshop struck a balance between lecture, hands-on application, and directed group discussions and included instruction in:

• precision sample collection of discrete layers within a lacquer sample
• visible and fluorescent light microscopic examination of chemically stained lacquer cross-sections, which provides visual, layer-specific information for a number of organic material
• pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation (THM-Py-GC/MS), a versatile method with excellent limits of detection
• a systematic protocol for data analysis and interpretation based on GC/MS quantitative analysis software and a specialized Excel worksheet and marker compound database developed at the Conservation Institute that permits detection of a broad range of compounds even when present at trace levels

Michael Schilling: senior scientist and head of Organic Materials Research at the Conservation Institute, specializing in GC/MS and thermal analysis techniques

Arlen Heginbotham: associate conservator of decorative arts and sculpture at the J. Paul Getty Museum, specializing in the technical examination of furniture

Nanke Schellmann: senior lecturer and research scientist at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, specializing in conservation and analysis of furniture and decorative objects and the characterization and treatment of degraded decorative surfaces