The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1905-02-03
MENDING CHINA.
Simple Means of Restoring Broken
Treasures, Old and New.

| 4 Simple Means of Restoring Broken
Treasures, Old and New.
What housekeeper has not stored
away on the very topmost shelf Of her
china closet, where only at rare inter-
| walls can q passing sight Of them har-
row her soul, sundry heaps of broken
china, relics of precious heirlooms, we'd
ding presents and anniversary gifts, so
dear to the owner that she cannot find
it in her heart to hand even the per-
fectly useless broken remains over to
the tender mercies Of the junk dealer?
In these days, when china is used so
| much for decorative purposes, one Is
! well repaid for expanding considerable
time and painstaliing care in mending
! any Of the damaged pieces which are
really pretty and artistic, whether the
| china be antique or of q more recent
manufacture, and it is really wonderful
what little skill and patience can ac-
complish in such repairing.
For this purpose nothing can equal
the ordinary white lead used by paint
ers, for it is inexpensive, easily obtain
ed and when the work is well done safe
and lasting, permitting the mended ar
ticle to be used over and over and
washed many times If it is always used
and handled with care.
A collector of old china known to the
writer uses nothing but white lead in
mending articles which come to him III
bad condition. Hundreds of pieces in
bis collection are mended in this way,
and so neatly is the work done that the
joining is in many cases almost invisi-
bic. For perfect success in china mend
ing always endeavor to join the broken
edges before they have been washed.
The action of the soap and water wears
away the minute crevices and edges,
and when these are intact only the clos
est scrutiny will reveal the mended
break. In the case of old china this Is
in many cases impossible unless the
break is newly made, and one must be
content to make the joining as neat as
possible.
If the article to be mended is pure
white use the white lead as 1t is. mere
ly wetting it, applying it to one edge
and fitting the other into place as ex-
actly as possible. Tie the pieces to-
gether and leave them for several DAYS
and then remove the string, wash the
article carefully and set it away for
awhile. The longer it is left the firmer
1t seems to grow Oftentimes two pairs
OF hands are necessary for the perfect
lifting together of the broken edges,
which is really the most important part
Of the process, and for tying the pieces
together properly.
DO not try to mend more than one
break at time in the same article for
all the force of adhesion should be car.
ried to that one place by the tie strings
one string will seldom be sufficient
and occasionally perfect network will
be necessary to produce the requisite
tension at the proper place.
If the china is yellowed from age. in
stead OF being pure white, color the
white lead until the desired shade is
obtained. The dye obtained from soak.
Ing bit of brown cambria or calico
seems to give just the old brownish.
chocolate shade one sees in some bits
or old china. A blush white can be Sc
cured with drop of bluing, green
shade with little bruised spinach,
while pink, deep yellow, lavender and
red can be obtained by using q pinch
OF dye or anything one finds about the
house which will give the right shade.
Always use the mended china care
fully, keeping 1t mostly for decorative
purposes. Make pure soap jelly for
washing all china, using a little glycer-
In In the water, and never use soda or
ammonia when washing gilded china,
for 1t wears away the ecoration.-De-
signer.