Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

The Winterthur’s project will involve treatment and analysis of the museum’s highest priority Chinese export lacquer objects by a multi-disciplinary team composed of Winterthur conservators, scientists, and curators and a lacquer conservator hired for the project. It will result in significant knowledge transfer and increased capacity for Winterthur staff as well as object stabilization. As a long term benefit, Winterthur staff will use this increased capacity to stabilize the rest of the collection after the grant and enhance instruction of Winterthur/University of Delaware Art Conservation students. As graduates, these students will carry this training to other institutions, helping to increase U.S. capacity and expertise in the treatment of Asian lacquer. Using Winterthur’s collection and relevant examples from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Peabody Essex Museum, the museum’s laboratory will undertake a major analytical project to characterize Chinese export lacquer to better inform treatment decisions and preventive care.