Treatment

Surface dirt was removed from the back of the painting and from thinly painted areas by gentle swabs with a soft sponge.

Layer by layer and section by section, heavily creased edges at top and bottom folds were made pliable with moistened cotton swabs and carefully unrolled.  Weights were then laid on the unrolled layers to flatten them out.

To mend the tears and losses, Japanese paper, with its long and strong fibres were used with wheat starch paste, a long lasting reversible adhesive.

The missing bamboo sticks and cords were reconstructed with very thin strips of museum quality matboards, and then wrapped with Japanese paper to achieve the original thickness.  Wood was not used because it would give off harmful acidic vapours.

The cord was frayed, weak and unusable.  Custom-made hinges were constructed at the back of the painting so that it could be displayed safely in the museum.

After Treatment:

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