Ever since I was little I remember a set of early 19th century Coalport Finger and Bow patterned plates that hung on the wall of our living room. I was intrigued by these plates because each one had been broken into about ten to fifteen pieces and had been reassembled with staples. These repaired objects have always held more interest to me because of how loved they were to be repaired rather than discarded. After spotting a teacup with a stapled saucer while in an antiques store in Asheville my interest was renewed.
and then I found this great little Minton creamer...
and then this fabulous Flight & Barr plate...
I have also discovered a wonderful blog by designer Andrew Baseman called Past Imperfect: The Art of Inventive Repair (please click here to be directed to his blog). All the following images come from his blog
A plate repaired with 35 staples... the reverse is much more interesting than the front of the plate which leaves something to be desired... 
A Crown Derby polychrome tray for a teapot... much more my aesthetic. I love everything about this... the colors and decorative devices. The reverse exposes a stapled repair...
Baseman even features a crystal ewer repaired with staples... amazing.
Hello William:
ReplyDeleteWe do have one or two pieces of china which have, at some time, been repaired with a staple, two at most. Never before have we seen pieces stapled quite to the extent of some which you show here.
I have a piece of Coalport with staples in the back. I have always wondered how they do that. Obv, not a staple gun!
ReplyDeletewas just going to refer you to andrew's blog - then I saw you are already familiar with it. bill and barry taught me to appreciate broken and stapled pieces, so I love them, too. donna
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of Royal Crown Derby Imari pieces
ReplyDeletethat are from the 1800's that I am interested in parting with. A platter and a bowl on a stand. The mark identify them between c1800 to 1825.
Please email me photos. You can find my email address on my profile page.
ReplyDeletePlease e-mail me at this address linnflowers@netzero and I will attach photos. Add Crown Derby in the subject section.
ReplyDeleteI love old staple repairs to porcelain. One of my favorite posssions is an antique Chinese export punch bowl with staple repairs to a heat crack. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by these kinds of crude, expedient, yet charming repairs on old objects. Your 35-stapler must be a record.
ReplyDelete--Road to Parnassus
From an Estate Sale 35 years ago: Minton, Genevese, Opaqe "M" China Tea set w/ Pot, creamer and sugar. Not true blue and white, bor of a grayish background w/blue scene and gold trims and accents. The tea pot has 3 china staples. This is the first blog I have found that appreciates the repairs to these old pieces. If you have any interest, I would be happy to send photos. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi, I have an old plate with three staples down the centre. It amazes me how they did that. They don't show to the other side of the plate. I have been trying to search online how to date the items I have (tea pot, cups, plates etc. silverware, etc.). It comes from my great great grandfather who was the first doctor in Canada to use anesthetic in surgery. There are no markings on them except for the number 19 stamped into the back of them. They have a delicate leafy and small blue floral pattern on the edges with and I belive they have gold in them. Any ideas you have for me and how to date them would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. I will check back to see if you have posted later.
ReplyDeleteFINALLY, after owning a lovely Herend rooster with a few staple repairs on its tail, and being told that there were collectors of this type of repair, I find your blog that reinforces the fact that this repair is something special.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your unique and informative words.
It's great to know that there is people out there that appreciate these pieces with their stapled repairs. I have 2 19th Century Satsuma Vases and 1 has been repaired with 7 staples. To be quite honest I thought I got ripped off, and have been trying to sell them, but researching it's repairs I came across this site and Past Imperfect. Now that I have this information I'm thinking of keeping them now..LOL
ReplyDeleteWe have recently inherited a set of china and some of the pieces are repaired with staples. We broke a plate and are having problems with more modern repair methods. Does anyone use the staple method any longer? Does anyone know of a resource for this?
ReplyDelete