Seminars and Workshops
Seminars and Workshops
This internship was part time and fully remote.
Treatment of Tibetan Offering Mandala
Object: Offering Mandala
Acc.#: 1999.5A-E
Date: 19th century
Dimensions: 1.75in, DIA: 5.75in (collapsed)
Materials: Silver, semi-precious stone
Collection: Denver Art Museum
Culture of Origin: Tibetan
Treated in 2021 for permanent display in the Asian Art Gallery, in the newly renovated Martin Building at the Denver Art Museum
After Treatment
Context
Offering mandalas are used in Tibetan Buddhism as an offering to the universe. Mandala offerings are done with many ceremonies for purification and the accumulation of merit. Practitioners offer a physical material between the tiers of the mandala. Rice is commonly used, but I have seen examples with coins, stones, or jewels.
This mandala had been exhibited before. Real Jasmin rice was adhered with a PVA adhesive to an Ethafoam mount. The PVA had yellowed over time, and while brown rice is used for mandala offerings, the curator wanted to rice to be white without appearing fake. Exhibiting actual rice posed a challenge for preventive conservation and collection management.
Click images for details
Condition
-
Good condition overall
-
Tarnish to the silver
-
High points of the cast design had been over-polished and worn away
-
Heavy remnants of polishing compound in the recesses of the cast silver
-
PVA adhesive from a previous treatment has yellowed significantly
-
Treatment included research into fake rice options and modern/contemporary conservation of food material for permanent display in a museum setting
Click images for details
Treatment
-
Surface cleaning and polishing of the silver
-
Reduction of old polishing residue
-
Replacing the yellowed rice
-
Research into plasitc off-gasing and food in museum settings
-
Solubility tests of rice soaked in various solvents
-
Impregnation of Basmiti rice with Paraloid B72
-
Attaching B72 rice to the original Ethafoam mount
-
Click images for details
Before Treatment
After Treatment
Overall View, Normal Illumination
Detail of Silver and Rice, Normal Illumination