Chinese Export blue and white pseudo tobacco leaf charger, the center painted with cabbage leaves and bamboo within a diapered cavetto, the border with leaves and flowers.

China c. 1740-50
14" diameter

PRICE: $950  

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Condition: Years ago, this charger was shattered into more than 20 pieces. Obviously a prized possession, it was meticulously repaired using glue, plaster and numerous staples of a least three different sizes. Notice the longest staple, measuring an inch long and circled in yellow, secures two small chips.

Staple or rivet repair was used from ancient times throughout the 19th century, before modern adhesives were invented. Jewelers and silversmiths often advertised repair work. That staples of three different sizes were used on this charger suggests a professional restoration. (The sloppy epoxy patches were certainly added later.)

For an excellent article on staple restoration, read "Simply Riveting: Broken and Mended Ceramics" by Angelika R. Kuettner in Ceramics in America, 2016.
https://chipstone.org/article.php/742/Ceramics-in-America-2016/Simply-Riveting:-Broken-and-Mended-Ceramics

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The term "tobacco leaf" was first used by W. G. Gulland in his 1898 book, "Chinese Porcelain". In it, he illustrates a plate with an identical leafy plant, painted in colors and described as "a bouquet of brown leaves with undertones of red and veins of gold with white enamel stems...This model is known as a tobacco leaf motif." [1] The foliage is actually similar to Chinese cabbage, but its representation in the brown tobacco color gave the motif its name. What would later be called "tobacco leaf", with its bright colors and exuberant designs, evolved from this early motif.

Many variations on this early pseudo-tobacco leaf design were produced. Pierre L. Debomy illustrates three on pages 183 and 185. (See footnote below.) Each has a central clump of wide leaves with white stems low to the ground. Unlike this charger, which is painted in underglaze blue, they are decorated with additional overglaze enamels. Bamboo stalks and leaves can be seen on the border of the plate on page 183.

[1]
Pierre L. Debomy, "Tobacco Leaf" and "Pseudo" : A Tentative Inventory (Societe des Amis du Musee National de Ceramique, 2013), 25.