MAIOLICA PHARMACY JAR

Condition before intervention

The jar had been broken into several pieces and reassembled, but the joins were misaligned and held together with ageing, yellowed adhesives.

Notably, the original spout was entirely absent, and the area appeared ground down.

There were several areas where the ceramic and glaze were missing. Some had been creatively, but inaccurately, retouched in earlier restorations.

Older fill materials, especially around the rim, had discoloured over time, making them visually intrusive.

Layers of dirt covered both the inside and outside surfaces, diminishing the visual clarity of the painted decoration.

• Overall, the pharmacy jar was in a compromised and unstable state.

Conservation and restoration treatment

The conservation process aimed to restore the jar’s appearance while preserving historical integrity and ensuring long-term stability.

Dismantling & Cleaning

• Where possible, the jar was taken apart to reverse previous restoration attempts. However, not all joins could be safely undone—particularly the lower sections—so compromises were made to avoid further damage.

• The entire surface was gently cleaned using soft detergents and tools to remove decades of dirt without damaging the thin fragile glaze.

• Old adhesives were softened and removed from break edges.

Bonding

• The jar was reassembled using conservation-grade adhesives, chosen for their long-term stability and reversibility.

Filling Gaps & Losses

• Missing sections and cracks were filled and carefully shaped and levelled to match the jar’s original contours.

• Based on research and reference images from similar jars, a new spout was reconstructed using a plaster-based material.

Retouching

• All fills and reconstructions were carefully retouched using acrylic paints and mediums, matched to the surrounding colours.

• While decorative motifs were mimetically recreated in some areas, the spout’s decoration was intentionally pixelated to signal that it is a modern interpretation of what once may have been there.