I purchased this sign over the summer and finally got around to hanging it above one of my display cabinets this weekend. Not sure what type of repairing it advertised, but I’d like to think it was for all types of inventive repairs. It measures approximately 39 inches wide and is made from wood. The applied letters, once painted a bright gold, have mellowed with age. The arrow, which hangs from chains, is a make-do itself, as the bottom half of the point broke off and was replaced.
I marvel at miniatures and have collected them since I was around 12 years old. As much as I love well proportioned miniature antiques, I am over the moon for antique miniatures with inventive repairs. With that in mind, you can see why this tiny teapot sends me reeling.
This child’s creamware pottery drum form teapot with painted flowers and cherries stands a mere 2.5 inches high and is just over 3.5 inches from handle to spout. It was made in England during the 4th quarter of the 18th century. At some point in its early history, I imagine a child dropped the teapot during play teatime and the original handle broke off. Luckily for the child and eventually for me, a tinsmith made a metal replacement handle and the imaginary tea was able to flow again. Wouldn’t it be great to find an entire miniature tea set with each piece possessing a different early repair? Well, I can dream, can’t I?
This teapot with similar form suggests what the original loop handle on my teapot might have looked like.
Photo courtesy of Ruby Lane
This petite brass candle holder with turned wood replacement base stands just 3.25 inches high. As there’s not much to go on here, it’s hard to know exactly what it looked like intact. It appears to have been made in England in the late 1800s.
I come across brass antiques with inventive repairs less frequently than ceramic examples, as they are more durable. Please click on these 3 other examples of brass candle holders I previously posted, each with interesting early repairs: Brass candle holder with wood base, c.1880, Brass candle holder, c.1880, Brass candlestick with nutty base, c.1875.
Unless I find an exact match to my remaining fragment, I can only imagine what the complete candle holder looked like. Here’s a grouping showing a multitude of different bases so let your imagination run wild.
Photo courtesy of Birchard Hayes & Company
This EAPG (Early American Pressed Glass) jar with a screw top in the Pequot pattern measures 5.25 inches high with a 3.75 inch opening. Although its maker is unknown, I believe the jar dates to the 1870s. After extensive research, I believe this to be a pickle jar. Most curious is the metal base, which does not appear to be a replacement. Perhaps this is not a make-do after all?? If anyone has any information on this unusual piece, please let me know.
This pickle jar in the same pattern has neither a screw top nor a metal base.
Photo courtesy of the Early American Pattern Glass Society