China Figurines Submission - Another Side of Porcelain

by Phillip
(Canada)

China Figurines Submission - Another Side of Porcelain:- By Phillip Badham www.philipsporcelainrepair.com. As a porcelain restorer I see things a little differently than the collector or the manufacturer or the corner antique shop.

One of the wonderful things about restoration is that I get to meet the people and hear their stories. Porcelain, whether figurines, flatware or a decorative vase represents many things to people. It is a microcosm of memories and aspirations and our love of history and beauty.

I see these things amplified by loss. I get a warm glow after putting back together something that was considered ruined. Many times people bring to me a little box full of pieces, carefully stored for decades.

The object was so treasured that the owner could not bear to part, even with the pieces. Unable to find someone reasonably close who could repair it, they hoped someday to be able to get it restored. Then they find me.

I live in rural Ontario, Canada, so the people around me do not have ready access to my kind of service, which is probably common in New York or London. They are very reluctant to mail their precious possessions and I must admit that I never do either.

I can’t bring myself to hand over someone else’s heirloom to the post office clerk. Between us we always find a way to hand deliver the finished product. So my clients are always local. I smell an article here about safely shipping porcelain. I know it is done all the time but most of us mere mortals are terrified by it!

It was very encouraging, when I first started, to discover that people treasured objects of beauty, simply for their own sake, or for historical and sentimental reasons.

Monetary value seldom came into it, with some notable exceptions, like replacing a finger on a particularly valuable figurine. Much more usual is the repair of a piece which has no value whatsoever to anyone else but the owner. One of my early efforts was the repair of a rabbit moneybox that had been won at a fair by the owner’s father and given to him as a little boy.

It wouldn’t have sold for a dollar at a yard sale but was worth all the world to him. It was covered in chips and had lost part of one ear and it wasn’t even porcelain but was made of a very cheap, soft ceramic.

When it was restored to its former glory its owner was overjoyed. I can’t say a grown man cried but he sure came close!

When asked what I do I often reply, “I repair dreams and memories.”

Best regards

Phil