broken Meissen plates

[Sal Williams]

I have some TR Meissen plates that came broken in the mail. I was wondering what kind of glue is the proper one to repair them with. Also what do restorers use where the pieces have gaps due to the area being broken into fine powder (I.E. not a clean break area). In museums they seem to fill the areas where they dont have the pieces with some sort of clay putty material to make the object whole.

Thanks, Sal

[MaxxBrunn1938]

I would check out your local museum and ask them. Down here we have the San Diego museum of history

Joe

[Paul R.]

Sal. As you may know there are a lot of glues on today’s market. From very specialty glues to one drop repairs all glue. In most cases most of these glues will work well, and will do a fine job from either semi perminate to not so good. A product called Duco glue by DuPont this glue maybe used full strenght or thined down for more fragle items. It is removable leaving in most cases no further damage behind. I have used it on almost all items of clay and glass repairs

Two small rules of thumb by most conservators is the glue should be archival and reversible without doing any further damage to the surface of the plates glazing.

Museums also use clay to imitate areas were original plate or bowl material maybe missing. Regular clay can be used and colored matched to the plate, or resin may use in smaller areas. These clays are usually not kiln fired for the most part and remain fragile. over all. Most conservators build supports for such repaired broken items. Hope this helps Paul

[Jareth]

As a ceramics restorer I use Devcon brand two part epoxy for gluing non porous ceramics such as porcelain. It comes in a "5 Minute" or "2 Ton" (dries slowly & is stronger) formula & both are reversible. As for fill I use plumbers, two part epoxy putty which can be tinted with powdered pigment to match surrounding ceramic color.

[Sal Williams]

Thanks much guys