Solving a conservation problem: The treatment of a batch of century-old Chinese manuscripts printed with fugitive red grid-lines

The treatment of a batch of century-old Chinese manuscripts printed with fugitive red grid-lines were undertaken. The aim of conservation was to return the manuscripts to a stable and sound physical form for future study by scholars. Samples of the red dye were extracted from the chronological batch of manuscripts at five-year intervals for investigation. All red change to colorants were identified to be Eosin Y by liquid chromatography- mass spectroscopy (LC/QTOF-MS-PDA). A traditional scroll mounting technique was proposed, which was primarily devised for backing paintings with water-sensitive colorants [3]. Instead of brushing paste onto the recto, thin paste was put on the backing paper, with its moisture content being kept minimal. The thin backing paper was immediately transferred onto the page with smooth and skilful brush strokes using a Chinese palm brush.