Thorough study of aqueous and solvent interactions in the cleaning of Asian lacquer

This research project focuses on the scientific study of the interacties of cleaning solvents with the lacquer surface in order to formulate "best practices" for cleaning Asian lacquers. The emphasis is put upon possible changes in chemical as well as physical aspects of the lacquer through solvent and aqueous cleaning. There will be special attention to the lacquer collection of the RMAH (estimated at 250 pieces), evaluating the current condition of the lacquerware and proposing "best practises" for safe cleaning and hence long-term preservation. To elucidate the solvent/lacquer interactions chemical analyses will be carried out at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK/IRPA) and Ghent University (UGent), applying mainly complimentary chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques. Based on a thorough inventory of the Asian lacquer collection of the RMAH, some objects actually stored in the reserves, will be cleaned using solvents which are - based on the outcome of the chemical research- proven to be safe en effective.