Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

This large porcelain bowl was made in China durning the Tongzhi period (1862–1874). It is decorated with warrior figures, a horse, an interior scene & flowers in the famille rose palette and measures 14.75 inches in diameter and is 4.75 inches high. Originally it would have been part of a set which most likely included a matching water jug.

But the true beauty for me lies on the underside. After the bowl broke into 2 pieces, a skilled and patient china mender used 136 metal staples, placed in pairs, to make this broken bowl whole again. The work is extraordinary and the repair is tight, making it usable. And as you can see in the last photo, Oscar demonstrates that it also makes for a comfortable cat bed.

Tags: Chinese, porcelain, staples/rivets

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 4th, 2018 at 11:46 am and is filed under bowl/dish. 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.