COMMISSIONED ICONIC WORKS ABA Cuprum is pleased to offer the patron the possibility to obtain an iconic work of their own specification. This might include an entirely new work or modifications to an existing item. ABA Cuprum is especially looking for challenging commissions. One of the more challenging recent commissions is shown immediately below: Icon #A55S The "Ostra Brama" Virgin of Vilnius which is 1 x 1.3 meters (3 x 4 feet) and is made with jewels, crystals, pearls, stones, gold, and silver! Of course your iconic work need not be quite as challenging... COMMISSIONING AN ENTIRELY NEW ICON For commissioning an entirely new icon, you would submit an image, typically of a painting. This would then be transmitted to the icon maker in Poland. In your commission, you would need to specify such aspects as: Which part of icon is painted and which has a metal cover Style of painting if different than in supplied image Extent of painting - just where holes in oklad cover are located, or the entire surface under the oklad cover (the latter for purposes that the cover would be removable) Degree of bas relief Which sections of metal cover should be silver, brass, or gold, or chromium Style of border (e.g., as in #A55 Vilnius or #A65 Lichen or other suggested by ABA Cuprum) Sections to be enamelled in which pattern using: Relatively inexpensive Italian synthetic (Smalto Sintetico) Relatively expensive Austrian glass enamel Surface application of: Crystals Semi-precious stones Amber Pearls - regular shape (more expensive) or less regular (inexpensive) Jewels Based on your specifications, the icon maker would provide an estimate. As a very rough estimate, a commissioned new icon would cost about twice that of one in the catalogue. COMMISSIONING MODIFICATIONS TO AN EXISTING ICON Modifying an existing icon would likely be less expensive than commissioning a totally new icon. For icons #A1-A70, modifications could include all the specifications listed above for new icons (e.g., gold, crystals, enamelling, painting style). ADDING A DECORATIVE PLAQUE You might want to add a special dedication to the icon. Or perhaps the words would indicate ownership of the icon. It is possible to do this by adding a plaque to the back of an icon. The plaque would be fashioned in metal. A prototypical plaque is shown below (here added to the Virgin of Lichen icon) (English Translation: Those who come to Her draw plenty from Her sources of love and care. From my heart I bless you. The Curator of Mary's Sanctuary in Lichen, Father Eugene Makulski, M.A.) TRANSLATING YOUR SPECIAL ORDER INTO A NEW ICONIC WORK After your order is placed, ABA Cuprum will translate your image to a bas relief model. An example of this can be seen to the bottom image to the left. In this case, the painting of the western-style Madonna has been translated into a carved model. The model is then used to fashion the iconic work.