[Art]

Don't know for sure but history will indicate that practically every discovery was the result of an accident!

No one sets out saying, "I think I'll discover penicillin or x-rays or etc...." Sometimes, the best discoveries are simply...discovered! 

As for the gold plating...maybe melting and pouring onto the subject piece, then trying something else until the tiny statue fell into some wine along with a copper tube, tried to get it out with an iron rod...who knows. I wasn't there.