Storage and Preservation of Denison Museum's Collection of Chinese Rubbings

FAIN: PG-50077-07

Denison University (Granville, OH 43023-1100)
Melinda McPeek (Project Director: May 2006 to June 2007)

The purchase of archival supplies and storage furniture to rehouse the university museum's collection of Chinese rubbings of shrines and temples of the Han, Tang, Song, and Qing Dynasties.

This project will focus on rehousing and properly storing the Denison Museum's collection of approximately 1,200 Chinese rubbings. This collection of unique rubbings were executed and donated by a Denison alumnus who spent the first half of the 20th century as a missionary in China. They are extraordinary documents of Chinese design, history, and culture and are one of the largest collections of rubbings outside of China. In order to better preserve this collection we will be rehousing the rubbings in archival folders and storing them in a newly purchased oversized museum quality flat-file. This project will not only aid in the preservation of these items but will greatly enhance their accessibility to faculty, students, and researchers. This rehousing project will also contain an educational component, as it will be carried out in a work area visible to museum visitors.