Oceans That Speak - Gebyok

BENEATH THE VARNISH – REVEALING THE GILDED SURFACE WITH SOLVENT GELS

In the field of conservation, “cleaning” is used in the broader sense to include removing unwanted layers of old varnish or paint and removing stains from decorated surfaces. Traditionally, tools such as scalpels were used to remove undesired layers with the help of a microscope. But this can be very dangerous as the possibility of accidentally damaging the artefact is also very high. In recent years, a new technique using solvents were introduced. The solvents dissolve the unwanted layer such as varnish without harming the paint layers and gilding. Take a look at the cleaning process which reveals the beautiful gilding on the Gebyok.