Restoration of Traditional “Centofacce” Mandarin Fan Early 1900s

Notes about the restoration project

This restoration project involved a “centofacce” mandarin fan from the early 1900, which is part of a private collection. I performed the restoration intervention in collaboration with my colleague Federica Delia. 

The traditional Chinese fan was made of paper, fabric, wood, and bone. Given the delicacy of the object and the variety of materials, the restoration plan required a long reflection.

The compensation of the missing part was carried out in correspondence with one of the slats of the fan, the chromatic accompaniment of the gaps with a tone as close as possible to the original, the consolidation of all the folds with a previously dyed Japanese veil, creating very thin strips. A difficult restoration work, suffered but shared.

Photo credits: Federica Delia.

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