Featured Projects
Do you have an interesting project that you want to share with your colleagues? NECA would love to feature your project here! Send us an email at: necaconservation@gmail.com
Jess Chloros, Objects Conservator at the Gardner Museum, recently had the opportunity to carry out a technical investigation of Guanyin, an 11-12th century Chinese sculpture in the Gardner’s collection. Guanyin is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and was first worshiped in India as Avalokiteshvara before being introduced to China. The sculpture is carved from paulownia wood and has significant traces of polychrome and gilding. This work is still in process; however, techniques used thus far include: close looking with magnification, UV-induced visible fluorescence, infrared reflectography, XRF, paint cross-section examination, SEM, Raman, radiocarbon dating and hopefully CT scanning this spring. Please enjoy looking at some of the initial findings and stay tuned for more information!