HEADSTOCK SHIELD

This afternoon I cleaned out 175 year-old glue from the hole left by the missing shield. Then I cut out the mother of pearl shield to fill it - enjoyable bugger job. Then I had to sand it flush & polish.

That's the most hateful & the most rewarding part!

Mother of pearl dust is so fine - it gets through any mask - and it leaves the tongue tasting of fishy metal - yeugh. On the other hand it brings a certain beauty.

Thing is - there was almost certainly an engraving on the shield & nobody seems to know what that might have been!