We were contacted by Technical Artisan Services, a metalsmith in Long Beach, to help restore a Nazi-era standard top for a Museum in Spain. As this photo from Life magazine will attest, there where countless standards like this:
One side was still intact with the NSDAP lettering and the job asked for a restoration and weathering of the red enamel on the other side of the standard, which has the word “Neiderrhein”. Near as we can tell, Neiderrhein is the northern-most German area of the Rhine River, and in the Nazi era could have represented “Gauliga Neiderrhein” The state soccer team. We certainly wish we knew more about it. After study, it looked as if the stamped areas were originally filled then wiped back, and Dawn created many samples to mix the correct color, consistency and aged feel of the enamel, as well as the same effect of damage and wear.
Here Dawn has laid down some resistant masking fluid to recreate scratches and chipped paint, and has begun the process of painting it in. A mixture of One-Shot enamels, oil paints, and various mediums gave her the desired color and luminosity of the original side.
Here is the full piece, completed and ready to go back to Technical Artisan Services for the proper metal distressing, aging and oxidizing in order to match the other side:
And here’s a comparison of both sides:
It’s not every day we get asked to work on such a rare and historical project, and we found it interesting and challenging!
