Legend has it that the word sincere comes from the Latin, sine cera (without wax). That refers to the practice of covering up nicks and chips in marble statues by filling them with wax. The best statuary had no flaws needing to be filled with wax . . . it was sin cera. The reality is that very few of us can make work without flaws and over time (to build on a popular phrase) Flaws Happen! Sometimes a little nick is taken out of a gilded frame or a chip out of a marble or wood carving. That's where wax comes in. Lets say that there's a chip in a picture frame. Just warm up some wax medum and mix the appropriate shade of bronze powder into it. Mix the two together until they harden into a paste and rub the paste into the nick. Allow it to stand for a while and buff it with a lint-free cloth. Voila! the flaw disappears. This is great for filling in the edges of picture frames that don't quite fit perfectly. For cracked marble statues, just mix half beeswax with half carnauba to make it a harder, mix in some pigment, let it harden and polish. Mixing a hard wax with pigment is a standard trick used to repair broken and missing pieces of wood carving. It's also a great way to fix dents in furniture. The wax medium we start with is pure white beeswax to which we add a concentrated damar varnish and some hard carnauba wax. The wax mixture must be heated before adding bronzing powder or pigment. Let it cool before applying the paste to the surface. Wait an hour or more before buffing. When time won't allow for traditional gilding, this approach is a life saver.