AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

Taiwan’s National Palace Museum (NPM) houses seven huge densely-colored silk thangkas ‘Amitayus Buddha’ from the Qing dynasty, painted during Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1736–1795). Originally a set of nine, the other two thangkas are currently within Taiwan’s National Museum of History collection. The thangkas' format, dimensions, subject and materials are consistent throughout: each painting depicts one large Amitayus Buddha surrounded by 11 smaller ones, bringing the overall total to 108, a significant number in Buddhism representing wholeness and the abolishment of all troubles. How this set of paintings ended up in separate museums is another story in the WWII saga.

This thangka embodies the typical Tibetan Buddhism tradition of using Chinese prepared silk. At the same time, the high-quality blue, yellow and red kinran (gold brocade) used as its mounting fabric suggests the Japanese Buddhist paintings’ mounting format. Yet, the scroll’s lower border is longer than the upper border, which aligns with the traditional Tibetan thangka style. While uda paper was used as its lining papers, the ornate hanging rings were of an uncommon material and form, posing challenges in their temporary removal and reinstallation following treatment. The opening direction of the scroll differs from the Chinese tradition, and while the bottom roller is a circular rod of the Chinese tradition, the unique knob design follows neither Chinese nor Japanese tradition.

Was this thangka mounted in the Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan tradition? An investigation into its mysterious provenance and materials proved necessary.

This thangka suffered extensive water damage, resulting in delamination (damage) of lining papers, mold damage, cracks in the stave, creases on the painting, pigment loss, and severe embrittlement of the yellow and red kinran that made it necessary to reproduce the brocade in the original design for the remounting of the painting. During the mounting delamination (treatment process) it became apparent that this was not the painting’s first conservation attempt. It could be deduced from the remaining backing paper and subsequent lining papers that parts of the mounting format had been modified. The original wooden stave and roller remained intact, however, together with hidden paper amulets written in cinnabar ink. Vibrant and saturated colors that had been applied as primers onto the back of the painting revealed a characteristic technique of densely-colored paintings while increasing the difficulty of detaching the backing paper.

Due to its oversized dimensions, a wooden support structure was made for the delamination process. Facing was done for media consolidation, which also kept the dimensional changes of the paper and mounting fabric under control without tearing. Every step of the treatment process was a challenge in itself, such as the reinstallation of the stave, roller, and paper amulets in their respective original positions. Over the course of four years, this thangka was restored to a smooth and supple state, and its conservation concluded with satisfactory results.




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