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07 31st, 2009| 
COINS AND MEDALS
Coins should not be cleaned unless it is absolutely necessary. They loose a lot of value through faulty cleaning, and it is just as important to know when to clean as to know how. Get a book out of your library on coin collecting and study it before cleaning any coins, if you know little of the subject.
Gold Coins. Wash very dirty coins in soap and water using a stiff bristled brush very carefully. Dry gold coins with a soft cloth or soft leather.
Silver Coins. If silver coins are not in exceptionally good condition and arc rather worn, removing the ingrained dirt will often make them look a lot worse! If they are tarnished to a blue or green colour, this gets damaged by too much washing and brushing up, and most collectors prefer to leave well alone. Silver coins which arc in really good condition but have uneven toning or are just plain filthy, should be treated either with carbon tetrachloride or trichlorethylene (see Solvent_). This is dabbed (not rubbed) on very gently, and immediately afterwards the coins are washed in running water. On really ugly toning use Goddard’s Silver Dip but do not wash the coins afterwards or they will look too highly polished. Don’t rub coins with the polishing cloths provided with cleaners. Ammonia in ten per cent solution will also remove stains, the coins being washed immediately after application; otherwise a whitish skin will appear which will ruin all your careful work.
Copper coins. Verdigris on copper coins is often caused by cigarette ash dropping on to them, and although this is hard to remove it can sometimes be done by soaking the bad part iun olive oil and scratching the verdigris off with a bone needle. Don’t use steel needles for they scratch the surface of the coin. Don’t use solvents on copper coins, just clean them with a stiff bristle brush used quite dry.
Copper, silver and bronze coins and medals can also be cleaned by immersion for a very short time in a solution of five per cent nitric acid. Do this with great care for the acid will etch metal, particularly copper. Take the pieces out after one or two seconds and wash them immediately under a running tap. If only a part of the coin is corroded, protect the rest of it from the acid with a coat of wax or grease before immersion in the acid, and then wash it thoroughly. Polish coins with a little lanolin grease or Renaissance wax polish. I
DETERGENTS
Detergents are the modern substitute for soap, and are perfectly suitable for many cleaning jobs as they so readily remove greasy dirt. However, some of the commercial brands sold as washing powders, or as liquid washers, have added ingredients of some kind : scent, colour or ‘whiteners’. While clung, glass and pottery can be cleaned quite safely with these, they are often not suitable for cleaning other Materials, and where detergent is recommended it is best to use a pure detergent such as the following:
Teepol
Boots Liquor Sulphestrol Lissapol N.
Detergent can be mixed with other chemicals to make an emulsion which will spread and penetrate easier that way-for instance carbon tetrachloride and benzene mixed with one per cent Lissapol N for cleaning some kinds of stonework.
ENAMEL
Enamel is a type of glass with added colours in the form of metallic oxides. This is fused to the surface of metal objects.
Enamel on metal may be of three different types: painted on to an enamelbackground; Cloisorui6, which is done by soldering fine wire to the metal surface to shape the designs, and then infilling with enamel; or Clianipl8ve where the
same effect is achieved by cutting shallow cells into the
surface of die metal to take the enamel. In atypes, an
object is then fired to fuse the glass and enamel.
Enamels should be kept away from direct heat, as the glass will expand at a different rate from its metal base and stresses will be set up which may result in the enamel lifting or crazing. Enamel on metal which doesn’t like damp, such as copper, must be kept dry otherwise corrosion may form on the metal and lift the enamel.
To restore enamels, use ordinary artist’s oil colours, and where chunks are broken off, a good imitation can be made by adding colour to Araldite, or to a thick solution of celluloid in amyl acetate, or to Durofix.
Having retouched the colour, enamelled objects can then be lacquered with Frigilene, or painted with thin acrylic, which will reseal any lifting pieces. Once the lacquer has soaked right in and dried, so that it has filled any cracks and cemented down loose pieces, wipe the surface of the enamel very carefully with a piece of cotton wool wrung out in acetone. Be careful that no liquid acetone runs into joins etc., or it will undo the repair work that has just been done. If enamel has at some time been repaired with animal glue, it may have gone slightly mouldy. Wipe the joins with Santobrite before continuing with retouching and lacquering.
Don’t try to refire enamel, it just won’t work.
FABRICS
All textiles come wider this heading, and generally the cleaning treatments depend upon whether dyes have been used or whether the fabric has simply been bleached or whitened. Cotton and linen have usually been bleached, and go very yellow with age. If the fabric is in good condition use very dilute domestic bleach to rewhiten it, then thoroughly rinse the article in several changes of clean water. Reckitt’s Blue may be added to the last rinse. Delicate articles made of muslin or lace, which are in a fragile state, cannot be given such rough treatment. A powdering of French chalk or Fuller’s Earth, later brushed off, will remove some stains and grease marks. If the article is attached to a cushion for instance, this may be the only way of dealing with it. Lace which can be detached should be placed in distilled water for a while to loosen the dirt, then put into fresh water containing a little pure liquid detergent and soaked again. Paddle it gently up and down in the water if the dirt is stubborn. After careful rinsing, spread the lace on to white blotting paper and pin it flat, and put it in a warm place to dry. It is important to pin lace properly in shape or it may distort during drying.
Muslin garments such as old doll’s clothes or old baby clothes are best washed very carefully in a mild solution of detergent, and should not be rubbed, but gently paddled up and down. It is most important to rinse the garment two or three dines in clean distilled or rain water. The garment should be rolled in absorbent paper and ironed
flat when it is nearly dry.
Coloured fabrics which are not colour fast can be cleaned with carbon tetrachloride. Heavy embossed material will be considerably brightened by brushing with a mixture of four parts benzol and one part methylated spirit.
Test for colour fastness by laying the fabric over white blotting paper, and then patting it carefully with a swab of damp cotton wool. If the colour runs it will show on the blotting paper underneath. If the material is old, the dyes are probably vegetable in origin, and likely to run, so should only be washed in cold water.
To remove large stains on this fabric, place the piece on clean blotting paper and then drop a solvent into the centre of the stain, which will spread out and go through on to the blotting paper carrying die stain with it.
To remove stains on textiles, provided the stain can be identified, try the following treatments, always with care and a minimum of rubbing.
Alcoholic Drinks: Wash in warm suds. Sponge with surgical or methylated spirit.
Beer: Soak in a hot solution of z teaspoonfuls of sodium sesquicarbonate (water softener) to z pints of water, and rinse out well.
Blood: Fresh stains. Soak immediately in a solution of i teaspoonful of salt and i teaspoonful ammonia to i pint of warm water. Then wash out in warm suds, and rinse. Old stains. Try soaking in ammonia solution, r tablespoonful to i pint of water.
Or try a solution of j teaspoonful of ammonia with i part of zo volume hydrogen peroxide with 4 parts of cold water.
Soak for just half an hour if the fabric is coloured, as long as necessary for white or colour fast materials.
On cottons and linens, but not on silks or wool, oxalic acid solution, 2 level teaspoonfuls of crystals in 2 pints of cold water, mixed in a china or glass container, can be dabbed on and removed by rinsing within ten minutes.
Silk or wool should be soaked in a solution of salt and water.
Coffee: If washing does not remove it, try hydrogen peroxide as for blood.
Cosmetics: Clean with carbon tetrachloride. Lipstick can sometimes be lifted from washable fabrics by smearing with vaseline and then washing in warm suds.
Egg Stains: If they won’t wash out, soak in a solution of salt and water, or try one of the proprietary digestive types of stain removers, such as Big S., Biotex or Radiant.
Fruit and Berry Stains: If they won’t wash out they can be removed by working a few drops of glycerine into the stain, leaving it overnight and then damping with a few drops of white vinegar, and then washing out with warm water after two minutes. Cherry, pear, peach, plum and other stubborn fruit stains in cotton or linen can be bleached out with hydrogen peroxide solution as for blood. Soak the stained spot for a few minutes and then wash it out in scsquicarbonate, J teaspoonful to I pint of water.
Glue: Must be removed with solvent. Acetone or nail varnish remover will probably shift it.
Grease: Such as butter or candlewaX. Wash in water with a little ammonia added. Put fabric under blotting papre and iron. Sponge with carbon tetrachloride.
Indelible Pencil: Sponge with methylated spirit.
hik: Ballpoint ink can be removed with methylated spirit. Indian ink must be sponged with methylatedspirit and then rubbed with glycerine. Repeat the treatment until the stain lifts and then wash with detergent and water. Old Indian ink stains are there for ever! Writing ink, the same treatment.
Mildew: This is difficult to remove. Washing thoroughly in sodium sesquicarbonate may help.
Nail Varnish: Remove with amyl acetate or nail varnish remover.
Paint: Emulsion paint; soften it from underneath with amyl acetate, then rub off, and work in a paste of soap and water and wash well. Oil paint, dried; carbon tetrachloride or benzene on the underside till the paint has softened, then wash out as above.
Rust and Ironiyiould: Try oxalic acid treatment as for blood. Rust remover can be used in extreme cases, but must be tried with care and washed out thoroughly.
Shellac: Soften with methylated spirit.
Shoe Polish: Bleach out with hydrogen peroxide.
Let the repaired piece cool down completely and then soak it in water to remove the gummed strips. There will be some spots of adhesive along the join squeezed out when the jour was made and deliberately not wiped away. Rub the spots very carefully with glass paper and break them down before removing them with a scalpel or a razor blade. This cleaning is quite a delicate operation and if done without abrasion may result in lifting little chips of china or
glaze.
If the crack was also c’., Red and Aralditc with colouring was used, tidy the filled chips with fine glass paper, and over-paint or glaze if necessary.
Moulding aped Modelling whole pieces of a pot or a
figure are missing, the gap can be filled by rebuilding the piece with epoxy resin composition filler. But it isn’t quite so simple as that! Perfectly satisfactory pieces for plates, vases, bowls, statuettes etc. can be moulded or modelled and simply stuck into place provided the piece is not going into domestic use, but such mends are not strong
g enough
to withstand hard wear for very long unless they are sup- ported by metal cores or pins. It is easy to mould or model a jug handle without a core, but unlikely that it will last very long if the jug is used. If the new handle has a core it will be very strong indeed. The making of cores and pins is described in a later section, and here I shall talk about moulding and modelling without supports. The techniques involved are almost identical when supports are incorporated. The job requires only a few cheap tools until the moment when you get involved in metal work and drilling for supports. And many people, once they reach this stage, just take the work to an expert restorer rather than buy drills and bits etc.
Before mending a piece such as a bowl or plate or vase, without using a core, scratch or file the broken edges so that the new piece of moulding will lock into the edge as it sets. The danger is that your new pieces may not adhere too well to the smooth and thin edge of a break without some kind of roughness in which to get a grip, as the problems of adhesion are not quite the same as those of sticking two edges, of porcelain or pottery together.
Next, a backing is necessary. This means a surface up against which you can press the filler to remake the piece. If the object is a flat plate, with : flat surface, the same gummed strip as is used for binding can just be stuck on the outside surface of the piece completely covering the broken area. As it dries it stretches tight and makes a good smooth surface up against which to press the filler. This gummed paper cannot be used on a curved surface because it pulls taut and flat across the curve as it dries. Therefore the mould will
wihave to be made with a flexible material which will take a curve. Plasticine does the job well, but it never sets hard and can be pushed out of shape rather easily. Wedge plasticine before use—this is a potter’s term meaning quite simply banging it until it has no air bubbles in it. A mallet or a wooden rolling pin make good bashers for plasticine.
If you use plasticine for the mould and Araldite for the filler you will have to get some cellulose acetate to use as a parting agent as the two react upon each other and must be separated by coating the surface of the plasticine which will come into contact with die filler.
There are other moulding materials. The dental impression compound Paribar is more expensive, but is quite excellent for the work, and is worth the extra money for it can be used again and again, needs no parting agent, and has other uses. Paribar is softened in hot water before use and resets fairly hard but is flexible enough to be extricated from quite deeply cut castings.
Making Moulds. Imagine that you have to replace a curved piece with a fluted surface, from the edge of a bowl. The whole of the edge of the bowl is fluted in the same way so you take an impression of a matching piece of the pattern oil a sound section of the edge. ‘Wet the surface of the bowl and press a slab of plasticine (about half an inch thick) on to a section just a little larger than the missing piece. Carry the plasticine up over the rim of the bowl so that it will be marked but don’t bend it too far round the rim if there is any ridge or it may be difficult to remove the plasticine without bending it. Press the plasticine well and truly until you are satisfied that you have made a perfect impression. Lift it carefully off and place it over the hole on the outside of the bowl in exactly the right place so that the pattern is continuous. Press it lightly so that the broken edges of the china mark the plasticine, then remove the plasticise, and paint the area inside the edge marks with cellulose acetate parting agent, then replace it over the hole. It will stick to the dry china round the edges of the break. Bend over the top sections of plasticine away from the hole, round the rim of the bowl to keep die mould in place. A few strips of Sellotape across it and on to the china will help. Don’t use gummed strip, for this will dry out and flatten the mould. The Scllotapc may give slightly but will help to avoid the disaster of the mould coming off the pot in the middle of die filling operation which follows.
Paribar can be used in exactly the same way to make a mould especially where there is a deeply indented pattern in the china. The Paribar goes hard, but it can be softened with swabs of boiling water and removed from die filler section without breaking it when the job is done. No parting agent is needed so that the Paribar can be put directly on to the break and left there.
Filler Composition and Filling. Now to mix up sonic filler (see Fillers and Cements). Araldite two-tube epoxy resin is first mixed together and then titanium dioxide (or other whitener) is added until the mixture has a nice doughy consistency. This mixture is a bit sticky and clings to tools and fingers. Keep a little dish of the powder handy, and another dish of Methylated spirits. Dip your fingers in the powder, and the tools in the Meths from time to time, and you won’t get so stuck up. When dried out this filler looks exactly like biscuit, or unglazed baked china and takes overpainting very well. It also sticks directly to the edges of the break and you should have no trouble in making a perfect join. It isn’t the easiest of jobs to make and handle this filler, but the result is so good that it is worth practicing to get the mixture of the right colour and consistency.
Kaolin mixed with Araldite in the same way makes a very stiff, not quite so sticky, more translucent and buff coloured filler, but it has the disadvantage of not sticking quite so well to the edges of broken china as does the first mixture.
Isopon polyester resin filler is a paste which is mixed with a hardener. It is excellent for filling big holes as it dries quickly, but this means also that you must be able to work quickly. When using Isopon make all inside mould of the break as well, and having filled the mould, put the second inside mould oil to the filler from the inside to get a smooth interior surface, pressing it down well. Isopon requires no parting agents. Although it will stick to itself so that it call be built up in layers, it will not stick to china, so when the moulds arc removed, the new Isopon piece will come away and will have to be stuck in just like an ordinary broken piece. It can be rubbed and filed to finish it off It cannot be used as an adhesive.
Bondapaste is another excellent filler which hardens quickly and does not have to be baked, nor does it require powder additions to make it opaque. It does not dry white, but this is immaterial if you are going to overpaint it any-way. It can be used as an adhesive or cement and when used as a filler it stays in place without further adhesives. It can be filed, carved and abraded within a quarter of an hour of use, so is a very time-saving material, once one is experienced enough to shape it quickly.
The exact consistency of any filler is difficult to describe and can only be discovered by trial and error. If it is too hard it will push the plasticise out of place as you press it into the mould. If it is too runny it will tend to run into the lower part of the mould in whichever place you are holding it, and will not make a piece of even thickness. If the mould is made of Paribar then a stiffer nix of filler can be used.
The mixture is worked into the aperture with a round ended tool. Boxwood potter’s modelling tools are excellent but many things make good modelling tools. Some workers like to prop the pot up as they work, others hold the pot in one hand so that the break with its mould is cupped and held in position while the filler is worked in. Great care must be taken to make sure that the filler goes into all the corners and crevices right up to the edges, with no air bubbles trapped underneath. Smooth the inside surface with the tool and with thumbs and fingers until it is as like the surrounding inside surface as your eye can judge. Setthe pot aside for an hour, if the filler is Araldite, by which time it will have set to a rubbery consistency and can be worked further if necessary. If a quicker setting filler has been used, once it has set hard it can be carved, filed and abraded until it is absolutely perfect, and it is then ready for overpainting.
To speed up the setting of a mend done with Araldite, bake the pot for half an hour at zoo deg. F. If there are any small cracks or pits in the surface fill them with a thin mixture of filler, using a water-colour brush.
Chips. The mending of chips, big and small, which do not go right through a piece, involves work which is halfway between the filling of apertures as described above, and modelling
which is described in the next section.
Quite simply, you make up a mixture of any of the above mentioned fillers into a fairly stiff mixture and press it into the previously cleaned and dried area of the chip and smooth it until it looks right. Don’t get air bubbles under the filling. Wheel chips—large chips on the edge of a piece—should first have a thin layer of adhesive, to help bind the filler in place. The art of filling chips is to get a good blend along the edges and to get the filling neither too proud nor too shallow, and in getting the composition in so that no air bubbles remain behind to raise it in due course. If you suspect that a little air is trapped, prick the filler with a pin and press it down again and fill tip the pin hole.
Allow the filler to dry out over a hot radiator and then, when it is hard, rub it down with glass paper until you are satisfied that the chip, after overpainting, will be indistinguishable. Pick up the piece and squint at it at eye level in all possible planes, and rely on the sensitive tips of your fingers run across the mend to detect any irregularities. If even at this late stage the chip is not properly filled, more composition can be added for it will stick to itself, and the process repeated until you are satisfied.
Modelling. When neither straightforward sticking, nor press moulding can be used to mend an object, try modelling. It is impossible to make a mould for a missing piece which is not a repetition of another part of the object, as described previously. The missing piece just has to be built up from scratch and the result depends on the artistic ability of the restorer. Large modelled sections will have to have metal supports—dowels, or pins, or strips—and the techniques will be described later on. I am still concerned with the techniques which do not include drilling.
When a part of a plate, or a vase, or perhaps a lid knob must be remodelled, take a piece of rather doughy filler composition and roll it either flat for a flat section, or into a ball for a knob, or into a sausage for a handle, in an approximate size and shape for the job. Then press it firmly to the edge of the broken part, and model it with Boxwood tools, fingers and any suitable home made tools that you may fancy. Whenever epoxy resin mixtures are being used, dip the tools in methylated spirit to avoid sticking.
Modelling becomes really interesting when a porcelain object such as a figure or perhaps a vase festooned with flowers and leaves has pieces chipped out or broken off and lost. To remake flowers and leaves is not at all difficult. Any woman who has ever made an apple pie with a decorated crust knows the technique. The pastry, in this case filler composition in a nice doughy mixture, is rolled out to the thickness of the petal or leaf required and then pieces are cut out of it in the flat. A small sharp knife or scalpel can be used as a cutter, shapes having been first marked out with a darning needle or a fine graver. Or, if the leaf or petal pattern is to be repetitive, a cutter can be made out of strip brass or copper foil, beret to make the appropriate shapes. Make a template or pattern out of plywood, using a fretsaw (see Fig. 8). Tack this pattern to your work bench with a central nail and then hammer a copper foil strip round it with a small hammer until it is exactly the same shape. If the template is pinned with a central nail it can be pivoted round as the cutter is being made so that all pieces can be reached.
The cutting of different species of flowers, daisies, roses, apple blossom etc. is hard to describe exactly. It is a matter of careful observation of thepetals which are to be matched, and of measurements with calipers and dividers, if your eye is not good enough. Petals are cut out in flat shapes and bent over slightly at the edges, and rolled into concave shapes etc. Once your petals and leaves arc made they are then fixed to each other and to the main piece, and there is no great difficulty about this unless the anchorage point is very small indeed, especially if you arc using a good adhesive filler composition such as Araldite and titanium dioxide. it is often possible to add an extra leaf, or to put in
small
a smasupport of composition disguised in some way as part of the decoration, which will hold the modelled part in place. Most people have a collection of tools for modelling which they have made specially to get into different corners ; sewing needles, bent knitting needles, scalpels, spatulas, rifflers, spikes and blades of all kinds, even old hacksaw blades, conic in usefid.
When pieces of an object are missing for which no pressed mould can be made, it is still possible to make a mould out of plasticise which approximates pretty closely the missing piece, and to put this on to the whole in such a way that the aperture can be filled with composition in exactly the same way as a pressed mould is filled. Then the new piece must be rubbed and shaped to final perfection after the setting or baking process has been completed; but
this can be a slow job.
There are problems when it comes to modelling difficult things like faces; it rather depends upon how clever you are, but there is yet one more way, which involves modelling. It is a much more complex and tricky job, but it can save such a lot of time and trouble in the long run, -aid once again may enable you to get away with it without resorting to pinning and dowelling.
Make a model, in plasticine, of the missing part. Actually this is easy if you have a talent for modelling, terribly difficult if you haven’t. Say for instance that half a leg and a foot are missing from a figurine. Using calipers and dividers, measure the other leg and foot exactly, so that at any rate lie won’t have a size six left boot and a size ten right boot. Then model a plasticine leg to the right diniensions and in the kind of position in which it looks as if it ought to be, and keep trying your model in the space until it satisfies you. Plasticine doesn’t harden so take as long as you like over making the model.
Having made your plasticine model, a mould must be made from it and a cast or pressing taken from the mould. The finished cast can simply be stuck into position (or dowelled or pinned if necessary).
Take a sheet of glass, and a large lump of plasticise. Roll the plasticise out into a very thick strip and lay it on edge on the glass (see Fig. 9) in a square or a circle plenty big enough to hold the model, horizontally. Then fix the model, horizontally, halfway up one side of the container that you have just made. A peg carefully inserted into the end of the model and pushed out through the container side should hold it into position. Then prepare some plaster of Paris. Into another container which can be handled easily and has a pouring lip, put enough water to half fill the mould container, and sift plaster of Paris powder into it until the mixture is the consistency of thick cream, stirring with the hand to break up lumps. Then pour the plaster of Paris mixture into the mould until it is halfway up the model. Leave the whole thing to set. Then cut two wide grooves or shallow holes out of the plaster.
sure that it is really well drenched and that no tiny part has escaped swabbing. This acts as a parting agent between the two halves of the plaster mould. Make another mix of plaster as before and pour this nito the mould until the model is well covered. When this has set, remove the plasticine case and case the two sections of the casting apart. Take out the original plasticine model and you should have a perfect mould in two halves. This mould will have two locking pieces where you cut the grooves or shallow holes so that when the two halves are put together again they will locate exactly, and at the end where the model was attached to the side wall of the plasticine container, there will be a hole.
Now you have a mould which can be used to make a casting or pressing of your original model. Smear a film of silicone grease all over the pattern sections of the mould to prevent the filler sticking to the plaster of Paris, and then make up enough filler composition to fill the two halves of the mould. This filler should be soft enough to flow freely into the mould sections. When the two sections are filled, bring them together and bind them tightly with wire. Ram the composition well home, through the hole. Leave the mould, with the hole at the top, for two hours to set, and then, if you are using epoxy resin, bake it for half an hour at 2oo deg F.
Undo the wire binding and take off the plaster. If you have not used a parting agent, the plaster can be cut out and broken away and the last of it scrubbed off the model. Stick or dowel the finished model to the whole, having
made sure that the edges fit perfectly by filing and abrading. bradin,
Any discrepancy in fit which is too big to be put right by filing, can be filled with some filler composition.
Moulds can also be made from pieces of porcelain similar to the piece you are trying to replace, and then pressings made from these can be carved, filed, abraded, and built up to fit exactly.
Instead of plaster of Paris, rubberised solution such as Qualitex can be poured around your model. The advantage of using this material is that the mould is flexible and will come off difficult undercut models without damaging them. Rubberised solutions, therefore, are best for making moulds from models which must not be damaged in any way. The technique is much the same as that described above. A plasticine container is built up round half the part to be copied, and the solution is poured in.
The process is repeated on the other half and you then have the complete mould in two sections. Details vary with each job.
Faces on statuettes are very alike, and differ only iun detail of hair and headdress. There is no reason why, if you collect figures, you should not make a series of moulds or masks from any statuettes that come your way, and so build up a stock of faces iii reserve for the day when they may be needed.
Incidentally, the principles of making casts, moulds, pressings etc. are generally similar for work in all kinds of materials, and many restorers of objects other than china, such as old guns and pistols, make their own metal castings. It is a skill which has so many applications, not only for restoration but for creation. Modem materials make exciting castings and pressings, and it is an art well worth studying for its own sake.
The new serjeant’s pike was nine feet in length with a spear head which screwed into a socket and a cross-piece to prevent the head from penetrating too far signatures of art deco cabinet makers paris . The wooden shaft was painted white in order to show up the polished metal parts antique chinese chicken coop .
The recognition that the sword was now the officer’s primary weapon led to some apparent anxiety as to the suitability of the various regimental patterns, for the General Order which abolished spontoons said that infantry officers were to ‘provide themselves with a strong substantial uniform sword with a straight cut-and-thrust blade, an inch broad at the shoulder and 32 inches long antique bugatti table . The hilt, if not steel, to be either gilt or silver according to the buttons on the uniforms antique collectors .’ In accordance with existing policy all details of design were left to regiments, but the stipulated width at the shoulder ensured a fairly substantial blade 16th century settee .
The period of regimentally designed swords, however, was drawing to an end 1930’s austro-hungarian furniture . The first to be dealt with were the cavalry 19th century regency antique furniture .
By the 1780’s it appears that all Light Dragoon regiments had stirrup hilts to their swords, formed by bending one quillon up to join the pommel, and most blades were curved in varying degrees 18th century cabinets to hold chamber pots . They remained fairly short, for Light Dragoons, unlike the ‘heavies’, wore their swords when dismounted instead of leaving them on the horse french empire desk cabinet maker logo .
Of the heavy cavalry the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons were noted in an Inspection Return of 1777 as having ‘new swords being made’ ant cherry antique dictionary tables . These new swords had half basket-hilts, and were perhaps of similar design to the earlier Dragoon sword already mentioned scottish flame mahogany chest of drawers .
In 1788 a Board of General Officers on the clothing and equipment of the cavalry passed resolutions regarding the swords most suitable for both light and heavy cavalry modern oriental writing bureau .
That in respect of the light cavalry said: `Regimental swords and sabres for Light Dragoons veneer inlay 1940 bedroom set antique . The hilt to be of the same form as used by the Light Dragoons and to be 5 ins antique centre table with caryatid legs . long in the grip antique center tables . The blade to be 36 ins king george drop leaf gateleg table . long and the curve in the centre to be i I ins john toulouse porcelain modeller . from the straight line antique austria 1855 - 1953 statues . The breadth to be i-j- ins george i folding card table antique . long in the shoulder antique drop leaf table federal period . The blade to be I ins antique silver gravy boat . thick and to finish about II ins circular glass pedestal dining table . from the point rectangular drop leaf sofa table . Officers’ swords for all the regiments of cavalry to be uniform with those of the men 1918 1940 usa design trends creators raymond loewy .’
For the heavy cavalry the resolution was:
`That the hilts of the swords of the regiments of Dragoon Guards and Dragoons be half basket, the same as those of the 6th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Dragoons cabriole in architecture . The grip from the guard to the point of the button to be 7-r8x in antique tea kettle . The blade to be 3 ft double gate drop leaf table antique . 9 in english ironstone potteries ltd . long from the guard to the point meissen kandler . The breadth of the blade at the shoulder to be 1 5/12 in oak chamber pot chair ., and the back to be
in recognizing antiques pembroke table . thick and to finish about 14 in lovers on a swing’ meissen porcelain . from the point “antique sheffield silver dresser” .’
This was the first time that such detailed specifications had been drawn up for the swords of the Army serving epergne . There was little, if any, room for regimental variation, and even the officers’ swords had to conform to the official pattern silver forks made in italy . The most striking feature was the very great length of the-heavy cavalry sword antique music cabinete with mirror at the top .
On the 14th November 1796 a Royal Warrant was issued which contained regulations governing the design and pattern of the swords of the cavalry; and in the same year a General Order gave instructions regarding the swords to be worn by officers of the infantry irish, intricately carved lion paw, oak dining table, 1800’s, 6 leafs . Thus for the first time there were official patterns for practically all personal weapons in the Army fiddleback walnut .
The new infantry officer’s sword was described in the General Order as follows:
`The sword to have a brass guard, pommel and shell gilt with gold and the grip or handle of silver twisted wire antique english ironstone . The blade to be straight and made to cut and thrust; to be at least i in 1920s and 1930s hand painted enamel posters . broad at the shoulder and 32 in example of 18th century wooden handle silverware . in length conformable to former orders given in 178′6 types of timepieces in ancient times with pictures of it .’
Thus the dimensions of the blade ordered in, 1786 were retained, but the design of the hilt was also now governed by a regulation cylindrical crock eared handles cobalt blue . The General Order was probably accompanied by a drawing, for precisely the same pattern of hilt was common to all the regiments of Foot antique furniture marks . It had a flat ’shell’, or plate, at the top of the blade, with a heart-shaped indentation at front and rear are mahogany drum tables in demand . On the underneath side of the plate ornamental decoration connected the two indentations and surrounded the blade antique dresser teardrop mirror . From the rear indentation protruded the stump of
• quillon terminating in an acorn muller freres chandelier . From the front indentation
• single-bar popular antique american earthenware brown . knuckle guard rose in a curve to the base of the pommel old fashioned dutch dining tables . The pommel was urn-shaped antique sofas 1920 . Round the knuckle guard was twisted a crimson and gold sword-knot, ending in a tassel knife urns .
Old habits, however, died hard antique golden oak drop leaf table . Whilst in general the orders were adhered to, a practice arose in some regiments of wearing sabres, or swords with curved blades american empire sofa . In most regiments it became the custom for officers in Light companies to wear sabres fitted with a form of the Light Dragoon stirrup hilt antique table turned feet . So general did this practice become that by r 81 5 it seems to have been recognized, perhaps unofficially, by the Authorities verlys holophane .
The Warrant of 1796 directed that for the heavy cavalry:
`A new sword 35 in, long in the blade is to be substituted in lieu of that now in use, having been found unmanageable owing to the length of the blade and the weight of the hilt “u shaped” coffee table mahogany . The rivet which fixes the*back of the hilt to the middle of the handle to go through the shank of the blade and the back to be well rivetted near the guard directoire napoleon furniture . The shank of the blade to be large and the top of the scabbard to be made to take off for the easier replacing of the same value of iron table lamp made in 1940’s .
The instruction does not contain many details of the sword, but again it was probably supported by a drawing harlequin pattern period furniture . This was almost certainly the heavy cavalry sword which was used throughout the Napoleonic wars, since there is no evidence of any other pattern being introduced before 1822 antique alcove sofa . The hilt of this weapon was of steel and consisted of a flat disc which was pierced with holes, with a short projection at the rear, and the front tapering to a knuckle guard which was curved to the pommel cantagalli marks . It was an ugly design black desk curved legs . The blade was peculiar in that it finished in a hatchet point and could thus only be used for cutting viennese chairs . On the whole this was probably the worst sword which was ever issued to the British Army 18th century horoldt augsburg vases . Even the allegedly unmanageable weapon which it replaced at least gave far better protection to the hand and could be used for thrusting william hogarth + nicholas sprimont .
If the heavy cavalry sword was the worst the Army ever had, the light cavalry sword was almost certainly the best rectangular drop leaf 5 leg dining table with 4 leaves . The Royal Warrant retained the pattern recommended by the Board of General Officers in 1788, but shortened the blade by some three inches florals in british furniture . It was described as: ‘A sabre to be of the pattern last approved by Us and the length of the blade to be 321 ins art deco regency mahogony . or 33 ins scandinavian aesthetic . measured in a straight line from the hilt to the point but not to exceed the latter measurement’ scottish chest drawers . With the shorter length, of course, the same deviation from, the straight line would result in the blade having a more pronounced curve than the 1788 pattern yabu fruit .
This light cavalry sabre was intended for both cutting and thrusting; but it was as a cutting weapon that it was preeminent, and easily the best in any army throughout -the Napoleonic wars antiques, louis xiv china . The relative merits of cutting and thrusting have been fiercely argued throughout most of the history of the British Army, and sometimes the desire to produce a weapon which will be equally good at both has led to a compromise design which has been satisfactory for neither gilded console table . At •the end of the eighteenth century military opinion was overwhelmingly in favour of cutting, and hence the light cavalry sabre was a cutting sword with thrusting as a secondary task copeland parian busts and figures . The Rules and Regulations for the Sword Exercise, issued from the Adjutant-General’s Office on the 1st December 1796, the same year as the introduction of the new sabre, was based on it and feature it in all the illustrations art deco burr walnut - antiques . The merits and uses of cutting and thrusting are explained clearly in its pages, as the following extracts show antiques antique oak sideboards dutch style .
`CUTS two tier table .
TiiERE are only six ways of directing the edge of the blade; therefore the different parts of the body, which may be exposed by the unskilfulness of a swordsman, are not to be (erroneously) conceived as admitting of so many distinct Cuts french furniture dorset . The action of the wrist and shoulder alone, directs the blade; and they admit but of six movements,- from which every cut is derived, wherever may be its particular application to the body victorian gate leg pine table . Of the six cuts, four are made in diagonal directions, and two horizontally: the whole are equally applicable against cavalry, and may be directed on either side of the horse, but their application must depend on the openings given by the adversary, and be regulated by judgement, and experience in the use of the weapon old english table leg shapes pictures .
`To make a Cut with effect, and at the same time without exposing the person, there are two points which principally demand attention yabu furniture . The first is, to acquire a facility in giving motion to the arm by means of the wrist and shoulder without bending the elbow; for in bending the elbow, the sword arm is exposed; a circumstance of which the opponent will ever be ready to take his advantage, as a cut in that quarter may be made with great security; and if it be well directed, with the most fatal effect, as it at once decides the issue of the contest interior design drawing room . thomas sheraton kidney shaped desk . set of 12 disciples silver spoon collection . jean luce arzberg china .
`From -want of habit in the exercise of the wrist in the common occupations of life, the weight of tjie sword will at first be found extremely irksome mayhew and ince tripod table . The action of the arm bears no comparison with that quickness of which the wrist is susceptible; for the motions of the arm are so wide and circuitous, that they are easily counteracted “empire designer, best known for pedestal tables with curved legs . antique occasional table pie crust top . drawing furniture by michael thonet . 0
`The PoiNT antique cedar drop leaf table .
`Ti-rE thrust has only one mode of execution, whether applied to cavalry, or infantry: but a greater degree of caution is required in its application against cavalry than against infantry; for if the point is parried, the adversary’s blade gets within your guard, which is not to be recovered again in time, as with a small sword; the weapon being too heavy to be managed with the requisite degree of quickness; for which reason the point should seldom or never be given in the attack, but be principally confined to the pursuit, when it can be applied with effect and without risk english ladys writing desk spiral legs .
, The case is different in acting against infantry, as the persons against whom you then direct your point, are so much below your own level, that the weight of your sword is not felt; consequently it is managed with greater facility than with an extended arm carried above the level of the shoulder 16th century antique chests . Therefore in many instances against infantry, the point may be used with as much effect as the edge, and with the same degree of security 1820 antique empire mahogany dining table .
`The CUT pictures of porcelain furniture . space saving rectangular drop leaf tables . frenchswiss antique pocket watches . against INFANTRY finmar desk .
`A person on horseback is elevated so much above those acting on foot, that it is necessary for him to bend his elbow, in order to take a sweep to give his cut with effect: and this may be securely done, as,the sword arm is not exposed in the contest gustav klimt porcelain .’
[Some of the comments in the Rules and Regulations on cutting with the sword point to some of the factors which have to be considered in design monastery credence tables .>
`Let the blade be sharpened six inches to the point, in order that you may be able to apply it with effect, and without this precaution, it may be difficult to judge how far the edge is carried correctly for sale louis 16th walnut sideboard cabinet .
`It should be remembered that little force is requisite to produce effect from the application of the edge, if conducted with skill, and that whether with a straight sword or scymitar blade, no cut can be made with effect or security, where the -weapon does not at once free itself from the object to which it is applied; otherwise it must turn in the hand, and give a contusion rather than a cut; for which reason those wounds are most severe, which are made nearest to the point collectors wooden racks for spoons austria . A swordsman cannot therefore be too accurate in judging the distance within the reach of his weapon, which alone can be done by habit and strict attention walnut entryway console table with mirror .
`With a scymitar not more than four or five inches of the point should meet your adversary, and still less with a straight blade, whose construction is by no means so well calculated for extricating itself furniture chests on long legs .
FIREARMS IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
The British infantry entered the long struggle with Revolutionary France armed with the old Brown Bess musket empire gateleg table . It was used exclusively in the first campaigns, and was probably regarded as highly as both of its nominal successors during the whole war deco chair dressing walnut .
In 1794 a replacement appeared in the form of the India Pattern musket with a universal barrel length of thirty-nine inches barley twist english antique writing desk . This was the standard firearm of the East India Company, and was by no means a new weapon construction of antique teaspoons . It was issued to the Company’s European and Native infantry, and possibly, since it differed from Brown Bess in only minor details, to some of the King’s troops in India rousseau shagreen . In fact, it is very likely that it was not a replacement in the ordinary sense of the word at all but was issued because there were few Brown Bess muskets left in the Tower armouries, whilst comparatively large stocks of the India Pattern muskets were available was there a change in arts in italy between 1920 and 1940 . This supposition is to a certain extent supported by a letter written to William Wilberforce by Lord Chatham, then Master-General of the Ordnance, in September 1803, when war had broken out anew with France vintage pembroke dining table . According to Lord Chatham, after the restoration of peace by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, he had tried to restock the armouries with an improved pattern of ‘the old Tower musquet which our troops used to have’; but that because of ‘the naked state of our arsenals’ he had been forced to accept the manufacture of an inferior weapon brass iron half tester bed side curtains . The inferior weapon was presumably the india 18th century german bookcase . Pattern Musket which could be manufactured comparatively quickly cooking utensils from britain . The new and improved weapon of i8o2 will be mentioned later meuble d’appui value . The ‘old Tower musquet’ was of course Brown Bess ivory handle sheffield flatware antique .
Lord Chatham’s letter goes on to show how he had nearly surmounted the difficulties connected with the supply of the new musket, when war started afresh and he was faced with `this sudden and unprecedented demand for arms’ silver soup terrine makers . He continues:
`Had it not been with a view to improvement, and intending gradually to dispose of those of inferior quality through the medium of the India Company, we should not have been, previous to the war breaking out [again>, carrying on any manufacture of aims, our arsenals being overflowing, calculating on the extended scale the Department has ever been called upon to furnish 1685 bookcase . I have, however, in consequence of the extraordinary calls of the present crisis, determined to use every effort to meet it, and directions have been given to the Board of Ordnance to revert to the same arm as was made the last war U value of gateleg tables .e antique dressers yorkshire . before the short peace of 1802>, and to manufacture to the utmost possible extent the musquets of the India pattern 19th century antique furniture . You will easily believe I must have felt some reluctance in being obliged to take this step after all the pains I have bestowed, but I hope I have judged for the best 19th century american furniture . I have great satisfaction in thinking that the stock of arms we possess will enable us in the first instance to arm to a considerable extent perhaps all that is really useful, and- as arms come in, which with the exertions of the manufacturers they will do quickly, and with the aid of what we expect from abroad, the remainder will be provided before long antique cutlery whalebone . We have already one hundred thousand pikes, and can increase them rapidly, but in general there is an indisposition to take them occasional tables painted india . I should like much how much is a claw foot table worth .to talk over with you not only the subject of arms, but the whole question of volunteering, which I contemplate as a most serious one scottish chest .’
What this rather long-winded letter amounted to was that Lord Chatham had thought the peace was a genuine one and had been caught badly unprepared british vernacular . It looks as if he had gone rapidly ahead with his plans for disposing of worn-out and inferior arms to the East India Company, so fast in fact that he had been unable to await the improved musket he wanted joubert furniture maker 19th century . War had then broken out afresh, and in desperation he had ordered concentration on the manufacture of the India Pattern musket, for which -a 11 the gunmakers to the Government already had the specifications and tooling 19th century lacquered cabinet with paintings . Meanwhile he consoled himself with his large stock of pikes, and was apparently surprised at encounterincr the same lack of enthusiasm
encountering
for this weapon as a substitute for firearms, as a similar offer met some 137 years later marquetry patterns flower . It is little wonder that volunteering appeared a serious question gothic revival furnature with lions .
The result of Chatham’s action was that all the troops proceeding overseas were equipped either with Brown Bess or the India Pattern musket, the latter having a 39-inch barrel goldscheider polished stoneware germany . In addition, new India muskets were issued to all the Militia regiments german antiques furniture .
The new infantry arm of i 8o2, the plans for which had been disrupted by the reopening of hostilities, was very similar in appearance to Nock’s experimental musket of r785, and was obviously derived from it paper mache tray india . -It was produced with three different lengths of barrel porcelan rococo teapot victorian photo . The longest was forty-two inches, the standard Brown Bess length, and was intended for all the Foot except the Light Infantry: the Light Infantry, traditionally now, had a 39-inch barrel; and there was a much shorter barrel of thirty-three inches for-the Artillery musket antique armchair ardwood anglo . The bayonet had the usual socket fitting and the standard 17-inch blade antique oval tea table .
