Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-01-26
wENolNe BROKEN eRic-A-sRAo
epscaAiists Who Devote Their Time to
Patching and Restoring.

EtW IOfh hbouIfus db tuDTpuknly III
Saeer corners, people and occupations as
Ay city Of is size in the world. Most
q these oddities, however, possess little
value outside OF the purely picturesque,
and depend for even that ON individual
tste. A few are quite reasonable.
Among the latter may be classed a pecu-
lar industry not yet of a size TO admit OF
n being troubled much by the state Of
the labor market. This calling is en-
trely in the hands of a few wide awake
Swiss, whose a~teliers are scattered over
the uptown business portions Of the
city. and is digniied by the title of ''ar-
tstio repairing"
One of the best known and busiest Of
sheir number was, when called upon,
engaged on Just such a task. ave
have" he said, every few shop secrets
because u trade is entirely n Of deli
sscy and skill and involves such a va
Hety of knacks that we have little fear
Il competition. There is absolutely no
restriction As to the nature Of the article
thought to us for repair, or a to the
amount of damage it has sustained, to
Ne within our ability to restore it.
Most Of our patrons being extremely
wealthy. we are trusted daily with the
ysrest and most costly articles, which
would never be placed in the hands of
inexperienced workmen, 50 that what
We do is both expensive and in keeping
with the elegance Of the article TO be
nended.
you can judge OF the extent Of our
SEPARATIONS somewhat when | tell you
Mat / am a matchmaker, cabinetmaker.
PAINTER in oil and water colors. carver OF
wood, marble and ivory, modeler in clay.
o musician and chemist, all combined.
N any of these branches | should prob
ahy prove a distinguished failure along
ade of men who have devoted a lifetime
10 the particular one, but in Geneva
where l was educated, we are taught to
- careful, and | have learned enough
md practiced long enough to be able to
perform successfully the essential part Of
ny business, which is to copy faithfully
and naturally whatever is set before me.
This porcelain vas at which l am now at
work isva very ordinary job. received
4 In sixty-four pieces, each piece, cal
sulating by the original value OF jar,
having cost something above 81. This
makes it slightly worth repairing.
1.-The soundeSr and largest portion was
the bottom, which was about three times
- thick as the rest and, Of course, stood
the fall better. In the course Of an hours
search | managed to find a little section
that fitted exactly to a nick in the first.
This was securely fastened in its place
With cement and set away TO harden. II
. impossible at this stage Of proceedings
70 put on more than one piece al a time.
Other work is disposed Of and in course
Il uHne another fragment added to the
originals, then a fourth and fifth, and 50
on. This vase has gradually grown in
CHS way TO its original proportions. As
nothing but the finest and whiteSt cement
b used, the dirty streaking that charac-
serizes badly mended china is avoided.
However, several Of the broken bits have
been lost and some have crumbled so fine
- 10 be unavailable. Tins leaves an ugly
hole in the side, q large nick in the rim
and completely ruins a beautiful painted
bouquet. / neat a stick Of a certain
plastic substance of my own invention
and carefully fill in the gaps yet left.
With a fine steel spatula the material il
pared down even on both sides, intro
luced into the hicks and is carefully
a,oldei into the delicate curl Of the rim.
which il initiates exactly. In one hour
these additions are firmly set and almost
~ hard as the original material. With
palette in hand they are treated by me I'd
several coats of oil color Of exactly the
same tint as the porcelain. The roses are
restored by painting the lcking parts in
on the new surface, and the lines of
cement covered up in the same way. A
ooat or two of isinglass varnish and
well-there is a vase that cost Sl2j, in
which the sharpest eye would fail TO de-
tect a flaw and although the outer coat
Of varnish might feel a little funny 10
the fingers Of a connoisseur.
Frequently cabinets Of rare and ex-
pensive woods are sent ~ US which by
some fatality have been split, rotted or
stripped Of certain parts Of the
cation. We cut away the damaged parts.
restore the same variety of wood or q
perfect imitation thereof, and carve it 10
match. | have now on hand a japanese
cabinet, the top edges Of which were or
namented with a row Of little ivory
figures like chessmen. half of which were
gone. am carving out exact duplicates
Of every one to replace their fellows, and
sxpect to make a very creditible job OF
II. Marble statuary, terra Gotta and
other ornaments we rejoin IL broken. and
add well nodded replicas Of missing por-
tons, II there are such. We clean arms
and armor for collectors, which is in it.
elf q trade. rs the dirt and rust must be
removed with acids without affecting the
blackncss and oxidation Of the metal
which guarantee the antiquity. The
slightest sign Of polish or repair would be
an ~irreparable damage. For armor, too,
we construct fearful and wonderful war
riors, stuffed with straw and with wax
heads, on which the iron harness Is
nveted as In days Of old, when knights
we're bold But somehow these seem
pretty tame.
''0ur most important work has 10 do
with a certain class Of mechanical matters.
We study out the want Of old fashioned
clock movements which are unintelllgible
10 the modern horologist. Some Of these
are entirely Of wood, wheels and pinions
slika We make wooden works for the