Topic: A fine pair of Victorian hand painted enamelled vases for show

[mhgcgolfclub]

A really nice pair of Victorian hand painted enamelled vases. They seem to be better painted than a lot of these types of vases also being painted on the back.

The vases are decorated with brambles and fir trees, both have a bird a Jay and a Capercaillie.

Height 9"
Weight for both vases 1225gm
What I really like is that one has a very old key wedged inside the base.

Roy

[mhgcgolfclub]

Wedged key

[keith]

Very well painted most are awful, I've got a few stinkers and a good blue uranium one,

[Paul S.]

very nice Roy  -  your choice or Carol's           I suppose the key to these sorts of things is knowing which ones to buy and which to leave behind           Perhaps some WD40 might dislodge the metalwork.

[chopin-liszt]

Grate some raw onion and put the mush in the bottom and leave it to "soak".

Raw onion dissolves rust. It does it fairly slowly, you'll possibly need some changes of onion mush, but it will get rid of it.

Once the rust has gone, it should be a lot easier to get out.

This is a wonderful tip for old screws for lampshades etc. They can be cleaned up nearly as good as new.

[mhgcgolfclub]

Thanks

Paul they were my choice I do like some of these types of vases. I bought them with a view to sell on but Carol has put a hold on that for the time being.

Sue I will try the raw onion and let you know how it goes, thank for the tip.

Roy

[glassobsessed]

I would urge a little caution removing the key, I had a lovely Nouveau vase that had a lump of something rusting away and fused to the base. A couple of hours after I cleaned the vase and removed the metal a huge crack developed across the base and up the sides of the vase. I heard it go ping from the next room.

I think the problem may have been the fusing of the two materials and the stresses that built up over time. Once I removed the metal there was an imbalance and the crack was probably inevitable.

Given my wee horror story, the key does not look as though it has actually fused to the glass - if there is a little movement then of course it will not be. I have removed quite a few metal objects in similar circumstances, the key got in there without it being forced and if you can gently wiggle it around, with a bit of patience you should be able to remove it. The trick is finding the spot where the opening is slightly larger - they are never entirely consistent. The key found it's way in there and the process should be reversible.

John

[chopin-liszt]

Unless it has "swollen" because of the rust. I really would persevere with onion mush until the rust has gone and the key has "shrunk".

The mush goes all dark brown and horrible - you can see how much gunk you are getting rid of. Change it when it has gone black.