Demonstration of Microfading by Dr. Paul Whitmore
On June 4, 2015, Dr.Paul Whitmore, professor at Yale University (the U.S.) and director of the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, visited the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, and conducted a demonstration of Microfading, the state-of-the-art spectroscope capable of measuring color deterioration in a microscopic region. Microfading is a most-advanced technology that has not been introduced in Japan yet, and Mr. Whitmore introduced the purpose and structure of the device as well as its application cases in the United States to researchers of the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques as well as teachers and postgraduates of Tokyo University of the Arts. According to Mr. Whitmore, the method of grasping changes in color fading with the passage of time by exposing an object through fiber to the high-intensity light of a xenon lamp with an aperture width setting of 0.3 millimeters is used to determine which color is vulnerable to light exposure among actual exhibits. The idea of the method is opposite to that of the conventional one that limits the exposed time by identifying an object and then judging its light resistance. While there are only a few application cases of Microfading, I felt that the technology has the potential to expand possibilities for the future. Concerning dyed textiles made at the institute (red: carminic acid, yellow: curcumin and blue: indigo), we conducted a color fading experiment to create a final color-difference level of 33, but we could not find discolored spots both visually and by using a stereomicroscope. (Of the attendees, eight were from outside institutions.)