Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

Pue’s Occurrences, (Dublin Newspaper), 14th-18th February 1769

To the Nobility, Gentry, & c, Chinaware mended on a new principle.

A Crookshanks, China Riveter, from London; fronting the Blind-quay, Smock-alley, Dublin.  Has brought to the greatest perfection that much wanted ingenious art of mending all sorts of China, both useful and ornamental, in silver, brass or other metals, by a method particularly known to himself, and no other in this kingdom, which far exceeds the late practice both in strength, neatness, and duration, as has been sufficiently experienced by the nobility & gentry in Great Britain; the multiplicity of commands with which he has been honoured, which  sufficiently prove his excellence  and improvement in this art, which so effectively removes fractures, that it seems in most cases to strengthen and ornament the finest China, as it will ring as well as ever, is almost unperceivable to the eye, and will warrant it as when first new; and in many things that will admit of the work it is much more serviceable, as dishes, plates, bowls, etc,.  He in the neatest manner puts handles to mugs, silver or tin spouts to tea pots, coffee cups and all other things.

N.B. As the public has been greatly imposed upon by imposters and pretenders to the said art; any doubtful may have a pattern of his performance, as he desires, on other satisfaction that what the workmanship merits. As the want of this art has rendered great qualities of valuable China useless, when broken belonging to set and otherwise. He hopes for the favour and encouragement of the public; by directing as above he will wait on ladies and gentlemen and execute the commands with care and dispatch.

This transcript was provided by Irish collector Peter Francis

Photo courtesy of Timothy Hughes

I am frequently asked this question from people who see an object with staple repairs for the first time. I have spent many years gathering research to illustrate this fascinating topic and will try to demystify the skill and art of staple repair. Below are just a couple of examples but please know that I will be posting more photos and diagrams in the coming weeks.

This illustration, from “If These Pots Could Talk” by Ivor Noel Hume, shows a “nineteenth-century itinerant Chinese repairer using a bow drill and flanked by the work boxes he carried slung on a pole”.

Stills from the Chinese film “The Road Home” (1999) directed by acclaimed director Yimou Zhang (2008 Bejing Olympics, “House of Flying Daggers”, “Hero”) showing an itinerant pottery mender repairing a broken pot with staples. I highly recommend this film, as it clearly shows the entire repair procedure in a compelling 4 minute scene. If you view the DVD, the scene starts at 51:44 (chapter 15)

An itinerant mender, walking from town to town carrying his tools and supplies, shouts “Pottery repairs!”

Broken pieces of bowl are fitted together…

and held in place tightly with twine.

A wooden bow, with a diamond-tipped drill looped around a string, is pulled back and forth until a tiny hole is made in the bowl.

Drill close up

A small length of rigid brass wire is cut and hammered in to shape on the end of an iron mold

Staple close up

Finished staple is gently tapped in to the holes on the side of the bowl

Film stills courtesy of Sony Pictures, with Zhongxi Zhang as the “Crockery Repairman”

Bibiana, my dear friend and baker extraordinaire, created this amazing cake for my “special day” last February. It was covered with incredibly detailed pastillage “make-do” teapots, copied from my collection. She made edible mismatched handles, lids and chocolate “staples”. The eight layer chocolate cake with raspberry Bavarian cream filling and chocolate frosting was unbelievably delicious!

…I have been fascinated with old broken things embellished with interesting repairs. My parents, dealers in antiques since the early 1960’s, would sometimes find items with quirky repairs in box lots from auction houses. Many dealers, like my parents, took these “damaged” pieces home to display, as they knew their discriminating customers were only interested in adding pieces in perfect condition to their collections.

As a child, I was intrigued by an early Staffordshire ABC plate on display in our kitchen; broken in half but somehow miraculously held together by a few metal staples on the back. I remember seeing in museums large urns, vases and platters with numerous rivets, looking a lot like Frankenstein’s monster. Pottery, porcelain and glass items with this type of repair are often referred to as having a “museum repair”, achieved by carefully drilling tiny holes on either side of a cracked surface and attaching a series of hand forged metal staples or rivets on either side of the cracks. Evidence of this type of primitive repair dates back to at least the first part of the18^th century.

In my teens, my mother took me to an antiques dealer‘s house, filled with extraordinary folk art. I can still remember my first look at a collection of teapots high up on a shelf, each with a distinctive early repair. It was the first time I had seen handles, spouts and lids replaced with ones made of metal and wood. It wasn’t until about ten years later that I purchased an antique ceramic jug with a replaced tin handle and started amassing a collection of my own.

Determined to find examples for my new collection, I searched through antiques shops and flea market, asking dealers for pieces with early repairs. Although I explained that I was interested in the items for the repair itself, many dealers were offending at the notion that I thought they might be carrying less than perfect goods. Eventually one dealer said to me “Oh, you mean you collect “make-do’s”. I had never heard that expression used before but I soon learned that the term “make-do” is associated with items featuring, most commonly, folksy or crude home made repairs. I soon learned that I was not alone in my appreciation, as I met other collectors and dealers from around the world sharing in my passion for these often neglected antique orphans.

A dictionary definition of “make-do” states: “something that serves as a substitute, esp. of an inferior or expedient nature: We had to get along with make-dos during the war.” The origin is from 1890-95, much earlier than I suspected. As the term seems to have a taken on a negative connotation over the years, I much prefer using the term “inventive repair” to describe the embellishments on the pieces in my collection. In the pictures that follow, you will see examples of my own flawed beauties amassed since my first purchase in 1983.