another example of misdirected effort.



they wanted to clean all the dark dull color and spots off and left nice deep scratches uniformly over a shiny bronze surface, just waiting for "elbow grease to polish"

they wanted the silver to gleam...

for $10 it might be worth it to try patina formulas...

You're so right Don! This is a common practice for the uninformed. I just saw a gorgeous that the owner had tried to polish only the silver overlay. They were not successful. you can see the base metal barely gleaming through the pristine patina. Heintz should be lightly dusted and that is all!

Fred

quote:

Originally posted by FZweig:
Heintz should be lightly dusted and that is all!

Assuming that the original lacquer coating (from factory) is still intact. Otherwise, if it has been removed (by cleaning or polishing, etc.), then the silver will start to tarnish grey/black as natural silver does when exposed.

Here is a picture of what is supposed to look like if that rookie hadn't destroyed the patina.

Sorry, I tried to get the picture in the E-mail but it won't work for me. Here is the attachment.

Bev.

Here is another example of what you should not do to an antique vase. He found it with this old brown finish on it. The antique dealer polished and polished it until he got it to down to it's original gold finish. Talking about one of his photos, he stated that you can still see the old brown finish inside the rim of the vase. Here is the web page with the photo:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2200...e=2#ebayphotohosting

It is a famous vase, but I don't remember where I have see it. The vase looks like a rocket ship ready to take off--kind of a early Buck Rodgers. It is late A & C and early Art Deco.

Here is the E-bay page.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Copper-and-Brass-Monumental-Arts-Cr...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Who wants to tell him that he destroyed the value of this vase by getting rid of the orginal finish? It just makes me sad to see this vase when I have a picture in my head what it should look like. It kind of reminds of the futuristic style of the American beauty vase.


Bev.