Ernest Beck
10/01/2006
Many collectors of high-end design objects use them as the objects that they resemble—furniture, plates, mirrors—putting them at risk for damage. Art dealer Murray Moss, who has seen a few mishaps in his time, contends that damage does not necessarily spell the end of an object’s value on the market.
"If you need to make a repair, don’t try and hide it," he
advises. "Make it an obvious repair, and integrate it into the piece. Sometimes
you might actually increase its value, if the repair adds something, like the
Japanese gold filling in cracks in porcelain."
Moss worked with one client who purchased three sofas from a limited edition
of pieces covered in a prototype fabric by Hella Jongerius. One sofa was damaged
by a cut made on the back cushion. "Replacing it was not possible," Moss
recalls, "so we recommended that it be repaired by making a very obvious
stitching to close the cut, integrating the repair into the overall design of
the piece."
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