Meissen magpies with missing beaks

We have undertaken a conservation project requiring us to replace
sizeable parts of the mandibles and the ends of the tongues on a
large pair of Meissen Magpies marked with incised numerals 62 on the
bases of both, and on one a Blue L. The crossed swords marks are
there, of course. The beak parts and tongue ends had been replaced
in a prior restoration, but much over painting of the birds was done
for no apparent reason.

What we would appreciate would be a couple of photos of the beaks
and tongues of an undamaged pair of these birds if anyone can
provide these without too much bother. Our concern is this--while we
can make new parts based on the real, living bird, they would not be
replicas of what the Meissen modelers created, and would be more
delicate and subject to damage than we believe the original Meissen
objects were.

Robert K. MacDowell
MacDowell Restorations
39845 The Narrows Road
Waterford, Virginia 20197
540-882-9000


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:2
                  Distributed: Thursday, June 9, 2011
                        Message Id: cdl-25-2-015
                                  ***