With the opening of two distinct loan exhibitions at the 2016 edition of The New York Ceramics & Glass Fair, visitors will be treated to a healthy dose of eye candy. The first, “Mended Ways: The Art of Inventive Repair,” takes the observer back to a time when necessity was truly the mother of invention—as richly evidenced by Andrew Baseman’s display of 150 examples of revamped ceramics and glassware from the 17th century through the mid 20th.

Before the invention of Krazy Glue, broken everyday household items were brought back to life with flair and ingenuity. Traveling tinkers applied crude but endearing efforts to the replacement or repair of missing or fractured handles, lids and spouts on mugs, teapots and jugs, whereas highly skilled silversmiths made intricate and detailed overhauls that only the wealthy could afford. In China, metal staples and rivets were the standard media for repair, perfected by itinerant china menders.

“Mended Ways” is bursting with outstanding examples of these artistic rehabilitations. Among them:

• An American blown- and cut-crystal candlestick from the early 1900s incongruously stuck onto a block of wood
• An English transfer-printed jug from the 1830s with woven wicker handle
• A circa-1700 Chinese Yixing teapot with a magnificently carved replacement handle and engraved silver mounts
• A 17th-century Dutch delft ewer with a replaced jeweled metal spout and handle
• A set of six delicately painted early-18th-century Chinese export plates sutured with enough hand-forged metal staples to conjure Frankenstein's monster

Baseman’s passion for collecting these heirloom orphans began at an early age in a home furnished with antiques, including cupboards filled with early Chinese porcelain and English pottery. “Most pieces were in excellent condition, but I remember being drawn to a small cracked ceramic plate tucked away in a corner and miraculously held together with a few small metal staples,” recalls Baseman. “There was something about this humble injured plate, exiled from the others, that caught my attention. I had no idea that anything other than paper could be stapled, so I was mystified how a plate, of all things, could be held together in this manner.”

Baseman’s next encounter with stapled ceramics occurred in London in the early 1990s. “On Portobello Road I spotted a small hexagonal-shaped Chinese porcelain cup and saucer from the early1700s, both pieces stitched all over with metal staples,” says Baseman. “The dealer charged me £5 for both and was thrilled to get rid of them. And I was thrilled, too, at the realization that I just found a way to afford ceramics similar to the one I admired in my youth. I experienced the exhilaration that antiques collectors have when they discover something unique and exciting to go after, and before I knew it, an obsession was born!”

About Andrew Baseman:

Andrew Baseman writes the blog Past Imperfect: The Art of Inventive Repair, which chronicles his world-renowned collection of antique ceramics that have been inventively repaired, also known as “make-do’s.” His collection was featured in a cover story in The New York Times Home section. As an expert on the subject, he has lectured all around the United States and abroad. For more than two decades, Baseman worked as a designer, decorator and stylist on diverse film and television projects, including The Nanny Diaries, Eat Pray Love, The Americans, Gotham and The Normal Heart, collaborating with notable directors like Ryan Murphy, Bill Condon and Jane Campion. In 2003, he founded Andrew Baseman Design, Inc., an interior design firm specializing in upscale residential interiors for clients in the visual arts, including film and theatrical producers and fashion designers. Baseman is the author of The Scarf (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989), an illustrated art book chronicling the history of the printed scarf.

“Colorfield” Presented by the Clay Art Center

Curated by Adam Chau, Clay Art Center program manager, “Colorfield,” aims to look at the focused use of color within ceramics. Three dimensional work is integrating themes of traditional painting and landscape. For example, Dalia Berman's miniature vessels explore the values of color and illustrates the beauty in variation, inviting a conversation that addresses the role of production pottery as a hybrid of studio ceramics and industry. Other works use the feelings of color to juxtapose extreme narratives such as wall tiles by Marylin Richeda; blending candy colored environments with dark macabre figures to evoke a sense of unease. To use color as a tool for communication is an added discussion in the field of ceramics that seems fresh and valuable.

About Clay Art Center

In looking at the breadth of work coming out of the Port Chester, New York-based Clay Art Center it is apparent that the institution has a multi-faceted way of thinking about ceramics. Traditional and innovative ways of making are converged under one roof in a community that is passionate about clay. Perhaps it's due to the range of skill sets and programs that are integrated together: the artist-in-residency program, private studios, 400 adult students a year, and educational community programs for youth. Founded in 1957, the Clay Art Center's exhibitions program is open year-round and engaged with emerging, mid-career, and established ceramic artists and the shop carries ceramic works from artists at the local and national level. For more information visit www.clayartcenter.org.

Clay Art Center is a 501(c)(3) ceramic arts center.

About The New York Ceramics & Glass Fair

With over 30 international contemporary and traditional specialists, the 17th annual New York Ceramics & Glass Fair opens at the Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street (between First and Second Avenues), with a Private Preview on Wednesday, January 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and to the public on Thursday, January 21 through Sunday, January 24. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person and can be used throughout the duration of the fair.

The New York Ceramics & Glass Fair is produced by Meg Wendy of MCG Events LLC and Liz Lees of Caskey Lees Inc.

In addition to the New York Ceramics & Glass Fair, Caskey-Lees currently produces the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show in San Francisco.

For more information, visit www.newyorkceramicsand glassfair.com.