Fired Infills and Replacement Parts to Ceramics in the Rijksmuseum

Abstract

There are many objects in historic ceramics collections, like the Rijksmuseum’s, that have replacement parts and infills. Strikingly, the materials and techniques employed to make these repairs in the past were rarely the same as those originally used in manufacturing the object. This was primarily because it is technically very complicated to make additions in ceramics – clay shrinks and expands with each new firing. It also, however, requires specialist knowledge and skills to get the shape, colour and feel of a reconstruction or infill to match the original. There is limited information about this special restoration practice in the literature. This article aims to prompt further research into the technical and historical aspects of ceramic infills and replacements, particularly since they are becoming increasingly accepted as part of the history of the object.