Posted 12 years ago
dlfd911
(134 items)
A friend in Europe sent this to me. He had purchased it whole, but the seller did not pack it very well and it arrived in shards. I thought I could put the pieces back together well enough for a photo, and here it is. Loetz Aus. 218, form 2075. Shown in Lötz Band 2 on p. 588. A sad ending averted. I told him if I could not resurrect it, then I would use the pieces in one of my shard mosaics.
You heart must have stopped when you opened it :-( such a beautiful piece too . I have had that happen with dolls and know how it feels . I don'y collect much glassware as I am so afraid I will break it . But I admire other peoples and the bravery it takes to clean it once in awhile . Hope it makes a nice mosaic piece :-)
Ah, but a bit of epoxy put it right again. There were numerous tiny flakes that I was unable to piece back together, so I used an epoxy that would thicken and take up the space of the missing flakes. In hand, there is no missing the damage, a crack across the foot cannot be hidden.
I too! would glue it back together and enjoy it still, it is full of drama (literally;) love it!...:-)
Hopefully your friend didn't get charged for it. Such a shame but you made lemonade!
He got a full refund and told to keep it or trash it, but that doesn't make up for the loss. If only sellers were required to replace the broken item, now that would be justice. If someone destroys a Picasso, somehow "I'll give you a refund" just doesn't cut it.
Let me qualify that last statement...the seller packed it in a thin cardboard box, you know, the kind a new toaster comes in. The box was crushed. So, I don't blame sellers in general, just ones that don't value our purchases as much as we do.
is the base color purple or black?
It is very dark purple Jericho. It shows up well under my cabinet lights, but not very evident in the photos.
Actually, in the photo of the broken pieces, you can see the color in one of the slivers on the foot. You can also see the thin cardboard box in that photo...not from a toaster, but a kettle.
I would love to give the lecture on how to pack, especially for overseas travel. Internal box support and absolute item immobility are paramount to be successful. If there are any takers send me a note. BTW, one of the simplest methods is to double wrap the item in a plastic bag, Shoot some of that expanding foam insulation into the box and jam the item in half way. Let that half dry, lay down some more plastic film (like from the cleaners) then more expanding foam and close the box. The item should be safe...
I can see that working very well, with one possible risk...that foam can exert a lot of pressure as it expands (I have seen it bend window casings). If the item is thin glass, it could put too much pressure on it. Perhaps putting a layer of bubblewrap over the item first would allow enough give to minimize the risk. I may be jinxing myself here, but I have not had one piece of glass that I shipped arrive damaged, and I have shipped hundreds, but most were domestic and not international. If it gets opened in Customs, all bets are off.
Dave the magician!
Another drawback with the foam is the heat it exudes when expanding can cause temperature differance and so cracks / heat checks !!!
I too could give a lecture on packaging. ....
You really can't beat double-boxing and using judicious amounts of bubble wrap. I go one step further and put an extra piece of cardboard over the top and/or bottom. The folded parts of the box tend to bend inward at those weak points. I have even used 1/4" plywood pieces for that purpose if the item is extremely valuable or rare. Plywood is cheap and light, and more durable than cardboard.
I use Polystyrene boxes that I get free from green grocers and supermarkets (saves them being landfill) They are lighter and stronger than cardboard and do not crush.
Use a box cutter (what call a Stanley knife in OZ) to cut the box to size leaving at least 1 inch all round of the bubble wrapped item . Cutting of the box can be messy so I do it in a place that can be easily vacumed . Brown packing (plastic ) tape is used to join and ceal it is thin but amazingly strong two layers are best . Fill box with styrene chips , first the base then place object in and fill sides and top . A folded sheet of bubble wrap can contain chips and take up any extra space.
A box in the postal system is thrown; dropped; walked on; buried under tons of other boxes and generally abused . if using my method you should be able to with stand all off this .
Note card board crushes ! and can get wet and sag .
Let me weigh-in on this thread that has morphed into packing. My key area is restoring expensive metal airplane models that have VERY FRAGILE prop assemblies. Very difficult to arrive safe. Ebay noted me success in transport and asked me to write a guide for them. You can find it here..
http://reviews.ebay.com/Pack-That-Treasure-for-Safe-Travel-and-Delivery?ugid=10000000018274277
Regards, Tom (SANDMAN OVERHAUL)
It would be nice if a company would extrude styrofoam or other expanding foam over a filament in thin curly strands not unlike the wood strands of yore. Remember the scene in "A Christmas Story" when dad unpacks the infamous leg lamp? The "packing" were strands of wood that intermesh to grip any object. Modern peanuts are ok but will seperate and allow movement of the object inside the box. IMMOBILITY is the key here and an interweaving stranded type packing would be helpful. Tom, SANDMAN OVERHAUL