RAdICAL Workshop 2012

A component of Recent Advances in Characterizing Asian Lacquer
People in lab coats look at a computer monitor showing an image

Eighteen conservators and scientists gathered in research teams at the Getty Center, from October 22 to 26, 2012, to prepare and test samples of historical lacquer from their own collections and present their analytical findings on the final day.

The five-day workshop provided instruction in two analytical procedures and a precision sampling technique and struck a balance between instruction, hands-on application to samples from museum collections, and directed group discussions.

Objectives

  • demonstrate a particular analytical protocol and the level of information that can be gathered using these approaches and methods
  • provide participants with the tools necessary to make use of these approaches and methods, such as the Py-GC/MS marker compound database and an Excel evaluation form
  • highlight the benefits that collaboration between scientists and conservators can provide
  • identify pressing analytical and conservation issues and problems in the field, and priorities for future research

Instructors

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: furniture and decorative objects conservator and conservation scientist, specializing in the characterization and treatment of degraded decorative surfaces

Procedures

Areas of instruction during the workshop included:

  • 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 materials when present in significant concentration
  • 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
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