Roman \"varnish\"

[John Conyard]

I've just finished a major paint job on a Roman "parade" shield. I want to protect the work, but have no wish to use a layer of thin oiled rawhide.

A varnish is the simple answer. But what would it be made of? I can only get as far as egg white which would give a gloss finish and taste good with strawberries. Caballo is experimenting with egg whites at the moment.

Any thoughts?

Can somebody move this post to the right section? The computor sent it here, not me!