Gilt-y pleasures

Even as the museum is gearing up for the opening of Lords of the Samurai in a few weeks, many of us are working on upcoming shows. Here Katie Holbrow, head of conservation at the museum, is working on a gilded object for Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma, which will be on display from October 23, 2009 through January 10, 2010, in our Lee, Hambrecht, and Osher Galleries on the main floor. This exhibition, which is drawn from the museum’s own collections (about 70 percent of the works were the result of a recent donation from the Doris Duke foundation) has involved the most extensive conservation work that I can remember. Many of these objects are decorated with gold, silver, gems, or glass, and, thanks to the work of the conservators, they really sparkle (wear shades)

In Publications we work far ahead because of the demands of color proofing — we are exacting about the way our images print and (unlike many art publishers these days) we check every page on press. Because we usually print overseas (Emerald Cities is printing in Hong Kong), we must allow several weeks for shipping and customs. Right now we are finalizing the index for this book, which will be at the printer soon.

At right is the cover of the book, designed by Tag Savage of Wilsted & Taylor. The actual cover will include metallic gold in the background. The book will be available from our store, and distributed internationally by Tuttle Publishing.