Chinese ink on paper
Chinese ink painting restoration in Singapore
We restore Chinese ink paintings, scrolls and works on paper. Foxing and mould removal, stain reduction, tear repair, flattening and remounting, carried out in our own studio in Singapore.
Foxing and stain removal, remounting. See the full case study
What we treat
What goes wrong with paper
Almost everything we see traces back to the same cause. Paper is hygroscopic, it takes up whatever moisture is in the air around it, and the air here is warm and damp all year.
Foxing
The rust coloured spotting that spreads across a sheet stored in warmth and humidity. It is the single most common reason an ink work comes to us, and on a composition with a wide open ground there is nowhere for it to hide.
Mould and mildew
Growth on the surface or in the backing, often after a work has been kept in a store room, a cupboard or a sealed frame. Treated early it leaves little trace. Left alone it feeds on the paper itself.
Staining and discolouration
Water marks, tide lines, adhesive bleed from an old mount, and the general yellowing that comes with age. The ground is usually the part of an ink work that has aged, not the ink.
Tears, losses and creases
Handling damage, rolling damage on scrolls, and losses along edges and fold lines. Tears are repaired from the reverse with matching fibre so the join does not read from the front.
Cockling and distortion
Paper that has taken up moisture unevenly and will no longer lie flat. Controlled humidification and drying under weight returns the sheet to plane.
Failed or acidic mounts
Old backings that have gone brittle, browned, or begun to pull on the work. Remounting onto a fresh, appropriate support is often the step that buys a work its next few decades.
Our work
Before and after
Each case study sets out what arrived, what we did, and what went back. If you would like to see something closer to your own work, ask and we will send more.
View all case studiesHow it works
From photograph to finished work
Send a photograph
A clear photograph of the whole work and a close view of the worst area is enough for us to tell you what we are looking at and roughly what it will involve.
Assessment in the studio
We examine the work in person, test how the ink and seal respond, and put a written condition report and proposal in front of you with a fixed price.
Treatment
Cleaning, foxing and stain reduction, repairs, flattening and remounting as the proposal sets out. We photograph the work at each stage.
Return, framed or flat
The work comes back stable and flat, either as it arrived or reframed with conservation grade materials and glazing if you would like us to handle that too.
Our approach
Why ink on paper is its own discipline
The seal is the risk, not the ink
Carbon ink is stable and forgiving. The artist's seal is not: the red pigment is far more soluble, and it is the first thing we test and the thing every washing decision is planned around.
Built for this climate
Warmth and humidity are what age paper here, and they never let up. We treat works that have lived in those conditions for decades, and we mount them to go back into the same conditions afterwards.
Reversible, and written down
Treatments follow international conservation standards and are chosen to be reversible where the material allows. Every project begins with a written assessment, so you know what we propose and why before anything is touched.
The work stays with us
Assessment, treatment and remounting are all carried out by our own team in our own studio. Nothing is sent out, so a work that cannot be replaced stays in one set of hands from beginning to end.
Questions
Frequently asked
Can foxing be removed completely?
Usually, yes. Most foxing responds well to controlled washing, and on the works we see it comes away entirely. Where spotting has been left long enough to weaken the paper underneath, the honest answer is reduction rather than removal, and we will tell you that at the assessment stage rather than after.
Will treatment damage the ink or the artist's seal?
The ink is rarely at risk. The seal is, because red seal paste is far more soluble than carbon ink, so we test it on a small area before anything is applied to the sheet as a whole. If a seal will not take a treatment safely, we work around it.
Do you work on scrolls and remount them?
Yes. Scrolls are remounted onto fresh backing, and we can return a work as a scroll or flat for framing, whichever suits where it is going.
How long does it take?
Most single works run three to six weeks from approval. Washing and drying are staged processes that cannot safely be rushed, and heavily damaged or very large works take longer. We give you a date with the proposal.
What does it cost?
It depends on the size of the sheet and what the work needs, so we quote per piece after seeing it rather than from a price list. The assessment tells you the fixed price before you commit to anything.
The work is already framed. Do I need to take it apart?
No, bring it as it is. Removing a work from an old frame is part of the job, and old framing is frequently part of the problem, particularly where the sheet has been mounted directly against the backing or the glazing.
Is it worth restoring a work of modest value?
That is your call and we will not push it. Plenty of what we treat is worth more to the family that owns it than it would ever fetch at auction, and that is a perfectly good reason to restore something. We will tell you what the work needs and what it will cost, and you decide.
Can you collect the work?
Yes, we collect and deliver across Singapore, and we handle packing for works coming from the region.
Get in touch
Tell us about your work
Send a photograph and a short description. We will come back with an honest assessment of what the work needs, what it will cost, and whether it is worth doing.
- Studio
- 48 Toh Guan Road East, #07-127 Enterprise Hub, Singapore 608586
- Hours
- By appointment only