--- a/scripts/plot/appearance/material.m	Wed Aug 10 18:28:39 2016 -0700
+++ b/scripts/plot/appearance/material.m	Wed Aug 10 20:17:39 2016 -0700
@@ -79,13 +79,12 @@
   endif
 
   ## resolve input
+  h = [];
   if (nargout == 0)
     ## Check whether first argument is list of graphics handles.
     if (all (ishandle (varargin{1})))
       h = varargin{1};
       varargin(1) = [];
-    else
-      h = gca ();
     endif
 
     ## There must be one (additional) argument.
@@ -173,6 +172,9 @@
     error ("material: MTYPE must be a named material or a vector");
   endif
 
+  if (isempty (h))
+    h = gca ();
+  endif
   ## find all patch and surface objects in current axes
   hps = findobj (h, "Type", "patch", "-or", "Type", "surface");
 
@@ -296,49 +298,13 @@
 %!error <Invalid call to material> a = material ({})
 %!error <Invalid call to material> a = material ([.3 .4 .5])
 %!error <Invalid call to material> [a, b] = material ()
-
-## Test error handling, all following errors require a figure
-%!error <first argument must be a list of handles>
-%! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
-%! unwind_protect
-%!   material (-1, "metal")
-%! unwind_protect_cleanup
-%!   close (hf);
-%! end_unwind_protect
-
-%!error <unknown material type 'foo'>
-%! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
-%! unwind_protect
-%!   material foo
-%! unwind_protect_cleanup
-%!   close (hf);
-%! end_unwind_protect
+%!error <first argument must be a list of handles> material (-1, "metal")
+%!error <unknown material type 'foo'> material foo
+%!error <incorrect number of elements in material vector> material (-1)
+%!error <incorrect number of elements in material vector> material ([1 2 3 4 5 6])
+%!error <MTYPE must be a named material or a vector> material ({})
 
-%!error <incorrect number of elements in material vector>
-%! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
-%! unwind_protect
-%!   material (-1)
-%! unwind_protect_cleanup
-%!   close (hf);
-%! end_unwind_protect
-
-%!error <incorrect number of elements in material vector>
-%! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
-%! unwind_protect
-%!   material ([1 2 3 4 5 6])
-%! unwind_protect_cleanup
-%!   close (hf);
-%! end_unwind_protect
-
-%!error <MTYPE must be a named material or a vector>
-%! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
-%! unwind_protect
-%!   material ({})
-%! unwind_protect_cleanup
-%!   close (hf);
-%! end_unwind_protect
-
-%!error <Invalid call to material.>
+%!error <Invalid call to material.> 
 %! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
 %! unwind_protect
 %!   material (hf);