Pitcher? Pot? What to call this, and suggestion needed.

Is this a pitcher, or a cocoa pot or something like that? 6" tall. What would I call it? I realize it has a few issues, top seems to have a missing or broken lever and has a lot of crazing. It was day two of an estate sale, and they had it marked as $7, but I pointed out the handle and they said, "You can have it for $4."

Was not really thinking resale on this, I love birds, and thought I'd keep it for a while just decoratively. There is an additional question I will post at the end.



Here is the final question:

The company running the estate sale priced everything with marker, I've seen this before, but when I checked out, I said, "Are you sure this price marking is going to come off?" "Oh, yes. It just wipes off with soap and water."

Well.... it didn't! The original "7" for $7, bled into the crazing, see photo above. Of course this is right dead center on the front of the piece. I've tried a few caustic chemicals already with no improvement. Any suggestions?

 

I think I'd call it a syrup. Have you tried isopropyl alcohol? It's what I try first (after trying just a gentle rub).

 

Syrup. Thanks! Age/maker? Anything special?

I actually tried rubbing alcohol 2nd after a gentle rub with water only, then water and soap. I wasn't going to disclose what else I tried in case this turned out to be a priceless antique -- is value mostly decorative on this?

 

I would try lacquer thinner to get the mark out.

 

Hi Lucille,
I bet you used a fast bleach job. If you did let it soak at least overnight in water. Then after the lacquer thinner (it should work) I would use a couple drops of just regular peroxide (3%) covered with a paste of baking soda and water. A hour wait and then try a few times more. If you use the stronger peroxide it might fade the colors. It is a very pretty syrup.
greg

 

Brad and Greg, you guys are amazing. This is exactly what I did! After water, soap, rubbing alcohol did nothing, I got more desperate and tried bleach (yes it was a fast bleach application, maybe held it on there for 2 minutes max, saw no results and gave up.) Then as a last resort tried lacquer thinner. After everything failed, I decided to post here.

Greg, would you use straight bleach for the soaking or mix w/water? Assuming I would only soak the top section, a few inches down at most but covering where the marker was. (Not over the transfer, right?) Only problem is that this will include the metal lid -- any worries about that soaking in bleach?

Another alternative is just to leave it. I think if someone else had this they would just think that blue was some odd crazing thing or a paint smear, but the blue really sticks out for me in sort of a non-antique color, and of course every time I would look at it I'd think of that "7".

 

Hi Lucille,
NO NO NO NO NO bleach. I suggested if you did use bleach to soak it in water the entire piece to try and get rid of the bleach. It might cause a lot of problems later on. My post was not clear enough so I will say NO NO NO bleach. Sorry. The 3% hydrogen peroxide will not hurt the pottery but the stronger (think hair bleach). I use that on white graniteware.

 

No worries, haven't done anything yet! I misunderstood your email, lol! I did wonder if I was reading it incorrectly. Now that I re-read it I see that you were clear. All good!

I'll soak the top in pure water to get rid of any bleach residue. Yes, yes yes!

Then will try the 3% hydrogen peroxide.

 

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I was sitting on pins and needles waiting. I was thinking OMG I just made someone ruin something. It seems that on some pieces of ceramic including porcelain and earthenware etc if bleach gets into cracks it breaks down the clay and it leaches material out of the cracks and eventually the piece will fall into pieces. I used to bleach most things until it happened to me years ago. I learned about peroxide from a guy who used to do restoration work back in te 60s.
greg

 

Try Mr Magic Eraser, gently. That ought to do it.

 

I also use Mr. Clean Magic erasers and have had good luck but now that it sunk into the crazing, it probably won't help. In the future, try the eraser first before trying a liquid.

I have had good luck using creme peroxide from the beauty supply stores like Sally's. You can control the creme and where it goes. They sell it in small bottles. I dampen a small piece of paper towel a little larger than the area you want to treat. Put the creme peroxide on the area and cover with the piece of paper towel. It may take a couple of treatments to get rid of the stain. Check for progress every 10 to 15 minutes. Once it is gone, soak the piece in a water bath 2 or three times to get rid of any residue of peroxide. Some people bake it in the oven at a low temp but I just let it air dry when it is crazed piece.

 

Hi Lucille,
I took a quick look at your piece again. I thought the ink soaking was on the decoration, if it is a little bit of blue on the top, I would stop worrying about it. You know it is a 7 but to me it was just a colorway and nothing to worry about.
greg

 

Gosh, that syrup is lovely and has LOTS of character. I would display it too.

 

??? Got a warning to post in 12 seconds,then my post duplicated. Soooooooooo, I deleted second post.

I LOVE the blue bird and cat tails

 

I probably will just leave it. The color of the blue mark looks so modern, but maybe I'm splitting hairs. I did soak the top just to get any bleach residue out.

Lots of great ideas for removing the mark. Still kind of disappointed the estate sale company didn't know better.

P.S. Someone was helping me get every caustic chemical on this thing (became a challenge) and after nothing worked, the only last thing suggested was to put a bit of white-out on it, wipe off quickly and hope it bled over the stain, but we never tried that.

 

Interesting thread! I'm catching up on posts after being out of town and only sometimes checking here. I like the picture on this, a lot.

 

I would try a thick paste of baking soda, rubbing it around to get it into the crazing. Then pour regular cider vinegar over that. It will bubble up like crazy. If it doesn't work, at least you get to watch the insane bubbling. In the past everyone advised to soak in neutralizer that you put on your hair when you've had a perm. But who perms any more? I wouldn't know where to get neutralizer. But if you have some in the house . . . Good luck with it!

 

Thanks for the additional comments. At the moment I've put it all a bit on hold.

Funny about human nature... the spot of transfer wear on the birds back or the compromised handle doesn't bother me at all, but this navy blue marker stain does. It would be better if I didn't know where that came from.

I'm not losing sleep over it, but this is how my mind works. I look at the piece and I sort of fleetingly see the bird in the reeds, but realize I'm thinking about the marker stain.

I guess I'm harboring some slight irritation that the estate runner person made such a goof. Well, nobody is perfect, but I did send a note via the Craigslist ad (saying I did not want to return the piece, but just a head's up) and no response.

Small lesson learned. At least this was on a piece that was not in perfect shape, in the future for estate sales that use these pens I will take into a count that they sometimes stain, depending on the surface.

Thanks.

 

I was thinking that same thing -- why would you write directly onto the item with a marker? I doubt that it would have been a problem except for the crazing. The marker is likely water soluble and as soon as the water hit the ink, it oozed into the cracks. That's why I think that something bubbly might work. Or just more soaking. Don't be too hard on the estate sale person, they probably have just as many people complain about stickers.

 

i bought a framed etching at auction.
they shipped it with the frame and glass.
they taped the glass with a clear plastic tape over 90% of the surface.
To this day I can not remove the tape !