Restoration of Antiques and Collectibles,Restoration of China and Porcelain

Atelirer de Montplaisir Restoration Studio

Restoration of Antiques and Collectibles

Dear Guest, please read the following information carefully if you decide to use my services ..

Estimates:

All estimates for any type of conservation/ restoration works will be available free of charge . . In order to get the idea about the condition of the damaged object , required treatment, and an approximate price for work to be done I will need access to short but detailed description in English, Russian or Swedish languages , clear photos of the object taken by the owner and sent to my e-mail address .

The images should not exceed the size of 500KB. Resolution - 800X600...Up to 8 high quality clear images taken by digital camera , please.

How to make good photographs of the objects using a digital camera ?

Note - No images made by the cameras built into your mobile phones, please.

In order to make clear and crisp images never use Flash when you take the images of items made of porcelain ceramics or glass.

Please, make photographs in a well lit room placing the object somewhere close to the windows but away from direct sunlight , and - at daytime only !

The close-up shots of the small / medium sized damaged areas on the objects should be photographed in "Macro mode" from the distance of 10- 20 cm.

Try not to shake your hands when pressing the trigger button !

For best results - Using of a tripode or some sort of a stable support for the camera or your hands is highly recommended...

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Note - there may be cases when I will not be able to carry out any or some types of restoration on certain objects under certain conditions. In such cases the client will be notified accordingly.

The item can also be examined by me personally in my studio - but in this case the meeting should be arranged beforehand. You can contact me by phone or e-mail for details.

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Conservation :

With 'conservation' the object is conserved to the present state to avoid further damages. For instance museum pieces which have a great historical value are mostly conserved with minimal change....

In case of conservation treatment I will clean the object from accumulated alien substances ,remnants of old repairs, strengthen and seal the damaged areas ,cracks using only those long lasing materials that will remain neutral to the substance the item is made of - would that be the porcelain, ceramics ,wood or bone .. etc .. Being harmless and absolutely reversible those materials will nevertheless prevent any deteriorations and preserve the objects for the future. .

Restoration types ...

Before starting any job , it's important to ascertain the exact requirements of the client :one may wish the restored area to be seen , the other will insist on completely invisible result ... ...

I offer my clients three types of Restorations of various items made of Porcelain and Ceramics :

" Museum " , " Gold Repair " ... and " Invisible " .

" Museum " type :

Usually relatively Non - expensive.The item will be cleaned ,glued, all missing areas rebuilt using appropriate materials .Filled / rebuild areas will be polished and aligned with the level of the edges of the object . The recreated parts ,areas will closely match the color of the original material of the restored object .Still - the restored areas will not be absolutely invisible and the realigned edges of the original parts glued together at the break line will be visually distinguishable . Newly restored / filled areas will still be visible as well .

" Gold Repair " :

Medium - budget type of repair. The missing parts/areas will be restored and gilded over using Gold leaf or Gold Transfer ,or sprayed/painted with a brush over by cheaper substitutes mixed with special resins for false glazing , with similar effect. Some retouching to the painted areas on request. The price for this type will depend on the type of materials chosen by the client ,time needed for completion and the techniques involved in the process of restoration of the object ...

The final results of this type of restoration will remind closely the results of Oriental ,ancient Japanese type of restoration known as "Urushi" ....

" Invisible ":

Time and resources consuming ,difficult technically and relatively expensive.

Please note, that in some cases "invisible" restorations are not technically possible or simply not recommended .

On some WebPages of the web one can clearly see many examples of so called "Invisible Restorations" done by some "Restorers" with "many years of experience" who in reality are "too shy" to place clear, high resolution photos of their work ,namely - the images of the restored areas photographed in Macro mode with proper lightning and from closest possible distance ,say .. of 10 cm from the restored area (point blank) ....

The examples shown on www.Fragilecreations.com , section - " My restorations Page " show what I mean when using term "Invisible".In all cases the restored areas are treated with attention to smallest detail ,modeling , sculpturing ,molding, casting ,carving, grinding, polishing operations carried out systematically and of course - manually .. Closely matching colors sprayed with fine airbrushes in many layers , using lacquers and acrylics alike , blended with different types of color agents ..

Detailed decorations are retouched manually with brushes of different caliber ....

In most of the cases the restorations will not be apparently visible from the distance of 30 cm or less.

All restorations of china and porcelain and ceramic type items are made in "cold way"only. That means : no techniques of the "old school" which would involve "re- burning" in the kiln and using self-made mineral blends …The maximum temperature the items are exposed to(in cases when necessary, approved by the owner and safe only ) in my studio: + 200 C( above + 100 C - mostly items made of porcelain and ceramics only) or lower .Usually no higher than +60 C when air drying . :) .

In many cases I'm capable of making restorations almost or absolutely invisible to the human eye ....Try it, and you will not regret it...

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Restoration/conservation of items made of other materials :

The items made of materials different from ceramics and porcelain ... if technically possible ... will be treated and restored /conserved in accordance with specific requirements of the client in each single case !

I must emphasize, however ,that I always prefer to avoid any direct and unnecessary physical ,chemical or any other impact on the items being restored.. I prefer not to drill, cut, grind anything unless necessary and do that only when I get approval from the owner of the object .. I always prefer not to expose the items to the aggressive chemicals which may cause any sort of damage ..I use conventional strippers to remove old epoxy-based glues , but sparingly and locally only and in the areas where it is absolutely necessary...

All materials that will be involved in any type of restoration or conservation procedures will be specifically chosen to maximize the future stability, appearance and lifetime of any repairs regardless of the material the damaged item is made of....Basically most of the materials involved are resistant to slitage , scratching ,yellowing…

Regardless of the method of restoration chosen by the client I always try to use reversible materials involved in the processes .Many of those materials in my arsenal are used in conservation in the leading Museums worldwide. They have been tested for various properties including ageing, discoloration, strength , compatibility with other materials and suitability with for different types of materials before being passed as suitable for use on a Museum object.

However , there are some specific alternative commercial products, not less reliable , that meet all the requirements of the modern ,professional restorer of antique items made of different types of materials.

In most cases , all restorations performed by me can be removed by competent professional restorer using conventional chemicals/tools within several hours or more if need be ...

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Care for the restored objects:

All types of restored items regardless of materials they are made of should be handled with care ,should not be paced close to the sources of heat , moisture or vibration. The thinner -based lacquers I use are UV -resistant to some degree ,but it's better to keep them indoors and far from open windows or inside glass paneled furniture for safety and proper demonstration .Constant room temperature , low humidity ,protection from dust will make the restorations last for very long time …To read more about care for the restored objects please go to "FAQ" section and read the article " Care for the restored objects "

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