CLEANING AND PREPPING THE SMITHSONIAN POCKET

Part 3 of the Smithsonian Pocket

	Here are some photos of the Smithsonian pocket after it was washed and laid out for assembly. The small boxes contain the groups as wrapped and brought in from the field. The pocket is laid out from left to right, top of table to bottom, in the order in which the pieces were collected. This gives us a better chance of finding missing fits, although many times, pieces are hopelessly mingled.


	Laying out the Smithsonian.		Early fits lead to larger groups.		Two hands aren't enough.


	From many, comes a couple good groups. (We hope.)		Assembled from pieces in previous photo.		Possibl excellent group.


	Start with a prominent piece.		Find its buddies.		Possible excellent group.


	A shattered manebach . . .		. . . forms the key part of plate.		The undamaged "Smithsonian" plate is now a part of this plate.

	"Fit finding" is much like working a giant jigsaw puzzle. You start with a distinctive piece and look for the matching patterns. As a key piece is discovered and enlarged, with luck, it will click to another large piece. In the case of the undamaged Smithsonian plate, which can be seen in the last two photos, it will probably be taken apart and left as an undamaged specimen. We begin by assembling as much of the pocket as possible. Later, we decide what the groups should look like, trying to capture the best aesthetics and eliminate areas of damage. We plan to have much of the Smithsonian pocket finalized by the Denver fall show. We will be in room 103 of the Holiday Inn.

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