Conserving Chinese wallpaper

An expert team of paper conservators from the library conservation unit travelled to Musselborough this month to restore some fragile Chinese hand-painted wallpaper over 200 years old. Philippa Sterlini, Vanessa Charles and Femke Coevert, the Unit's intern from the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage, spent a week at Newhailes House near Musselburgh cleaning and consolidating the Chinese wallpaper in the state boudoir of the historical home.

The team used a combination of surface cleaning techniques to remove dirt and discolouration, and traditional methods of in situ repair with hand-made Japanese mulberry paper and Shofu paste. The work commissioned by the National Trust for Scotland is a preliminary stabilisation to prevent further damage during public visits. The team photographed and documented the condition of the wallpaper thoroughly prior to treatment and took tracings of the damage so they will be able to monitor for any further deterioration, and to inform future decisions on whether the wallpaper should be removed to the studio for cleaning and re-lining.

Newhailes House was built in 1686 by the distinguished Scottish architect James Smith for himself, and has been owned by the Dalrymple family since 1707. When it came into the care of the National Trust for Scotland in 1997, it was dubbed " the Sleeping Beauty ", as much of its original interior has been preserved intact but has not been accessible to the public. "As much as necessary and as little as possible" has been the motto of the extensive but insightful conservation programme by the Trust, and the house and grounds will be opening in the spring, giving the public the opportunity to experience the unique magic of the historical environment and to observe the work of our Dundee conservation team.

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