Arlen Heginbotham received his A.B. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University and his M.A. in Art Conservation from Buffalo State College. He is currently Conservator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Arlen’s research interests include the history and analysis of 17th century East Asian export lacquer, the history of metallurgy, the use of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy as a tool for studying copper alloy artifacts, microscopic and chemical wood identification. He is currently pursuing a PhD in the Earth Sciences Department of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.