Topic: Pair of Beldray Art Nouveau Vases

[Carolyn Preston]

Ohhhh look what my lovely sister found for me in a thrift store!

Questions: How do I determine if it is brass/copper/combination of above?
How do I clean these beauties?
How can I (safely) take off and reattach the handles? Two out of four have been badly re-attached with soldering. One seems to be holding on nicely and the fourth, which had been soldered is now on its own.

Found two sites with information: http://www.englishmetalware.com/Beldray.htm and http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/metalware/beldray/beldray03.htm

Carolyn

[Anne]

How lovely, Carolyn. I remember my grannie having vases similar to these. 

For cleaning I would suggest you try first with a silver polishing cloth. Don't use a cleaner intended for brass as it is much harsher than silver cleaners.  If that doesn't do the trick then look for a silver cleaning liquid and try it on the base first where it won't be obvious if it causes a problem. Silver polishers work really well on brass, my son used to use it on his brass belt buckle years ago.

Can't help you with the handle problem though, sorry.

[Carolyn Preston]

Thanks so much Anne. I have silver polish under my sink, so I'll give that a go. Hopefully somebody will be able to help with the handles. Considering trying a glazier here in town...

Carolyn