Orange Orange Orange

Whilst we continue preparations for the start of the next project it has not escaped our attention that once again the Dutch Voetbal team are in a competition......

Should things go well we have taken the precaution of stocking up on something appropriate to show our support for Dutch colleagues.

* Update - The Dutch flag was been flown at half mast yesterday evening outside the Brandweer (Fire Station) !!!

 Netherlands 0 Denmark 1

It is going to be a long week in Holland .............

 

See the Story....

The finished hand scrolls were collected from the Restorient Studio and returned to Dublin at the end of April and are now on display in the the galleries of the Chester Beatty Library. There's plenty of time to visit the exhibition as it runs through until the 5^th August.  As well as featuring two fabulous seven meter sections of each scroll, there are panels detailing different aspects of the conservation work to illustrate just some of the many processes involved .   

To compliment the exhibition the Library is running a series of events ranging from classes in origami, films, Japanese paper workshops, and even a workshop on making Japanese screens. The full events listing can be found on the Library website  http://www.cbl.ie  As part of this programme Restorient gave a public talk "The Story behind the Tale" on Friday 11th May and this will be repeated again on 27th July.

 

It has been an amazing experience to conserve " The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter " and it is especially satisfying to see the paintings so beautifully displayed and now in good condition for future generations to enjoy.

Followers of this blog should be aware this is not the end !!!!  We will be posting news of a fascinating new project in the near future.......

Gold !

As part of the finishing process we had to make the decorative paper which forms the inner lining of the cover silk called the mikaeshi. This is a rather complicated process involving three layers of deer glue size nikawa. These are allowed to dry thoroughly. A coat of seaweed adhesive funori is applied and whilst this is still wet, sheets of gold leaf are carefully placed into a bamboo tube which has a copper gauze covering one end. In the tube there are also some small brass screws. So...... when the tube is gently shaken the screws shred the gold leaf which then drifts slowly onto the pasted sheet below. Any breath of air is to be studiously avoided and a sneeze.......?

We chose a simple cloud design using both gold and silver leaf which was drawn from the cloud patterns which appear throughout the two scrolls. The entire sheet was first sprinkled before a stencil was laid over the sheet to highlight the design.

Photofinish

Dhr. Joost Kolkman, a professional photographer has visited the Restorient Studio to take a photographic record of the finished hand scrolls.

The scrolls were photographed in extraordinary detail, with three different light sources being used to capture the texture of the paper fibre, the lustre of the gold and silver leaf and the palette of vibrant colour.

The photographs were taken in 8.0cm sections advancing across the entire 28.88 metres and will be stitched together using digital software later. The 27.8cm height of the scrolls will be recorded in 5,000 pixels which means the length of the scroll will be reproduced in a mind blowing 500,000 pixels!

Ijs

There is nothing like the fever which grips the whole country when ice forms on the canals and rivers of Holland. We resisted the temptation to go for a slither ourselves prefering to concentrate on the assembly of the hand scrolls.

Gofun

Gofun is a shell white pigment which has been used for a variety of purposes in Japan. It is made from oyster shells which are weathered and aged for more than fifteen years. The top lid of the oyster is considered to produce the best quality pigment. The shells are crushed and ground before being being mixed with water and air-dried in thin layers on wooden trays. One of the better know uses of gofun was in the manufacture of Japanese dolls where the gofun was used for the face and hands.

Gofun has long being used to add to a paper called misu-gami which is used as an intermediate paper in the making of Japanese scrolls.  Historically there were two types of misu-gami manufactured. One which included gofun, and one without, called 'subuse' which was prefered for the lining of handscrolls.

Although it is now very difficult to source  we were very lucky to find a private collector who had purchased a supply of this paper over 30 years ago. Far from being too old this paper is now in perfect condition as it is mature and will help us to keep the finished handscrolls supple. Paper which has being recently made is considered 'green' and is not considered sufficently stable for use in conservation.