Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

I found this porcelain sauce boat nearly 20 years ago during my first “official” search for antiques with creative repairs in London, June 1991. Actually, this was one of a pair of matching sauce boats with identical replaced handles. Knowing I did not have enough money to purchase both pieces, the dealer split up the set and sold me just one. A lovely gesture that I appreciated at the time, but now I am sorry that someone lost out on the opportunity of owning the pair

This was one of four antiques with inventive repairs I found during that memorable trip. You can check out the other three pieces, which I have already posted: English copper lustre jug, Globular Chinese export teapot and Chinese “clobbered” saucer

The inside is painted in a famille rose underglaze floral design, and it measures 8″ from bow to stern, and is 2-3/4″ high. The sturdy replacement handle is made of forged iron

This example still has its original applied porcelain handle

Photo courtesy of Andrew Dando

Tags: Chinese, metal handle, porcelain

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 4:51 pm and is filed under sauce boat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.