He showered her with gifts, starting with a 6-yard-long piece of bazin fabric, the hand-dyed, polished cotton which is the mainstay of Malian fashion.

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Deep in the shine of the polished glass, her hand rose in a graceful arc to remove her straw hat.

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Its aluminum chassis makes for quite a rigid device in hand, and the machined and polished bevel gives the V98 a very high-end look.

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The whiskey comes in a hand-blown crystal decanter complete with hand-crafted leather case and polished brass plaque mounted on the front of the bottle, engraved with the year of distillation.

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The hand was warm to the touch, the nails polished, perfectly manicured.

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It was another polished performance by the Ulsterman, whose kicking out of hand gave his side territorial advantage on numerous occasions.

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On the other hand, some did see solid evidence of stealing, and expertly dismantled Mr Swartz's polished rationalisations on the witness stand.

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This is often achieved by a lack of finish: even in the most highly polished, conventional picture here, the 1880 portrait of Antonin Proust, the ungloved fingers of the left hand are swift strokes, lacking detail.

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