Object
The object is a 19th Century porcelain vase which forms part of the Oriental Museum collections in Durham. The vessel is one of a pair and was gifted to the Oriental Museum in 1981 by Mrs Mildred Pacey. Both the base and neck of the vase are irrecular in shape, which could suggest the vessel was made by hand.
The vase has been decorated using overglaze painted enamel of pink, green, and blue leaves, flowers, and birds. There are two handle-shaped relief decorations applied on the sides with calligraphy, in the form of an unknown animal head holding a ring. The base of the vase bears a red iron Tongzhi mark, which indicates the date / reign / maker)
Condition
- Evidence of a previous repair to the vase in the form of excess old adhesive which has significantly discoloured
- The previous repair has badly stepped making the join visible
- There are several areas of missing surface paint around the break edges
- There are two old museum stickers attached to the inside of the rim using clear tape
- Signs of surface dirt on the exterior and interior of the vase.
Conservation
The old museum stickers were removed from the rim of the vase as the clear tape had discoloured over time and left adhesive residue on the surface. The discoloured tape was removed from the stickers and the surfaces were treated using a suitable consolidant in order to prevent further deterioration. The stickers were then packaged in a small finds bag and would be retained with the object.
In order to remove the loose dirt from the surface, the vase was dry cleaned using soft brushes. Following this, several small samples of the adhesive overspill were taken and tested to determine whether they would dissolve in any solvents.
After a variety of tests, the old join was able to be taken down using hot water as this sufficiently softened the adhesive. Once separated, the remainer of the old adhesive was removed using a combination of chemical and mechanical methods. The surface of the vase was then surface cleaned using an appropriate solvent to remove any remaining dirt or adhesive residue.
Once fully cleaned the two halves of the vase were re-adhered using a suitable adhesive which would be long term stable and would not discolour over time. The decision was made to inpaint the missing areas of surface paint as the eye was being draw to the missing areas rather than the decoration as a whole. In order to make these areas easily reversible, a barrier layer was applied to the chipped areas before they were painted using acryclic paints.