The following photos are of a ceramic parrot that came in for restoration in late 2012. The photo on the left shows its original condition after it was picked up from auction, about 5 feathers in total had been broken of in its history. The parrot itself is of Chinese origin (possibly Japanese) and has a bit of age to it, around the early 1910/20 era.
The client wanted a full restoration so I got to work. I had to replicate the feathers somehow so I made blanks from a two pack epoxy filler, hand carved the pieces when they were set and eventually epoxied them into place in a crazy balancing act. When I was happy enough with the placement I did some final shaping. I then undercoated the pieces and hand painted them for the finished result. A final cold glaze gloss was used at the end to fill in any other divots.
End result, happy client and I know now how to make feathers.
