Old to New - Restoration Tutorial
How I have converted the old doll to new one ?
Recently thirty year old Maharajah doll was handed over in my studio for restoration work by one of the client. The doll has a huge crack in its back side , left hand almost broken , leg portion totally destroyed and the base support have broken into pieces. The doll was gifted to the client by her father before thirty years. She approached many doll making people, craft persons, Artists and also some craft shops to rectify the damages. It was not easy to her to find the correct person. Finally she approached me through one of my artist friend . I understood the sentimental values behind the doll . For me also this is the first time to do this kind of restoration work .But after my twenty six years of experience with different type of craft material usages I had a little confidence to commit the work. It is quite interesting to read this article that how my experiences helped here.
After seeing these I have an idea to make a tutorial out of these restoration works. I thought this tutorial may help to lot of homepreneurs to get an idea about the craft materials , methods ,material usage , where to use the correct material , drying time and so on. This knowledge may apply to Navaratri Golu dolls to clear the cracks and other damages . That is the idea behind this restoration tutorial.
Materials used for restoration
Chalk powder , fevicol, tissue papers ,gold ,silver paints ,enamel colors , brushes ,thermocoal and impression tools .
Challenges I Faced
since it is thirty year old doll material study is so important also by checking the material it seems to be a paper mache assumed to be a mould based.
The clay already applied was processed due to climatical conditions. I have to find out the clay which should be almost blend with the old one . There are lot of methods for preparing clay. Intially I do not know which one will be suit for this particular doll.
The broken places are almost damaged if I touch the doll itself fell like a powder. The leg portion is totally damaged and I have doubt whether the new clay will be match .
Thank god .. After all my experiences around twenty six years handling different varieties of clay I have finally concluded that the clay should not be a water based one because the previous one was paper mache if I apply water to blend had a chance to further damage .
I have found there was no base. Needs a solid support to fix the doll and also while clay application it needs a soft handling.
Back side of the doll has a huge lengthy crack and batch up needs some extra technique . so I tried lot of research to find out the cracking paste.
while making the shoe also it should be attached well with the leg portion and left side hand totally detached from the support.
So totally it was like a research to find out the material and also little bit challenge. But basically I am a craft lover so it was quite interesting for me to do.
How I have corrected the damages ?
The base of the doll was totally damaged so I thought it should be strengthened. I planned to make a solid wooden box support with two rods in the middle to hold the doll properly.
Plan for the wooden box
Made the box for the support and painted black enamel paint as primer also by attaching handle for sides and bushes in the bottom portion. Total height of the doll is almost 4 feet and width is 1 1/2 feet .
Base box size 1 ft / 1 ft.
Take few numbers of tissue papers stick them with fevicol on the damaged portion all over to strengthen the base.
Homemade crackle paste preparation
Gkm studio the place where I experiment and playing with lot of clay varieties , this time I want to try with new clay medium crackle paste which cures cracks and broken areas . I have applied my own innovation of this crackle paste to the crack areas of the doll . successfully I got the good results.
Materials required for crackle paste
Wall putty and fevicol SH
Take 100 gms of wall putty pour fevicol mix well untill it becomes a paste. Apply this crackle paste on the cracks and damaged portions.
Apply one coat of white enamel paint on bottom portion and also inside after the crackle paste dried well.
After it dries well insert the doll into the wooden support so that the doll stands firmly.
Like that continue the same procedure for backside of the doll and hand. After the clay dries smooth these portions by sand paper .
cut thermocoal pieces like a shoe shape and fix it with the leg portion using fevicol . cover the shoe portion with tissue papers to make a perfect shape .
Now our doll becomes new one . This experiment of converting any old handmade doll to the new one may give an idea to help for craft professionals and homepreneurs. During Golu when the festive display lot of people arranged dolls in steps . This restoration tutorial may useful in that time to rectify cracks and breaks in our dolls . No need to buy a new doll . you may convert all old dolls to new following the above procedures.
Since it was a handmade papermache doll I have used tissue papers , fevicol, crackle paste and clay. Depends on the base material I have selected the materials which blend and gave a fine finish .
And finally my client was so happy while seeing the new one. She thankfully said that the doll was alive again in my hands. I am also very happy about the trust which she hold on me and the project which motivated me a lot to find the new innovation of clay and the applications I experimented.
I hope this restoration tutorial is informative and innovative. Follow my Instagram and fb page for the tutorial videos to know the preparation of crackle paste and clay impression methods. More videos will be uploaded soon . stay tuned. see you all.
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Artist Blogger
N.Usha Elangovan
M.Sc., B.Ed.,M.Music.,MFA
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