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Some of the most beautiful antiques are "also the most fragile, and even collectors with the steadiest "hands have had their share of accidents. Not all that long ago when a porcelain platter broke into three or four pieces it could only be salvaged by using unsightly staples on the reverse. The damage done to the painted decoration was difficult to repair so that it was invisible to the naked eye. Not so any more. Nelson Dale and his colleagues at Restoration services in Arlington, Massachusetts, can repair porcelains and glass so that the breaks am imperceptible and the repair is reversible. For example, to repair the French plate illustrated at bottom right, the restorer airbrushed the hand painted scene, particularly where the break crossed the clouds and the green border. The border decoration was then regilded.
Repairs were at one time visible under ultraviolet light, hut the epoxies used today do not fluoresce. However, a pin or needle can penetrate the surface of the repair so that it is evident that it is not the original material.
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