Thanks, Andrew (et al.), for all the interesting details. My own 
interest is purely theoretical at the moment, having no French 
instrument to decorate. Is there any literature on the "standard" 
18th-century French decoration (or non-decoration, as opposed to the 
elaborate decoration of some other instruments) - a solid colour (often 
black, but also blue, green, red, etc.) exterior with gold bands, 
generally with a different colour interior? I'd like to know when, 
precisely, and especially why, this became the standard. And why there a 
standard came about in the first place. And then, technically, how it 
was done: what type undercoat? what kind of paint? what pigments? what 
came over the paint, if anything? and then, the gold bands? I know 
Skowroneck used lampblack in shellac for his Lefebvre, so I assume this 
was at least one of the techniques used at the time for black cases. But 
what were the others? Where can one read about all this and do one's 
homework?

Thanks.

Dennis

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