Fall 2000, Volume 6, No. 4

JAPANESE PAPERS IN USE FOR OBJECT CONSERVATION

Conservation and Art Restoration Treatment of the Chinese Ancestral Altar in Havana, Cuba

The California Chinese- American Community has a number of things in common with the Chinese- Cuban community of Havana, Cuba. In 1882 when the Federal government in the US passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in order to prevent relatives of Chinese laborers in California to join their families in their new homeland, many Chinese emigrated to other countries, among them Cuba. A number of these have relatives in California. In these early years, a Chinese ancestral alter was brought to Cuba by Chinese families emigrating from Canton. Today, the Altar is part of the Chinese- Cuban patrimony and is cherished as a national treasure. It is located on the third floor of the Lung Kong Association in the Chinese Quarter of Havana and is used in ceremonies by the Chinese- Cuban community. It is an extraordinary and beautifully carved work, and is lacquered and gilded. An antique portrait on silk is located in the center of the Alter and shows ancestors of the Chinese- Cuban Community who have yet to be identified.

The historian at the Chinese Historical Society of San Jose, Ms. Connie Young Yu, has dated the Alter to 1882 and is currently locating an article describing its origin which appeared in an old edition of Harper's Magazine. Other similar ancestral alters are located in Singapore, Toronto, and also believed to be in New York and Los Angeles. Further art history research will bring to light more details about the origin of the Alter, its transport to Cuba, and its relationship to other ancestral alters in the world.

The President of Lung Kong Association Cuba, Mr. Alejandro Chiu Wong, has expressed his interest in having the Alter restored. It is suffering from termites, which unless arrested in the next few months, will eat away a considerable portion of the Alter. The surface of the Alter has darkened extensively due to pollution, candle soot and deposits from incense, as well as greasy deposits from the kitchen on the floor below. Some sections have suffered losses and are in need of restoration. In October of 1999, art conservator Elisabeth Cornu looked at the Alter during her trip to attend a Latin American conservation conference in Havana. During subsequent trips she started training a number of restorers who are part of the National Center for the Conservation, Restoration and Museology in Havana, Cuba, so that they may be able to carry out the restoration treatment. Funds are currently sought out to carry out such a treatment.

The conservators are using Japanese Tissue paper in the repair of termite- damaged wood surfaces in that they are tinting the tissue paper to the color of the wood structure of the Alter, or the carved decorative pieces, and are attaching it to the surface with methyl cellulose. The paper was chosen by the head conservator Elisabeth Cornu, who discovered Hiromi Paper International, Inc. at the AIC conference in Philadelphia where HPI had a booth with samples of our new conservation rolls called Manryo Rolls. With this restoration, the Alter can be returned to it's former splendor, and an important cultural monument of Havana will be kept for future generations.