A before and after shot (Shoot! Why didn't I think of that earlier?) would have shown first a plain peacock egg (BIGGER than a chicken egg), then a tan, then green, then washed out to show the wax-protected design, then the smeared gold paint (not too much--has to be just enough), the finally the wax is removed, the egg is varnished, and then the embellishing (gilding the egg?) began with the construction of the nest.
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