Obsolete Fill Materials Found on Ceramics

Fills on ceramics have a long history, associated either with covering up an adhesive line or replacing a large loss. Numerous materials have been employed in loss compensation, from thickened adhesives, pastes, and putties to substituted fragments from other vessels, manufactured ceramic replacements, and cast resins and waxes. Many of the early materials and methods of filling losses that have given way to more efficient, predictable, and reversible techniques can now be classified as “obsolete.” Even so, the ceramics conservator will encounter these materials in re-treatment for centuries to come.