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Art.


 

My urn. It’s brass or bronze. It’s had a couple of repairs and is possibly frankensteined together.

I’m of the opinion it was more than one piece. The rings around the top and bottom are decidedly cruder than the work around the middle. Also, the floral motif at the bottom looks European to me.

Uncle B disagrees. He thinks it looks Persian or Indian and all of a piece.

I haven’t dared see if it holds water. Probably not; it’s got some welds around the bottom. Dried flowers, then.

It has an overall chocolate brown patina. I’m not enough of a bumpkin to make it shiny. But I wouldn’t mind rubbing it up until it has a *hint* of metallic sheen.

Is that wrong? Am I a philistine?

I watch too much Drew Pritchard.
 

 

 

Comments


Comment from Stephen Falken
Time: February 24, 2022, 9:01 pm

I think it would be wrong to clean it. That looks so old and interesting though that I don’t think I could keep myself from finding an expert to give an opinion. They use x-rays and lasers and stuff now to determine elemental composition. They might even be able to tell you age and where it could have been made based on those tests.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: February 24, 2022, 9:18 pm

I’d just like to remark that Elizabeth II seems so much more alert and “with it” than Biden the Doofus.

Perhaps Her Maj would like to become the first woman president of the USA for a bit… just as a lark, say what?


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: February 25, 2022, 12:27 am

Sure, give it a buff up and … you’ll find out that it was a renovation and expansion of an old Persian lamp….

“Infidel! You have violated the genius of the lamp! Prepare to accept the consequences!”

And the next thing you know Hillary is your Prime Minister and Kamala is Lord Mayor of London.

Just leave the historical object alone woman!


Comment from Deborah HH
Time: February 25, 2022, 12:27 am

The patina is the grace note.


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: February 25, 2022, 1:05 am

My late mother had a very old wall plaque of a material resembling your urn, Mme. Ermine. She wanted to make it look a little nicer but also knew better than to clean or polish it in any normal fashion.

She used dark brown shoe polish, the waxy kind in the flat tin (Kiwi?), and a soft brush (it might have been an old shaving brush) to apply a light coat on the metal, and then rub it with a soft cloth, not very hard and not for very long, to bring up a gentle shine.

It looked great, and I don’t think she did any damage to it by doing this. I suspect she may actually have helped preserve it a bit.

Kindly please note that she was not and I am not an art preservationist / restorer!


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: February 25, 2022, 1:13 am

So she shouldn’t fix it with a chainsaw then, is that what you’re saying?


Comment from Deborah HH
Time: February 25, 2022, 2:30 pm

Re: if it holds water. My house in San Antonio had wrought-iron sconces on the fireplace, and the glasses in them were long narrow cylinders. I bet you could find glass to fit your urn, or even make your own receptacle with PVC pipe and a well-glued end cap.

I’ve been thinking about all the lovely flowers that would contrast with chocolate brown color, and have concluded that everything would be beautiful. I’m just a little bit jealous. 🙂

P.S. I had to look up Drew Pritchard


Comment from BJM
Time: March 2, 2022, 9:50 pm

@Deborah…great suggestion. I use Dollar Store glass vases inside pieces I don’t want to water mark or risk leaking. They come in all sizes too. Place a layer of glass flower arranging beads (also from the Dollar store) in the bottom to add stability.

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