In Kolkata we visited the Asiatic Society. Established by the British in the late 18th century by Sir William Jones, the Society was a catalyst for the rediscovery of the ancient arts, history and languages of the sub-continent. We coincidentally arrived on the Society’s 226th anniversary and were rushed up onto the roof to join a celebration lunch. Later one of the researchers took us next door to see the Society’s original building and there on the first floor, in an old office bathed in sunlight from an open window overlooking one of Kolkata’s busy intersections, was the conservation department: two young men, a couple of easels and the two large paintings they were repairing. One was of the extraordinary ruins of Mahabalipuram while the other was a portrait of the scholar James Princep who helped unravel the sub continent’s history through the inscriptions on coins. The conservator was in-painting patches of the work that had peeled away explaining that he was using paint that could be removed should future repairs be needed. Unlike the laboratory-like surroundings of most modern conservation departments, the dusty room he worked in had no technical equipment, no computers and no specialist ventilation. When we asked him how he could conserve historically priceless works under such challenging conditions his reply was simple. He told us he was an artist.
Images: Top left at work on the Princep portrait, top right the painting of Mahabalipuram waits in the wings. Bottom, in-painting Princep.
