Warwick Vase 
Small 2.5cm high (shown in photographs)
Large 4cm high
 
In 1995 I went to a boot fair in Gloucestershire and discovered two very large beautiful urns/vases. I recognised them as being made by a very upmarket reproducer of fine antiques who were based in london. I bought them for a few pounds (lucky me!!) and took them home. They stayed in my conservatory for years becoming pots for keys and so forth. About 10 years later I had to make a delivery of curtain poles (my other business) to the West End of London. On entering the building the concierge asked me to step to one side as an Abassador to an undisclosed country was coming in...as I waited I glanced behind me to the huge fireplace and there were my urns - at least copies of them.....I had a little smile to myself.  Years later, when we moved to Scotland, I made the mistake of thinking the removal men would be gentle with my belongings. On unpacking the vases they were damaged! Grrrr! I put them to one side not thinking too much about them. After a couple of years I happen to sell a small cabinet on facebook...the urns were pictured in the background.  I had quite a few replies to my listing but they were asking if the urns were for sale!!! So, after all those years, I thought I best look into why they were so recognisable.....below is an extract from Wiki about the original urns. In the meantime here they are in 12th scale! I couldnt resist creating them for you. I hope that they bring you as many curious and unexpected moments of joy as the originals have brought me! 
(from Wiki) "The Warwick Vase is an ancient Roman marble (partially restored) vase with Bacchic ornament that was discovered at Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli about 1771 by Gavin Hamilton,[1] a Scottish painter-antiquarian and art dealer in Rome, and is now in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow in Scotland.
The vase was found in the silt of a marshy pond at the low point of the villa's extensive grounds, where Hamilton had obtained excavation rights and proceeded to drain the area. Hamilton sold the fragments to Sir William Hamilton, British envoy at the court of Naples from whose well-known collection it passed to his nephew George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, where it caused a sensation."
 
Supplied unaged - ready for tidying which will mean small nodules will need to be sanded or snapped off - this is super easy to do and takes just a minute or two.
 
Made from resin.
To create the simple finish that I have (which is identical to my original full size copies) I painted them black and then dusted them with pumice powder. 
 
NOTES
Metal Items
As with all my metal designs the pieces will require a little cleaning using a file and/or sandpaper. The metal is very soft so this is a simple and satifying part of the build process. It is possible to bend some parts on some metal items. This is both a positive and negative. Very thin items can bend slightly when posted. I always suggest gently guiding the metal back to its original place if this should happen. BUT please note: Do not put the metal item in the oven as it will melt at low temperature - the same applies to using heatguns. 
 
I tend to use superglue (Hafixx being my favoured choice) with a super glue activator to speed things up. Superglue will semi cure within seconds and with an activator it will semi cure within a second or two. However please note the the glue will not be fully cured for another 24 hours.
 
To paint the item I strongly recommend a metal primer. Spray primers are the easiest to use and just a light coat with give the paint something to 'key' with......then the choice is yours. I use all types of paints from acrylics to cellulose spray paints. All have their own merits and so I choose according to the finish I wish to create.
 
After applying my coats of paint I will always add an aging layer of raw umber acrylic (water it down and then paint and wipe off to leave the dark paint in the recesses). Aging can be very rewarding and there are many options for this. One little recommendation is to use rotten stone/pumice stone powder to add what I like to describe as "dust" to the piece. It is a powder and will always be a powder unless mixed with a binder such as glue. The powder is a soft grey and if it is brushed on then off it will leave a slight dusting in the recesses of the design. 
A final flourish of splatter (very subtle brown/grey applied with by splattering the paint from a bristled brush such as a toothbrush) adds a little more interest. 
 
You can always create a more worn look by layering colours and removing layers to reveal what is underneath. A tip here is to add the extra colours where you will rub away and dont make the layers thick - there is no need to add layers into fine recesses unless that is where you want to reveal a colour. 
 
If you wish to give your painted surface extras "depth" and aged interest then using a soft brown wax (I like to use annie sloane Dark wax - it is easy to use and doesnt smell) as a final coat. You can choose to polish to a high sheen or just a soft polish for age. You can also mix waxes - I love to add liming wax (white wax) to brown wax if I want a softer look. You can always finish with a dusting of dust. 
 
Finally on painted items you can always finish with a flick of off white (you can do this on gilt too but you would need to use a brown such as raw or burnt umber). Take a brush and apply a small amount of paint then work most of the paint off so that you are left with a trace of paint on the brush. Brush this lightly over the item so that you catch the raised areas and the corners and edges of the items. How much you apply is up to you and you can have so much fun experimenting to see what looks best for your chosen design. 
 
If your painting goes wrong you can remove it by dipping the item into acetone for a few minutes and scrubbing off the paint with a toothbrush. Note it will also dismantle your model as it will weaken the glue!!!