Avoiding duplication of large object storage?

I have mentioned this issue as part of a previous thread whose main purpose was to inquire about backing up Informix databases, but let me focus on it here, as a separate issue. As I understand things (or not), large objects are referenced by large object handles. Thus, if the same large object (say a photo) is stored in more than one table, it is only the handle that is actually stored in the (multiple) table(s). The object itself is stored just once, in an sbspace. Now, when the database is exported, the actual object gets unloaded every time it is encountered in however many tables it might be stored. Sort of a like a big "denormalization", if you will. Is there any way to migrate a database and retain the multiple references (in multiple tables) to a large object, while preserving single physical storage? Thank you. DG