Month: August 2019

The hair of a goddess (3D)

A goddess and a cat

Many of you are probably familliar with this museum item, namely the “Gayer-Anderson cat”, preserved in the British Museum in London. It is the depiction […]

The cutting edges (3D)

We now know a little more about the history of one of the emeralds of Catherine the Great of Russia. Just for sport, how about trying to 3D model […]

Sketchbook: the Dolphin and the Swans (3D)

The sketchbook series: have a look at what we’re up to.

3D Modeling exercice by an album sheet of a study for an athenian with swans and dolphins, attributed to […]

The empress emerald

Have you ever looked at a gemstone for so long its shape and reflections start to make no sense ?Make it move just a little and it worsen !

Light […]

Handling the truth (3D)

Need fancy handles for your DIY project ? […]

You can’t handle the truth !

TL; DR: “Victorian” and “traditional” often means “can’t really date but looks old”.

As with most of the good stories, it all started with a finding in an old box […]

Acanthus mollis, lessons from M.Page #5 : fold and 3D fluff !

Thanks to M.Page, we are now a little less distraught facing the curves and multiple leaf divisions of the acanthuses representations. If push comes to shove, restoring missing parts […]

Acanthus mollis, lessons from M.Page #4

M.Page has shown us how to draw a simple and straight acanthus leaf using basic geometric shapes and principles. Let’s now see how he proposes to curl and bend […]

Acanthus mollis, lessons from M.Page #3

Today, it’s high time we finish the acanthus leaf we started a while ago with the precious help of M.Page. […]

To see or not to see

Using an optical instrument, magnifying glass, binocular or microscope is a daily routine in the curation and conservation world. Choosing such an important device to be our daily ally […]

Vintage labels n°1

End of the year festivities are coming, and we know some of you will make things at home to give to your loved ones.

To help you in this endeavour […]

Let’s shake hands on that !

Some of us store various amounts of gizmos and doodahs in attics or garages, washed up in improbable boxes invariably labeled« misc. » during a consequent period. Among those items […]

One foot, whose feet ?

Now that you are well acquainted to the fact that in order to restore you need to understand, let’s dive into some of the issues and pitfalls lurking in […]

Pencils leads demystified

Using a pencil to draw, take notes or make shopping lists started around the XVIth century. The lines produced by its lead are similar to the ones made by […]

Butterflies in the stomach

Every famous explorer worth his or her salt brought back natural specimens from their journeys. This practice historically created most of the modern natural history museums, enriching their collections […]

Acanthus mollis, lessons from M.Page #2

It is now time for us to learn how to draw acanthus the easy and fool-proofed way, courtesy of M.Page.

Let’s start with the grid that will be the basis […]

Talk like me : mouldings, decor and ornaments.

Did you know furniture mouldings and architectural decor could be described the same way ?

Now, you try!

This storage chest is richly ornamented: the three carved statues on the front represent […]

Papers, please ?

Chemical composition is one of the key elements to trace the origin and the age of old papers. Elements such as cotton fibres shouldn’t be found in papers before […]

Cinnabar red

Cinnabar is a natural compound containing mercury(II) sulfide. Processing cinnabar results in a fine, brilliant, deep red powder : it has been used ever since the antiquity as « Vermilion » to […]

A spark in Time: Anaximander (610-546 BCE)

Anaximander is, according to Themistius, the first Pre-Socratic philosopher to write about nature in De Natura, where he speculates about the universe around him and its construction. He also […]