So it turns out that while epoxy is a great choice for DIY nail repair (no further snagging to report!), you should really think twice before using it on priceless ancient artifacts…
…like the burial mask of King Tut, for example.
Unfortunately, it seems like that memo didn’t make it all the way through the staff at the Egyptian museum, and because epoxy is kind of a permanent solution, the shoddy repair is now un-repairable.
I actually saw the mask of King Tut when I was fortunate enough to visit Egypt in 2000, so this is breaking my heart a tiny bit. As are the details of how the museum in general seems to have suffered since I was there. I hope Egypt’s cultural treasures get a little more of the right kind of love very soon.
What about you? Have you seen King Tut’s mask in person? Ever tried to repair something only to make it worse? Share in the comments.
I hadn’t heard this story, Lindsey, so thanks for calling it to my attention. I can only imagine what it might look like now. I have a vague memory of seeing a traveling exhibit of King Tut’s “stuff” in New York City when I was a Spanish student at NYU. It was an eon or so ago, so I could be mixing it up. I know I also saw the Mona Lisa (stood in line in the rain for that one). As for “repairs I regret” there are many. One is sitting behind me right now. Very sad. 🙂
We chose not to see the Mona Lisa because I wanted to see the Monets at the Musee D’Orsay instead. Perhaps next time we’re in Europe, whenever that will be.
The report said that there is a gap between the sections where the compound is visible, and some scratches where they tried to scrape the epoxy off. The worst is that epoxy is permanent so there’s no way to fix the fix…