Beyond the Naked Eye: Inks of Asia

Traditional East Asian ink—used in painting and calligraphy—was previously fashioned from either pine soot or lampblack soot. While these materials are still in use, contemporary inks are also composed of industrial carbon black. These three different soots are chemically similar and can be difficult to identify, despite some variation in their characteristics. In this talk, conservation scientist Jennifer Giaccai will examine samples from modern soot and ink workshops in Japan and China, identifying commonalities and disparities. She will also discuss ongoing studies using Raman spectroscopy to identify ink sources without requiring scientists to remove samples from artwork. Jennifer Giaccai is a conservation scientist in the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. She previously worked at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Sh