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Precious Picture Was Cleaned: He stole one double panel in 1934 but confessed on his deathbed that he had done so and that it was hidden in the left-luggage room of Brussels' Midi Station! One hah0 of it was indeed found there, but the other half is still missing. An excellent copy replaces it and the whole precious picture was cleaned—a perilously delicate task—and re-framed in 1952. Today it is guarded by every possible device and means, including a 24-hour watchman service.
SHELL CAMEOS are the kind of cameos that are carved in bas-relief on specially chosen shells, in contrast to the commoner gem cameos which are engraved in bas-relief on precious or semi-precious stones like onyx. In shell cameo work the artist uses the shells of mollusks, conches and the like. These shells have a softer working surface than minerals, though their durability is much more limited. Even in antiquity artists made cameos by using shells on which they engraved either portraits or scenes from battle, hunting, or religious observance. The preferred shells were helmet-shaped mollusks and conches, such as the black helmet, the horned helmet, the pink-queen's conch, and the pearly nautilus. All these are shells in which layers of different colors occur, so that very beautiful effects are obtained by carving the artistic picture into one or more colored layers upon a ground with a contrasting color.
It is considered a cardinal sin to give an old gun a shiny new finish. Signs of age and use are said to be "the patina of authenticity." Judicious restoration is acceptable, but excessive rebuilding quickly destroys value and desirability. Old gunstocks are treated with oil or wax; metal surfaces are cleaned with weak solvent and tie steel wool; working parts should be cleaned ind lightly oiled with a quality gun oil containing silicone. |
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