Wiping rubbings’ In the studio, Biancha is working on the restoration of a gilded mirror frame. Armed with magnifying glass and tweezers she fills in missing pieces of ornament with monk patience. One side of the mirror is already ready. ‘We often ask visitors if they can indicate where the restoration has taken place’, says Biancha. “Almost always they are wrong.” The division of tasks between Alexander and Biancha becomes clear in the studio. Biancha does the fine lacework; veneer, intarsia, gilding. Alexander takes the constructive part for his account, and the politic work. “Wrinkling rubbish,” as he calls it. A time-consuming job. With a dot, soaked in shellac, the paint is applied thirty to thirty-five times. Each layer consists of thirty strokes. A wooden surface is thus processed up to a thousand times with the dot.
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