No matter whether you have antique pieces of pottery or just beautiful creations by your children from the school year – you should treat them all with precision and care, especially when it comes to their moving and storage needs. In fact, any pottery collection deserves as much attention as any other collection of fine art. Let’s see why!
Fine Art Pottery
There are four basic categories of pottery: porcelain, ceramic, stoneware, and earthenware. The main difference between them lies in the clay used in the process of creation and the temperature needed for firing. The term “fine art pottery” can be applied to any of these categories, as history knows many examples of important and valuable pottery pieces, from small, fragile items to large sculptures. Some of them you can see in the world’s best museums, such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Victoria and Albert Museum (London), The Hermitage (St Petersburg), The Louvre (Paris), The American Museum of Ceramic Art (Los Angeles), The National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), The Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art (New York), and others.
Where to Store?
The first thing to remember is that any category of pottery can be easily damaged because of sudden or frequent changes in humidity and temperature levels. For this reason, never store your beloved collection of fine art pottery in even the most reliable self-storage unit or garage. Use a special climate-controlled storage room or at least your living area for its preservation.
How to Prepare Your Pottery Art Collection for Storage?
- Cleaning
If you have unglazed and unfinished pottery pieces – dust them carefully before packing. As for the glazed and finished items – you can wash them gently with soap and warm water. Never use chlorine bleach! Moreover, before attempting to clean valuable items, try your cleaning method first on an inexpensive pottery piece.
- Wrapping
Use a clean, soft cloth (for example, muslin or linen) or acid-free paper. Then carefully wrap each piece with bubble wrap.
- Packing
If you are going to store your collection in a box, lay two or three layers of bubble wrap on its bottom first. Place the wrapped pottery pieces inside the box and make sure they won’t rub and knock against each other. Fill the rest of the box with foam peanuts until each item is firmly supported. Finally, add some more layers of bubble wrap on the top and close the box.
- Storage
Although you can keep your pottery collection together, it is still more safely to store each piece individually. So if you have enough space at home – use it wisely.
Anyway, the most precious and antique pieces of pottery should be stored only in a special climate-controlled storage facility. This is where we can help you professionally. Contact Fine Art Shippers to preserve your art collection for future generations!