Made to Mend
Dinner plate, riveted
Broken into three and stapled back together.
- Made by
- Unknown pottery, Staffordshire
- Date
- About 1900
- Material
- Earthenware, iron staples
- Size
- 25 cm across
- Cost new
- Threepence; the mend, a penny
- Came from
- Bought at auction, 2016
On view Made to Mend, in the long case. Top floor, until 1 March 2027.
Before glue that could hold a plate, a china mender drilled tiny holes either side of a crack and bridged them with metal staples. The mend often cost more than the plate.
This is the one object in Made to Mend that did not belong to the Merrins. We bought it because the family’s own riveted plate was broken again in 1974, and that time it went in the bin.
More from Made to Mend.
Brown teapot, mended lid
Unknown pottery, Staffordshire, about 1935Made to Mend, in the long caseCost new: tenpence
Cobbler’s last
Unknown foundry, about 1910Made to Mend, beside the bootsCost new: two shillings
Sewing tin
The family, 1920s onwardsMade to Mend, at the end of the caseCost new: a biscuit tin, reused
Where to see it
Made to Mend, top floor.
You’ll find it in the long case. Made to Mend is on the top floor; the lift is by the front desk.
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, and until 20:00 on Thursdays.