Featured Have you accidentally damage something in your collection?

Dear collectors,

I have always been making mistakes in caring for objects in my collection, be it antique jewelry, boxes, ceramics… Most of the damage was done when trying to fix some imperfections, which only makes it worse. I am generally okay with signs of use & wear, but when these are solely caused by my own ignorance I just can’t get over them.

Do you have similar experience with things you collect and love? What do you do when that happens?Do you keep on fixing them, seek professional advice, or just live with it? I really want to learn from other collectors’ wisdom of dealing with accidental mishandling.

 

totally taints the item when that happens(especially if its something you have done yourself), i don't think you even look at it fairly again, you just seem to focus on the problem area i find as well

 

but...............thats happened loads of times, and time itself seems to heal that, after not focusing on it so much

 

This seems to be a serious problem for me, as it’s be one month and I haven’t forgiven myself for scratches on a £150 box, which were resulted from wrong polishing and only visible under flash light

 

At my age, I just laugh because things happen and if it's my fault, par for the course. But, if it's something with sentimental value, then I'm usually quite annoyed at myself.

 

Although most antiques I have hold no sentimental significance to me, but to think they might be the precious of their previous owner, being well adored, then they met some idiot like me… I feel worse

 

you have to remember (If an antique) that a thousand other misfortunes could of happened to it under the law of sod. sounds to me its safer in your hands than in most..........and its a survivor so should really show some scars

 

I hope it will be safe from now on as I’ve learnt not to try out stupid treatment without experimenting on something else first

 

well my story just shows how stupid I was in my younger days.
My grandmother gave me a milk glass item that had felt on the bottom.
I brought it home and gave it a good rinse, put it on a glass shelf and now it is stuck on the glass forever from the wet felt.. I am sure there are remedies but I am leaving it as is for now.

 

Maybe you won’t recall that if you’re not trying to move it

 

Have not done it a lot but, when I have, it really stings. I still remember 40 years ago washing a large Consolidated Art Glass vase and using too hot water. Of course it cracked and was permanently ruined. Should have known better but you can bet I have not made that mistake again.

Most recently, while transporting a painting that I was going to take to the Antiques Roadshow, I placed it upright along side the car seat vertically. Just adjacent, I had some glass shelves propped at an angle in front of the car seat with the bottom edge on the floor and resting against the front of the seat at an angle. I thought them plenty secure. Somehow they shifted while going around a corner and leaned against the painting. They remained in contact the rest of the trip and there is now a pretty good gouge in the painting. Of course it is right in the middle where it is readily apparent.

Fortunately, I brought a back-up painting, as I was unsure of which to take. Made my decision for me. The painting can be fixed but it is going to require cleaning before doing so. Cleaning is probably going to entail varnish removal, so not all that easy. It is one of my favorite paintings so I am going to have to get it fixed before I can put it back on the wall. Really has created a headache for me.

 

is it indentation or a hole brad ?

some kind of fabric patch should stabilise and bring the damage together from the back, but a repaint would be necessary of course

 

indentation can be worse

 

It is on board so did not completely penetrate. Fairly deep gouge through to the gesso base that will need some in-filling to even out the surface before repainting.

 

sounds like a plan , i've had a damn good go at repairing a few canvases, but haven't had that pleasure yet

 

I have done quite a bit of restoration. The tricky part is the varnish removal. You have to find a solvent that will cut the varnish without touching the paint. Sometime this is impossible and you need to work carefully to remove just the varnish. I will probably start with just a cleaning first and, then, decide if the varnish really needs to be removed. If not, the task becomes a whole lot easier.

 

yeah i suppose it all depends on the calibre of painting, but not having to remove the varnish sounds good to me

 

Thank you for sharing these details if I ever came across them I will be very careful while handling!

 

it can work a bit like that with repairs as well (as damage), you can be not 100% happy with what you have done and sideline it, then look at it (at some time after) and think............hmmmm not to bad actually