Читать книгу A Manual of Mending and Repairing; With Diagrams онлайн

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All of these devices are of use to the restorer. As regards restoration of terra-cotta, the field is wide and profitable. Not only in Italy, but even in London, we may find for sale broken Etruscan vases or similar objects for a trifle, which are extremely easy to restore. These are generally of red or light yellow clay baked. If you have, let us say, a vase fractured, obtain clay of the same colour—if you cannot readily get it, take pipeclay—and colour it with a strong infusion of red or yellow, though this is not necessary if the exterior is black. Mix the clay well with glue or gum-arabic and alum-water, supply the missing portions, and let them harden. With a little care and practice, remarkable restorations may thus be made. I may here add that with this composition, bottles, decanters, and cups can be coated, which, when painted or rubbed in, exactly resemble Etruscan or other ancient pottery. To prevent cracking, they should first be painted with thick, coarse oil paint mixed with sand or umber, which forms a ground. Let it dry—the longer the better—and then rub in, thinly, the gum and clay. There is another composition of blanc d’Espagne, or whiting, and silicate of soda, which sets even harder, but which is a little more difficult at first to work, which may be used for such restoration. This can be directly painted on glass for a ground.