Two Chinese lanterns, about 200 years old, were thought to have been made of untanned, inflated animal tissue, either intestine, bladder or skin, with collars for reinforcing top and bottom openings, probably of buffalo horn. Both interior and exterior were decorated with scenes and figures, in five colours and metallic gold paint. After the lanterns were broken into many fragments in the past, some pieces were lost and those remaining reassembled with adhesive tape. The tape was removed with solvents, chosen depending on whether there was paint underneath. After cleaning, pieces were cemented together with a PVA before being reinforced with either goldbeaters' parchment or gossamer nylon. A dental plaster mould was then prepared in which to form the infills. Initially these were made from epoxy resin but the owners required something more like the original. A proteinaceous material, of similar hygroscopicity, was sought and found in edible gelatine. A description is given of how the films were prepared and used to infill losses, using an acrylic emulsion as adhesive. -- ICCROM