Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-01-21
ANTIQUES MADE TO ORDER.
a Few York Studio Where Relies Of
Oldeu Art Are Manufactured.

And such a workshop! Plaster molds.
armor, hanging lamps, tiles from Pom
pei, battle axes with polished blades,
tools innumerable, a large vat Of earth
enware, work benches and q few mod
Gm c~anebotton chairs-these and a score
e other objects obtruded themselves
simultaneously upon the visitor.
Huddled together in one corner, near
q small lathe, such a jewellers use, lay
IN incongruous heap Of bronze figures OF
men and animals, all more or less bro
ken. They were cheap, gimcrack af-
fairs such as one can buy brand new for
. few dollars in any furniture store.
"Where do you get them?' | inquired
q my host-we were on the best Of
trims.
"At the junk dealers for the price Of
the old metal" he answered. 1.-THE bet-
Ter ones-of real bronze-I pick up at
auctions, or at least my son does. None
Of that lot over there cost more than
t1.75."
Igasped and let my eyes wander fur
her until they rested on a deal table be-
tween the two windows. Above it was
q gas bracket connected by rubber tubing
with a small iron standard, such Us
chemists use. Near this. on the table,
hay two blowpipes, with platinum tips
and several long pronged p~inchers. Di-
rectly behind these stood a large paste
board box brimful Of bits Of glass and
empty homeopathic medicine bottles. My
host smiled as he caught the puzzled
look which stole over my face.
at is out of that stuff We make those
Etruscan iridescent tear walls you see in
museums" he remarked, while his small
eyes twinkled gleefully, "At least my
laughter makes them. II is easy work.
Wait a minute and I'll show you how 1t
b done" and with that he lighted the gas
ct the nozzle Of the standard. l watched
him curiously.
He took a pinchers and inserted one Of
M long jaws into q medicine bottle from
the collection. This done, he twirled it
gently over the gas for half a minute.
at must heat gradually or it will
crack" he said in explanation. Next,
placing a ~blowpipe to his lips, he blew O
steady fame against the glass until it
glowed with 'oseate fire and began to
fuse. A portion of its surface caved in;
he turned it over, blowing all the while,
until the vial lost all its symmetry and
presented four irregular sides, each in.
1ented. Then, quick as a flash, he threw
The molten fragment into a pan Of reddish
powder, and rolled it and twisted it
about with his pinchers. THAT is me-
tallic oxide of copper" he explained. as
be picked the vial out and started blow
ing. Again the glass began to fuse, and
the antiquity maker, with a second pair
of pinchers, drew what had once been
the bottom of the vial out into a cone
'shaped point. A fine rasp was passed
ever the entire surface, after which the
glowing vial was whisked through a pan
Of powdered rosin. 1t was next dipped
into gold powder. silver powder and
green aniline dye. A final fusing, and
then the mouth of the unrecognizable
bottle was crimped into little scollops
with a wire instrument resembling a
miniature crimping tongs.
The metamorphosis was completed An
ordinary medicine bottle had been changed
into a beautiful, iridescent tear vial be-
fore my very eyes.
"There," triumphantly exclaimed the
antiquity maker as he stuck the tear vial
into a perforated p~asteboard stand to cool,
al buy those little bottles for ten cents a
dozen and l can sell that tear vial easily
for Sc. That is | can sell il for that il
anybody wants it, but there is not q
steady demand for tear walls" BY this
time my brain was busy with a new
problem.
''What doyou do with all those broken
fles9" / inquired, pointing to a good
Aized chest half filed with them.
sold files make the vcrJ best Of STEEL"
replied the magician of the workshop.
al melt them and hammer them out to
make the blades of Venetian daggers.
Look, | have a portable forge in here"
and 80 saying he opened the door into a,
smaller room. Sure enough there stood
q tiny forge, and beside it a work bench
Uttered with tools. Among them lay a
quaint female figure. / picked it up. 1t
was silver and quite heavy.
"That is the hilt of n dagger" my host
exclaimed. lit is not pure silver; the
inside is lead. Yes, il looks very ancient,
but | cast it myself only the day before
yesterday. What makes its surface 50
worn and rough2 l sprinkled it with
nitric acid out of this little stone flask,
and then washed it Off quickly. Here is
a finished dagger. What do you think
of it,"
1t was q magnificent weapon. and I
said so, at the same time expressing sur
prise at the gold fligree imbedded in the
blue steel blade. II thought the secret
of that sort Of work persisted with the
swordmakers Of Damascus" said ].
Wolters gave no information on that
subject, but pointed to a row Of statuettes
which lined a shelf above my head.
There they stood, gods, ~goddesses and
demigods, nymphs, Eatyrs, dryads, naiads
and nereids, all antique, all more or less
green with verdigris, and all more or less
%dilapidated. A one armed Apollo was
there; a Mercury. minus his caduceus; a
lapsidtd Juno; a Jupiter grasping a
broken thunderbolt, and a Bacchante
raising a broken goblet 10 her laughing
lips. Had they been what they purported
TO be 5000 would have been little
enough 10 pay for the collection.
"You would not think TO look at
them" said the old German, with the
honest pride of a craftsman, "that every
ona Of ihpm cnmn from lhnt iunk hpan