ABSTRACT
This thinking evolved gradually along with the reconstruction work itself. The earliest reconstructions focused on varnish recipes and were based on a desire to discover how traditionally prepared varnishes, using appropriate resins, might compare visually with modern equivalents (Carlyle and Bourdeau, 1994; Carlyle, 2005c). Recreations of copal-oil varnish in 1993 concentrated on identifying copal resins appropriate to the time of the recipe (Carlyle, 1995), sourcing an unlined copper pot (not tinned) to cook the resins and oil, and finding a source of heat great enough to effect proper fusion of the resins. The cold-pressed linseed oil which was cooked along with the resins was purchased through a third party, and knowledge about its processing was murky at best, although this was not appreciated at the time.
