Urushi lacquer in three Asian artifacts from MAO: comparison between non-invasive and microinvasive analytical...

Lacquerwares stand as some of the most prized Asian artworks, forming a significant part of museum collections globally. Their conservation, however, presents considerable challenges due to the intricate nature of the objects themselves and the environmental conditions of their storage. Assessing the composition and current state of these artifacts represents a main goal for designing suitable conservation approaches, and reaching this goal, as much as possible, with non-invasive protocols is highly desirable. This study presents an analytical investigation on three Asian lacquer artifacts from the Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, combining non-invasive in situ techniques-including optical microscopy, FORS, and ER-FTIR-with micro-invasive methods i.e., micro-FTIR, micro-Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDS, and Py-GC-MS carried out on naturally detached fragments. This comprehensive approach successfully identified the artistic techniques employed, the type of Asian lacquer used -urushi, the pigments, and other components introduced during production, or later for restoration purposes. In addition, the analyses carried out can indicate the geographic origin of the artifacts based on the identified materials. The integration of non-invasive and microinvasive analyses enabled a critical evaluation of the proposed characterization protocol, highlighting its strengths and limitations relative to established microinvasive approaches.