Six months ago, when curator Shailka Mishra and art conservators Anuja Mukherjee and Bhasha Shah began browsing the maps at the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation’s research centre in Udaipur, they found them in a sorry state — stored with the limited knowledge and materials available at the time (MMCF was founded in 1969). “Some were so brittle they couldn’t be opened properly as there was termite damage,” says Mukherjee, while Shah adds, “Other maps were so fragile that they would dissolve into fragments if touched.”
Months of restoration followed: using Japanese archival paper, special adhesives, fumigation to remove dust, and humidifying to ensure the ink did not fade. There were paper maps, and those drawn on paper with textile backing, done directly on cloth or even varnished. “So, we had to plan and change treatment according to individual needs,” says Mishra.
