London shape porcelain cabinet cup, made by Coalport in the early to mid 1800s. The Coalport factory was founded by John Rose in 1795 in Shropshire, a county in the West Midlands region of England. This example is superbly painted with angry looking birds & insects in panels surrounded by ornate gilt scrollwork and a cobalt blue ground. Measures 2-1/2″ high. Delicately formed bronze handle replaces the long lost broken original which had the same simple loop shape.
This large porcelain sauceboat was made and decorated in China and dates from the Qianlong period (1736-1795). Sauceboats (aka gravy boats) were part of larger dinner services, exported to North America and Europe and snatched up by wealthy customers eager to display in their china cabinets.
A skillful hand decorated the gravy boat with polychrome enamel flowers and an iron red border with gilt detailing.
Even the interior is painted with peony flowers and a blue zig zag fence, visible once the last bit of gravy has been consumed.
The broken handle has been replaced with an ingenious solid silver removable replacement, held together with screws and hinges. The craftsmanship is superb and unlike any other I have seen.
Only the wealthy would have able to afford this type of intricate repair, which keeps the body intact and without the intrusion of piercing rivets and bolts.
Sauceboat measures 4-1/2″ high and is 9-1/2″ long.
This shows what the simple loop handle on my similarly shaped sauceboat may have looked like before it broke off.
Photo courtesy of Guest & Gray
“Vogue” shaped porcelain teacup in the bright yellow Sunray pattern 11742, designed by Eric Slater for Shelley and introduced in August 1930. Discontinued in 1933, due to impractically designed hard to hold cup handle.
Teacup has footed conical form and measures 2-1/2′ high and the saucer is 4″ in diameter.
Stamped in green on the bottom: Shelley; ENGLAND; Rd 756533 with pattern number 11742-4.
A close up of one of the metal staples which was drilled through the outside of the delicate cup, holding the 2 broken pieces together.
The inside of the teacup reveals the ends of the staples flanking the crack.
This “perfect” example can be seen in the ceramics collection at the V&A Museum in London.
Chinese Kangxi period (1662-1722) miniature porcelain vase, decorated in blue underglaze floral design. Costly miniatures such as this were collected by adults and were not necessarily made for children, although they are still commonly referred to as doll’s house miniatures.
After the neck broke off, an unmarked chased silver neck with chain & stopper was added, most likely in Amsterdam, sometime in the early to mid 1800s, turning the vase into a scent bottle. This is my favorite type of inventive repair; one where an object’s original function is altered and transformed into another.
Scent bottle stands a mere 3-1/4″ tall.
Please check out my other doll’s house miniature vases from the same period showing similar striking transformations.
This miniature vase, with nearly identical form and decoration, shows the original form with an intact neck.
I have never seen another repair quite like this. The porcelain bowl itself is fine but unremarkable: made in China in the mid-1700’s for export to North America and Europe, decorated in Famille Rose enamels with large stylized flowers and cobalt blue underglaze leaves.
But what makes this piece truly remarkable are the figural repairs. Rather than using standard metal staples or straps to join the broken pieces of the bowl, an inspired metalsmith cut three different shapes to form a unique bond. An unmistakeable heart-shaped brace sits below a strap shaped like a scepter. Each of these has short metal pins attached, which pass through small holes drilled into the side of the bowl.
This short metal strap, straddling a crack, resembles a bow tie.
Bowl measures 4″ high and has a diameter of 8-1/4″.
A single red blossom surrounded by spidery blue leaves is found at the center of the bowl and a decorative border is painted along the inner rim.
The inside of the bowl reveals the carefully hammered ends of the metal brace pins, which are mostly masked by the deep cobalt painted decoration.
A small pear-shaped porcelain teapot made in Japan during the Edo middle period (1704-1800), with underglaze Imari decoration of birds and flowers in cobalt blue, iron red and gold.
Measures 3-1/2″ high, 5-1/4″ wide.
Silver replacement lid with chain, engraved decoration and Dutch hallmarks is from the early to mid 1800’s.
This nearly identical teapot shows what the original lid on mine would have looked like before the silversmith got a hold of it. Thanks Hans!
Photo courtesy of Pater Gratia Oriental Art
This large porcelain charger, made in China during the Yongzheng period (1723-35), measures 13-3/4″ in diameter. The famille-rose palette with predominantly pink colored enamel is made from colloidal gold, a suspension of gold particles mixed into the glaze.
The polychrome decoration of a large tree on a terrace with over-scaled flowers is painted in shades of green, pink and blue on a pale green ground.
After this charger was dropped and broke in to over 20 pieces of varying sizes, an itinerant china mender made it whole again by carefully drilling holes in to the underside of the porcelain and securing 35 metal staples to either side of the cracks.
The disarray of cracks and staples make a wonderful pattern of their own.
These unusual metal staples have a deep ridge running through each length.
What a mess this guy is! It looks like someone threw it out of a moving car. This humble porcelain mug with cobalt blue Nanking underglaze decoration began its life in pristine condition over 220 years ago in China and was most likely exported to North America or Europe.
Measures 5″ high with a 3-3/4″ diameter.
The original porcelain handle seems to have gone missing some time ago. The rim appears to have been nibbled at by a porcelain mouse.
Although this mug is riddled with numerous cracks and chips, it will make a splendid pencil holder.
All that holds the mug together now is a single tin strap, added by a tinsmith in the 19th century.
Bits of old fabric strips once sealed the cracks on the bottom. Looks to me like the linen used to wrap mummies.
This mug, clearly in much better condition than mine, still maintains its original handle. But I am sure my mug had a much more colorful life.
Photo courtesy of Antiques.com
What do you do when a staunch survivor of over 200 years and with multiple battle scars exposing its difficult life appears with a fresh wound? This teapot arrived from overseas with a shattered handle, much to my dismay. I have often said that there is nothing as redundant as a “broken” make-do so I plan on repairing the handle with an inventive repair of my own. Stay tuned.
Lushly decorated porcelain teapot with bun feet and matching stand, made in Derby, England around 1810. Teapot measures 6″ tall and 11″ wide from the tip of the spout to the end of the broken handle.
Hand painted polychrome decoration features a stylized gilt cachepot surrounded by elaborate scrollwork, floral flourishes, bunches of grapes and a Greek key border.
Well over 100 years ago, the tip of the damaged spout was fitted with a gilt-finish metal replacement and the neck was repaired with 5 metal staples, overpainted in white enamel to blend in.
The matching oval tray measures 6-1/2″ x 8″…
with a symmetrical break…
held back in place with the aid of 6 metal staples.
Marked on the underside with a red crown Derby mark and pattern number “770”.
A Chinese porcelain teapot with hand painted cobalt blue Nanking underglaze decoration dates from 1790 to 1820. This type of design, produced in China since the mid-17th century, was so popular that it was first copied in 1780 by the English potter Thomas Turner of Caughley and was mass produced as the “Willow Pattern” (aka “Blue Willow”) with transfer decoration and sold worldwide
Today it is considered “America’s favorite patterned ware” and can be found in the wealthiest homes and roadside diners alike
Teapot measures 4-3/4″ tall and is nearly 10″ wide, from tip of the spout to the end of the replacement handle
A tinsmith came to the aid of the distraught original owner of the broken teapot and created an elaborate replacement handle. The metal handle has crimped edges, a thumb rest, hand grip and a tin truss encompassing the teapot for extra support
The same cobalt blue pagoda pattern is on both sides of the teapot
All that remains of the broken lapped reeded handle are the leaf terminals
This teapot with similar form and decoration shows what my teapot would have looked like with its original lid and handle intact
Photo courtesy of Equinox Antiques