Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

“Men of this description are in China termed Fia-Con-Culk-Tziang; they practise every kind of occupation; they mend porcelain, repair locks, and solder pipes. They have a portable forge, anvil, furnace, coal, and all sorts of tools. The whole of this baggage is suspended to a bamboo cane; the anvil alone occupies one side to counterpoise the rest.”

“The china-menders are said to be far superior to our menders of earthen-ware; the reason of this is, that, working on a more valuable material, and making a higher charge, they take more pains with it; their piercer, instead of being iron, like that of our stall gentry, has a diamond point; extremely fine brass wire is passed through the holes, and the vessel, for use, is as good as ever”

For a more detailed account on the art of staple repair, see my blog entry “How did they do that?” from 5/12/10

From the book “China: It’s Costume, Arts, Manufacturers &c, Volume 3” by Breton (Jean Baptiste Joseph, M.), published in 1812

This photo was sent to me by a Scottish collector of pottery & porcelain who has been most generous in sharing his knowledge and examples from his collection with me. The photo by Alexander Beattie is included in Volume 6 of the series, “Peoples of All Nations”, edited by J.A. Hammerton. The caption reads: “Wandering china-mender camped by the pines of Rothiemurchus (Scotland)”, followed by: “He wends his way through the land, making a trifle at each village where thrifty folk may prefer the sight of a riveted jug to the cost of buying a new one. His push-cart carries house and belongings, and, when evening overtakes him, shelter and fire are soon ready, and while the pungent wood-smoke drifts about him he finishes some job for a local cottager.”

Close up of hand drilling, with jug in need of repair at his feet

Much thanks to Jim Horne for sending me this photo