It's really inspiring to see the passion, expertise and finesse of the conservators you are featuring in this series. Thanks for putting them in the spotlight!
It is incredible to think of the hands that have worked on that piece from its creation to conservation. To then know future hands will conserve this piece again far in the future.
The amount of attention to detail is impressive. The whole restoration process is extraordinary. I hope they will post more video on different things they display in museum. Very educational.
Fascinating; in episode 2 the curator says she thinks the textiles came from a trader in Dunhuang. Do you know, is the writing too modern to be original to the piece?
Buddhists believe that preserving and restoring a sacred image generates great good karma. I'm sad this textile was sort of stolen, yet very happy it can be preserved.
That was fascinating. When you first started this series, I thought meh, might be ok, but it's turned out to get more and more interesting as you uncover more of it's secrets. I really need to know now what those characters mean lol Thank you, more like this please
Hmm I have a question. Do not the lights in the conservation room, and the lights from the camera work not degrade the colour in the artefact? Additionally, as the artefact is being recorded by multiple cameras at multiple wavelengths of light, will there be an effort to try to reconstruct the original colours of the artefact? Light and humidity seem to be at least of the two of the dangers that threaten this piece.
Sir Aurel stein has stolen this embroidery among other artefacts and manuscripts ! Then the moral question is how you donate something that you ve stolen and how you legalise that in 1943 at the middle of WW2 ?
That's always the question. (I believe Stein passed away in 1943.) If you go to any gallery or museum that displays art or artifacts that pre-date the end of WWII, you will find a lot with pretty questionable providence. Here in Canada, for example, the Museum of Civilisation in Ottawa/Gatineau, the indigenous collection consists of probably 95+% looted artifacts. (The Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria is much better.) Stein was really one of the more scrupulous artifact collectors of his day, and some of his work would still borderline quality as archeology and ethnography today. The bulk of his Dunhuang/Mogao collection was purchased from the monastery and the funds used for site conservation. Less scrupulous collecters/looters tended to follow in his wake. The brief internet biographies of Stein touch on his work opposing Russian expansion in the region, but a deeper study of 19th-20th-century history of the area reveals that the Guomingdang were receiving significant financial and military aid from Russia at the time they denounced him as the "Great Thief". (The Chinese didn't really need a lot of prodding to dislike British at that point in time.) Stein did remove a large number of the most important, but also most fragile, artifacts from China, some for much less less than what they were later valued at, often without much prior examination. I've never made it that far west in China, but I did see a 90s CCTV spot that suggested, given the political and military instability, the self-appointed Mogao abbot & the provincial governor believed Stein to be the least bad of the available choices, as Stein at least paid something, and seemed the most interested in conservation over profit.
The characters shown at 4:46 appear to actually be upside down. The first character (the lower one as shown in the video) is 海 (sea, ocean), as far as I can tell.
am I the only one who gets REALLY excited when I see a new episode?
DedElec Nope... I made excited girly noises.
Nope, me too!
FASCINATING VIDEO. HOW BEAUTIFUL IT MUST HAVE BEEN WHEN IT WAS FIRST MADE. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS DISCOVERY PROCESS WITH US.
It's so relaxing to listen to this lady. :3
It's really inspiring to see the passion, expertise and finesse of the conservators you are featuring in this series. Thanks for putting them in the spotlight!
D d d
Thank you for sharing this process of restoration. Can't wait to see it done.
It is incredible to think of the hands that have worked on that piece from its creation to conservation. To then know future hands will conserve this piece again far in the future.
The amount of attention to detail is impressive. The whole restoration process is extraordinary. I hope they will post more video on different things they display in museum. Very educational.
the letter says JIUQUAN(酒泉), which is the city next to DUNHUANG
Fascinating; in episode 2 the curator says she thinks the textiles came from a trader in Dunhuang. Do you know, is the writing too modern to be original to the piece?
@@Hypatia4242 Lu Min is considering his response, he cannot be rushed....
Buddhists believe that preserving and restoring a sacred image generates great good karma. I'm sad this textile was sort of stolen, yet very happy it can be preserved.
That was fascinating. When you first started this series, I thought meh, might be ok, but it's turned out to get more and more interesting as you uncover more of it's secrets. I really need to know now what those characters mean lol Thank you, more like this please
I have a number of old undies with several holes in each of them. Can I send them to you for restauration of the missing fabric?
Hmm I have a question. Do not the lights in the conservation room, and the lights from the camera work not degrade the colour in the artefact? Additionally, as the artefact is being recorded by multiple cameras at multiple wavelengths of light, will there be an effort to try to reconstruct the original colours of the artefact? Light and humidity seem to be at least of the two of the dangers that threaten this piece.
You are right, they would if it was exposed for an extended period of time. However the short time of the conservation shouldn't effect it at all.
Super, my thanks for the quick reply!
Sir Aurel stein has stolen this embroidery among other artefacts and manuscripts ! Then the moral question is how you donate something that you ve stolen and how you legalise that in 1943 at the middle of WW2 ?
That's always the question. (I believe Stein passed away in 1943.) If you go to any gallery or museum that displays art or artifacts that pre-date the end of WWII, you will find a lot with pretty questionable providence. Here in Canada, for example, the Museum of Civilisation in Ottawa/Gatineau, the indigenous collection consists of probably 95+% looted artifacts. (The Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria is much better.) Stein was really one of the more scrupulous artifact collectors of his day, and some of his work would still borderline quality as archeology and ethnography today. The bulk of his Dunhuang/Mogao collection was purchased from the monastery and the funds used for site conservation. Less scrupulous collecters/looters tended to follow in his wake. The brief internet biographies of Stein touch on his work opposing Russian expansion in the region, but a deeper study of 19th-20th-century history of the area reveals that the Guomingdang were receiving significant financial and military aid from Russia at the time they denounced him as the "Great Thief". (The Chinese didn't really need a lot of prodding to dislike British at that point in time.) Stein did remove a large number of the most important, but also most fragile, artifacts from China, some for much less less than what they were later valued at, often without much prior examination. I've never made it that far west in China, but I did see a 90s CCTV spot that suggested, given the political and military instability, the self-appointed Mogao abbot & the provincial governor believed Stein to be the least bad of the available choices, as Stein at least paid something, and seemed the most interested in conservation over profit.
Just out of curiosity, did anyone manage to figure out what the Chinese characters were and meant? Thanks
The Buddha has obvious blue eyes. Very interesting.
The characters shown at 4:46 appear to actually be upside down. The first character (the lower one as shown in the video) is 海 (sea, ocean), as far as I can tell.
jamesh625 it's JIUQUAN(酒泉）reversed
I hope historians will not be examining my room with UV light at any point in the future.
That piece of wood at the bottom looks awful.
the yellow pigments are obviously a uranium ore... Safflower?.. she should be smarter than this...