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As a means of providing this site's visitors with front, back, and side views of many of the artifacts exhibited here, it was necessary to make exactingly accurate silicone rubber molds and, subsequently, colored plastic castings of each original example thus exhibited. The use of these replicas was also mandated by the fact that many—indeed, most—of the original artifacts included in this Internet exhibition were so dark or mottled in their coloration that they often defied attempts to photograph them in a manner that would clearly show important details of the examples' design and construction. The use of castings has also made it possible to realize an acceptable level of compromise between image quality and downloading/viewing efficiency for the site's users.
The artifacts represented here repose in private and public collections separated by hundreds of miles. Through the use of soft silicone rubber impression materials (which are harmless to the objects being subjected to this procedure), a mold of each example selected for inclusion could be made and the resulting castings could be produced at a later time, providing an excellent and detailed record of the artifact's attributes as well as the freedom to manipulate the coloration of the resulting casting(s) for illustration purposes.
In an effort to enable viewers to determine the relative sizes of the artifacts represented here, all illustrations have been made utilizing 1/4" (.635cm) gridded backgrounds.
Through the application of the aforementioned procedures, the visitor to these pages is able to view each subject artifact's defining attributes with unique analytical clarity. It is hoped that this site may fulfill its intended function by providing useful and enlightening information to and for all of its guests.
