FOUR FIGURINES

FOUR FIGURINES

Here are 4 figurines that have recently arrived in the studio.  Previous restoration is evident on all of them with losses and discolouration of varying degrees.  First thing I need to do is to get rid of the old gunk! So DCM, soak, rinse, steam cleaned.  You have to be careful cleaning the tiny pieces as the pressure of the steam can cause small fragments to shoot off in any direction.  One way of stopping this is to use a fine metal gauze placed over the piece that needs to be cleaned.

THE LADY ON PEDESTAL

The above lady's head was partially joined to the body.  On further inspection a matchstalk had been lodged into some grey putty in the head hollow.  The bow on the hat has losses and the rim of the bonnet has a slither lost.

Finished figure

THE VIOLIN PLAYER

This elegant violin player has suffered breakages and losses.  The leg looks to be a clean break but the small hand has missing fingers and the violin has lost the carved scroll machine head.  The broken leg was relatively easy to attach using special epoxy which I propped up using sculptors plasticine.

Mould of scroll made of sculptors plasticine ready for silicone, very tiny piece!

Tiny end piece made and attaching to the violin and hand. I also had to
extend the missing finger and thumb that was playing the strings.

COMPLETED FIGURINE

BOY IN BLUE TROUSERS

This one is more problematic in that there are several losses not obvious until I get it out under some good lighting and magnifying specs. Some pieces remain so this will be a good jigsaw! After having cleaned the pieces individually I can see that the discoloured piece beneath the body is not ceramic but some kind of old fill, looks like plaster.  It has been badly repaired and I'm not sure which angle the head will go? There seems to be a loss on his right cheek which may suggest that the hand touched there.  The head was totally askew when it arrived so I have to think about this one.

       

LOSSES

• Base losses on each side of the feet to base
• Loss on the join of proper right knee
• Loss on joint of proper left knee
• Loss from top of wood stump that joins to the blue trousers (proper right)
• Large loss on proper left ankle and foot
• Loss on inside proper right jacket (yellow)
• Front chip off white blouse and part of the 'v' neck of blouse (front)
• Chip on basket (dark maroon)
• Loss underneath proper right arm around to the back of the jacket (pink enamel)
• Loss to proper right hand which pushes against the pink jacket which has to be created
• Losses of gold borders in many places
• Loss of proper left thumb that's holding the basket

FILLS

I mixed up 3 grams of special epoxy, bulked it up with fumed silica and let it rest for half and hour.  I then mixed some Titanium Oxide white into a small amount of epoxy, to achieve the colour of the white body. Blending the white mix gradually into the rest of the mix to get the correct opacity, looking and holding it against the white body and to the daylight.

Fill on the back shoulder propped up with sculpting plasticine.
Below the fill to one side of the base

Next fill at other side base and fills at the knees held at an angle whilst curing

Fill at neck and part of right hand

What was I thinking!! I've been looking at how I put the head on and it's just not right at all.  This is tricky and I have come to the conclusion that I have to dismantle and re-do.  The head and shoulder took a good couple of days to come apart again, right ready to go again ........

OK this looks better!!

I used sculptors plasticine to prop up the head and shoulder so I could see exactly how it might fit into the proper position.  I then used part of the epoxy mix to fill only part of the neck.  The next day it was still soft enough so that if I wasn't happy I would be able to move if necessary.  It was ok, so I left it to cure another day. 

• A.  Top of the shoulder filled up to where the collar of the jacket is to be created
• B.  Loss on the top of the cuff
• C.  Fill of the frill on the blouse
• D.  Fill where there were chips on the neck

• E.  Join where the forefinger meets the cheek
• F.  Cut off piece of pipette to keep the shoulder in position which will be removed

I am now going to allow this to cure, put the rest of the epoxy mix in the freezer and come back to it again to create the collar of the jacket.

Now we've got to get the legs and base back on......  when I took the boy apart again I didn't remove the fills that I had previously done on each side of the base.  so I have to refill the knee joints and the large loss on the proper left foot.

AT LAST DONE!

LADY WITH FLOWER

This lady carrying a basket of flowers looked only to be a clean break at the waist but is actually in three pieces with a slither.   She also looks as though she was holding a flower which are missing and also that her little finger looks as though it was extended these have to be re-modelled.  I also re-modelled a leaf and flower petal that had been missing in her basket.

Recreation of flower and extended finger

The finished lady with her missing finger and flower remodelled and tinted.

The final pictures..

SPODE JUG

SPODE JUG

This jug is 7.5 inches tall and was stuck very badly with epoxy that had discoloured with age. It is mostly the side and pouring part of the jug that has suffered impact damage, however on inspection part of the lion head on the top part of the handle was missing.  Very pretty design on this one, I'm looking forward to working on it!

Jug de-bonded and steam cleaned


This jug has a pale coloured clay body which has not been fired to a high temperature and was therefore slightly porous so I didn't soak it.  I de-bonded the old epoxy using DCM over five hours in an enclosed container.  The pieces came apart quite easily and I used cotton swabs and de-ionised water to clean off the DCM residue.  Some staining remained on the edges so I used Laponite with 10% hydrogen peroxide (35%).  I put the Laponite/hp mix on the edges and covered in clingfilm for a few hours which worked well


As the ceramic body had not been fired to stoneware it was not suitable to use special epoxy directly onto the surface.  I therefore consolidated the edges by brushing with Paraloid B72 (Acryloid in the USA) 15% in acetone prior to application of the fills.  

This is the jug after I'd done the fills

For the fills I used special epoxy and bulked it up with a mix of fumed silica and marble dust which gave it a similar texture to the ceramic.  I used historic pigments to colour the epoxy to achieve a creamy shade.

The fills here have been taken back to just below the level of the glaze.

Here I have re-touched in the missing design using Golden airbrush colours

THE FINISHED JUG

About me

WHITING CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION

Working on a Victorian Italian micro-mosaic in my last year at University 2011

This is where I spend most of my time these days!

This blog is a record or diary of work carried out in my new restoration and conservation studio in Kent, UK.  New objects constantly arrive and each one needs different types of work and treatments to be done.  It will be interesting to see how it goes and of course, to look back at how I have progressed through the months and years.  

In 2007 I started a BSc (Hons) Degree in Conservation and Restoration at London Metropolitan University and transferred in 2008 to City & Guilds of London School of Art to do a BA (Hons) in conservation studies.  

I have decided to concentrate on the restoration of ceramics.  My previous work in ceramics has given me an appreciation of the skills and the knowledge of how ceramics were and are made.  It was interesting finding out about the science behind the materials and their treatments as well as informing and building on my skills.  I had been drawn to restoring and conserving ceramics as I was familiar with the material and the decorative processes, but I have found out that making and restoring/conserving are two separate things!  

Anyway here we are at the start of my studio showing you case studies explaining my work and how I'm achieving it ....................

PRIOR TO MY DEGREE

My background has always been involved with hand-made crafts.  Fashion design and textiles, working for a stained glass company (after a two year course) and decorative painting.  Prior to my degree in conservation I spent 8 years creating bespoke tiles and architectural ceramics, from clay to glazed finished product which were sold to interior designers both in the UK and internationally. I particularly enjoyed painting cobalt freehand onto tin glazed tiles (majolica) and using enamels for decorative murals on glazed tiles (see pictures below).

Below a magazine article about the ceramics studio 'The Annexe" in 1996, (the creative arm of Paris Ceramics, London)  You can see me at work with my back facing the photo-shot in the second photo.  I also continued the same work when 'The Annexe' moved the whole operation to France continuing to supply Paris Ceramics to their 10 outlets in America and Europe.

Magazine article about the studio in London 1996

Here I am sitting with my back to the camera in the middle of painting some cobalt work

Bespoke hand-made tiles based on a floor situated at
The Palace of the Popes, Avignon, France.
This floor tile was very popular as I painted more than 4,000 of these tiles 16 designs,
freehand using copper and manganese onto unfired tin glaze. 

Birds and Urn enamels painted on wood fired tin glazed tiles from Spain

Alphabet designs painted in enamels on the same Spanish tiles

Other ceramic projects -  Stone fired ceramic tiles and architectural mouldings for gymnasium for private

client in Luxembourg, below - Sculpted lettering/symbols bathroom panel using oxides and underglazes.

Warrior ceramic bisque with decoration using oxides and mosaic 

SOME OF MY STAINED GLASS WORK

Top left to right - bathroom window panel installed lengthways into exterior encasing with steel supports.  
Window of lady holding flowers with painted panels using silver stain and oxides on coloured glass,  Lower left - bathroom window panel, Lower right - stained glass set into wooden screen using acid etched blue flash glass and a selection of hand blown and machine made glass.