Restoration of Salt Glazed Ceramic Storage Jar

This lovely salt glazed storage jar has a beautiful deep brown glaze with layered colors that range from dark chocolate to cinnamon. Unfortunately it suffered an impact on the rim that resulted in a fairly large loss.  Note the light gray area on the front, right side of the rem.

This is the sort of damage that catches the eye and distracts from the visual enjoyment of the the pots craftsmanship. Fortunately Studio Six was able to fabricate the missing area and retouch it to match the original surface.

The restoration began by filling the missing area with a two part epoxy putty. This fill was carved and sanded to match the shape and texture of the surrounding surface. The fill was then retouched using Rhoplex WS24 and powdered pigments. A base coat of burnt sienna was applied on top of to the fill After curing, layers of toned Rhoplex were applied to matched the translucency and depth of color of the original glaze.

Note, all materials used in this restoration are reversible. The restoration process itself did not scratch or damage the original artifact and the retouching of the fill minimally overlaped the original surface.

Restoring The Visual Contour

When viewing figurative sculptures, there are some parts of the human anatomy that if damaged or missing will dramatically alter our emotional response. Missing eyes, lips or limbs can distort the true intent of the artist, transforming a scene of divine rapture into one of torture and torment.

The facial features of this wood carving are scuffed but intact. What catches the eye and distracts the viewer is the figure's missing right breast. The client felt that the missing breast and exposed wood grain inhibited the viewer from seeing the beauty of the sculpture as a whole. So they contacted Studio Six to find out what could be done.

Fortunately, the left breast was intact so Studio Six used it as the model to fabricate the missing right breast.

Fabrication was done using a two part epoxy putty. The putty was sculpted and textured to match the original carved wood surface. Layers of tinted lacquer were applied and then buffed back to match the wear marks visible on the rest of the sculpture.

This restoration is completely reversible, with less than 1/8 of an inch of new paint overlapping the original sculpture.

Fabricating A New Face Plate

The face plate on this old family heirloom was a bit beyond a face lift. The Bakelite had deteriorated to the point that it was causing the surrounding wood to slit.

So Studio Six fabricated a new face plate. Now its ready to crank out the jams.

Two Delicate Bouquets Not To Be Forgotten

These two petite floral bouquets are carved from elephant ivory with the flower stems made from elephant hair. They are stained with watercolor. All combined, that makes for two very delicate sculptures. The damage you see in the top photo is very common; broken joins and missing pieces. The reconstruction requires the use of dental picks, tweezers and micro drill bits.

There were a few flowers missing, so reconstruction had to take into consideration both the original placement and the option for best visual placement. The end result is two beautiful sculptures that can once again be put on displayed. 

Now You See It, And Now You See It

Often when an object comes into the studio with missing bits, it is more cost effective AND conservation responsible to fabricate those missing bits from a modern material such as in this case by using a two part epoxy putty.

In the first photo you can see that there is an area about 2 X 2 1/2" that is missing. The second photo shows a roughed out blob of epoxy putty. In the third that blob has been carved to match the original design. And in the final photo the carving has been retouched to match the original color and patina.

What is really nice about this precess is that none of the original carving has been covered. The epoxy putty only makes contact at the joins. Plus there was no need to drill and dowel like you often have to when you are splicing wood to wood or stone to stone.

I'm using this image in an up coming presentation at the TAM conference. It tells such a good store, I thought I would post this reformatted version.

Shooting Horses Is Not An Option

This tragic scene of a new born foal suffering from two broken front legs just about brakes my heart.

Fortunately, using art conservation techniques the little pony can be saved.

Leading to complete recovery.

Fabricating Missing Carving

This is a detail of a carved wood base that is missing a 2 X 2 1/2 inch tree top. The tree top detached along two natural splits in the wood. This split can be seen in the branches to the right of the missing area.

After securing the splits with a flexible adhesive, a tinted epoxy putty was used as the replacement material.

The epoxy putty was carved to match the proportions of the surrounding carvings.

After refining, the fabricated are was in-painted to match the tone, color and sheen of the original surface. The splits on the surround branches were filled with a tined wax.