Thanks, Walt for these observations. As I read this, it occurred to me that I have a horn on an Edison Home in my collection that has a clear coating which is somewhat deteriorated, but almost certainly factory. It's an H&S horn with the same floral appliqués as the one at the top of page 23 of the Fabrizio / Paul book Gadgets, Gizmos & Gimmicks except that instead of paint under the flowers it's nickel plated, and has the long cone for use with a cylinder machine. Apart from the appliqués, the only embellishment is gold trimmed outer edges on the petals. On my Zonophone Grand Opera (post Victor-acquisition rear-mount machine, but still 100% pre-Victor Zonophone motor, cabinet and fancy metal bed plate) , there isn't a trace of coating, either inside or out, so perhaps this was a practice that wasn't done consistently, or wasn't done into Zonophone's later years. I haven't ruled out that it could have been coated, but if it was it has been meticulously cleaned away many years ago. Best, Andy On Jan 12, 2007, at 9:12 AM, Walt wrote: > I have personally found Domenic DiBernardo (the seller) to be a very > knowledgeable, friendly, and quite helpful collector and think he > would be > happy (and quite able) to answer the question. > > The lighting for his pictures in this ad doesn't seem as good as > some of the > glossy shots of his machines that are published in various books > though. > > What I think you are seeing is the result of the refraction of > incandescent > lighting through shellac/lacquer. He is using flash and may also > have tried > to correct the color temperature of the image (can't tell about the > correction for sure though). If you have ever used a flash in > conjunction > with ambient lighting to take pictures of brass that is lacquered > you will > find it difficult. But if you use either bright sunlight (the best) or > studio type lighting that has the correct full spectrum color > temperature, > things will go better. In this picture, I think the strange color > is caused > by incandescent light (too yellowish) and the dullness is created > when the > light from the flash (xenon gas) diffuses/refracts within the > shellac/lacquer coating. That refraction causes a fuzzy optical > layer that > further obscures an already inaccurate color. > > Whether or not Zono horns were routinely coated in shellac/lacquer, > I don't > know, but if I were wondering I would probably ask a guy like > Domenic, Tim > F., George P., or others. > > Walt > > -----Original Message----- > From: phono-l-bounces at oldcrank.org [mailto:phono-l- > bounces at oldcrank.org] On > Behalf Of Andrew Baron > Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 12:06 PM > To: Antique Phonograph List > Subject: [Phono-L] Shellac coated brass horn on Zonophone > > A Zonophone model A has appeared on eBay, Item number: > 260074366186. The body of the machine looks beautifully originally, > although the brightness of the horn seems unnatural. The description > states that the brass horn still has its original shellac coating on > the outside. Did Zonophone actually do this (shellac or clear > lacquer coat the brass)? I probably shouldn't question the seller > since his rather imposing seller ID implies a knowledgeable > collector, but I haven't heard of this practice. > > Andy Baron > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.410 / Virus Database: 268.16.9/622 - Release Date: > 1/10/2007 > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org