Do you feel a sense of awe when you are holding a piece of china that you know was made thousands of years ago? When you consider the value of Chinese pottery made during the ancient times, you will understand why there is a need for the repair and restoration of china.
The Rarer It Is, The Higher Its Value
The rarity of such items gives you a glimpse of ancient Chinese culture that no amount of textbook reading or viewing of historical documentaries can convey. In fact, it is not uncommon to have a flurry of news reports each time a rare Chinese pottery is discovered somewhere in the far reaches of the East. This just goes to show how our society values the unearthing of these rare pieces and how important the restoration of china is to cultural institutions.
Why the Need to Restore China
You can never underestimate the value of China and other porcelain items made thousands of years ago. They are in fact priceless pieces of artworks that many unscrupulous “artisans” in our modern society try to imitate and sell the bogus potteries as genuine artifacts for big sums of money. Every piece of ancient china unearthed really needs to be restored because they bear the debilitating marks of the elements as they survived long periods of time.
Restoration of China
There are two ways to restore china and each one is designed for a certain purpose. One of the methods used to restore china is the Museum Quality repair. In this process, the broken pieces of pottery is glued and bonded together using strong adhesives and binding implements like metal holders, jigs and similar tools. Usually there is no effort to cover up the glued sections of the pottery. There is also no concern about restoring the original colors of the item. The reason is that the pottery will be displayed as a museum piece to emphasize the fact that it is an ancient artifact.
The other method of the restoration of china is the Invisible repair. In this process, every effort is made to cover up the unsightly marks, cracks and bonded joints of the item. The pottery is first cleaned and then all the broken pieces are glued and bonded together using the same adhesive materials and tools as the first method. But after the glue has dried and set, the china is airbrushed and painted with colors that closely match the design of the original pottery. After all of these are done, the item is then glazed to give it a fresh new look.
Please note that after professional restoration, be it museum-quality or invisible, the restored item may not be washed, filled with liquid or kept outside. Both of the above-mentioned methods are designed for decorative / display purposes only.
You can view more photos of the restoration process on our Recent Projects page.
Restoration of China is Better Left to the Professionals
It may appear that the process of restoring china is simple and you may want to try to do it yourself. That may be true for potteries which are not rare and precious, or for those items that have no sentimental value. But when it comes to really rare and precious china, or items that have been in your family for years and have been passed on from one generation to the next, it is best to entrust the job to a professional restorer who has the right tools, the correct type of adhesives, and the necessary skills and experience to do it properly.
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