Antique Restoration Shop for Porcelain: Fine Art Restoration

Fine Art Restoration, Inc. works out of suite 309 at 857 S. San Pedro Street in the Downtown Fashion District, Los Angeles 90014, three floors above a block of fabric wholesalers. It is an antique restoration shop that concentrates on breakable things: porcelain figurines, ceramic vases, glass, terra cotta, antique mirrors, bronze and silver, carved wood sculpture and stone. Visits are by appointment between 10 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday, and the studio asks for at least a day's notice.

The work is led by Henri Laborde, who trained alongside a French master the studio names only as Mr. Denis D. and brings 25 years of porcelain and ceramic repair to the bench. The about page adds that since 1999 he has extended his skills to plaster, brass and bronze restoration and to antique mirrors. That background explains the range: a single restorer who understands glazes, metals and silvered glass can take on an object that combines all three, such as a gilt-bronze clock garniture with porcelain plaques.

The client list on the official site is the kind that rewards careful work: auction houses, antique dealers, insurance companies, private collectors and museums. Insurance jobs matter here, because a claim after an earthquake or a move usually hinges on whether a shattered piece can be returned to display condition. A 2011 company press release also noted that Lladró had given the studio an official referral, which is why so many of the figurines on its bench are the pale, glossy Spanish porcelain that cracks at the wrists and fingers.

The service list is unusually broad for a small studio. Porcelain and ceramics come first, from Meissen-style figures to stoneware jars, followed by glass, resin and casting work, terra cotta, wood sculpture and stone. Bases and pedestals are on the list too, which is useful when a marble or onyx plinth has chipped and makes an otherwise perfect bronze look neglected. Bronze and silver pieces get their own entry, so a dented candlestick can travel with the porcelain it sits beside.

Missing parts are where porcelain restoration earns its reputation. A lost finger, petal or lace ruffle has to be modelled, cured, sanded to the original profile and then painted so the join disappears under raking light. Chips on a vase rim are filled and inpainted to match the glaze, and old repairs from earlier restorers, often yellowed glue and overpaint, are taken apart before the piece is reassembled. Antique mirror work covers the frames and the old silvered glass that so many dealers want kept rather than replaced.

The studio separates a verbal estimate from a formal quote. Verbal estimates are free and can be given from photographs you send or from the object brought into the studio. A formal quote, the written number that an insurer or auction house will want, is only issued after the restorer has handled the piece in person. The contact page invites you to send as many images as you like, along with measurements, so the first conversation can start before anyone drives downtown.

Useful photographs show the whole object, each break or chip close up, the underside with any maker's mark, and any loose fragments laid out on a plain cloth. Note the height and width, and say whether the piece has been repaired before, since dissolving an old repair adds time. The site does not publish prices, so the estimate is the only way to get a figure, and you should expect it to depend on how many pieces are missing rather than on the size of the object.

Because this is a working studio and not a storefront, there is no browsing counter. Book a time at least a day ahead, as the contact page asks, and arrive with the object packed so it can be unwrapped on the bench. Wrap each fragment separately in tissue, then nest everything in a box with soft padding, and never tape fragments together, because adhesive residue on a fracture edge makes a clean join harder. Keep even the tiniest crumbs of glaze in a labelled bag.

The building sits in the middle of the garment trade, so weekday mornings bring delivery trucks and double-parked vans along San Pedro Street. Allow time to find paid parking and carry the box in by hand rather than on a cart. If the object is large, such as a floor vase or a pedestal, mention it when you book so the studio knows how it will come up to the third floor. Clients from out of town can start entirely by email.

Fine Art Restoration is a short walk from two of the district's anchor buildings. The Original Los Angeles Flower Market, at 754 Wall Street between 7th and 8th, is the wholesale flower hall where florists shop before dawn, and its sidewalks are lined with buckets of stems and potted orchids. Head the other way to the California Market Center, at 110 East 9th Street, a huge showroom complex where apparel and gift brands show their lines to buyers.

Between the two, the streets around San Pedro and Wall are packed with fabric shops selling bolts by the yard, trims, buttons and leather, which makes this an easy place to combine an appointment with a sourcing trip. If you are restoring a figurine for a display shelf, it is a good moment to look for a fabric or felt to line the shelf so the piece is cushioned when it comes home.

Address: 857 S. San Pedro Street, Suite 309, Los Angeles, CA 90014, in the Downtown Fashion District. Hours: by appointment only, 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, with at least a day's notice. Estimates: free verbal estimates from photos or in-person visits, formal quotes only after an in-person review. Materials handled: porcelain, ceramics, glass, terra cotta, resin, wood sculpture, stone, bronze, silver, antique mirrors, bases and pedestals.

Best for: a broken figurine, a chipped vase, a cracked mirror frame or an insurance claim that needs a written restoration quote. Bring every fragment, a list of earlier repairs if you know them, and the measurements you sent by email. Ask the Karpo APP for a lunch spot near the Flower Market or a fabric shop on the same block, and you can turn a restoration drop-off into a full Downtown afternoon.