CERAMICS

Stone and Minerals

Leather, Ivory & Other Organic Materials

Song Dynasty celadon bowl This intricate, thousand-year old stoneware bowl was broken in seven pieces.	Song Dynasty celadon bowl After treatment. This repair employed a very conservative use of reversible adhesives.	Pre columbian jar The chipped areas of the rim had been lost.
Pre columbian jar After treatment. The chips were filled with ceramic conservation putty, and airbrushed and hand-painted to match the original surface.	Chien ware tea bowl, Song Dynasty The silver rim of this bowl was badly bent when the ceramic broke.	Chien ware tea bowl, Song Dynasty After the ceramic was repaired, the silver rim was carefully shaped back into a circle, and re-attached to the bowl.
Meissen dinner plates Porcelain dinnerware can be repaired and filled.	Meissen dinner plates After treatment. The break lines are evident upon careful inspection, because the surface treatments were kept to a minimum to keep the plates functional as food service pieces.	Antique American crock Before treatment: wide crack in side
Antique American crock After treatment: crack sealed, filled, and colored	MacKenzie-Childs rabbit table base This was used as a children's table, and over many years, eight of the ten rabbit ears had been badly broken and repaired.	MacKenzie-Childs rabbit table base Many of the ears had been repaired multiple times, with several types of glue.
MacKenzie-Childs rabbit table base Some of the breaks were stable enough to leave in place and improve, and some of them were taken apart and re-adhered. They were all fully restored.	MacKenzie-Childs rabbit table base After treatment	Pre columbian figure Earthenware is fired at a very low temperature, and the clay body is very porous. Usually, the break surfaces need to be sealed before they are adhered.
Pre columbian figure Fills are made with pigmented resins, which are sparingly touched in to blend with the original material.	Large Chinese vase Sometimes the first step with a project is to diagnose whether there is any missing material.	Large Chinese vase during repair Temporarily taping an object together can help determine whether any pieces are missing. This vase was missing a piece at the shoulder.
Large Chinese vase after repair After the vase was repaired, the missing piece was hand-built, then hand-painted with color-matched pigments to complete the design.	Wedgwood stein A large section of this stein's base was missing. A silicone mold was made of the opposite side of the base, then the missing piece was cast in place, and colored to match the original glazes.	Ironstone platter These old repairs were removed with solvent gels, gentle heat, and dental picks.
Ironstone platter (detail) Cracks were sealed, and their surfaces were filled, burnished, and airbrushed.	Pre columbian jug During treatment: For archaeological ceramics, sometimes the goal is not to entirely hide the evidence of a repair, but simply to make the damage visually recede.	Pre columbian jug After treatment: The heavily chipped break lines of this earthenware were filled and touched in by hand, but the breaks were left visible.
Porcelain tea pot Repaired ceramic can no longer be used to hold boiling water.	porcelain coffee pot after restoration Restored teapots can be repaired for display as decorative art.	Roseville ewer The small amount of broken surface area and cantilevered weight of the broken piece of this ewer necessitated the use of a strong and stable adhesive.
Roseville ewer After treatment	Small porcelain jar with lid before The lid to this sentimental jar had been repaired and completely overpainted.	Small porcelain jar with lid after The old overpainting was stripped back to reveal the underlying glaze, and the repairs were carefully executed to necessitate only a small and localized amount of restorative color
Modern Mexican earthenware lizard Typically, original chips are used in a restoration if they are larger than a grain of rice -- and especially if they contain surface design.	Mexican lizard after treatment After treatment.	Ancient Greek amphora A small handle was missing and lost from one side of this amphora.
Ancient Greek amphora This is a new handle, made by molding and casting the identical one on the other side of the form, then carefully painting it to match the color and matte finish of the original surface.	Ancient amphora After treatment, showing both handles in place. The new one is on the right.	Modern stoneware vase Before treatment
Modern stoneware vase After treatment.	Folk Art jug lamp The painted surface of this jug was severely abraded and rubbed down.	Folk Art jug lamp The picture was completed using original color flakes as guides. But at the client's request. the layers of hand oil from a loved one were left on the neck of the lamp.
Early 20th c. ceramic leprechaun This sentimental figure was broken and mourned by its owner.	Early 20th c. ceramic leprechaun Then its owner's spouse had it restored as a surprise gift.	1950s Napco ceramic head vase This sentimental inheritance from a mother was a delicate, multi-part restoration.
	Neolithic Chinese Cup The Dawenkou culture existed in China between about 4000 BCE and 2500 BCE. The walls of this very fine Dawenkou cup are eggshell thin, very sandy, and barely fired. The most conservative methods and reversible materials are critical to the ethical treatment of these Neolithic ceramics.	Parisian harlequin lamp The owner of this lamp wanted the pipe and wiring removed, to turn the base into a sculpture. After grinding down the lamp connection, the top of the hat was rebuilt and colored to match the original ceramic.
Modern ceramic bird pair Small missing pieces of ceramic are hand-built with pigmented resins, then burnished and colored to blend them with an original surface.