This very rare example of early American glass once contained mineral water and has survived to this day to be prized by collectors. Many pieces of everyday glassware from the early 19th century have since been discarded or destroyed. Those that have survived often find their way to us. This particular piece was subject to a poorly done repair. Thankfully, we have the means to undo such mistakes without damaging the glass in any way. Collectors rely on our care, attention to ...
This piece by contemporary ceramic artist Bente Hansen was a perfect candidate for our more conservative restoration techniques. The fine stoneware was reassembled almost seamlessly allowing the restorer to fill the losses and match the glaze with minimal impact to the original aesthetic of the sculpture. Art pottery is one of our specialties and we were delighted to see such a fine example coming to us by a Danish artist.
This magnificent ceramic bowl is about 20” in diameter. About eighteen of them were made and it is considered one of the iconic pieces of Art Deco ceramics. It portrays symbols of New York night life in the 1930s, hence its name: the Jazz Bowl. Two of them were purchased by Eleanor Roosevelt – one for their private home and one for the White House. One of them, however, seems to have been purchased and forgotten – and it wound ...
This is the ornate case of a 19th c. German music box. Originally it could play several tunes (fewer than an MP3 player, but the same idea) and the case was a magnificently detailed wooden baroque scene of cherubs and ornate vegetation. Sitting for a while in water, however, revealed that it is actually made from glued sawdust (a precursor of pressboard) with a thin veneer of dark hardwood that had apparently been steamed and pressed into a very elaborately ...
These were two boxed sets of very high-quality Sheffield steel - steak knives in one box, and carving implements in the other. Made in the 1950s, they were given pearl plastic handles which were originally strong and resilient. The makers probably thought that they were superior to the somewhat fragile mother-of-pearl that might originally have been used. These boxes lay unopened for about fifty years, and upon opening revealed that the plastic handles had completely degraded – leaving the Sheffield ...
There are times when a sink or other porcelain fixture is worth saving. Sometimes it is part of a color suite, and the whole set would need to be changed out (exact color matches in porcelain replacements are extremely hard to find except in white). The durability and design of such a piece may also be irreplaceable, as there was a time when plumbing fixtures were made to last as long as possible. This sink had two problems – there was ...
Micro mosaics like these were done in the 18th and 19th centuries by the same workshops in Rome that meticulously copied all the paintings in the central nave of St. Peter’s, and replaced them so that the originals could be kept in a humidity controlled, incense-free environment. It was even noted, at the time, that the atmosphere inside the huge volume created by the enormous dome, had its own weather – and sometimes even created clouds that would hover in ...
This Meissen porcelain sauce boat, in the traditional onion pattern, had lost a handle. In order to replace it we molded and then cast a replacement from the handle on the other side. We used a water-clear, non-yellowing optical epoxy that we carefully tinted to be a good match for the surrounding porcelain – not only the right color, but the correct degree of translucency. This handle, when joined to the piece, fit so well that we decided with the ...
This porcelain vase was so smashed that it is hard to imagine what happened to it. It required the patient, deductive skill of a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast to fit all the pieces together. Then the chips were filled and the lines coated with an optical epoxy so that the pieces could be safely sanded smooth without damaging the porcelain surface underneath. Airbrushing and careful hand-painting followed, with a final coat of a durable glaze that was hand rubbed to the ...
The two fingers of the Jesus in this statue were broken off and stolen. The gestures on such statues are very specific, and as this sculpture had been carved specifically for this church, we were able to solicit a photograph of the original sculpture from the congregation. Work on site would have been disruptive to the church, so we made a silicone rubber cast of the broken hand, and took it back to our studio. From the photograph we were ...