Restoring Chalkware Cats
Over Thanksgiving week, we were visiting my mother-in-law and I spotted a set of chalkware cats. They were pretty damaged; the mother cat had a huge hole in the back, lots of cracks and was missing a paw and the kittens were pretty banged up and one was missing a tail and face. She had purchased them many years ago but hadn't really been displaying them because of the damage and she didn't have the heart to just throw them out.
The cat family in their original state.
Back view of the cats, showing the damage.
The cats and some of the supplies for the repairs.
As we didn’t have anything planned for the week were were staying with her and I’m incapable for going very long without a project so I volunteered to try and fix them for her. Since I hadn’t planned this project ahead of time, I didn’t have any of my supplies with me so after a trip to the local Michael’s and placing an order on Amazon for the rest, I was ready to go.
I did a little research on the cats to see what they were and when they were from and found similar ones online that claimed to be either Victorian or from the 30s or 40s. My best guess is that these were most likely from the 30s based on other objects I’ve seen from the era. All online information indicated they were carnival prizes which made sense as these were cheaply made of plaster and rather crudely painted.
The mother cat in particular was so cracked and damaged that she ran the risk of completely falling apart. I didn’t want completely erase any signs of age, so my plan was to blend in my repairs with original finish so that they still looked age-appropriate and stop any further damage.
The hole with metal mesh glued in.
I planned to use a product called Apoxie Clay to repair some of the cracks, fill in holes and rebuild missing parts. This is a two part clay that is easy to work with, is air-drying and extremely strong once cured. There was a broken piece that I had initially hoped to glue in place to fill the hole in the back, but it no longer fit in properly and there were so many other missing pieces that It would have been extremely difficult to make a solid repair. Because the hole was so large, it needed something to fill it so the clay had something to sit on. I purchased some wire mesh and glued it on the back side of the hole. I affixed the mesh with Gorilla Super Glue Gel , sprinkled a bit of baking soda on the glue to help it set faster and have a stronger bond.
Once the mesh was solidly in place I mixed up the Apoxie Clay and started to fill the hole, fill cracks and rebuild the missing parts. The clay is easily workable for a few hours so I had plenty of time to smooth it out and blend it in. After about 6 hours, although not fully cured, it was able to be sanded so I could smooth it out further. The only issue I discovered is that the dried clay was much harder than the plaster itself so I need to be careful that I wasn’t sanding too much of the original plaster as I was sanding the clay.
Front of the cats with patched in sections.
The back of the mother cat with the hole filled in and clay sanded down.
One of the kittens with a new face and tail.
After 24 hours the clay was fully cured and I was able to start painting the repaired spots. For the paint I used Liquitex Acrylic Heavy Body Paint. This is the paint I use for my nesting dolls and knew it would work well for this application as it mixes well and can be thinned out when needed. Shades of brown tend to turn a bit darker once dried so it took a bit of experimatation to get the color mix just right. I used both paint brushes and my finger to blend the paint and give it a similar texture to the original. Finally, I gave the figures an overall coat of Liquatex Matte Varnish to match the original finish.
Front view of the newly repaired cats.
Back view of the newly repaired cats.
Since it isn’t the same paint or technique used originally the repair isn’t completely seamless but it certainly looks better than a gaping hole or bright white plaster. Overall it was a fun challenge and I’m reasonably happy with the results.