Ceramic/China repair in Austin?
June 24, 2017 1:39 PM   Subscribe

Looking for someone to repair a plate in Austin, TX.

I have a plate that is of sentimental value to me that is broken into two pieces (nearly in half) I would like to have it restored if possible. I don't know what the actual material is (it's white).

I'm not planning to put into heavy rotation, as it's part of a tea set and I don't have many tea parties, but it would be nice to have the full set again. Anyone know someone in Austin that could do this work? In fact, I wouldn't mind if it was done in Kintsugi style with a visible repair. My googling is proving fruitless.

Thanks in advance!
posted by theRussian to Media & Arts (4 answers total)
 
I found this: Science of Art Restoration No personal experience with them, but it looks like they might be able to help.
posted by snowmentality at 1:49 PM on June 24, 2017


Response by poster: Yeah, I thought that would be perfect as well, until I went to their site an realized they recently moved to LA :(
posted by theRussian at 2:20 PM on June 24, 2017


Best answer: My wife, the ceramics artist and teacher says approximately the following:

1) If it is ceramic and glazed, there is no ceramics-based process or material that will repair it (to her knowledge, anyway).

2) So, if you want to do a metallurgical repair, such as kintsugi, she suggests that you go to a jeweller or look for a metalsmith, as kintsugi does not involve returning the ceramic work to a kiln or using any ceramics-based process. You need someone who knows how to work gold or other precious metals that you might involve in the repair.

3) She also says that if you are going to use the plate largely for non-liquids (she says "Don't do this with a soup bowl"), you could epoxy the plate back together. She has occasionally used epoxy for small scale repair of sculptural work and says she would feel fine serving the occasional piece of cake on an epoxied plate.

Good luck!
posted by Slothrop at 3:50 PM on June 24, 2017


Two suggestions:
There's a shop on etsy that specializes in Kintsugi and should show up if you do a search under that word

There's an online shop called Replacements that specializes in carrying singles from sets of ceramics and silverware. You may find a pristine match there.
posted by effluvia at 9:23 PM on June 24, 2017


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