A mystery solved?

Cleaning off the layers of old paint continued this week with outstanding results. A lot of experimentation has led to my use of a combination of soft stainless steel and brass brushes and I'm making good headway. See for yourself below in a few before and after photos:

At one point in time a suggested preservation method for zinc was to seal it in paint.

Later it was discovered that alkyds in the paint ate into and destroyed zinc.

Stainless & brass brushes: better than Noxema for removing old makeup!

 As I've spent quite a bit of time researching our old girl I've come across a bit of a mini controversy regarding both her gender and nationality. I've heard her described as Native American, Greek and Egyptian. As a few final layers of paint fell away the details of her previously paint-covered headdress were revealed:

While I'm no expert in Egyptology this certainly looks Egyption to me.

Headdress detail.

Cleaner by the day!

Well hello, beautiful! Where have you been hiding?

Our lady in repose. As you can see, the headdress is fairly elaborate.

I fully anticipate more discoveries next week as I dig deeper. Stay tuned!