Porcelain figurines have always been very popular among collectors. But their main drawback is their fragility, they break easily and their value is reduced significantly. Distinctive feature products - the presence of a hollow space, which makes them lighter and at the same time more fragile. Repair and restoration of decorative figurines is a complex and sensitive task.
Gluing porcelain figurines
Porcelain in its own way physical properties has much in common not with ceramics, but with glass, since upon impact, massive elements split into large pieces, but the smallest fragments simply turn into dust. And if there are no difficulties during repair with large pieces, then it will be quite difficult to restore the smallest areas. The figurine will acquire its original appearance only after full artistic painting.
Step-by-step instruction:
Proper cleaning of porcelain
Porcelain is used to produce decorative figurines, tiles and small figurines. Over time, such products become dull, become covered with dust, and in some cases they can even become covered with a layer of rye if the surface is constantly exposed to moisture. If you become the owner of old porcelain that no one has looked after for a long time, the original luster of the product can be restored quite quickly.
- Add a small amount of soap to warm water and gently shake it until a foamy consistency forms;
- You should soften a cloth in water and wipe the product itself with it. All dirt and dust should be removed. After this, the porcelain is wiped with a cloth;
- The same product can be used to wipe off plaque or rust;
- After working with pumice, you need to wash off any remaining dust. After completing this procedure, you can wipe and dry the porcelain product.
The difference between ceramic and porcelain figurines
Porcelain is an integral part of ceramics, which also includes earthenware, porcelain and even clay solutions. The porcelain consistency suggests the presence of a white clay substance, kaolin, and feldspar. All these ingredients undergo a firing process at a temperature of 2.6 thousand degrees (Fahrenheit).
As for ceramics, its important part is brittle and hard materials made from minerals. Any good collector can quickly distinguish a ceramic product from a porcelain product not only by sound, but also by appearance.
Instructions:
- Hold the figurine against the light rays, moving your finger in different directions along its surface. The shadow of the finger is clearly visible through the product, since the material is inherently transparent. But ceramics do not give such an effect.
- Upon tactile contact, the porcelain figurine resembles an eggshell; it is just as smooth and even.
- Tap the surface of the figurine with your fingernail. Porcelain figurines sound loud, but ceramic ones produce a dull and even sound.
We hope our tips will be useful to you, and you will be able to provide quality care for your small decorative figurines. These works of porcelain art were created with love and reverence, so they should be preserved with the same feelings and care.
The workshop carries out professional restoration of figurines, collectible souvenirs made of wood, stone, ivory, tusk, porcelain, glass, and metal. African masks made of ebony and ebony, inkstands, dolls, toys, chess, fans and all kinds of miniatures.
In the workshop you can order shelves or a display case for a collection of souvenirs, stands for fans, knives, chairs and furniture for collectible dolls.
You can place an order or get advice from a restorer by calling 8 985 364-93-23, via our email or Watsapp +79853649323.
The photo shows a stone figurine. The jade is broken into many individual pieces. Fortunately, the sculpture was damaged during transportation when it was packed. It was received for restoration in the same packaging that was transported, thanks to which not a single fragment, even the smallest one, was lost. Gluing stone without any additional work.
Gluing porcelain figurines, if all the broken fragments are preserved, is carried out in several stages. First, the figurine is assembled without glue. Then the gluing order and the presence of all the necessary fragments are determined. In the absence of individual parts, they are manufactured using special technologies. They are adjusted to the shape and glued to the place of loss. No matter how well porcelain figurines or souvenirs made of porcelain, glass, and earthenware are restored, it will no longer be possible to make them whole. The telltale dull sound when hitting a figurine with a pencil will reveal not only the gluing, but even the presence of the smallest cracks, which are not noticeable at all and do not require restoration at all. When restoring porcelain, the customer needs to know that all adhesives, no matter how high their price, cannot withstand high temperatures. After restoration, you will no longer be able to use either the teapot or the cup. Porcelain after restoration is only suitable for contemplation.
Restoring plaster figurines or marble, earthenware lamp bases, stucco moldings, and souvenirs is technologically simpler than gluing porcelain. But here the collector and restorer are faced with an unpleasant feature of these materials, namely, hygroscopicity. Moisture, fats and dirt penetrate into the smallest cracks and chips, darkening the entire surface of the crack. In other words, the surface of the crack darkens throughout the entire thickness of the product. Glue molecules, penetrating between particles of gypsum, marble, earthenware, wet them, thereby exacerbating the darkening. Owners of earthenware tables with cracked glaze are well aware of this problem. Only the glaze was cracked, but the moisture that penetrated under the coating emphasized the defect. The entire surface of the thing is covered with a network of dark stripes.
Restoration of glass figurines
Everyone knows that it is impossible to glue glass together unnoticed. There are several reasons for this. Glass is transparent only in its mass. Any border of a glass product, including a crack, begins to reflect rays of light, which indicates its existence, even if it was very well adjusted and glued with the best glue in the world. Glass cannot be glued, but it can be fused.
You can make the restoration of a glass figurine invisible by using fusing, partial melting of the glass mass. The two parts are folded at the fracture site and heated to the required temperature. The glass turns into a liquid state and fuses. With this method of restoring glass figurines, there is a high risk of partial loss of shape. It is also necessary to remove contaminants from the surfaces being fused. Particles that fall into the fusion site will disrupt transparency. The restoration mark will appear as a thin dark line.
Souvenirs from Africa - ebony figurines, masks, all kinds of panels inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl shells - real works of art. Getting into our modern apartments with drained batteries and warm floors air, they are inevitably subject to shrinkage, deformation and destruction. It is impossible to resist, but it is possible to restore. It is almost impossible to carry out a complex restoration of a miniature with your own hands. If a crack appears on the figurine, it can cause the destruction of the entire thing. The integrity of the solid wood needs to be urgently restored.
Tropical wood species (ebony, wenge, rosewood, zebrawood, rose) have a fairly large amount of essential oils in their wood, which prevent high-quality gluing with modern adhesives. Ebony figurines, masks, souvenirs are restored with the same type of wood from which they are made. Glue is used from bone, flesh or fish. All other means will give only a temporary effect.
Japanese ivory figurines - netsuke, Chinese figurines, souvenirs made from mammoth bone, Far Eastern ones made from walrus ivory - are real works of decorative and applied art, which are successfully restored in our workshop. Bone carving is an ancient art. Each nation has its own national characteristics and carving techniques. Currently, many imitations have appeared that look similar to real ivory, but it is impossible to fake the national canons and the talent of the carver, symbolism, and composition.
A collection of ivory figurines is a rare occurrence. Porcelain, bronze, even silver, are produced in batches. Products made from bone cannot be supplied, even for a small flow. Each item is unique. Fashion is when everyone has it. In this sense, bone products have never been fashionable, but have always been a luxury item.
Our workshop carries out restoration of bone figurines, fans, netsuke, and miniatures. We cut out the missing parts from real old ivory. It is not on sale in the form of raw materials, but you can find it. We replenish our reserves by purchasing bone products with a high degree of destruction that cannot be restored. The bone pieces should be quite large, without cracks, yellowness or dirt.
The restorer copies the missing part and glues it in place. A well-fitted joint is practically invisible. Even if the place of gluing is noticeable, this does not make the bone figurine worse or cheaper. Unlike porcelain figurines, bone restoration does not reduce its commercial price.
Horn figures
The souvenir is a horn on a chain, known since Soviet times. They were brought from trips to the Caucasus. They hung it on the wall, or kept it in a sideboard, and at the height of the feast, they took it off, poured some drink into it and, with everyone’s approval, passed it from guest to guest. Each participant in the feast had to make a toast and take a sip from the horn. Figures made from buffalo or ox horn basically follow the shape of the material. These are either fish or birds. Another thing is the horn of a deer or elk. There is no need to process them. Just polish it, attach it to the base and the panel is ready.
Furniture made from horns
Any items made from porcelain suffer various losses over time. For example, the glaze crumbles, chips appear, gouges, sometimes individual parts and large fragments fall out. Repairing porcelain products and replacing lost fragments is a labor-intensive and complex process. In ancient times, both unfired and baked clay, as well as gypsum, were used for this.
IN modern world To restore porcelain, gypsum mixed with PVA glue, called gypsum polymer, is used. In addition, materials such as cyanoacrylate composites, mastics such as Remoset or Milliput, epoxy resins are used, which are filled with talc, glass microspheres, dry pigments and other fillers. Dental materials are also used to restore porcelain products.
The last stage of restoration is mixing the components with paints that match the tone of the given piece to fill in the missing fragments. Nowadays you can freely buy any paints and varnishes.
Professional restorers pay special attention to manufacturing defects. As a rule, it can indicate the time of manufacture of a given porcelain product and its affiliation with a particular company. More common manufacturing defects included: deformation, glaze peeling or cracking, blisters, bubbles, floaters, paint and gilding defects. But products with such flaws still entered the market. Drawings were applied to them, and the flies were camouflaged with painted small flowers, insects or leaves. Any old things, as well as porcelain dishes, even with good storage, lose their former appearance. It becomes worn out, scratches appear, gouges, chips caused by a knife, fork or spoon. Inside porcelain vessels there are deposits from coffee, tea, wine, as well as lime deposits that are in the water. Are such defects considered beyond restoration?
If a professional restorer gets down to business, he will do everything in such a way that it will not even be possible to determine where and what the defect was. At their disposal are not only modern methods and materials, but also extensive work experience.
To determine the presence of a repaired crack, you need to lightly tap the product, for example, with a fork or something metal. If the sound is clear and continues, then the item has no cracks, but if there is an invisible crack, the sound will be dull. To find it, you need to use an ultraviolet lamp or magnifying glass.
When buying a well-preserved antique porcelain product, you can run into a handicraft fake. But in factories they can also produce items with a false brand.
You should not undertake restoration on your own, as the result can be very disappointing. Such repairs to porcelain products most often cause additional damage to them. There may be unsuccessful gluing, the use of short-lived adhesives, careless processing of replenishments, the use of abrasive materials, and much more. Elimination of new defects is added to old defects and will not only take more time, but will require significant financial expenses.
Museum restorers use materials to repair porcelain that can be replaced with others if necessary. When using restoration techniques, they work according to the principle: the repaired defect is invisible from a distance of 180 centimeters, but at a distance of 15 centimeters, it should be clearly visible. But this only applies to museums.
In a commercial restoration, no defects should be visible at any distance. Any restorations, as well as porcelain dishes restored using commercial technology, will not be cheap. But it's worth it, because a broken item cannot be distinguished from a new item. In addition, the work of commercial restorers is very complex and requires great skill. They also work painstakingly and for a long time with expensive materials. Therefore, before sending a porcelain item for restoration, you need to inquire in advance about the cost of its repair and look at the work of the master.
When restoring porcelain yourself, for example, gluing some parts, you need to remember to degrease the places where the glue will be applied, that is, wipe them, for example, with a solvent. For gluing, it is better to use PVA, epoxy resins or cyanoacrylate glue, which dries very quickly. Tableware intended for eating is glued together with harmless special glue.
After all the preparations, you need to apply a small layer of glue to both parts of the porcelain and attach them tightly to each other. Then they need to be tied, for example, with a bandage, and excess glue must be removed. Now the tableware can be placed in a warm place for several days. If there are small chips, you can simply fill them with epoxy resin. It is better to tint with acrylic paint.
The presence of glaze is the main distinguishing quality. Many people ask the question: “How to wash porcelain and how to care for dishes?” Collect all the components of the broken ceramic product. Before starting restoration work, each of the fragments should be placed in paper, after cleaning if they are dirty.
Porcelain restoration
You will need the following materials: paint thinner, cotton swabs, napkins, abrasive powder, matches, sandpaper, glue, razor blade, soft brush, adhesive tape.
1. It is necessary that all the fragments are dry, and most importantly clean. Wash the broken edge first. Do not wet the ceramic too much. If soapy water doesn't clean it, use acetone.
2. Whiten the fragment using a special solution.
3. Before you start gluing, match up all the parts of the item. Look how tightly they fit together. You will also have an idea of the best order to glue the pieces together.
4. Glue the smallest ones first, and only then move on to the larger ones.
5. Don't forget to remove excess glue with a swab.
6. Add a special pigment of the color you need to the adhesive.
7. Glue the edges of adjacent pieces together using matches.
8. Wait until the item is completely dry. This usually takes about 24 hours. Carefully remove any remaining glue with a razor blade.
9. If a small part of the product is lost, mix the adhesive with talc powder. Use your fingers to fill the hole with the mixture. Sand the surface.
10. If a large piece is lost, plasticine will come to your aid.
11. Apply a two-part solution to the chipped surface. Fill the plasticine mold with paste. Wait for the paste to dry.
12. Remove the mold and sand the surface with sandpaper. Be careful not to scratch the glaze.
13. Apply dry paste with the appropriate colors, repeating the design exactly.
14. Place paper under the fry and trace around the design to transfer the pattern.
If a product made from a noble material is of great value to you, you should not undertake restoration yourself. It is most rational to entrust this matter to a specialist. If you decide to save money and do everything yourself, remember a few principles that will help you successfully restore the item.
Basic rule: There is no need to heavily moisten the porous ceramic layer during cleaning. Glue the porcelain ones as soon as you have washed and dried the fragments. After the glue dries, the pattern may need to be restored. The usual ones will help you acrylic paints, which can imitate the shine of glaze, as well as enamel, used to decorate porcelain. Choose the colors for the pattern carefully and do not try to match the background, as you will not be able to find the right shade.
Repairing hairline cracks
1. Clean the surface around the cracks, mix the glue and place in the oven. Set the temperature to 200°C. When the knob is hot, turn off the oven. This will ensure the best adhesion.
2. Apply paste as soon as possible to fill the crack as tightly as possible.
3. After this, remove the remaining glue with the same blade, while trying not to damage the design. Wait for it to cool down.