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Reglor Chalkware Lamp Restoration- Heart Break and Rebirth

Melody and I had won a couple of lamp sets on Ebay that we had been trying to hunt down for sometime. Unfortunately when we received them they were in really bad shape. The green jester set was packed soo poorly and was busted beyond repair. I was able to file a claim and got our money back on that set but the issue wasn’t the money….it’s the idea that this fantastic set is now history and all it had survived from its birth counts for nothing because someone did not take the right amount of care to prevents its demise. Here is what arrived…

It broke my heart when I pulled these out of the box and there was more chalkware in the box than on the lamps.

The male figure appears to have gotten the brunt of the damage. I ended up just throwing these in the trash and that was hard to do for me. As you all know I restore things, but I couldn’t see any way to bring these back.

The next set that arrived damaged was the famous Reglor bullfighter lamps. These were going to be paired with our bullfighter Carlo’s. Unfortunately they would need repair first. Here is how they arrived…

The female bullfighter had a busted neck, waist and a large portion of her cape was broken off. The only damage to the male bullfighter was a busted neck.

To repair both of these lamps I used the same process that I blogged about earlier on the fairy lamp. Anyways after a few days of working on them and repainting them here is how they turned out.

They glow now.

It is amazing what stucco and glue can do.

His neck looks great!

These have been saved from the scrap heap. I am so glad they were able to be salvaged and will look great next to our Carlos.

5 responses »

  1. Ugh, such a shame that that these lamps arrived broken because the sellers couldn’t bother to spend a few extra minutes and a couple of dollars on packaging them properly.
    Glad to see the bullfighters survived and they were repaired wonderfully. It looks as if though they weren’t even busted from the photos.

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    • Hepcat Restorations

      Yeah, if they would have just taken more care in packing we wouldn’t have had to thrown them out. I’m glad you think the bull fighters turned out well :).

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  2. Hello.. I have a similar story. I’ve wanted a set of Reglors for years, and my boyfriend bought me a set of ballerinas from ebay as a Christmas gift. They arrived on Christmas Eve and as he was opening them in another room (so I couldn’t see my gifts) i could hear him shouting ‘oh no!’. He came out from the back room with a defeated look on his face, very upset. I went back to see what had happened and both reglors (stupidly packed together) were crushed beyond repair- down to the metal wire just like your jesters! I felt really angry that this set was nearly in perfect condition before being shipped. I was more upset that these gorgeous lamps were destroyed than the fact I couldn’t have them.

    I just wanted to say that I’m so happy to see the matador lamps so lovingly pieced together.. they are magnificent!! The matadors are honestly my favorite set, and I just love yours! Maybe one day I’ll find a pair too (that I can afford) and be able to restore them. You have a lovely, inspiring blog. I pinned a photo from pinterest and that’s how I found you. It’s the photo of the stunning pink chair and pink and brown reglor lamp. Have a great day!

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  3. I recently offered to sell some of my parents lamps on my etsy site. There is a set of 2 floral continental art lamps with original shades. I am terrified of shipping them! Do you have any advice? Should I pack them myself? Should I have fedex or ups pack them? All the pieces are large. Do I need 4 separate boxes?

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  4. Pingback: 1951 Male Reglor Bullfighter Lamp Take Two | Hepcat Restorations

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