The Minton plate before treatment, the reverse shows the copper rivets holding it together.
The consolidated plate post treatment.
Apologies for the poor image quality. The plate itself is from Belvoir Castle and dates between 1880 and 1920. The piece was visually identified as bone china. The ceramic had some physical damage which required the shards (3) at the time to be pieced together using copper rivets, however as the piece had aged the rivets corroded slightly and had begun to stain the ceramic body, due to this they needed to be removed.This was done manually using a tiranti spatula. The plate was initally cleaned using Synperonic A7 ( a mild detergent). As there was a running crack stemming from the impact point that had stained different cleaning methods were implemented to remove its discolouration. Originally a Biotex and calgon wash and paste was used and when this failed to lighten it 20% hydrogen peroxide with ammonia was used. This was repeated untill a satifactory shade was reached. The rivet holes were maually cleaned to remove any remaining corrosion deposits and then an acetone swab was able to remove the rest. Once this was completed the piece was steam cleaned to remove any chemical residue that could remain. Before bonding the break edges were swabbed to ensure a clean looking bond. The 2 part epoxy adhesive 'Araldite 20/20' was used to bond the shards. The pieces were held in place using magic tape in a weaved style. The adheive was applied in small drops along the crack which could be absobed into the ceramic using capilary acction, creating a tight bond. Any excess could be removed once it had cured using a scalpel. The rivet holes were filled using the same adhesive with fumed silica and acrylic pigments, creating a good colour match. Excess was sanded away using fine micromesh. Unfortunatley the fills were not as invisble as id like as they are not the same denisty as the ceramic itself, although the colours are quite accurate. The piece was given a final clean using acetone and wrapped in acid free tissue.
