Might be cheaper to have one of my repros and frame/mount it with the relic parts.The “restoration ” of historic artifacts is a veritable mine field.Glueing things together and slapping a coat of paint on is not restoration,in fact it is a path to further destruction.This is a subject that haunts many conservators and museum curators,as time moves on and older methods are superseded by more “scientific “ideas.
The British Museum displays many thousands of objects as an example of “distressed display”that of the Sutton Hoo artifacts might serve as an example ,some are displayed mounted on perspex mounts ,just to support fragments in relative original positions and to allow handling without touching,there is an excellent example of “display reconstruction” a large cauldron displayed mounted on a massive iron frame that supports the structure,over size hexagon headed bronze nuts and bolts hold it together these are inserted through original holes…this is done so there there is no doubt about what is old and what is new….and allows visitors to understand how it would have looked
In times gone by a coating of “varnish ” was acceptable,now microchrystaline waxes are used…these [hopefully] stop oxidation and further degradation of surface finishes and can be removed easily with out damage.
How many of us have paper artifacts that have been repaired in the past with the dreaded sellotape,now permanently damaged with a brown gunk soaked into the surfaces,and the tape integrity long since gone
The days of handling museum objects are passing,white cotton gloves [or latex] are the order of the day
So please Tony et al ,leave the bits as they are,mount then sympathetically,and preserve their history [with as much recorded info as you can]You will never get it to look right,it will never be new again.The knocks dings dents etc are part of the story,respect that.
We are all just temporary keepers of these objects,why spoil them for future custodians?
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