I’ve mended many ceramic pieces, yet fixing this shell was a unique experience. When my customer approached me for help, I was a little unsure but she trusted me.
Arriving in almost a million pieces, the initial step involved piecing it together like a jigsaw puzzle. Opting for gold lines, we found a perfect match that beautifully complements the shell’s warm pinks.
The majority of the shell was intact but the were lots of small pieces that needed piecing together. That took the most amount of time because they were all the same colour.
The customer’s husband was lucky enough to find the shell in Australia, it’s such a beautiful piece and incredibly rare, just look at the markings.
Nautiluses are ancient creatures, unbelievably they have been in the oceans for around 480 million years.
Piecing it together.
I was worried the shell would be too delicate to hold and fix but it was much stronger than anticipated. As it was an organic shape it effectively needed to be built again upwards, in a way that felt like creating a sculpture.
I taped most of the shell together ready for it to be joined with gold.
The finishing touches.
After a few weeks of persistence, the shell was ready. It took a lot of applying, removing and reapplying the gold. It had to be neat. I took photos and sent them to my customer so she could see the final result.
Here’s what she said….“Jane – thank you so much for taking on the complex kintsugi repair of my shell. You’ve done a fantastic job, I am over the moon. The shell was sent to you in so many pieces and to receive it back in one beautiful piece carefully packaged has made my day. Amazing, thank you”
If you have an item you would like repaired, explore the prices below.
