Wednesday, October 14, 2009

CPTW and ceramic restoration

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Cal Pot in well known for restoration of Historical Ceramics, for matching antique glazes, aged patinas and manufacturing unique architectural terracotta shapes and elements. We have our own full time chemistry laboratory and we have carried out restoration for many Historical buildings. These examples show terracotta pavers, of different shapes and sizes, from an Historical residence in Montecito. To achieve the results original pavers were lifted and molds were made, the base clay color matched and firing temps tested to produce final product which is hard to differentiate from the original tile. Similar pavers can be seen at the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel and are common in George Washington Smith buildings.
The Watermark Restaurant - originally the Historical "Groene Building" is in Downtown Ventura. This beautiful building has original exterior tile by Gladding McBean, California Potteries spent 2 months experimenting with the 9 glaze colors and eventually was able to reproduce them without using the toxic heavy metals contained in the original 1920's glazes. Following the restoration of the exterior walls and the addition of another story the building is complete and one is hard put to distinguish the old tile from the new.

WATERMARK BEFORE
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WATERMARK AFTER
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CLOSE UP OF THE WATERMARK TILE

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ORIGINAL TERRACOTTA

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CPTW DUPLICATES THE ORIGINAL TERRACOTTA

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ORIGINAL TERRACOTTA

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CPTW DUPLICATES THE ORIGINAL TERRACOTTA

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