Restoration
Most early Staffordshire figures are now around two centuries old, and, inevitably, very many have had to have repair or restoration. I have seen restoration that has done more harm than good, and sometimes irreversible damage is done to pottery in the name of 'restoration'. Remember to use a restorer who is accustomed to working with early figures and who understands the importance of keeping every scrap of original material. We collectors treat our pottery with respect, so please find a restorer who feels the same way.
Beky Davies, who works meticulously and has done the most brilliantly sympathetic restoration for me, has written the piece below.
Beky Davies, who works meticulously and has done the most brilliantly sympathetic restoration for me, has written the piece below.
Ethics of Ceramic Restoration
by Beky Davies
Ceramics can be easily broken and many ceramic objects have suffered at the hands of inexperienced restorers using inappropriate materials. At best objects are covered in unnecessary amounts of mismatched paint and at worst irreversible damage can be done to glazes with drills and course abrasives.
The ethics of restoration and conservation is a huge subject and I really could write about it for pages and pages but I just wanted to high light a few obvious pit falls and some hard and fast rules for choosing the right conservator/restorer to treat your ceramics.
I think the first thing I should mention is the definition of the terms conservator and restorer. A conservator uses treatments that will stabilize any damage, they aim to prevent any further deterioration of the object – this is the most common approach used in museums. A restorer will also treat the object so that no further deterioration occurs but they will improve the aesthetic appearance of the piece. The crucial thing is that whether an object is being treated by a conservator or restorer its historical and physical properties are always respected and preserved for the future. Just to add a little confusion to this – a professional with the right skills can be both a conservator and restorer. For the benefit of this article I am going to use the term ‘restorer’.
Long gone are the days when a restorer should be covering your ceramic in airbrushed paint, grinding break edges or putting them in an oven. The current techniques allow the restorer to confine any restoration materials to the damaged area. It is so important to look at and handle your object and know that its beauty and integrity is intact and that you are not handling something that is suffocated with 21st century paint – if I sound a bit emotional about this that this because I absolutely believe it to be true!
Fantastic results can be achieved with specialist epoxy resins that the restorer has colour matched with dry powder pigments to match the ceramic body. Not only can a near perfect colour-match be attained but by using different bulking agents the same texture, opacity or translucency can also be created. The damaged areas can then be filled or modelled from the epoxy resin without encroaching on the surrounding undamaged area. The epoxy can then be polished using polishing clothes that will not damage the glaze.
Missing decoration or surface finishes can be painted using a brush, airbrushes do have their place but it is very important that any spraying be kept to a bare minimum as I am sure you have seen objects covered in unnecessary airbrushed paint.
Any materials that are used on your ceramics should be fully reversible, this means that if at a later date it was necessary for the restoration to be removed it could be. This is usually done with specialist solvents and does not mean that the restoration will degrade or change colour over time, in fact most modern materials have excellent light fast qualities and will not turn yellow as many older materials used to.
It is important to point out that just because an object has old restoration it does not necessarily have to be removed. If the object is still stable and the old repair is not too distracting then it is worth considering leaving it . Old restoration techniques such as rivets or lacing can be considered historically important, if these are sound and not likely to cause further damage to the object then leave them in place.
Always use a restorer who will aim to do ‘honest’ work and not deceptive work, it is important not to deceive future potential buyers or viewers that an object is perfect because it has been so over restored that all damage is beyond invisible. If an object is restored well there should be no need to deceive.
What to do if you damage an object?
If the worst happens and you damage an object avoid the temptation of trying to restore it yourself, this will probably cause more damage. Ideally every fragment, even the tiniest piece, should be collected up and individually wrapped in acid-free tissue paper (or plain white tissue paper if no acid free is available), and then clearly labelled. Please do not fit the pieces back together as this can damage the delicate break edges, and definitely do not tape the fragments together or to a piece of paper as this can damaged gilding or glazes. Endeavour to get the object to a restorer/conservator as soon as possible to prevent any further damage.
Thank you, Beky!
Below is some of the work Beky has done for me.
You will find this pair of figures on the dust jacket of Vol. 2 of Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840. When I bought them, they were in blazingly good condition....except that one of the horse's had had it's front leg reattached. The area of the join was discolored, and the discoloration extended down the leg.
Beky took apart the old join to find that the leg had been reattached with a metal dowel of sorts (not an uncommon technique, sadly.) She removed the metal, cleaned and removed the staining it had caused, and reattached the leg correctly. She painted over the join, not painting a hair further than necessary.
Beky took apart the old join to find that the leg had been reattached with a metal dowel of sorts (not an uncommon technique, sadly.) She removed the metal, cleaned and removed the staining it had caused, and reattached the leg correctly. She painted over the join, not painting a hair further than necessary.
I cheat a little because this is a picture of a plaque I just love, before restoration. If you were to see it now, you wouldn't be able to detect the restoration. The damage, although sad, was minimal. The plaque traveled to my home via UPS, and along the way an object stabbed the box and shaved one of the corners. It was as if a thin slice had been taken off the top of the black molding. I was heartbroken at this damage to a perfect piece on my watch, but I gathered up every teeny sliver and sent it off to Beky. Most restorers could have fixed the corner by putting new material in place and painting it black. But I wanted Beky to do the job because I knew she would painstakingly put back the original material, only using new 'stuff' where absolutely necessary. It takes longer to do it this way, so it costs more, but that's how it should be done.
You may recognize my prize elephant because he was on the UK TV show The Antiques Road Trip--and my purchase attracted a lot of attention. You can read about it here. When I bought him, I knew he needed quite a bit of work. Only one other elephant of this sort has come to auction in the past decades, and that one had suffered significant restoration through the turret. My elephant was intact and the turret had not been broken through. However, it was filthy and there was quite a bit of peripheral damage to the top of the turret, one of the man's feet, the tip of the tail, the tusk tips. These are small things in the grand scheme of things, but they require a lot of meticulous work. The restoration here is simply brilliant! I don't know how Beky cleans figures, but the results are amazing. When I sent the elephant to her, the green on the base was dingy and discoloured, yet now it is vibrant and clear.
Need a restorer?
Neither Beky nor I intend plugging her services here. The intent is to promote ethical restoration. Other restorers also work to Beky's professional standards. If you want your figure restored, it is your responsibility to find a restorer who will treat your figure with the respect it deserves. Know that good restoration takes time and is expensive. If you can't afford ethical restoration, enjoy the figure as it is, but please don't do anything to damage it further.
In the US, you may want to contact Ardenia Camapnnelli, located in Newport Beach, CA, a trained restorer who particularly enjoys working on Staffordshire figures. She can be reached at
ConserveFineArt.com
430 31st Street, Suite A
Newport Beach, CA 92663
949• 675•3962
www.conservefineart.com
www.facebook.com/ConserveFineArt
If you are a restorer and would like to post on this page, please contact me.
In the US, you may want to contact Ardenia Camapnnelli, located in Newport Beach, CA, a trained restorer who particularly enjoys working on Staffordshire figures. She can be reached at
ConserveFineArt.com
430 31st Street, Suite A
Newport Beach, CA 92663
949• 675•3962
www.conservefineart.com
www.facebook.com/ConserveFineArt
If you are a restorer and would like to post on this page, please contact me.
Buying a restored figure from a dealer?
Most figures have some repair or restoration, but please be sure you understand what has been done. Click here to read my April 1 2014 blog posting on just this issue.