Conservator organic materials

Eliza Jacobi MA
Phone number: +31 (0)71 5163 169
Mobile phone number: +31 (0)6 1027 1387
E-mail: send a message
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Study and career

Eliza Jacobi (1981) obtained her Master’s degree in Art History at the University of Amsterdam in 2004. She then completed the four-year Book and Paper Conservation programme at the former Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (now the Cultural Heritage Agency). She completed this course cum laude in 2009 with research into and development of a safe repair method for documents written with iron gall ink. Over the past ten years, she has given lectures and workshops on this subject to conservators within and outside Europe. Since 2009, she has worked for conservation studio Nijhoff Asser and for shorter periods at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Sultan Palace in Yogyakarta (Indonesia), the National Gallery of Australia and the Islamic Art Museum Malaysia.

Research and conservation

In the period 2017-2021 Jacobi had her own company in Leiden and worked as a freelancer for the Leiden University Library. In recent years she has focused on objects made of paper, parchment and leather, and complicated conservation treatments of related organic materials such as 3D models of papier-mâché, pith, palm leaves and papyrus. Since 2019, she has been associated with the National Museum of Antiquities as conservator of organic materials. Jacobi also teaches at the University of Amsterdam in the Master Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage.

Ask me a question about

  • Papyrus conservation
  • Leather and parchment conservation
  • Book, paper, archive and photo conservation
  • Exhibition of objects
  • Preservation and management of collections

Important research and conservation projects

  • The Book of the Dead of Qenna, 2018-2022 in collaboration with J. Baines, G. van der Randen, A. Melianou, Luc Meegens (Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency) and René Gerritsen.
  • Coptic parchment sheets, 2021-2022 in collaboration with G. van der Randen.
  • AMS 9, a coptic codex, 2019-2020 in collaboration with Dr. C.H. Scheper.
Eliza Jacobi

Eliza Jacobi

Important publications

  • E. Jacobi, C.H. Scheper en E. Menei, in press, A complete Coptic codex – a material study and conservation approach of a relatively unknown bound papyrus manuscript, Suave Mechanicals: Essays on the History of Bookbinding Vol. 8. Julia Miller (red.), Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Legacy Press.
  • J. Baines, E. Jacobi en D. Soliman, 2021, Het dodenboek van Qenna, een groots papyrus -restauratieproject, Archeologie Magazine nr. 5, p. 16-19.
  • E. Jacobi, 2021, Onderzoek en restauratie van een zesde-eeuwse koptische codex, RMO magazine nr. 51, p. 27.
  • E. Jacobi, 2020, AMS 9: Een papyrus codex uit Egypte, Archeologie Magazine, nr. 5, p. 36-38.
  • E. Jacobi, 2017, Moisture and Mending: A Method for Doing Local Repairs on Iron Gall Ink, Adapt & Evolve 2015: East Asian Materials and Techniques in Western Conservation. Proceedings from the International Conference of the Icon Book & Paper Group, London 8-10 April 2015. Edited by: Francesca Whymark, London: The Institute of Conservation, p. 80-90.
  • E.Jacobi, 2016, Workshop Hanji papier maken: Een verslag, Au Courant, nr. 11.
  • O. Belhadj, C. Phan Tan Luu, E. Jacobi, S. Meslet-Struyve, S. Vez, B. Reissland, V. Rouchon, 2016, The Dutch Fe-migration mending test: exploring further areas of use. The Journal of Paper Conservation, 15 nr. 1, p. 9-15.
  • O. Belhadj, C. Phan Tan Luu, E. Jacobi, B. Reissland, en V. Rouchon. Un Nouvel Outil Pour évaluer Le Risque De Migration D’encres Ferrogalli ques : Possibilités Et Limites. Support Tracé, nr. 14, p. 61-67.
  • E. Jacobi, 2013, The Dutch Fe-Migration test, Journal of Paper Conservation, 14 nr. 4, p. 38.
  • E. Jacobi, B. Reissland, C. Phan Tan Luu, B. van Velzen, F. Ligterink, Rendering the invisible Visible. Preventing Solvent Induced Migration during Local Repairs on Iron Gall Ink, Journal of Paper Conservation, 12 nr. 2, p. 25-34.
  • E. Jacobi en B. van Velzen, 2011, Instructables: Repair on Iron Gall ink with Remoistenable Tissue. Journal of Paper Conservation, 12 nr. 2, p. 37-38.
  • E. Jacobi en B. van Velzen, 2011, Instructables: Remoistenable tissue. Journal of Paper Conservation, 12 nr. 2, p. 35.
Eliza Jacobi

Eliza Jacobi

Important research and conservation projects

  • The Book of the Dead of Qenna, 2018-2022 in collaboration with J. Baines, G. van der Randen, A. Melianou, Luc Meegens (Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency) and René Gerritsen.
  • Coptic parchment sheets, 2021-2022 in collaboration with G. van der Randen.
  • AMS 9, a coptic codex, 2019-2020 in collaboration with Dr. C.H. Scheper.

Important lectures

  • 2022, ‘The backside looks good’: digital couriering between the Netherlands and Japan. An archaeological collection on the road, IADA symposium Show it and Save it, together with H. Krudop and H. Kik.
  • 2021, Leer, perkament en papyrus: Onderzoek en restauratie van een 6de eeuwse koptische codex. Symposium de onzichtbare boekband, het Belgisch Nederlands Boekbandengenootschap/ University of Antwerp.
  • 2021, Workshop: De behandeling van documenten met ijzergallusinkt, University of Amsterdam, Master and APP program.
  • 2020, Papyrus, perkament en leer: restauratie van een Oudegyptische codex uit de 6de eeuw, RoMeO-lecture, National Museum of Antiquities.
  • 2020, Conservering en restauratie in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden University.
  • 2019, Workshop and advice: Restauratie technieken met betrekking tot de restauratie van het Unesco World Heritage Manuscript Babad Diponegoro, The National Library of Indonesia, Jakarta, together with Katharina Wewerke of the Staatsliche Bibliothek Berlin.
  • 2019, Pith Paintings: Old Repairs and a New Conservation Approach, XIVth IADA-Congres, Warshau, Polen, in collaboration with dr. C.H. Scheper.
  • 2019, Paper, Pen and Ink: The history of paper in the Islamic world and conservation issues of manuscripts. LUCIS Summerschool on Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World, Leiden University.
  • 2017, Workshop: Iron Gall Ink: Decision Making and Treatment Practices. Canadian Conservation Institute advanced professional development workshop Ottawa, together with Crystal Maitland en Season Tse.
  • 2016-2017, various lectures and workshops: iron gall ink (risk-assessment, wet treatment and repair), the history of paper, leather and parchment, inks, adhesives and repair methods. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.
  • 2016, Local repairs on Iron Gall Ink, AIcCM: Book, Paper and Photographic Materials Symposium, in Canberra, Australie, together with Claire Phan Tan Luu.

In the media

Ancillary activities

  • Peer-reviewer for The Journal of Paper Conservation (IADA)