The Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs has commissioned an effort to document artifacts in the historic Chen Tien-lai Residence (陳天來故居) as part of a heritage restoration project.
Built in 1924 by Chen, a wealthy tea merchant in what is today known as Datong District (大同), the mansion is an example of Taiwan’s cosmopolitan architecture style of the Japanese colonial period, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.
Years of property disputes among Chen’s descendants hindered efforts to preserve the house as a cultural site until the city assumed its management through Article 28 of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法), it said.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
Putian Enterprise has been contracted to document the architectural features of the house and more than 300 items before the department can proceed with the project next year, it said.
The contractor’s team was cited as saying that the systematic survey would use special instruments to perform a compositional analysis and dating of the artifacts.
Such information is required for a restoration plan that would preserve the historical characteristics of the structure and the artifacts it houses, it said.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
The flooring made of Southeast Asian bricks, the furniture made of Taiwanese red cypress and Indian narra wood found throughout the house, and its Fujianese carpentry are evidence that the Chen family presided over a far-flung trade network, it said.
Careful historic preservation is often neglected in Taiwan, and the specialists are attempting to take extra measures to protect the historical objects within the house during the project, it said.
Descendant Chen Chun-hung (陳淳渱) was cited as saying that giving the mansion to the city was the correct decision for preserving the family’s legacy and place in history.
The city is aiming to complete the NT$100 million (US$3.6 million) restoration project on the 100th anniversary of the mansion’s construction in 2024, the department said.
The building is to become a permanent venue for the display of historical artifacts, while the garden is to become a public recreational area, it said.
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