Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/96



Showing the original burnished "white" surface

the aid of a delicate burnisher, after a treatment with oils and alkali. Each tracery in the pattern, it was found, had to be cleaned separately. Then the rusted surfaces were polished, and the missing plates replaced by reproductions, etched and gilded. In all cases, however, in which a missing fragment was replaced, care was taken to engrave upon the surface of the plate the date of the restoration and the signature of the maker. The authorities of the Metropolitan Museum of New York have to thank Dr. Bashford Dean, Curator of their Armouries, for the strenuous and successful efforts which he made to obtain for them the possession of these portions of this historical armour, and thanks are also due to him from armour lovers in general that under his able guidance they have been so admirably restored.